At this moment, most of those who had wanted to join the battle had already done so.
Whether it was the ones who had originally been on the ground or those standing atop the surrounding buildings, once the one-on-one duels in the battleground completely devolved into an all-out battle royale, they ultimately could not restrain themselves and rushed into the fight.
As a result, the number of people remaining on the rooftops sharply decreased, leaving only a scattered few who still stood in place, watching from the sidelines.
Of the eleven Sword Masters Riezel had been watching, all but two or three had joined the battle.
They were undoubtedly the most powerful present, and the moment they joined, they headed straight for Kane—some clashing with each other to block the way, others attacking Kane together, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
Before long, Kane had already sustained several injuries.
"He's mine!"
Upon witnessing the scene, the battle maniac named Leo actually took the initiative to attack the Sword Masters who were besieging Kane.
In his hand, Leo gripped a sword-like blade. His eyes suddenly turned a deep crimson, and a blood-red magical energy flared around him.
As he swung the blade down, it unleashed a gory sword light that, with a thunderous roar, sent several Sword Masters flying.
Riezel, who had been watching Kane closely, narrowed his eyes upon seeing this scene.
It couldn't be helped.
'Demon Sword Style?'
Indeed, it was the Demon Sword Style.
In the past, when Riezel had been invited by Yuri to participate in the War Festival in the Frenzel Territory, he had witnessed this very swordsmanship in the hands of Jill Dardis—the Demon Swordsman with an insatiable thirst for blood.
'He's a Demon Swordsman?'
Riezel fixed his gaze on Leo, who was slaughtering his way across the battleground.
Leo's eyes had turned completely crimson—redder even than Riezel's own when he used [Hell Finegas] to enter a berserk state—as if he had lost all reason.
Every time Leo's blade fell, anyone who attempted to attack or bypass him was sent flying without exception.
Several fighters, who had yet to reach the expert level but were already Sword Masters, found themselves—through a moment of carelessness—skewered through the body by Leo's sharp blade.
They fell to the ground wide-eyed, disbelief etched on their faces, their aura gone.
Confronted with such a ferocious Leo, the surrounding fighters seemed frightened—those lacking strength had already turned and fled without hesitation, and even those confident in their abilities had stepped back a considerable distance.
A few Sword Masters who had been close to Leo now subtly avoided him, clearly wary of his presence.
In this state, Leo seemed to have completely forgotten that Kane was carrying something he wanted, as he charged through the crowd with crimson eyes, leaving almost no one in his path alive—some sliced cleanly in half, others run through and left dead on the ground, including more than a few Sword Masters.
Eventually, the blood-red magical energy surrounding Leo grew even denser, his eyes became an even deeper red, and his aura surged, making him far stronger than before.
Needless to say, this was the ability of the Demon Sword Style—to grow stronger as the battle went on, and the more blood it absorbed, the greater the power gained.
Because of this ability, although Leo had lost most of his reason, he had become all the more dangerous. Now, the aura sweeping out from him was no weaker than that of Albert Borley—perhaps even stronger.
'No wonder he's the strongest here.'
Riezel gave the Demon Swordsman a deep look before shifting his focus back to Kane.
At this point, Kane seemed ready to retreat.
Now, his body was covered in wounds, and the members of his mercenary group, Dragon Horn, had fallen one after another under the siege of many.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
Kane was driven to the brink of madness by rage, yet he also felt a deep powerlessness in the face of the situation.
If their opponent had only been the Illusionist, then neither he nor the Dragon Horn would have feared them.
As one of the three strongest mercenary groups in Sinielle, the Illusionist possessed overwhelming strength. Captain Jayden had even faintly earned the title of Sinielle's strongest magician, as his combat power rivaled that of the top expert Sword Masters.
Regardless, the Dragon Horn was no ordinary underground force either.
If one were to rank the various factions within Sinielle's underworld, the Dragon Horn might not make the top three, but it would certainly be in the top five.
