Some of the ‘Energy Armor’ that had taken the form of meridians slipped out of his body. The pieces seemed to shatter, only to gather once more into a spherical shape. Zzzzt! The orb drew long afterimages as it began spinning rapidly around Aiden’s body.
[Bio-electric manipulation using ‘Thunder Ki’.]
[Reflexes maximized.]
[Warning! Excessive electrical stimulation may cause severe side effects.]
[You possess extremely high lightning affinity and resistance. Thunder God Physique (S) has reduced side effects by over 92%.]
This lightning-attribute orb, known as the Light-Demon Sphere, rotated according to pre-set commands and manipulated the user’s bio-electricity.
The number of orbs he could maintain depended on his proficiency with the Dearside Heart Method and his own skill. At his current level, Aiden could sustain only one.
Tikus narrowed his eyes.
“What is that? Some strange secret technique…”
Before he could finish speaking, Aiden stomped forward. He aimed Burn Sword at Tikus’s flank while the toadman was still startled by his speed. Boom! The iron mace swung late and collided with the blade, scattering sparks.
Still airborne, Aiden concentrated Energy Armor into his lower body. A lightning-infused kick slammed into Tikus’s face like a bolt from the blue.
Crack!
Tikus staggered backward. Aiden had aimed to shatter his jaw, yet the toadman looked completely fine. As expected, someone with [Health] at 19 was ridiculously durable.
Aiden landed safely and immediately kicked off again. He began dashing in every direction, bouncing off both canyon walls.
This battlefield was extremely advantageous for him.
Realizing the situation, Tikus ground his teeth.
“You bastard…!”
With only 12 [Agility], Tikus could barely keep up with Aiden’s movements, which had been maximized by Ladyroot. Aiden suddenly kicked hard off the wall to accelerate. The scenery blurred past, and Tikus’s broad back filled his vision.
Stroke Strong Swordsmanship secret technique ‘Power Red Lash’.
The ‘Explosive Ki’ bursting from his entire body flowed down his arms, dyeing both blades crimson. Burn Sword and Thunder crossed with enough force to cleave Tikus into four pieces.
Just as it seemed Tikus would helplessly take the blow to the back of his head, the toadman turned with unbelievable agility. It was a crude, unrefined movement. His body hadn’t reacted on its own—it was as if he had been pulled by the shield in his hand.
It was the effect of his Weapon Resonance (A) trait, which resonated with strong will or lingering grudges within equipment to draw out their full power.
The Swamp Shield (A) Tikus carried contained the lifelong defensive will of its previous owner. Thanks to that, he had been able to react to Aiden’s charge.
Boom!
Tikus, who had used the shield to deflect both blades, wore a hardened expression. Aiden also took several backsteps and glared at him.
For a brief moment, the two stared each other down.
The short standoff ended when Aiden stepped forward once more. At the same time, Tikus began proper breathing. His Steel Durability (A) trait poured ki into his muscles to raise his defense. The already solid ‘Iron Ki’ enveloped Tikus’s entire body, granting him superhuman toughness.
The Swamp Shield in his hand suddenly swung toward Aiden. Thanks to Ladyroot’s extreme acceleration of his thought process, Aiden easily tracked and reacted to it.
『Over Zero Bag (S)』
Left arm strength reinforcement.
He deflected the Swamp Shield with Burn Sword in his left hand. Immediately afterward, he brought Thunder down toward Tikus’s head. The ‘Vibrating Ki’ shook Tikus’s Energy Armor and caused it to collapse on itself.
Clang!
The sound that rang out was impossible to associate with a sword striking a human head. It was a slash powerful enough to bisect Tikus vertically, yet the toadman endured the blow with nothing but his maximally reinforced body.
“…So the vice-leader title isn’t just for show.”
A fight between a highly mobile swift swordsman and a high-durability tank usually favored the former. But Tikus was a special case.
The title Eccentric (S+), which granted strong bonuses to senses and proficiency so he could respond to any irregular attack.
