"Oh? I like your aura. It's intimidating, imposing and full of strength and vigor!"
Murderous Crow turned away from me to study the newcomer. Ardena simple glared at the black-haired murderess, refusing to rise to her provocation.
"Ardena," I whispered in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you that I wanted to visit Hua Xia, didn't I?" Ardena shrugged. "I pushed my plans forward. There wasn't anything left for me to do in Yggdrasil because we've pretty much won the war and driven away the dark elves and demonic mages. Then I heard there was a sudden surge in spirit beast waves in Hua Xia, so I thought I would repay the favor by volunteering to help."
"Oh, uh, thanks."
"Hmm? You're from Yggdrasil? Oh, so you're an elf. I see." Murderous Crow studied Ardena. "You use the sword too? I've never fought against a swordswoman from the west. I wonder how different the experience will be?"
"It won't be that different," Ardena replied.
"That's true," Murderous Crow conceded. "Either you die or I die. Heh!"
"You'll probably be the one who die then."
"Ha ha! How cool! I like you!" Murderous Crow cackled. Then she frowned. "Hmm, but I sense an opening. Seems like you haven't fully recovered from some sort of internal injury?"
Yeah, it had only been two weeks since that fateful war in Yggdrasil. I wasn't surprised that Ardena hadn't fully recovered. I could sense that she was somewhat diminished than when I had fought against her at the top of the World Tree. This wasn't good.
"You couldn't even kill a guy who has only recently broken through to Earth rank for less than two weeks. Useless!" Ardena shook her head. "Though I've only recovered 80% of my mana, it's more than enough to deal with the likes of you."
"Oh, I didn't even know he had broken through to Earth rank. Interesting. Now that you've mentioned it, he was only peak Mystic rank the last time I fought against him. To think that he would improve at such a breakneck pace…it's terrifying to think how much more he'll grow if I give him some more time."
"Shouldn't you be more terrified by the fact that you'll die here?"
"Hah! Boasting is unbecoming of you! I don't know who you think you are, but you're certainly not that much stronger than that kid! Hell, why not the both of you come at me together? I'm sure it'll be enough of a handicap."
A smile crept over Ardena's lips, but she shook her head and gestured for me to stay back.
"You stay back. I can take care of her myself."
"Hah! More bragging! Don't you know who I am…?"
"I don't know and I don't care. Cut the crap, let's begin."
Ardena kicked off the ground, disappearing into a blur and slashing at Murderous Crow, who was almost taken by surprise. She reacted swiftly, parrying Ardena's first strike, but she was then pushed off by another blow. She ducked and deflected, only for blood to spurt out from her arms when she wasn't able to fully block the attacks.
The ground beneath them broke and shattered, the exchange of blades cutting and gouging out chunks of rock and soil. Leaves, branches and boulders were sliced apart with impunity, the razor-sharp edges of both Dainsleif and Annihilator cleaving through everything as easily as hot knives through butter. Sprays of blood continued to arc out as the two furiously traded several more blows, but what was surprising was that only Murderous Crow was hurt.
She desperately raised her heavy sword to parry yet another powerful strike, but Ardena overpowered her with a single stroke, sending her crashing several meters away and leaving a furrow in the earth. Wheezing, Murderous Crow tried to stand, only to cough out a glob of blood through her desperately gritted teeth. She hopped back to her feet and brought Annihilator up, glaring at her blood that was dripping off the holy blade that the elvish sword saint wielded.
Ardena calmly held her sword up in a steady stance, watching her opponent near impassively. Murderous Crow gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword before she lunged forward almost recklessly. While she charged, the ground near Ardena broke as sickly roots erupted and uncoiled almost ravenously.
"Watch out!" I yelled, but it appeared that my warning was unnecessary.
Even though the devious roots lashed out and wrapped around Ardena's legs, holding her in place, she didn't deign to move from her spot. Instead, she held her position and met Murderous Crow's heavy strike head-on, deflecting the massive blade away from her head with a couple of strokes. Despite being the one on the offensive, Murderous Crow was pushed back by the sheer force of Ardena's blade. As they fought, the mana around the sword saint was enough to cut apart the roots that were trying to coil around her legs and body, even without her bothering to slice through them with her sword.
Now freed, she launched herself, twirling her sword about and leaving several more cuts across Murderous Crow's arms and body. The latter furiously fought back with all the speed and strength she could muster, and the entire region around them was ravaged by both sword qi and solid blades, shredded by the sheer violence of their exchange. Trees toppled, their trunks splintered and crudely chopped into pieces.
Murderous Crow was not going down without a fight, though. She deflected, parried and blocked before recklessly hurling herself forward for a vicious thrust. Ardena indulged her, swinging her sword with calm precision, and then her psychotic opponent hurtled past her before coming to a stop.
For a moment, both ladies stood on the battlefield, their swords lowered. There was a crack as the trees around them slowly fell, neatly sliced in half at the middle. Murderous Crow watched the trees, stunned, aware that she wasn't capable of such subtle precision and delicately controlled strikes. She gritted her teeth, more blood leaking from her mouth.
From a distance, I watched in awe. I had fought against Ardena before, but that was with the help of Myria and all of my spirit beasts. If it had been an individual one against one fight, even if I had broken through to Earth rank earlier and stepped into the first stage of the mastery of Man and Sword as One, I would have lost pathetically. Even now, I was certain that I would lose if I hadn't any assistance from my spirit beasts.