Kane was its strongest member—an expert Sword Master from Reiburg who had once served as a knight under a marquis.
However, after slaughtering an entire family in a fit of rage following a quarrel, Kane had been branded a criminal and was forced to flee to Sinielle, where he made a name for himself in the underworld.
Dragon Horn also had three Sword Masters, all loyal to Kane.
For this operation, Kane had brought two of them with him, leaving only one behind to guard their base.
Now, however, both of the Sword Masters who had come with him lay dead—one in a pool of blood, the other in a deep crater, his mangled body making it impossible for him to rise again.
How could Kane not be enraged?
How could he not be furious?
How could he not hate?
It was clear that even if he escaped by some miracle, the Dragon Horn would be left devastated—perhaps even swallowed up soon after by enemies and rivals, disappearing from the underworld altogether.
Knowing this, Kane's heart was filled with both hatred and regret.
If he had known it would come to this, he never would have coveted that item.
As two more Sword Masters charged toward him, Kane roared.
"You want this thing, Jayden?! Take it!"
Shouting in anger, Kane pulled a box from his chest and threw it toward Jayden, who was blasting the Dragon Horn members away with his magic.
"!!!"
Jayden's expression changed instantly.
He understood at once—Kane was trying to divert disaster onto him.
However, when Jayden saw the box flying his way, the impulse in his heart overpowered his reason, and by reflex, he reached out and caught it.
"Dammit!"
Rhea, just as she cut down a sneak attacker, was shocked rather than pleased by the sight.
"Brother! Run!"
No sooner had Rhea's words left her mouth than several Sword Masters took to the air, flying straight toward Jayden.
Clearly, they had switched targets.
"Rhea!"
As the cold indifference on Jayden's face vanished, replaced by solemn urgency, he threw the box toward Rhea just before being surrounded by the incoming Sword Masters.
"Take it and everyone else! Go!"
Without looking back, Jayden gave a low, grim shout, and then, as if ready to risk his life, he began chanting a long, complex magic spell, summoning a massive wall of fire that roared outward.
It was the widest range and most powerful magic in Jayden's arsenal—once cast, it displayed power and coverage second only to Tactical-Class Magic.
*BOOM!*
With a deafening explosion, it swallowed all the strong fighters charging toward him.
"Brother!"
Rhea cried out as she clutched the box.
"Big Sis! Hurry! Don't end up like the Dragon Horn!"
A burly man reached Rhea's side just in time, swinging his sword to drive back attackers who had slipped through to her, then shouted while forcing them back.
Rhea understood what the burly man meant.
If she stayed, the Illusionist might end up like the Dragon Horn—the target of everyone's attacks.
They would be the ones surrounded when that happened.
"...I understand!"
Rhea spoke through gritted teeth.
Even though she was worried about Jayden's situation, she chose to trust her brother.
In the next moment, Rhea turned her head, ready to make her escape, but how could the people here possibly just watch their prize fly away?
"Don't even think about running!"
"Hand over that box!"
"Give it to me!"
"Go to hell!"
Amid the barrage of shouts and curses, several expert Sword Masters could no longer hold back and lunged toward Rhea.
"AAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Seeing them charging at Rhea, the burly man roared and lunged forward.
Magical energy violently surged around him, his sword sweeping up gusts of wind as he slashed fiercely at the oncoming expert Sword Masters.
Yet how could one man hope to fight several expert Sword Masters at once?
Even against just one, he would not have been a match, let alone several.
After all, he had not yet reached the level of an expert Sword Master equivalent to Level 6, but was merely among the Sword Masters of Level 5, far from a real match for them.
*BANG!*
As a result, with a thunderous crash, the burly man was sent flying, slamming into a roadside building and vanishing into the rubble.
"Big Guy!"
Rhea could not help but cry out upon seeing the scene, but in that brief moment, someone finally caught up to her.
*Thud!*
With a dull thud, Rhea was punched hard, sent flying, and crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.
"Hahaha!"
