The mana bombs thrown by Mary rolled and scattered. Although they appeared to be small and innocent blue eggs, each one of them could end the lives of dozens of humans in an instant.
How many of these are there? How is it that one almost forgets about these things?
There were at least two hundred, according to a rough estimate.
Certainly, there wouldn't be too many people in the world crazy enough to request a battle with such lethal things scattered all around.
The plains, which until a few moments ago had been nothing but empty space, were now a death arena.
"Don't tell me you're afraid now. We've come this far. Don't disappoint your older sister..."
Shing!
Jin unsheathed Sigmund. Mary grinned widely upon seeing it.
Regardless of one's mastery, seeing him react like this would send shivers down anyone's spine. Fortunately, Jin was able to conceal his surprise.
"Yes, that's right."
Mary gradually raised her energy, causing her short and fluffy hair to flutter in the air.
Her eyes shone as if she were looking at her beloved, but they were filled with the spirit of battle and killing intent.
Indeed, Mary was not the strongest in the Runcandel clan. But in terms of pure reverence and enjoyment of battle and victory itself, none could rival her.
"May I take the first step?"
"Of course."
"Really?"
"Yes, I told you."
"Thanks for the offer, then."
Jin lowered his sword and assumed his stance. Mary was so ecstatic that she felt like she was flying. How long had she been waiting for this moment?
Their own father described him as a formidable force. Yes, the energy is extraordinary. Oh, the thrill, the satisfaction, the ecstasy! Jin, let's exchange blows all day until one of us ends up in the healer's care!
While Mary suppressed her excitement, Jin slowly prepared his attack.
His movement was extremely slow. It was so slow that Jin wouldn't have dared to make this move if Mary hadn't offered him the initiative.
Jin and Mary's bodies were extremely strong, though not as unbreakable as Luna's.
But even those bodies wouldn't last long after a full-fledged battle on the mana bomb-infested field they were in.
It would be better to end this with a single strike. I don't want to meet the healers twice in a row.
Jin intended to execute the first maneuver of the Shadow Blade, the Soul Slash.
He had trained the Soul Cut every day during the year he spent in Lafrarosa. But, of course, he was nowhere near mastery, which would allow him to stab the enemy's soul itself.
But Jin's Soul Slash had made a tremendous leap with training. He was skilled enough that he no longer had to tell himself to launch it like before, and the attack was now more deadly.
But if they gave him enough time to repeat the phrase like before and align his Shadow Energy, he could do much more.
He could even create a deadly force capable of threatening transcendent masters like Luna or Vanessa.
Therefore, assuming Mary would wait for him to make the first move, Jin could bring her to the brink of death with a single blow.
Sigmund's pale blade began to turn black.
Shadow Energy. It must be Solderet's power. This is quite dull compared to the excitement I felt when I first unsheathed the sword. No, it's not just dull. It's too weak. I don't feel anything at all.
Five seconds passed in that state.
Mary still seemed to have detected no threat.
After ten seconds like that, she was about to get angry. She wanted to yell at him and reprimand him for doing nothing.
Huh?
It was her natural fighter's instinct that instantly told her that the Shadow Energy gathering in Sigmund was dangerous.
That's an interesting sword technique. It emits no pressure at all, but it sends shivers down my spine!
Mary's instincts were always right.
And this is what her instincts told her: If she gave him just a few more seconds, she would be defeated in a single blow.
"Hey!" Mary suddenly closed the distance between her and Jin. She reached him in the blink of an eye and made a vertical slash.
Ching!
Jin had no choice but to stop the movement he was making and parry the attack.
"Mary, I thought you said you'd let me make the initial move."
"Don't push it too far, you shameless brat! I don't know what you were trying to do, but I know it was something beyond my capabilities."
"That's a misunderstanding. How could I know techniques like that if I haven't even been taught the final moves?"
"Anyway, I'm not letting you start with moves you can't even use in real fights."
Mary's eyes gleamed dangerously as she continued with more sword techniques. She dazzled Jin's sight with highly variable and destructive swordplay.
Tsk, that didn't work. She would never have felt the power of the Shadow Energy. Did she sense it by instinct?
Jin's Shadow Energy was currently at seven stars.
Shadow Energy was stronger than ordinary powers like aura or mana by two star grades, which meant that it could gather a destructive force of a nine-star aura or mana with just his Shadow Energy.
But that wasn't the only advantage of Shadow Energy. Unlike other forces, highly concentrated Shadow Energy emitted no presence.
It was the same principle by which shadows had no weight, regardless of their size.
However, Mary sensed the tremendous power of the other side of the energy that didn't emit presence, and Jin was forced to change his plans.
"Come on. You're the one taking this too far, Mary. We're not fighting for our lives. Why would you scatter bombs everywhere?"
"Haven't you heard of my old nickname?"
"The crazy b*tch of the southern continent?" Jin asked.
"Yes, I really liked that name. Much more than being called Mistral Mary these days."
Yes, the crazy b*tch suits you better.
