Seeing her own arm severed unexpectedly, Revis did not offer a scream... nor even the faintest grunt of pain.
There wasn't even a splatter of blood.
'I knew it... she's not human.'
Judas, who had been occupied holding back the surging wave of plant monsters, turned his head just in time to witness the scene.
She looked human. She spoke like one.
But the presence she radiated.... felt far closer to that of a monster than any person he had ever encountered.
Revis herself spared the severed arm only a brief glance before calmly shifting her gaze back to Ais, as if nothing of consequence had occurred.
"Yes... to be able to find the two things I've been searching for at the same time..."
Her lips curled faintly, a spark of realization flashing through her eyes as she studied the wind swirling around Ais.
"I see now... that wind."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You must be Aria."
A name that should never have been spoken slipped effortlessly from the enemy's lips.
The impact was immediate.
Ais stiffened, nearly taking a step back as her breath caught in her throat.
Even Judas, couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.
'Why does she know...?'
Ais felt her arms tremble, fingers tightening around her sword as her pupils shrank.
'Only Riveria and the others know... there's no way someone else should—'
It was a secret she had never shared with anyone else, not even with Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, or those closest to her.
Still reeling, the Sword Princess watched as Revis walked over to her severed arm, picked it up, and pressed it back into place.
There was a faint, unsettling sound... like flesh knitting itself together.
Moments later, Revis flexed her fingers as sensation returned, the limb fully restored as though it had never been cut at all.
'I would love to take Aria down... and take both her and the jewel back with me.'
'But...'
Her eyes assessed the situation... if this had been earlier, she would have been confident in taking Ais down.
But after receiving a buff directly from Judas, Revis knew it wouldn't be so simple.
'The mage as well... he's troublesome.'
Her gaze slid to the side.
There, amidst a storm of magic, Judas stood his ground against the army of Violas she had brought with her.
Spell after spell detonated, wiping out multiple monsters at once with ruthless efficiency.
Watching the rate at which her forces were being wiped out, Revis narrowed her eyes.
It was only a matter of time before the mage finished dealing with them.
And when he did, he would join the fight.
A two-on-one.
A disadvantage she could not afford to entertain.
'I guess I have no choice.'
Revis reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
When she opened her palm, a peculiar magic stone lay there... dark, irregular, and faintly pulsing, as if alive.
'What is she doing...?'
Ais's eyes widened as Revis suddenly brought the stone to her mouth and bit down.
Crunch.
The sound was sharp and unnatural.
She chewed without hesitation.
Another crunch echoed through the air before Revis tilted her head back and swallowed.
A heavy gulp followed.
She rolled her shoulders once, cracked her neck, and released a slow, controlled exhale.
Then her eyes settled on Ais.
In that instant, Ais felt it... a subtle but unmistakable shift in her opponent's presence.
The air grew heavier.
The pressure pressing against her skin intensified.
"Aria... you are coming with me."
The words had barely left Revis's mouth when her figure blurred.
She was there...
Right in front of her.
'Fast!'
Ais reacted on instinct, raising her sword just in time to block the incoming strike.
CLANG!
The impact rang out like a massive bell being struck.
Ais's boots carved deep furrows into the ground as she was driven backward, her arms screaming in protest under the sudden surge of force.
'What... is going on?'
Even with her enhanced state... power bolstered by the wind and Judas's magic... she was barely holding on.
It felt disturbingly familiar.
Like they had been dragged back to square one.
'She got stronger...?'
Ais gritted her teeth as she struggled to steady herself.
'After eating that magic stone?'
Revis didn't give her time to think further.
Her sword flowed seamlessly into the next strike... horizontal, then vertical, then a brutal thrust aimed straight at Ais' throat.
Each blow carried a weight far heavier than before, as if the air itself had thickened around her movements.
Ais parried once.
Twice.
The third strike slipped past her guard and clipped her shoulder, tearing through armor and drawing blood.
"Tch!"
Ais jumped back, barely avoiding a follow-up kick that shattered the stone behind her.
'High-grade level 6... or above?'
The thought surfaced in her mind as Ais staggered back half a step, her arms still vibrating from the impact.
That single exchange had told her everything she needed to know.
After that brief clash, Ais quickly reassessed her opponent's current strength as she forced her breathing back into rhythm, tightening her grip around the hilt until her knuckles turned white.
Even with Ariel reinforcing her body, the pressure she felt was overwhelming.
"Aria... you're making this more difficult than it should be."
Revis' voice was calm as she walked toward her, boots crunching against shattered stone and uprooted earth.
There was no rush in her steps... only certainty, as if the outcome had already been decided.
"W-Where did you hear that name?"
Ais demanded, her voice wavering despite her effort to steady it.
Beads of sweat slid down her cheek, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
"Hmph. Would you like to know?"
Revis replied before she charged forward once again.
"Tempest!"
Ais' magic answered her call instantly.
The air screamed.
Wind erupted around her blade, spiraling tighter and tighter until it became a violent gale wrapped around cold steel.
Revis didn't slow down.
Instead, she met the attack head-on.
Their blades collided again... and this time, the impact detonated outward.
Compressed wind and raw, monstrous strength clashed violently, releasing a deafening blast that tore through the battlefield.
A shockwave exploded from the point of contact, flattening nearby plants, uprooting vines, and sending dust and debris spiraling into the air.
Ais was already moving.
'A counterattack using my wind... an instant high-speed movement into a blind spot.'
She let the gale carry her, twisting her body midair as Tempest flung her sideways.
Her boots barely touched down on a chunk of flying rock before she kicked off again, using Ariel to launch herself forward.
Her sword lined up perfectly with Revis' chest.
'I will put everything... into this one attack!'
No hesitation.
No retreat.
An attack with everything on the line... she decided to end the battle in a single strike.
However...
"Nice moves."
In the next instant, Revis twisted her body with inhuman flexibility, the blade slicing through nothing but air.
"Unfortunately..."
Her fist drove forward.
"...you lost, Aria."
Gwak!
The punch sank deep into Ais' stomach, the air exploding from her lungs as pain tore through her core.
Before she could even register it, Revis' leg rose and came down like a hammer.
The kick slammed into the back of Ais' head.
Her vision went white.
Boom!
A deafening crash echoed across the battlefield as Ais' body was sent flying, carving a crater into the ground.
Revis watched impassively as the dust settled.
She stepped forward, grabbed Ais by the collar, and lifted her limp body into the air.
"I thought your face looked sort of like a doll, but—"
However, before she could finish her words, Revis' instincts screamed.
A sharp prickle ran down her spine, the kind of warning that only came from countless battles fought on the edge of death.
She twisted her head to the side on pure reflex.
A beam of condensed magic tore through the space she had occupied a heartbeat earlier.
The deadly laser hissed past her cheek, scorching the air and carving a clean line through the stone behind her before detonating in the distance.
Heat washed over her face, strands of her hair singed as the blast echoed across the battlefield.
Revis clicked her tongue.
"So you finished off my Violas already?"
"Unfortunately, you're too late."
She turned her head toward the source of the attack, emerald eyes narrowing as they locked onto a lone figure standing amidst the wreckage.
A pair of calm, unblinking purple orbs met her gaze.
"It seems so."
Judas answered, his tone devoid of inflection.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed aside the severed head of a plant monster.
It hit the ground with a wet thud and rolled to a stop at Revis' feet.
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