Even as everything exploded violently around her, Ardena maintained her calm posture, clutching her sword tightly as she watched her opponent warily. She wasn't despicable enough to strike when Murderous Crow was executing her technique, choosing instead to weather whatever tricks or ultimate techniques her enemy could come up with.
That way, her victory would be all the more satisfying and convincing. It also had something to do with a warrior's pride or honor. I wasn't sure. But it was the same reason why I didn't just shoot Murderous Crow down with an arrow while she was doing her Dragonball like powerup.
And a powerup it was. As the blood red sphere blew up, spewing bloody feathers around, Murderous Crow had transformed. She didn't look all too different, to be honest, except that she had lost all of her hair, exposing demonic tattoos inked across her now bald scalp. The single main difference was the pair of crow-like wings that now protruded from her back, giving her a monstrous visage.
"Sixth level of Mystic Demon Illusion technique: Lethal Blood Transmutation!"
As her wings unfurled, she swung her huge sword and unleashed a tide of demonic energy that ripped out a crater from the ground. Licking the blood off her lips, she began cackling wildly.
"The real fun begins now! Heh!"
My jaw dropped, not just from the transformation in physical appearance or the emergence of new wings, but from the sheer amount of demonic qi she was exuding. A malevolent aura that almost suffocated me just from the stifling presence alone. It almost felt as if a snake had crawled over my body and was constricting my breath.
And then, in a flutter of black feathers, Murderous Crow disappeared. I almost couldn't catch her movements, and I was sure that even if I started shooting now, I wouldn't be able to hit her with a single arrow. So great was her speed that I was caught entirely by surprise.
Fortunately, Murderous Crow's target wasn't me.
Ardena remained as calm as ever, raising her sword to parry Murderous Crow's first strike, but her opponent sped away, turning into a blur that almost caught her flatfooted. Ardena staggered, not expecting the sudden tremendous increase in strength, and Murderous Crow's blade lashed out, lacerating her hip and shoulder before she had a chance to react, sending out geysers of blood. Ardena reflexively hurled herself away, almost clumsily crashing to the ground.
Blood spilling from her lips, she looked around frantically for the foe, but Murderous Crow descended upon her from behind, her Annihilator cleaving another furrow into the ground. Fortunately, Ardena's intuition was on point, and she managed to fling herself to the side to avoid being cut apart.
"Ha ha! You're not getting away!"
However, Murderous Crow would not be denied, and she dove after the retreating Ardena, swinging her Annihilator with wild abandon. Despite her best attempts to parry and block, Ardena sustained deep wounds, blood spraying everywhere as Murderous Crow's blade found flesh and sliced through clothing.
Another vicious blow sent Ardena flying, but she made use of the massive momentum to cartwheel away, withdrawing to a relatively safe distance. She left a trail of blood as she put as much distance between herself and her opponent as possible, but this time, Murderous Crow didn't pursue her. Instead, she chuckled and licked the blood off the blade of her heavy sword.
"Heh! I can finally have a taste of your blood!"
Savoring the taste and licking off large amounts of blood that continued to spill from her lips, Murderous Crow cackled.
"Ha ha ha! I love it!"
Far from being discouraged, Ardena straightened her posture and studied her opponent coolly. Despite her wounds, her expression remained unchanged and she nodded contemplatively.
"I understand now."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"Aside from your speed and strength that has increased several times, it doesn't seem like you have anything else?" Ardena cocked her head to the side. "I thought your transformation would grant you new abilities, but apart from that new winged appearance, it doesn't seem all that impressive?"
She sighed and shook her head in mock disappointment before she held her Dainsleif up with both hands.
"If all that technique does is boost your speed and strength, I don't see how you'll win."
Murderous Crow's eyes widened at Ardena's bravado. Despite her boast, the elvish sword saint had suffered several injuries – most of them deep cuts – and I could see perspiration roll down her face as she breathed heavily. Even so, the confidence that she exuded was unmistakable. She truly believed that her victory was inevitable.
It was this, more than anything else, that ticked Murderous Crow off. But the psychotic bitch simply laughed and leaped up, launching blood-red blades composed of demonic qi at her opponent. The barrage of demonic blades sliced toward the stationary Ardena, who stood her ground despite the visually intimidating storm of blood.
"Ha ha! You think so? Let's see how I'll lose then!"
While their duel wreaked untold devastation across the forest's edge, felling trees and turning the earth into a desolate wasteland, I continued to spectate the battle from afar. Despite being so far away, and with my arrow still trained on Murderous Crow as I struggled to keep up with her speed, I had turned incredibly pale.
Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip on my bow and arrow, feeling chills as I recognized the chasm between them and myself.
"Are they really that strong?"
Ardena swung Dainsleif, unleashing a golden mana burst that blasted an overconfident Murderous Crow away. Despite just barely evading the powerful strike, Murderous Crow felt blood drip from a cut on her face and leak from her lips as she desperately flapped her wings to get out of range. She shook her head in disbelief.
"What? Did she suddenly get stronger and faster? No…was she holding back her true strength the entire time?"
