The armoured man walked forward before stopping in between Erza and Abraham. With a small smile to Erza, he said, "Young Lady, could your grievances with the Collin Clan be resolved with a small talk? If there is a possibility of making a big problem turn into no problem, then that would be for the best. There is no need for the two of you to fight."
"Beast wave is coming to Mirage City soon, so this is the moment where the entire city must unite as one. For the sake of unison, please talk it out. After all, this wild beast wave endangers the lives of tens of thousands of ordinary citizens. Young Lady, please think about it for a moment." The man tried to soothe Erza's fighting spirit.
Erza looked at the armoured man with a calm gaze before asking him a simple question, "Who are you?"
Despite the rude way Erza had asked, the armoured man was not angry. Instead, he gave a faint smile and said, "I am called Arnold. I am the commander of Mirage City's defensive soldiers and the one in charge of them."
"So you are commander Arnold. Commander Arnold, please step back, this is a matter between me and them and I do not wish to involve you." Erza replied.
Wanted her to let go of potential future problem? What a bad joke! Erza was not a naïve girl anymore. She had learned about the cruelty of the world.
You should not expect people to be nice to you, even though you were very good to them. Everyone had their own selfish desires and motives. When you were being nice to an enemy, you were actually being cruel to yourself. In addition, your mercy could cost the lives of your loved ones in the future.
One should strike hard when one had the momentum. One should not allow oneself to be at the mercy of others.
Commander Arnold let out a breath of air, "Young Lady, these are not peaceful times, could you not sit down and talk this out?"
Erza shook her head calmly, "There is nothing to talk about, Commander Arnold, please step back."
"Commander Arnold, this isn't something you should get involved in. This ignorant youth wants to destroy my Collin Clan. I will let her know the true power of my clan. Furthermore, the mercenary group my son has shed blood and tears for has been destroyed by this youth. Speak, do you truly think there is still room for discussion?" Abraham spoke as he looked at Erza with the urge to kill.
"Arrogant child, let me test you for myself." Suddenly, Abraham's figure flew toward Erza with his sword bursting with terrifying amount of energy ready to split open the girl.
Erza swiftly responded as her black sword flew out to block Abraham's sword.
Seeing that the situation had blown out of control, commander Arnold narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Mirage City is on the verge of being besieged by a wild beast wave, and although this lady is very young, her fighting strength is at the Mid King level. With a strength like this, it is absolutely crucial that these two sides aren't harmed. If I want to resolve the grudge between these two, I need the city lord."
With that, commander Arnold did not hesitate anymore and left the area headed toward the city lord's manor in a desperate rush. While he ran, Erza was left within the Collin Clan's courtyard to fight against the entire Collin Clan.
Abraham was a Mid King Realm expert who had reached the level twenty years ago. The distance left before reaching the late stage was merely a step. Over the years, he had refined his strength and would soon be ready to make his breakthrough.
The black sword in Erza's hand danced in the air as it flew at Abraham. Its movements flowed into each other, stroke by stroke, causing Abraham to be shocked by Erza's impeccable sword technique.
He had to completely devoted himself to this fighting and used the full extent of his power. Despite that, he was still having trouble defending against Erza who seemed to be on an equal level to him.
While Erza was fighting with Abraham, she did not forget to take away the lives of the Collin clan guards whenever an opportunity appeared. At first, she did it to reduce the pressure on her, however over time she unconsciously starting to enjoy the slaughter.
The fight continued for some time as the guards from the Collin Clan had twenty casualties. Despite that, Abraham's face did not change; these guards were men that he had hired with money and had no true affiliation with the Collin Clan. So as those guards died, Abraham did not care at all and continued on.
"Everyone forward, whoever can injure her, I will reward them with a thousand gold coins! If you can capture her, then I will offer ten thousand gold coins!" Abraham ordered.
When there was a hefty reward, there would be brave people. Upon hearing the rich reward, all the guards eyes heated up with greed as they charged with no regard for their lives toward Erza. Their attacks flew toward her one by one in hopes of injuring her instead of capturing her.
Erza stared at the incoming attacks with a cold glare before her Melforce exploded into action. With her sword dancing in the air, Erza swiftly parried all the attacks and even sent several sword waves for counters.
*Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!*
*Bang! Bang!*
The ones who received her sword waves had their bodies instantly split in half and fell to the ground.
However, the allure of the heavy reward offered by Abraham had poisoned the minds of the guards. Even after seeing their comrades fall, they were not frightened in the least. Instead, their ferocity had intensified now that they had less people that could possibly snatch away their prize.
After all, it was a thousand gold coins. For these guards, it was enough for them to live in peace for their entire lifetime. A thousand gold coins was something that most of them would never actually be able to earn in their lifetime.
The white robed Erza continued to fly through the group of guards with her black sword kept sending sword waves on multiple occasions. The Collin clan guards fell to the ground one by one. In the beginning, there had been a hundred guards, but after this short amount of time, only half of them remained.
The Collin clan leader Abraham had already retreated away from the fight with a serious face as he observed the one sided killing which Erza gladly participated in.
"Clan leader, this girl is unbelievably strong and her sword is too fast! It's even hard for us to follow, so these guards simply have no chance to dodge it. If things go on like this, then I'm afraid these guards will soon be completely wiped out!" A middle aged man cried out from behind Abraham.
Abraham's eyes flashed with a cold glint as he said, "With her moving that fast, her energy will be used up quickly. Since just earlier she destroyed the Rage Mercenaries, there is no way for her energy to have completely recovered."
"Let her first use up her energy on these guards. In a fight between those on equal level of power, stamina is a deciding factor. Gerrard, hurry up and bring the Collin King Squad here. This time the enemy cannot be underestimated, I cannot say for certain, but the life or death of our Collin Clan is on the line; we must act accordingly with all our strength."
"Yes, clan leader."
After being commanded, he immediately dashed to the back of the Collin Clan courtyards.
After the brutal massacre of the Collin clan guards, there was only ten guards remaining. A hundred or so guards were lying on the ground with their blood pouring out all over the place staining the marble floors red.
Erza's body flickered as she reappeared behind the ten guards. With the green glow covering the black sword, she slashed through their necks and cleanly destroyed their ability to breathe and live.
At this moment, every single guard from the Collin Clan had been completely wiped out. All that remained within the courtyard was Abraham and a dozen members of the clan.
Just after Erza had slashed through the throats of the ten now dead guards, an ear whistling sound could be heard as a strong gale of wind flew at her from behind.
Before the biting cold gale of wind could press against Erza's shoulder, she quickly turned around and bringing the black sword up to protect herself.
*Bang!*
A large sword suddenly fell against Erza's sword, transmitting a large amount of power from sword to sword which pushed Erza back a few steps.
"Ha!" A thunderous shout exploded outward as Abraham did not let Erza have a single second to breathe before sending another sword strike at her.
After that, the dozen members from the Collin Clan began to pull out their weapons before charging at her as well. Among the group was the relieved and recently fresh Edward, the captain of the Rage Mercenaries.
Erza did not bother to hesitate and brought down her Melforce onto the sword of Abraham.
*BANG!*
As the two weapons collided in midair, another strong ripple of shockwave erupted from the epicenter and flew out in every direction, washing over the grass and the other Collin Clan members.
Erza was forced to retreat another six steps while Abraham flew back three steps.
Before waiting for Erza to stabilize herself, the dozen Collin Clan members rushed at her with powerful essences erupting from their attacks. Edward himself dashed behind Erza and with his long spear acting almost as if it was a serpent, striking toward her.