The massive water greatsword not only perfectly blocked the ambush from Tione Hiryute's twin daggers, but the immense force behind it also numbed Tione's hands, forcing her to stumble back several steps to bleed off the recoil.
At the same time, the spear in his right hand was already closing in on Tiona Hiryute's back.
"Get lost—!!!"
A furious wolf's howl erupted.
A silver flash descended from the sky. Bete Loga completed a highly difficult backflip in mid-air, his right leg slashing down toward Childe's head like a battle axe, carrying the sharp whistle of tearing air.
The metal boots on his feet, known as Flos Virt, were already glowing a dangerous red from the high-speed friction.
The kick was as fast as lightning, and its power was no weaker than Tiona's slashes.
Faced with this crushing blow, Childe had to abandon his pursuit of Tiona.
He released both hands simultaneously, allowing the spear and greatsword to instantly dissipate into flowing water.
Immediately after, he thrust both hands upward.
A thick, solid greatshield of water instantly formed above his head.
Bete's descending kick smashed heavily into the water shield, erupting with a muffled boom like rolling thunder.
The surface of the water shield shuddered violently, sending countless droplets flying in all directions.
But to their horror, the seemingly fragile water shield forcibly endured a strike capable of shattering refined steel without showing a single crack.
"I'm not done yet!!!"
Bete's eyes were bloodshot. Using the counter-shock, he forcibly twisted his waist in mid-air. His left leg became a blur, sweeping toward the side of Childe's neck at an angle that defied human skeletal structure.
At this moment, Ais Wallenstein, having just steadied herself, rejoined the fray.
She held nothing back, her sword falling like torrential rain.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Her rapier transformed into an airtight curtain of silver light, every thrust aimed directly at Childe's vitals.
To his right was Bete's storm of consecutive kicks; to his front was Ais's blindingly fast barrage of slashes; to his left was Tione, closing in once more, brandishing her short knives in search of an opening; and to his rear was Tiona, having regained her footing and charging forward with a roar, giant blade raised high.
The four First-Class Adventurers of the Loki Familia had, in this moment, formed a flawless, inescapable net of certain death.
However, standing at the center of the storm, Childe seemed to be putting on a magnificent solo performance.
He showed no panic; in fact, the smile on his face only grew wider.
"Excellent! This pressure, this bloodlust!"
He laughed aloud, his hands continuously grasping and swinging through the empty air.
The water flowed through his hands as if it possessed a life of its own.
Facing Ais's extreme rapid-fire slashes, he conjured two lightweight, one-handed water swords. Meeting speed with speed, he dismantled her moves one by one, parrying the dizzying rain of blades.
Facing Bete's ferocious kicks, he instantly merged his twin swords into a heavy water hammer, meeting absolute power head-on and knocking the werewolf back repeatedly.
Facing Tione's tricky sneak attacks, his hammer dismantled into a flexible water whip. Not only did it force her back, but it also entangled her short knives, nearly disarming her.
And when Tiona's giant blade cleaved down, the whip in his hands instantly shortened and hardened, morphing into a sharp water halberd that precisely deflected her attack trajectory.
A mastery of countless martial arts flowed effortlessly from his fingertips.
He was like a martial arts grandmaster who had honed his craft over countless centuries, maximizing the unique properties of every weapon.
Whether it was close-quarters infighting, sweeping long-pole attacks, or the grappling of flexible weapons, he switched between them flawlessly, without the slightest hint of stiffness or hesitation.
Even more terrifying was that he wasn't just defending.
In the gaps between dismantling their four-pronged assault, he always managed to launch fierce counterattacks from the most unexpected angles, using the most appropriate weapon.
The water weapons in his hands were infinitely shifting—sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes rigid, sometimes flexible.
One second it was a heavy great-axe, and the next it might be a venomous dagger.
This utterly unpredictable combat style left Bete and the others completely bound up, finding the fight excruciatingly difficult.
"H-How is this possible?!"
On the edge of the battlefield, Lefiya Viridis, who had been watching intently, couldn't help but let out a gasp of disbelief.
Her pretty blue eyes were wide, her small hands tightly covering her mouth.
"Miss Ais, Mr. Bete, and the others... they're actually being suppressed?!"
She couldn't believe the scene unfolding before her eyes.
These were the pride of the Loki Familia, First-Class Adventurers standing at the pinnacle of Orario. With the four of them working together, they could slaughter even a Floor Boss-class monster in a short amount of time.
Yet now, facing this mysterious young man calling himself "Childe," not only did they fail to gain the upper hand, but they were also completely suppressed by him single-handedly.
"Where did this guy come from?"
Finn Deimne's brows were tightly knitted together. Biting his thumb nail, his deep blue eyes flickered with unprecedented solemnity.
"Such exquisite martial prowess... skills that could almost be described as 'divine'... why have I never heard of him in Orario?"
Beside him, Riveria Ljos Alf's expression was equally grim.
She gripped her staff tightly, ready to step in and offer support at a moment's notice.
"It's not just his martial prowess."
Riveria said in a low voice, "Finn, have you noticed? His control over the rhythm of the battle is terrifying."
Finn nodded, letting out a heavy sigh.
He saw the root of the problem.
Ais, Bete, Tiona, Tione... they were strong. Incredibly strong.
But most of the time, they were fighting against monsters in the Dungeon that slaughtered purely on instinct and brute force.
Monsters were powerful, but their attack patterns were usually simple and straightforward.
As long as you grasped their patterns, it wasn't hard to deal with them using the superhuman physical attributes and rich experience of an adventurer.
However, the "Childe" before them was a living, breathing human being.
A supreme martial artist who had mastered all weapons and honed human combat techniques to their absolute zenith.
Against this kind of enemy—one who could see through flaws, utilize terrain, and even turn the momentum of an opponent's attack against them—the four Loki Familia members clearly lacked sufficient experience in "anti-personnel combat."
Those grand, sweeping moves that served as fatal trump cards against monsters became glaring vulnerabilities when used against a grandmaster like Childe.
If they weren't relying on their high-level physical stats to brute-force their way through, this battle would have likely ended long ago.
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