Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Since he had decided to do it, there was no delay in Lorens actions .

The speed that Loren leaped forward surprised Lapis and Dia, even though they knew he was going to run forward .

But Stoos was still way more powerful than Loren in every way .

The blade of the great sword, which was swung with such force that it made a ripping sound in the air, whizzed through empty air, as Stoos leaned backwards, and even when he swung the sword back for another blow, she was already outside of his range .

Thats an interesting weapon you have . A great sword made of magic steel? Where did you find such an antique?

No idea!

Loren activated the self enhancement spell for a split second and instantly closed the distance between them and attacked again, but again, he couldnt hit her .

He returned the blade and tried to go for another, but before he could, he was surprised by the face of a smiling red-haired woman in front of his, which caused him to jump back greatly .

Your decision-making speed seems okay .

Stoos, who had been closing the distance between attacks to an extend that Loren could feel her breathing, didnt chase Loren, who had backed off again, and just stood and pointed her finger at him .

Loren blocked the fireballs that had erupted from the fingertip without any chanting or declaring the name of the spell with the flat of his sword .

Although he was blown backwards by the explosion and impact, he didnt let go of it .

Im just getting started, you know?

More fireballs continued to fly towards Loren .

As he continued to block them with his sword, he stood firmly and braced against the explosions .

Play with me as well, wont you?

While Stoos attention was on Loren, Lapis quickly dove under her nose .

Stoos just glanced at Lapis fist, which was thrown at her stomach, as it was stopped by an invisible wall of some sort, not reaching her .

Are you a monk or something? I guess you cant judge a book by its cover .

As she said so, she kneed Lapis in the ribs, the hem of her dress flapping .

Lapis barely managed to block it with her elbow, but couldnt kill the impact, so her light body was blown away and hit the ground, bouncing a few times .

Using the momentum to get far away from Stoos, Lapis stood up immediately, her white clothes covered in dirt and dust, but before she could regain her footing, she saw Stoos pointing at her, and jumped further back .

Immediately after, a few arrows made of lighting penetrated the place where she had been standing .

Not even looking to see if her attack hit, Stoos, glanced at Dia, who still wasnt moving, raised her hand, and caught the blade that Loren swung down on her, without even looking at him .

Oh? As expected of magic steel . I cant just crush it with my hand .

Damn it!

Loren tried to pull his sword back, not even having any time to be surprised that Stoos had caught it with her bare hand, but even with his strength, it didnt move from her clutch, as if it was stuck there .

The kick that he made in desperation was, like Lapis punch, deflected off an invisible wall, and didnt even make a scratch .

Youve got a bad foot habit . Kicking a woman is just rude .

As she said so, Stoos swung the great sword to the side .

With just that movement, Loren was plucked from the ground and flung sideways as well, and when she let go of the sword, throwing it, he flew away as well .

Ill give it to you that you held onto your sword . But thats it .

Loren didnt take his eyes off Stoos, even as he was flung away and was rolling in the dirt, but when he saw her take a step towards him, he started rolling faster away .

As if chasing him, Stoos stomped the ground where he was, and with the force of the impact blowing up sand and dirt, Loren continued to roll away .

!

A white light erupted from beneath Stoos feet as she tried to chase Loren further .

Lapis had used .

Stoos had taken the full hit, but when the light disappeared, she stood there, same as before, with a small smile on her face .

That tickled . A somewhat faithful follower, Im guessing?

I am a model as well as ideal priestess of the Knowledge god!

You arent a monk?

When Stoos said so, along with a roar, the blade of a great sword was slammed into her neck .

But it was again blocked by the invisible wall, right before it could hit .

Loren had dashed within range in one jump and tried to land a blow, but seeing that it was blocked yet again, he moved away from the spot immediately .

Stoos didnt chase, but instead lightly caressed her neck, then smiled at him, as he readied his great sword again .

Youre an excellent swordsman Ill give you that .

Im overjoyed at the praise . Im going to make that cool face of yours pale up, so youd better be ready .

Youre eloquent as well . But you should say things you cant do, you know?

Loren grinded his teeth as Stoos laughed .

It was true that there was a hopeless difference between the two of them .

With the weight of Loren himself added to the weight of his great sword, it was quite the heaviness, but Stoos had the strength to swing them around with one arm, as well as use spells without chanting them .

She was resistant to Lapis , along with an invisible wall that blocked any sort of physical attack .

With no idea how to defeat her, let alone hit a blow, it was apparent that Loren and Lapis couldnt do anything .

That doesnt mean we can just back out!

Loren activated the spell of self enhancement again .

He kicked off the ground and launched a fierce attack at Stoos .

Stoos was about to take it with her palm again, but she noticed a phosphorescent light emitting from the blade, and instead of her palm, she swung her arm to counterattack .

Sparks flew when the blade and arm came into contact, with a noise that didnt sound like a sword hitting flesh, and this time both Loren and Stoos were pushed back from the impact .

