Aldrich's eyes locked onto the woman with the spear, his focus sharp as he anticipated her first move. She lunged forward with lightning speed, the poisoned tip aimed straight at him. Aldrich swiftly rolled to the side, narrowly evading the lethal strike.
Meanwhile, the greatsword warrior charged Aldrich, raising his weapon for a devastating overhead swing. Aldrich held his twin swords to meet the colossal blade, channelling his raw mana to boost his physical strength. The clash of steel reverberated through the forest as Aldrich struggled to hold his ground against the warrior's immense raw power.
Before the greatsword could overpower him, Aldrich disengaged, leaping backwards. He circled around the duo, always trying to keep their weapons in his field of display.
"Should I use Noct and Luna?" Aldrich thought it might be risky, as his summons were not agile enough to evade these attacks.
"Give up your weapons and artefacts, and we will let you go", the female warrior holding the spear said. She knew her group would be at a disadvantage if the battle went on, as Aldrich provided them with no opening in his attacks.
"This boy is good, and so is the girl. Who are they?" she thought.
Aldrich had no intention of giving up as he readied his twin swords, aiming to defeat his opponents quickly.
Meanwhile, Remi clashed against the Archer, fighting a battle of agility. Both ran across the jungle, trying to find an opening in the other person.
Remi changed her strategy as she hid herself in the bushes, making it hard for the Archer to locate her.
The Archer stood poised on a moss-covered rock, his bow drawn taut, eyes scanning the surroundings.
With a flick of her wrist, Remi sent a small stone flying, momentarily drawing the Archer's attention away. The Archer shot his arrow towards the projectile before realizing it was a distraction, but Remi seized the opportunity and darted closer, flaring her mana to increase her agility.
Closing the distance between them, Remi unleashed a series of precise strikes using her shortsword, but they were parried successfully by the Archer's bow. Remi launched a barrage of daggers towards the Archer, which were countered by the mana-infused arrows of the warrior. Both were evenly matched and knew they had to end the battle quickly.
Remi hopped on a tree and started jumping from tree to tree, increasing her speed and turning into a blur, circling around the Archer. The Archer realized what the opponent was planning as he held its bow towards the sky.
"It's over", Remi could see the Archer muttering.
The Archer shot the arrow towards the sky, flying at a really high speed. The arrow suddenly exploded as countless projectiles started to fall towards the forest at an incredibly high speed.
Remi sensed the barrage of projectiles coming her way as she held her shortsword tightly before flaring up her mana and rushing towards the Archer. She used her movement techniques to swiftly dodge the projectiles heading towards her.
She reached the Archer, exhausted from his previous attack, slitting his throat, instantly killing him.
"haha", she panted, knowing that the battle was not over and she had to rush to support Aldrich.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle,
"Keith must be at the end of his ropes", the woman said, looking at the rain of projectiles in the sky over the forest. She signalled her teammate to end the battle quickly.
"You know what will happen if the boss sees us like this. This was already the last chance he gave us".
The face of the greatsword warrior stiffened, revealing intense fear for their boss.
The two flared up their mana, ready to do anything to defeat the opponent in front of them.
Aldrich held his two swords as he flared up the Light and Dark mana inside both swords.
He channelled the power of both dark and light mana through his swords, creating an aura of ethereal energy around him. As the woman with the spear lunged again, he unleashed a fusion of dark and light mana, releasing a burst of energy that forced the female warrior to retreat momentarily.
The greatsword warrior seized the opportunity, charging in with an earth-shaking roar. Aldrich dealt with the attack head-on, using the light mana to create a blinding flash, momentarily distracting the greatsword user. He took advantage of the opening, dealing a barrage of rapid thrusts, heavily injuring the warrior.
"NOO", the female warrior leapt forward, trying to protect his teammate, but Aldrich had already predicted her movements, as he created a slash of Dark mana, charging it towards her. The warrior tried to dodge the slash, but the slash exploded before reaching her, creating a layer of smoke, from which Aldrich leapt out, slashing the female warrior's throat and killing her on the spot.
[Host has defeated a Peak two-star warrior]
Remi reached the spot where Aldrich was fighting to notice the female warrior lying dead while the other was unconscious.
"Monster", she looked at Aldrich; he was injured and heavily breathing; she knew that the battle had also taken a toll on him.
"The Archer is dead. Only that guy is left", she said.
"We need to acquire information from him. You can do that better, I believe", Aldrich said.
Remi took out her dagger, sprinkling some powder on it, "Of course", she said with a devious smile.
Suddenly, a heavy aura spread around the entire forest; Aldrich and Remi looked around to find a group of men and women walking towards them.
Aldrich noticed the man walking in front of the group, "He is strong, maybe a peak three-star", he said to Remi.
The man stopped in front of the unconscious warrior before taking out his sword and slashing his throat.
He walked towards Aldrich, stopping in front of him.
It seemed like the two warriors were measuring each other's strength.
"Are you heading towards Count Ash's territory?"