Steel Durability (A), which synchronized muscle and ki to push defense to the limit.
Weapon Resonance (A), which allowed him to react to even afterimage-level sword strikes as long as he held the right equipment.
The iron wall of defense created by these three traits was so solid it could exhaust the opponent first.
But none of that mattered to Aiden.
He leaped forward once more.
Using his unparalleled mobility, he darted in every direction—up, down, front, back, left, right—searching for openings in Tikus’s guard.
Shing! Shing shing!
Diagonal afterimages drawn by his blade covered the battlefield. Tikus’s eyes chased Aiden’s movements with dogged focus, but there was a limit. Just as expected, at one point his gaze lost track of Aiden. Now.
<Padio Blink>
Not a charge, but spatial movement. The moment Aiden reappeared, he was directly above Tikus’s head. He raised Burn Sword in his left hand; the red blade flashed.
<Boost Burn>
Boom!
Even after the violent explosion, Tikus only widened his eyes—his defensive posture remained rock-solid. But Aiden’s right hand held Thunder, now infused with Vileshaker. Crack! Struck dead-center by the Resonance Shatter Art, blood burst from Tikus’s mouth. Fresh blood also sprayed from the twelve cuts across his body.
Aiden quickly rolled away.
Crunch!
The spot he had just occupied was smashed by a pitch-black iron mace. The superhuman force left a small crater in the ground.
Continuing close combat was dangerous.
Aiden kicked off the wall again, weaving through the canyon in all directions.
Tikus silently raised the Swamp Shield. With his mobility, chasing Aiden was impossible, and he clearly had no intention of trying. The toadman was simply waiting for Ladyroot’s enhancement to run out.
Zzzzt!
The light from the spinning Light-Demon Sphere was indeed growing dimmer. The artificial meridians inside his body were also losing integrity, slowing the signals traveling through his nervous system.
High-performance buff skills like this consumed stamina rapidly. Tikus’s reasoning that Aiden’s technique had a clear duration limit was perfectly logical.
But Aiden possessed Thunder God Physique (S).
And he also had Thunder, which could rotate lightning ki.
<Infinity Shock>
Zzzzzzzzzzt!!
He cast the trait’s built-in spell on himself. Endless lightning coursed through the artificial meridians. The dual heart method absorbed the lightning ki whole and forged it into new ki.
Fwoooosh! The flickering Light-Demon Sphere blazed with dazzling light once more. The previously translucent blade of Thunder became far sharper.
Tikus sneered.
“Saving your final strike, huh? Heh heh… I was a little surprised at first, but now I see it’s nothing special!”
He was overflowing with confidence, clearly believing Aiden was overexerting himself.
He was free to think whatever he wanted.
Aiden kicked off the wall and charged.
—First strike.
Using Explosive Ki, he slashed past Tikus with Burn Sword. Blood sprayed from the toadman’s shoulder.
—Second strike.
He switched to Vibrating Ki and aimed for the neck. But Tikus’s shield blocked it, shoving Aiden backward. The difference in strength made his insides churn. He switched to ‘Serene Ki’ to stabilize the internal damage.
—Third strike.
Explosive Ki again. Tikus blocked.
Fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth strike…
Boom! Clang! Boom!
Countless metallic clashes rang out. Aiden unleashed a flowing chain of attacks with both blades, while Tikus blocked every strike with his shield, mace, or body.
—Forty-ninth strike. Fiftieth strike.
The Harmony Heart Method grew stronger the more it circulated ki within the body. Tikus, who had been purely defensive until now, finally stepped forward aggressively to stop the increasingly fierce barrage.
His iron mace came hurtling forward like a flash of lightning. A direct hit would turn Aiden to dust. But Aiden did not dodge sideways or retreat. Instead, he activated Over Zero Bag (S) to boost his leg strength and charged straight ahead.
The pitch-black mace filled his vision. The situation was critical, yet the mind protected by Serene Clarity remained perfectly calm.
Right before the mace could crush his face—
The Circulation Church’s holy relic twisted fate.
