On the other side of the battlefield, the clash between the imposter "Flamescion" and Ais had also reached a white-hot climax.
Riveria could only stand far in the back, constantly layering healing and defensive magic onto Ais.
The green light particles of [Fina Eildus] continuously showered over Ais, mending the wounds sliced open by the crimson sword aura. The emerald magic mantle of [Liv Illusion] was reinforced time and time again just as it was about to shatter, barely shielding her from the imposter's pervasive slashes.
Riveria couldn't step forward. Her offensive magic was completely useless against the enemy who possessed the [Silentium Eden], and she risked accidentally hitting Ais in the chaotic crossfire. As for close-quarters combat... if she joined in, she would only become a burden and distract her.
She could only watch helplessly as the blonde girl she treated like a daughter engaged in a desperate, life-or-death struggle against that terrifying killing machine.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Another rapid barrage of clashing blades rang out.
With every collision, the cyan gale whipped up by [Ariel] around Ais spun a fraction faster and grew a degree denser.
She was growing.
In this life-or-death battle, her potential was being squeezed out at an unprecedented rate. The swordsmanship inherited from her father—the man hailed as the strongest hero, the Mercenary King—was being unleashed to its absolute limits in her hands.
Charging at the imposter once more, Ais's eyes were filled with an unparalleled level of focus.
But she didn't realize that in the moment of her charge, "Flamescion," who had been attacking like a torrential storm, suddenly changed his movements.
He ceased all attacks, lowered his stance slightly, and adopted an entirely different starting posture. Gripping the flaming crimson lightsaber with both hands, he pointed the blade diagonally at the ground.
An unprecedented aura of danger emanated from him.
Ais's beast-like intuition screamed at her in warning.
But she didn't retreat.
She clearly tracked the trajectory of the single, incoming slash he was about to deliver. Channelling all of her physical strength and magic into Desperate, she swung her sword to meet him, unleashing her strongest slash, condensing all of her spirit and focus.
The two blades collided.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl.
Ais saw clearly that her sword had flawlessly parried his upward slash.
I blocked it.
The thought had barely crossed her mind.
In the very next instant.
Slash! Slash-slash! Slash-slash!
Out of thin air, without any prior warning, four identical crimson slashes appeared around her body at the exact same time, mercilessly cutting into her flesh.
Blood sprayed into the air.
One slash struck her waist, shredding her armor and flesh.
One slash hit her chest, leaving a gash deep enough to expose bone.
One slash tore into her shoulder, nearly severing her right arm entirely.
And the final, most lethal slash, cleanly traced across her snow-white, slender neck.
"AIS—!"
In the distance, Riveria let out a harrowing scream of grief, her pupils shrinking in horror as her face contorted with incomprehensible shock and terror.
She didn't understand.
How did Ais get hit?!
That strike... she had clearly blocked it!
A mouthful of blood erupted from Ais's lips, her body convulsing violently from the pain and impact. Her grip weakened, and Desperate slipped from her hands, spinning away into the air.
The imposter afforded her no time to breathe. He ruthlessly brought his flaming lightsaber down for another strike.
A beautifully tragic arc of crimson light slashed diagonally from Ais's left shoulder all the way down to her right hip.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, Ais was sent flying backwards by the immense force.
Riveria rushed over in an instant, catching her tightly in mid-air.
She didn't even have time to examine the injuries. Instantly pulling out an unimaginably expensive [Elixir]—reserved only for the most critical of emergencies—she poured the divinely glowing liquid directly onto the fatal wound across Ais's neck without a second thought.
Simultaneously, she chanted at breakneck speed, converting all of her magic power into the highest-tier healing magic and blanketing Ais's body.
Under the near-miraculous effects of the [Elixir], the terrifying gash on her neck instantly stopped spurting blood, healing at a visible rate. But the other wounds across her body continued to bleed profusely.
Ais weakly opened her eyes, struggling to stand up and place herself in front of Riveria once more.
Even without a sword in her hands.
"Don't move, Ais!"
Gripping her staff tightly, Riveria forcefully pulled Ais behind her protectively. She stared at the imposter walking towards them like the grim reaper, her voice trembling as she asked, "What just happened, Ais?!"
She couldn't comprehend how, with Ais's strength, she could be defeated so decisively, so... bizarrely.
"I... don't know..."
Ais's face was as pale as paper. She clutched her agonizing wounds, every breath pulling at her muscles and causing her beautiful face to twitch in pain.
Fighting through the agony, she relayed what had just occurred.
"But, in that single instant, he... he swung five times."
"I only managed to block one."
Riveria's face twitched violently, sheer disbelief written all over her features.
"How is that possible?!"
How could one person launch five slashes at the exact same time?!
No matter how fast a sword was, no matter how extraordinary the speed, there had to be a time interval between one slash and the next, no matter how infinitesimal. And with Ais's dynamic vision and reaction speed, she absolutely should have been able to capitalize on that interval.
But the reality was: there was no interval.
In the exact same fraction of a second that Ais's blade clashed with his, four other slashes materialized out of thin air and struck her simultaneously.
It was as if those four slashes hadn't been swung by "Flamescion" at all, but rather manifested from another dimension entirely.
The mechanics behind it were completely incomprehensible.
But Riveria knew that she and Ais were cornered.
Although the [Elixir] and her healing magic had saved Ais's life for now, she needed time to recover.
And the fake "Flamescion" was clearly not going to give them that time.
----
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