Jin struggled not to add that remark and instead corrected his posture. Luckily, Jin had considered the possibility of interruptions, so he didn't end up with an overload of Shadow Energy.
Shik! Swip!
Mary began to release waves of blades around her. Jin took a step back and focused first on his defense.
The mana bombs were getting on his nerves. If he didn't carefully neutralize the sword waves, the bombs would detonate. And if even one exploded, a horrifying chain reaction of explosions would start.
Mary burst into laughter.
Their auras projected a dazzling play of lights in the air. Every clash of swords caused sparks and shockwaves that spread through the area.
For now, the shockwaves only scattered the bombs. But the unpredictability of their potential detonation sent chills down Jin's spine.
Mary's alias of being the crazy b*tch seemed quite fitting.
Jin fought with a thick aura barrier around him, but Mary was busy launching fierce attacks as if she didn't see the bombs surrounding her. In fact, she almost seemed to want them to explode as quickly as possible.
Is Mary the excessively sane type, just like Luna?
Luna was unaffected after the initiation ritual with the singing stones.
Perhaps the high-grade anti-personnel mana bombs only left scratches on Mary's body even if she received them without any shields.
"Uhuhu, bwahahaha! You block them so well. This is deadly!"
Swiff, swip, crack!
Mary's sword suddenly began to whip around like a whip.
Her favorite sword, Viper, appeared to be an ordinary longsword, but by unlocking its internal mechanism with aura, it turned into a chain sword.
The sword flew at a right angle and suddenly extended, bent, and twisted. Jin was dazzled by her attacks.
The chain sword struck the ground every time Jin evaded or parried. It scraped the earth and rocks, sending them flying. Meanwhile, the bombs vibrated as if they would explode at any moment.
The detonations were inevitable.
Jin saw a bomb right under his feet forming a tiny crack in slow motion.
Damn it.
Jin sighed and raised his aura. Due to the side effects of failing in his soul slash, he couldn't unleash the Shadow Energy.
This would have been easier if he had brought the Dark Light Armor.
But the Dark Light Armor was horribly damaged during training in Lafrarosa. He had to rely on his aura barrier and the Rune of Myulta.
Once the bombs start detonating, Mary will also suffer the damage. I just have to recover before her and attack first... huh?"
Jin's eyes widened. He saw it. The legendary silver armor hidden under Mary's coat! Upd𝒂ted chapters 𝒐n n𝒐velbin(.)com
The silver light armor. This armor, created along with the dark light armor, was another masterpiece of the Minche Smithing Association.
Indeed, Mary was sticking out her tongue with a euphoric expression on her face.
From the beginning, she hadn't wanted to face Jin fairly. The mana bombs weren't placed just for thrills.
You're not the only one who knows how to provoke others, Jin.
Mary smiled pleasantly, and Jin clenched his teeth. The truth was, it had been a long time since Jin felt tactically lost and provoked against his will.
He had no idea he would fall into such things against Mary.
He was caught off guard.
The chain reaction started with a deafening explosion.
The bombs certainly lived up to their high-grade anti-personnel purpose. These bombs Mary prepared were not only highly explosive but also filled with metallic shrapnel, just like the singing stones. The singing stones had limited power since they were constructed for training, but these mana bombs showed no mercy.
Boom, klang! Swip! Pew!
The explosions and flying shrapnel headed towards Jin at a speed intended to tear him apart.
The metallic shrapnel pierced through the shield barrier and tore through his body. If he didn't have the blessed Runcandel body, he would have been minced in a matter of seconds.
And that wasn't all. He had to deal with Mary's continuous attacks once again. He had a relatively smaller area to protect, thanks to the armor, and could move relatively freely.
Of course, the armor wasn't perfect. The shrapnel also lodged into his body. Clearly, that was followed by a pain that invited curses as a reaction.
But Mary was the kind who went for the jugular in exchange for a limb. Anyway, Jin was already at a disadvantage against her.
"I know these won't finish you off. But you'll have to risk a serious injury, at the very least. Then, I'll slowly tear you apart until I defeat you!"
The Adder chain sword flew without losing its strength, even amidst all the explosions.
She couldn't accurately target the critical points due to the smoke, but Mary felt the thrilling sensation of piercing flesh from time to time.
The explosions lasted for three minutes. Civilians and most martial artists would have been obliterated by the prolonged and powerful explosions.
Mary stood up and gasped as she waited for the dust to settle, hoping to see the tatters of her younger brother.
Once the dust cleared, she could see Jin on one knee, completely motionless like a statue. His body was drenched in blood, and he was coughing up blood as well.
"Are you okay? Have I gone too far? If you feel like you're about to die, let's stop here."
Mary wasn't the type to say those things. Mary immediately covered her chain sword with a new layer of aura. There was no need to lower her guard before she was certain she had crushed her enemy.
"Brother..."
Mary's eyes gleamed again at Jin's call. "Yes, my dear brother! You can still go on, can't you?"
Jin slowly lifted his head and finished his sentence. "I'm going to kill you."