A Sword Master had seized the box, laughing as it landed neatly in his arms from midair.
He was a scrawny, short swordsman wielding a rapier engraved with numerous blood grooves, and his entire presence exuded a cold, sinister aura.
Among the many Sword Masters present, this short swordsman had the weakest presence—clearly someone who specialized in stealth, much like the Shadow Sword Saint Rohm.
Moreover, although his direct attack power wasn't high, his speed was arguably the fastest among everyone here.
"It's mine now!"
Having secured the box, the short swordsman instantly turned into a blur of black, vanishing with wind-like speed as he slipped away without a sound.
"Fuck! Stop!"
"Don't let him go!"
"Leave it here!"
Seeing this, the remaining Sword Masters tensed, abandoning their current opponents one by one to rush after the short swordsman.
Only Kane, battered and covered in wounds, turned without hesitation when he saw the short swordsman trying to flee with the box—apparently intending to escape himself.
However, almost immediately, a streak of fire shot toward him, forcing him back to his spot.
"Dammit, Jayden!"
Kane's rage boiled over.
"Trying to make us cover for you?"
Kneeling on one knee in the distance, panting and glaring coldly at Kane, Jayden's clothes were scorched and marked with char.
"Then you're not leaving either!"
As those words left Jayden's mouth, he unleashed offensive magic once more, sending a torrent of flames surging toward the grimacing Kane.
Neither of the two locked in battle noticed that Leo—slaughtering everyone around him with a frenzied expression—had his crimson eyes slowly turning toward them.
Meanwhile, the short swordsman used his exceptional speed and agility to evade every strike from the swordsmen lunging at him, twisting and weaving through the air in an uncanny, eel-like path.
"Heh, you'll never catch me."
He was brimming with smugness, swaying his body to slip past the attacks of numerous Sword Masters and darting further into the distance, which made the pursuers grow anxious, desperate to cut him off—attacking with increasing frequency and greater force.
However, the short swordsman was clearly dead set on escaping, completely ignoring them.
No one could stop him—they could only watch helplessly as he passed through wave after wave of attacks, the gap between them widening with every breath.
"Hahahahaha!"
Seeing himself about to leave the battlefield, the short swordsman laughed aloud.
"I'm the final victor!"
"Just wait!"
"I'll be a Sword Saint soon enough!"
Leaving these words behind, the short swordsman reached the edge of the battlefield, ready to dive headfirst into the cluster of buildings.
"Bastard!"
"Wait, motherfucker!"
Seeing their distance widening with each second, the others looked on in shock and fury, shouting after the short swordsman.
However, just as the short swordsman was about to break free from the battlefield, the world suddenly froze.
The short swordsman, mid-dive toward the buildings, froze.
The furious pursuers behind him froze.
The ones still fighting in the chaos froze.
Jayden and Kane, locked in their heated duel, also froze.
At this moment, the once deafening and chaotic Warehouse District fell into absolute stillness and silence, as though time itself had been sealed. Even the watchers on the rooftops, who seemed poised to leap out and block the short swordsman, were frozen in place.
In this frozen time, only one person could move.
He was the one who had cast time magic—Riezel.
"Perfect." Riezel chuckled softly. "Without any fairies or Servants here who can resist magecraft or magic, time magic is back to being nearly unbeatable."
With that, he strolled leisurely across the battleground until he reached the short swordsman.
Extending his hand, Riezel calmly took the box from the short swordsman's frozen grasp.
*Snap!*
After finishing, Riezel snapped his fingers, dispelling the time magic.
In an instant, the frozen world began to move again.
"Eh?"
Seeing Riezel suddenly appear beside the short swordsman, the pursuers froze in surprise.
At the same time, as the short swordsman froze in surprise as well, he noticed that the box, which should have been his, was now in Riezel's hands.
In that instant, his face twisted in fury.
"Bastard! Give it back!"
*Swish!*
Along with his shout, the short swordsman raised his rapier and slashed toward Riezel's head.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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