A large pit, a meter wide, forms where the wind blade struck, but when the dust settles, nothing is there. The mage frowns, bewildered by the situation.
A scream echoes, blood spraying through the air, tainting the fresh atmosphere with a scent of blood.
"Brother!" The red-haired swordsman sees his brother Rekt screaming, suffering a similar fate with a slit throat, his eyes filled with reluctance and fear.
Tears fill the red-haired swordsman's eyes as he looks at Rekt lying on the ground. They grew up together, trained together, took on tasks together, and shared dreams for the future. Now, all is gone with the blood flowing from Rekt's throat and the fear and reluctance in his eyes.
The red-haired swordsman tightly grips his sword, his body shaking, eyes blazing with a fierce light, "Rekt, my brother, I will avenge you. I will make him suffer more than death."
He turns to the fourth-tier mage and says, "Atlante, should anything unusual happen, cast your wide-area magic immediately. Capture that boy, dead or alive. I'll report this to our master."
Atlante, the mage, nods in agreement. The mage's pride is wounded as they've suffered casualties without even making contact with their enemy. Out of two, they have lost. This forces Atlante to put aside his dignity and pride.
He then takes out his magic wand from a space ring, his mental power spreading out, gathering magic, ready to unleash a powerful spell as soon as Ye Han appears.
"So, that person was your brother? I'm so sorry, I killed him without noticing, haha," Ye Han's voice taunts, echoing around.
"Come out and face me in a fair fight!" the red-haired swordsman shouts at the surroundings.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I wonder if you are brain-damaged or simply foolish to think that I, who have trained for less than a year, would fight you fairly," Ye Han mocks.
"Do not pay attention to him; he is trying to disrupt your focus," the mage advises the red-haired swordsman calmly.
"Your brother just told me he is lonely down there. Do you want to join him?" The red-haired swordsman, having heard Atlante's words, doesn't respond to Ye Han again but focuses on his surroundings.
"You don't seem to care much about your brother. Maybe you wished for his death. After all, he was stronger and more talented than you. You must be jealous, so you're happy that he's dead, aren't you?"
"There!"
"Great Wind Blade!" Three even larger wind blades appear beside Atlante, moving in a formation faster than before.
A thunderous explosion echoes through the silent mountains as the wind blades collide.
At the moment of the explosion, a "whoosh" of a blade slicing through flesh is heard close by. A spray of blood follows, and a sword-wielding arm flies through the air.
"Ah!" The red-haired swordsman clutches his right shoulder in agony, blood pouring as he rolls on the ground. He soon stops moving, and the scent of blood grows stronger in the air.
Atlante looks at everything before him, his face pale with terror. What kind of person are they facing? Four of them set out to kill, and within moments, three are dead, each attack timed with chilling precision, exploiting every opening they have.
"Are you shocked?" Ye Han's voice rises again next to Atlante's ear, not as elusive as before.
Atlante snaps out of his thoughts, looking toward the voice to see a handsome young man in blood-stained clothes from the Helian family, playing with a short sword dripping with fresh blood.
"How could you..." Atlante asks uncertainly.
"Did you want to ask why I revealed myself?" Ye Han responds casually. Atlante nods, assuming that's an answer.
"I just wanted to see the power of a mage."
"Just for that, you killed them?"
"Their presence only hindered me. I couldn't have a proper fight with you otherwise."
Hearing Ye Han's words, Atlante's expression softens slightly, but what Ye Han says next thoroughly enrages the noble mage.
"I've never fought a mage before. I just wanted to experience how fighting a mage differs from a swordsman. Also, I wanted to know if I, now, could kill someone of fourth-tier late-stage strength."
"You are arrogant," Atlante says angrily.
"Heh, just average."
"If you had attacked from the shadows, I wouldn't stand a chance, but now that you've revealed yourself, let me show you the strength of a mage." Atlante then casts a flight spell on himself, rising a meter above the ground, his magic wand glowing with a soft blue light.
"Heh, I hope your words match your strength. Don't disappoint me," Ye Han says as he moves quickly,
leaving multiple afterimages behind.
"Tornado," Atlante summons a rapidly spinning tornado in front of him. "Go!" The tornado moves towards Ye Han, who chuckles slightly, knowing it's just a probing attack. He could have easily dodged it, but he chooses to let his mental power feel the magic instead.
Shortly after, Ye Han deftly dodges the tornado and swiftly moves towards Atlante in the air.
"Hmph," Atlante sees Ye Han's action, clearly understanding his intent.
"Elements of the wind, rage, roar, use your boundless power to tear apart everything before you, turn it all to nothing and return to nature," Atlante chants. The wind elements around him start to converge fiercely.
Ye Han knows the opponent is using intermediate magic and it won't be easy to withstand. He focuses and accelerates, leaping high into the air, shouting, "Straight to the Dragon's Lair!" Multiple afterimages and a surge of energy cause ripples around Ye Han's legs.
As Atlante finishes his chant with a shout, "Wind Dust, Explode!"
"Boom!"
A colossal noise rings out as Atlante's magic collides with Ye Han's attack, the explosive force and strong winds scattering the surrounding trees.
The dust settles as Ye Han evades three giant wind blades, with Atlante preparing his second spell.
"Elements of the wind, go wild, wreak havoc, roar. Merge into the ethereal space, turn everything before you into nothingness."
A massive vortex appears in the sky, furiously absorbing wind elements. Weeds are uprooted by the powerful suction, and cracks form on the ground.
"Pseudo Space Storm," Atlante shouts, and the vortex's gathered wind elements form an immense storm. Countless giant wind swords and blades in the storm spin towards Ye Han's location. Ye Han is engulfed by the wind swords, facing Atlante's strongest magic as a late fourth-tier mage.