<Fortune Passer>
An impossible phenomenon occurred. The mercilessly swung mace slipped aside as if sliding off something invisible, leaving Tikus completely exposed with a gaping opening.
“Wh-what…!”
Tikus’s eyes widened as he allowed Aiden to close the distance.
Aiden began the harmony breathing once more. Fluid Harmony—the secret technique of the Harmony Heart Method—condensed the ki strengthened by rotation into a single point.
Feeling his entire body overflowing with power, Aiden unleashed the essence of the Dearside Variant Swordsmanship.
‘Surgeon Pass’
Kuuuurrrrng!
Twelve slashes wrapped in lightning swallowed Tikus’s body. Fsh-sh-sh-shk! Blood fountains erupted from twelve identical cuts.
Aiden clicked his tongue.
“Damn it, I thought I’d at least take off an arm or a leg! What a ridiculously tough bastard!”
“You…!”
Amazingly, Tikus—though staggering—had not fallen. With bloodshot eyes, he roared and slammed the Swamp Shield in his left hand downward.
Ziiing! Aiden reinforced his ki blade with Thunder and blocked the strike, but the recoil made his entire upper body tremble. Suddenly the veins in his right arm burst, spraying bright red blood.
<Spell Boost> <Pure Freeze>
The freezing spell from the Ring of Glacier (A) momentarily froze Tikus’s movements. Normally it would have been useless against a near-Twelve Heroes level opponent, but because he was already injured, it worked.
Over Zero Bag—left arm strength reinforcement.
He thrust Burn Sword forward.
‘Vileshaker.’
“Guh…!”
The red blade sank into Tikus’s chest. Struck directly by the Resonance Shatter Art, the toadman coughed up blood. Fresh blood also gushed from the twelve cuts once more.
Tikus had even dropped his mace, yet his eyes were still alive with fighting spirit. The necklace around his neck suddenly flashed.
<Sacrifice Cage>
Shuuuuuu— The massive amount of blood Tikus had shed began to move. It formed a cage-like structure that enclosed both of them, creating a small arena roughly ten square meters wide.
“Running around like a rat ends here…!”
Tikus sucked in a breath and charged straight at Aiden. In response, Aiden activated a breathing technique he had not used even once in this battle.
Taramu Blood Current Control Heart Method (B).
The surging ‘Blood Ki’ flowed into the blood that had spilled from his right arm earlier and pooled on the ground. In an instant, the blood transformed into sharp spear-like shapes and pierced Tikus’s entire body.
“Guh… ack?!”
Tikus trembled violently as if unable to believe what was happening, then collapsed like a porcupine full of holes.
<Ice Lance> <Flame Loop> <Chain Lightning>
Hagel was not an exceptionally outstanding mage. Like the other members of the Schnifelt family, his true strength lay in magic martial arts, which combined mid-range spells with close combat.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
The swordsman scattered sword light. Hagel frowned. Even with his broad knowledge, he could not identify the root of the bizarre swordsmanship before him. Yet that wild, unorthodox style was incredibly powerful.
<Front Shield>
Hagel’s main defensive spell deflected the countless “ki strikes” launched by his opponent.
The unidentified swordsman tossed a mocking smile at Hagel.
“You’re surprisingly cautious compared to the rumors, aren’t you?”
In reality, Hagel had been moving carefully this entire time, deliberately stalling. He believed that Vice-leader Tikus would either defeat Aiden or at least shake him off.
Moreover, the situation he faced was peculiar.
‘This swordsman is clearly weaker than me. But…’
Hagel’s gaze shifted to the young sorceress supporting the swordsman from the rear. There had been several opportunities to deliver a decisive blow, but each time the girl had intervened with timely restraining spells, forcing him to miss the chance to finish the warrior.
‘I was too focused on Aiden Stroke to notice earlier, but that girl also possesses terrifying power. Three years ago she was just watching our fight with the Sword Saint…’
While Hagel was lost in doubt—
<Another Heart>
Flip flip flip!
Nano Eater’s fourth spell unfolded.