That was fine. I was a summoner, not a swordsman. And I was a better archer than I was a swordsman. No, I wasn't going to use the word saber. Was that even an actual term to refer to a sword user? I was pretty sure it was a type of bladed weapon. Anyway…
"Amazing. I can hardly follow their attacks. If Myria hadn't received support from me and my spirit beasts, she would have lost immediately. I would have been cut into pieces without my summoned spirit beasts if I had fought against her alone back on Yggdrasil."
However, there was one person in denial. Murderous Crow spat more blood and spun around in rage.
"Impossible! I don't believe that you're this strong!"
Kicking off the ground, she slashed at the stationary Ardena once more, but this time, she wasn't attacking directly. Instead, she used some demonic illusion skill, and while her illusionary form struck from the front, her real physical body attacked from behind.
Ardena was not fooled, though. She calmly raised her sword to parry the backstab, then with a single elegant spin, she whirled around and countered with a sweeping slash that cut deeply into Murderous Crow's chest and sent her would be assailant flying.
Instead of being discouraged, however, Murderous Crow was cackling. I scratched my head, bemused by her behavior. She really was one crazy bitch. It appeared that Murderous Crow was actually enjoying herself.
"Heh…"
Even as blood spurted from her wounds and she was sailing through the air, unable to halt her momentum, she was laughing hysterically.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"What's so funny?" I muttered with a scowl. For some reason, I had my bow out and conjured an arrow, taking aim and getting ready to shoot her down whenever necessary. Obviously, it wasn't necessary. Ardena was dominating in what looked like a one-sided match. I didn't think she would be able to overwhelm another Earth ranked opponent like Murderous Crow so easily, especially when she hadn't recovered her full strength, but the reality was unfolding right before my eyes.
It made some sense, though. Even though they were both Earth ranked, there was still a huge gap in their cultivation realms. Ardena was peak Earth rank, being an elf who had lived for so long – centuries, if I wasn't mistaken. In contrast, Murderous Crow was intermediate Earth rank. Perhaps advanced Earth rank at best. The difference in stages weren't as overwhelming as the difference between whole cultivation realms, but they did contribute significantly in terms of having an advantage over one's opponent.
"This is so exciting! I'm on a high! Your power exceeds my imagination! I'm thoroughly impressed! Well done!"
She stopped and hovered above the ground, her blood now swirling around her. Demonic qi surged through her body in tandem with her now whirling blood, adopting a more menacing aura. I felt chills run down my spine at the monstrous sight. Ardena must have sensed the change too, but she remained as calm as ever. Did she not think whatever Murderous Crow was pulling right now would be a threat?
She was as confident in her swordsmanship as ever.
"What is your name, swordswoman from the West?" Murderous Crow asked. "I would like to at least know the name of the person I kill…especially an opponent of your caliber."
"Ardena," the elvish sword saint replied. "And you? I believe it would be respectful for me to at least learn the name of the enemy I personally slay."
"Hah! I like your confidence! Admittedly, it's well earned. You've been dominating this duel so far, after all. If I were in your position, I wouldn't doubt my victory." Murderous Crow wiped the blood from her face and grinned wickedly. "But yes, I should tell you my name too. Murderous Crow of the Mystic Demon Sect. Make sure to brand my name into your brain even when you go down to the underworld to meet King Yan Luo."
"Mystic Demon Sect?" I repeated, faintly recalling the name from somewhere. I was half-distracted, glancing at the tree and seeing that Qin Ying had been safely rescued. Tong Xue and Hao Ren were true to their word, freeing Qin Ying from the tree and carrying her back to the city where she could receive treatment. Neither of them was stupid enough to stay in the vicinity, where they would potentially be held hostage by a cunning Murderous Crow. Me, on the other hand, was more than capable of taking care of myself.
I daresay I could defeat Murderous Crow with my spirit beasts, but I decided to leave her to Ardena. It was a great experience to witness her fight firsthand, and I sought to learn from her display of sublime swordsmanship.
But the Mystic Demon Sect caught my attention. It was one of the three most powerful demonic sects in Hua Xia, if I wasn't mistaken. Well, given the notoriety of Murderous Crow, it was obvious that the demonic sect she hailed from would be equally well known. It was headed by her brother, the Mystic Demonic Divine. And that guy was at least peak Earth rank, being one of the top three demonic cultivators in Hua Xia.
No wonder Murderous Crow thought she could rampage freely. With such a powerful backing, she had managed to escape justice for so long.
However, she had finally met her match in the form of Ardena.
"But you won't be laughing for long," Murderous Crow was saying to Ardena, weaving her blood to form a spirit array around herself. She sighed and began muttering to herself, though I could hear her thanks to my…uh, omniscient viewpoint. "Though I have yet to master the sixth level of the Mystic Demon Illusion technique, and using it now may hurt my internal organs, I don't have a choice. But I'm so excited!"
Her blood began wrapping around her body and limbs, resembling strings that pulled on a puppet. For a while, she floated, her head bowed, as her qi continued to rise sharply. Even Ardena was taken aback by the ominous sight.
Qi erupted from the blood, which began to boil, coating Murderous Crow in a crimson mist. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she writhed in agony, but somehow, she managed to endure all of it as she forced the expanding qi to spread throughout her body. Her eyes began glowing demonically, even as beads of perspiration poured down her face from the sheer exertion.
With a scream, she allowed all of the qi to explode around her, shrouding her body in a dark red fog before everything burst apart in a flutter of bloody feathers.