Thats really an interesting weapon . What did you just do?

Stoos said as she glanced at her right arm that blocked the attack, after firing a fireball at Lapis to keep her in check .

There were no visible wounds on her white skin, but the part where Loren had hit her had turned red, like a bruise mark .

Loren, on the other hand, was breathing heavily, as he plunged the tip of the great sword into the ground, using it like a staff, but at Stoos question, he exhaled deeply and replied .

Think for yourself, Elder .

Stingy, I see . Well, whatever .

Stoos guessed that she hadnt blocked the attack completely .

Judging from the state of her arm, she had blocked the sundering blow itself, but hadnt been able to kill the impact .

She surprised that a human, a normal swordsman on top of that, could deal such an attack, but to her, it was just that .

It was more than enough for her healing factor to kick in, and even if she was hit with a hundred of them, it wouldnt be close to fatal .

And judging from Lorens state after the blow, it was easy to guess he was using some sort of energy or ability .

She wasnt sure if it was mana or life energy, but she knew that it took a great toll .

She guessed that he couldnt use it in succession but seeing him barging at her again after catching his breath, she realized she was wrong .

You can do it again?

Lorens second strike was faster than the first .

Stoos blocked it, putting a bit of strength in her arm, frowning as she felt a slight quiver of pain, and looked at it, ignoring Loren, who was flung back again .

The blade still hadnt reached her skin, but the damage was increased than before, with the red hue being larger, and she turned her eyes to Loren, who was getting up, with slight surprise .

Meanwhile Loren, enduring the fatigue in his whole body, stood up using his great sword as support, thinking that he was lucky that Stoos still thought of him as a lesser being, which kept her from following up with an attack of her own .

He didnt know what he was doing either, but he guessed that the sword carried a few mechanics to it .

In any case, when he dashed forward, activating self enhancement, he also imagined putting all his strength into his sword when he swung it, and when he did, he noticed that the strike was more powerful than usual .

Although it wasnt enough to get past the Stoos defenses, it seemed that he was doing a bit of damage, and a smile appeared on his face as he knew that it wasnt completely neutralized .

But the price was very high .

Every attack, he was attacked by a feeling of all his strength leaving him, and if Stoos seriously wanted to kill him, if he had used such an attack just before, he couldnt dodge or parry everything she threw at him .

Onii-san, are you alright? Should I give you some more?

Under normal circumstances, Loren shouldnt be able to perform the attack more than once .

The reason why he could do so in rapid succession was thanks to Shayna, who was lending him power from the inside .

As expected of an Elder . My energy drain isnt that effective . But its working nonetheless, so theres no problem with supplying you with more energy .

(Thanks . I know its difficult but lend me a bit more of your strength . )

When he replied to Shayna in his mind, he immediately felt a surge of strength .

The immediate replenishment of strength was possible due to Shayna using energy drain every time Loren attacked Stoos .

Shayna had been transferring the drained energy to Loren .

Itll be impossible to drain her completely . Shes recovering as well, probably since shes on the draining side .

Elders, who had enormous amounts of mana and life energy, seemed to have incredible recovery as well, as even with Shaynas energy drain, it was impossible to defeat her .

But because of it, he was able to regain his strength to continue attacking, so he thanked Shayna quietly .

! ! ! A short break, and another !

Damn you! So annoying! You know its not working! It doesnt hurt, but it tickles!

! Annoying you is good enough! !

While Loren was catching his breath, Lapis used in rapid succession to keep Stoos attention on her and keep her from attacking him .

Even though it didnt do any damage, it seemed to cause discomfort, as Stoos waved her arm, blowing up dirt and sand, and tried to attack Lapis, but with her own powerful abilities, she continually dodged Stoos attacks, using at every chance she found .

One more, coming up!

Loren kicked the ground, putting in even more strength than before, and swung at Stoos .

Since her attention was turned completely towards Lapis, she couldnt even dodge the attack, and could do nothing but raise her arm again .

This third attack, same with the previous two, didnt reach her body, but this time Loren wasnt flung back, but instead the great sword and her arm were suspended at the point of collision .

13

It got stronger again!? What in the world are you?

Im just an adventurer!

As Loren roared and tried to push the blade into Stoos arm, she kicked him away .

With all his strength used up in the attack, Loren couldnt dodge it and took the full brunt of it, but even as he flew back and rolled on the ground, he didnt let go of his great sword .

An impressive attack, but even with a hundred or two hundred of those, it wont reach me .

Stoos declared, fixing the hem of her dress and rubbing the arm that blocked Lorens attack .

If youre expecting help from Dia, you should stop right now . As long as I have her True Name, she wont be able to move .

Ever since the fight started, Dia hadnt moved a step .

It was because she understood that if she wasnt careful, Stoos would use her True Name and make matters worse .

Although it was possible for Stoos to tie her up with her True Name even though she wasnt moving, but with Loren and Lapis attacking, it didnt seem like she was going to use it anytime soon .

Im not done yet .