Rising higher and higher, she flapped her wings and hurled feather-like projectiles, each as sharp as a dagger. The hail of feather blades – resembling those fired by my Arrow Owls and Grim Owls – rained down on Ardena, who simply disintegrated them with a sweep of her sword. She didn't even execute a mana burst. The golden aura that shrouded the blade of her treasure weapon formed a destructive barrier that erased any threat to its wielder.
"Holy Terra! God-Emperor of Man!" I gasped, watching the spectacular spectacle. Yeah, sorry, I was just typing stuff out my ass at this point of time and I read way too many Warhammer 40,000 stories, but I still couldn't help but marvel at the incredible sight. "Ardena is a true master of swordsmanship. I mean, I saw her fight back in Yggdrasil, but she never ceases to amaze me! I need to learn more from her if I ever want to catch up to her level!"
Well, she probably honed her swordsmanship over centuries while I only had less than twenty years of practice and experience, but still…
I kept my eyes peeled, staring as Ardena and Murderous Crow charged at each other again. Spreading her wings, Murderous Crow soared across the skies at incredible speeds, swooping down and using her entire body weight behind her downward slash. Ardena glanced up and judged that it was wiser not to parry this blow directly.
Instead, she jumped away, spinning in midair as Murderous Crow's Annihilator sunk deeply into the earth, throwing up debris of rock and dirt. Dragging her sword out in a spray of sand, Murderous Crow was about to swing her heavy sword to cleave Ardena apart while she was still vulnerable in midair and unable to alter her trajectory, but the elvish sword saint stabbed her Dainsleif into the ground and used the treasure sword as a pivot to swing herself away from Murderous Crow's otherwise fatal slash. Instead, she spun herself about and around to deliver a kick right at the back of her foe's head, sending her careening forward with a cry of pain.
Despite being stunned, Murderous Crow quickly recovered and countered with a riposte, but Ardena was up to the task, parrying the hastily delivered strike with her sword and disarming her opponent with a confident flick. As Annihilator embedded itself into the ground a few meters away, Ardena thrust her Dainsleif into her now vulnerable opponent's chest and drew another trickle of blood. Realizing that she was defeated, Murderous Crow tried to back away, but Ardena continued to pursue her, pushing her blade deeper.
Snarling, Murderous Crow twisted her body around and kicked Ardena in the gut, knocking her aside before she flung herself away to a safe distance. It came at a cost, for blood spilled from her chest, but Murderous Crow didn't care. She reached out with her hand and barked a command.
"Annihilator!"
Her spirit sword dislodged itself from the ground and flew right into her grip.
"Huff…"
Even though she had retrieved Annihilator, Murderous Crow realized how badly outmatched she was. Blood was spilling profusely from her chest and her breathing was ragged. Perspiration poured down her face, and her complexion was ashen. She didn't have long left and she knew it. Ardena was aware of her foe's rapidly deteriorating condition and she stoically watched her from afar, as if waiting for her final act of defiance.
She was going to crush everything Murderous Crow threw at her and win convincingly.
Clicking her tongue, she turned back to glare at the now empty tree, only to realize in dismay that her captured hostage had been rescued and that everyone had escaped while she was distracted by all the fighting. There was nothing she could use to threaten Ardena into letting her go. Frustration welled up in her face and she gritted her teeth, contemplating her dwindling options.
Exerting one last blast of qi, Murderous Crow conjured a Mystic Demon Illusion that turned into a gigantic skeleton. Ardena frowned and pounced, realizing that something was amiss. Even as the gigantic skeleton loomed over her, raising its bony arm to crush her under its immense mass, she responded with a single powerful strike that glowed with golden energies. In that one stroke, she cleaved the skeleton apart, which then disintegrated instantly from the destructive golden mana that engulfed it like a living tide.
But even as she split the skeleton apart in a single blow, Ardena stood there in smoldering anger, watching the destruction bitterly. Her expression remained calm as ever, but when she finally spoke up, her voice was icy.
"She escaped, huh?"
Ardena shook her head, but made no move to pursue. She was hurt and exhausted, and she knew that Murderous Crow must be faraway by now. She had no idea where to even begin searching. With a sigh, she turned away from the battlefield and returned to the city, heading in the same direction as Tong Xue, Hao Ren and Qin Ying.
Meanwhile, Murderous Crow staggered in a place far away, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. She was no longer in her Lethal Blood Transmutation form, her wings having vanished and her hair having returned to her scalp. She had managed to get clear after flying away at top speed, but evidently her technique had expired and she had crashed heavily onto the ground. Even then, the thought of being pursued by Ardena filled her ravaged limbs with new strength and she persevered in her escape. She coughed out a mouthful of blood and swayed, throwing out a hand to lean on a tree as she stumbled. Wheezing and spitting out more bloody foam, she stopped to catch her breath, one hand on her chest as she fought to stem the bleeding.
Then she suddenly froze. Looking up with wide eyes, she stared for a moment before she burst out laughing.
"Ha ha…ha ha ha ha ha!"
I was standing right in front of her, waiting patiently for her to finally come to a stop. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I smirked.
"Shall we pick up where we left off earlier?"