"… Nice to meet you then, Prince Glenn Skysword."
Not only Bloed, but also Liu Ying, Javelin, and the other hooded A-Rank heard the woman's words.
Bloed's expression turned ice-cold. Ignoring the gazes of surprise in Liu Ying and Javelin's face, he sneered.
"My name is Bloed Norman. Glenn Skysword died long ago."
The woman nodded softly. "I see… When the queen gave birth to twins back then, the entire kingdom celebrated. It was said that the talent of the twins was so great that the mana in the entire palace rushed towards them.
"Since then, though, people only spoke about the talent of the princess. Many people guessed that there was a problem with the other twin. But now that I'm seeing you, I know that it's not true.
"Your eyes… And your talent. Although your cultivation is a bit lower than the princess, your talent is definitively top class. I'm curious now about why you were hidden from the world, prince, and how did you end in this place." The woman then licked her lips and raised her dagger. "I guess I will know about it if I catch you."
"... You should speak after you catch me."
The woman shrugged. "I admit that I underestimated you, prince. However, you still underestimate the power of an A-Rank!"
As soon as her words finished, the woman disappeared.
Bloed instantly aimed at the place where he felt the energy fluctuation, but at that moment, he felt a second energy fluctuation behind him!
"!!!"
Bloed hurriedly changed his aim towards behind him, but then, the woman appeared in the place of the first energy fluctuation!
This time, the dagger was cutting towards Bloed's back.
However–
*Bam!*
At some point, another gun had appeared in Bloed's other hand, replacing his saber. That gun aimed and shot a bullet towards the woman.
'He had another!?'
"Tsk!"
The woman clicked his tongue and avoided the bullet, but it meant she failed to attack Bloed. And at the same time, Leto's chains and Liu Ying's attacks came towards her.
The woman's avoided both attacks and retreated again.
Unfortunately, another bullet was flying in direction to the place where she moved to!
"Hmph!" The woman grunted and twisted her body to avoid the bullet. After she experienced receiving a bullet before, she did not dare to receive another.
In fact, the bullet she received had greatly damaged her dagger. She could feel that her dagger's edge had turned duller, and part of the dagger had melted.
But–
"So your ability to predict the place where I appear is not perfect, huh."
The woman smirked and disappeared again. And just like last time, there were two energy fluctuations before she reappeared.
Moreover, the location of one of the energy fluctuations was being blocked by Liu Ying! With Liu Ying in the way, Bloed could not shot in that direction!
Bloed's thoughts moved quickly. In a thousandth of a second, he made his choice.
His two guns aimed at one of the energy fluctuations, while he let Liu Ying and Leto attack the other.
But suddenly, another energy fluctuation appeared!
This time, behind Bloed!
This was the true target of the woman!
Although surprised, Bloed did not panic. Without hesitation, he crouched down and let go of his guns.
The woman appeared. Her dagger glowed brightly, aiming towards Bloed's shoulder.
No matter how Bloed tried, he could not avoid this attack!
Thus, Bloed did not try to evade it. Instead, he unsheathed his saber, sending his psychic energy into it and swinging it towards the dagger.
The saber lit up with a soft glow. A magic circle appeared around it, symbolizing the activation of a technique.
It was the first time Bloed used his saber to attack the woman since the battle started!
But although the woman saw Bloed's attack, she did not pay attention to it. As an A-Rank, if her dagger was unable to overpower the hurried attack of a C-Rank, then all her training had been in vain.
The next instant, though, her expression changed.
Without hesitation, the woman forced his movements to a stop and jumped back.
Unfortunately–
*Swish!*
–She was a bit too late.
The saber clashed against the dagger, but instead of the expected metallic sound, the saber cut the dagger as though it was butter!
Moreover, it even managed to injure the woman's hand!
"Ugh!" The woman held her hand and teleported away. She then looked at Bloed with an expression of astonishment and disbelief.
"Good try," Bloed said. "But not enough."
"Damn, this is bad…" The woman said under her breath. She looked at the blood coming from her right hand and her expression turned bitter.
Not only she lost her dagger this time, but also her dominant hand. In its current condition, her right hand would be useless for the rest of the fight.
"What in the hell is that technique…" She wondered in confusion. It had cut through her dagger and defenses as though they did not exist!
'Could it be… Skysword!?'
Skysword was not only the surname of the Kingdom of Alterna's royal family. It was also the name of their most powerful and secret technique.
Skysword, a sword that can cut through anything.
And if the prince could use that technique, defeating him would be much harder.
To be honest, even without her blinking skill, the woman was strong enough to take Bloed, Leto, and Liu Ying for herself without much problem. The problem was the injury that Javelin had inflected to her before.
That injury had taken away at least fifty percent of her combat capacity. And although she hated to admit it, fighting Bloed and Liu Ying with the remaining fifty percent was a bit difficult.
And now that she had lost her dagger and injured her dominant arm, the situation had turned even worse. At most, she could use thirty percent of her strength!
'Damn it, I'll be the joke of my friends if they learn that I'm losing to a pair of kids.'
Bloed and Liu Ying walked close to each other and looked at the woman warily. Even although the woman had been injured again, they did not lower their guard.
In fact, Bloed felt a bit regretful. He expected to use the factor surprise of his saber to cause the woman a greater injury. Unfortunately, even if the woman was injured, she was a true A-Rank. As soon as she felt that something was wrong, she retreated without hesitation.
"… Prince, what was that technique?" The woman asked.
Bloed did not bother to reply to her. Instead, he raised an eyebrow before smiling.
The woman was startled, but soon, she understood why Bloed was smiling.
Around them, several beastmen appeared, led by a powerful catkin woman.
"Stop!" Madeline shouted to the woman and the other hooded person. "If you don't stop now, we will kill you!"
The woman raised her hands helplessly to indicate that she was not going to resist. At the same time, the A-Rank facing Javelin stopped too.
"Damn, we are in trouble." The woman smiled bitterly.
But almost instantly, the situation changed again.
"Miss Madeline, can you stop, please? These people are my friends."
A voice came from behind Madeline. Then, a nun-like girl appeared followed by several knights.
It was Charise, the saintess of the church of fate.
Madeline's expression turned ugly. "Charise, what is the meaning of this!?"
"Calm down, Madeline." Charise smiled gently. She then looked at Bloed and Liu Ying. "Don't worry, Mr. Bloed. I'm not your enemy."
Bloed frowned confused, while Liu Ying clenched her fist ready to fight. But before they could understand the situation, three new people appeared suddenly.
They were Regina, Sebastian, and Kallevang, the knight that always followed behind Charise.
Regina moved beside Bloed instantly, while Sebastian and Kallevang moved near their respective companions
"Okay, now that everybody is here, can we talk?"
For some reason, Charise's smile seemed a bit mischievous.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels