After Leonard and Kai brought the students, they immediately began freeing them and leading them out of the sacrificial circle.
When Stephen saw that all the students were now outside the sacrificial circle, he raised his head and looked at the black stone.
'I'll destroy it just to be safe.'
Stephen gripped his sword and jumped to attack the strange black stone, but before his blade could reach it, he felt something moving toward him at incredible speed and knocking his sword away from the stone.
The tremendous force suddenly sent Stephen flying backward through the air.
Stephen quickly regained his balance and landed steadily on the ground, then turned his head and looked at the newcomer.
A person wearing a black robe landed several meters away. An expressionless mask covered their face, with a crown engraving in the upper corner. From the figure's height and build, Stephen could tell that the Hollow Crown member before him was a woman.
A tail resembling a scorpion's tail extended from behind her body, swaying gently.
The woman looked at Stephen, raised a hand before her mask as though covering her mouth, and spoke in a voice that sounded surprised.
"Oh! Black Crow! How did you get here?"
Stephen looked at her with a frown. He could feel her strength.
Her presence was completely different from the other Hollow Crown members he had encountered before.
He felt that fighting her would not be easy.
The woman did not wait for an answer. She walked toward him with elegant steps while clasping her hands behind her back.
"Hmm, I've never seen you up close before."
"I heard that you're always ruining Cipher's plans."
The sound of her heels echoed throughout the chamber.
A strange silence filled the area.
Stephen felt something odd about the sudden quiet, so he turned his head toward the students.
Every student was silent, staring at Stephen and the mysterious woman without even daring to breathe.
The woman also glanced toward the students before speaking cheerfully.
"Oh! The sacrifices."
Then she looked back at Stephen.
"Did you come to save them?"
Stephen completely ignored her words.
His attention was on the four members heading toward the students.
He was about to move toward them when suddenly he felt something incredibly fast heading toward him—or more precisely, toward his head.
At the last moment, Stephen raised his hand and caught the woman's foot before her kick could strike his skull.
"You should only pay attention to your opponent."
Stephen's hand ached slightly from the impact.
'...Strong.'
The woman spun swiftly and launched her other leg toward him.
Stephen stepped backward and released her foot, narrowly avoiding the second kick as it passed only centimeters from his face.
The woman landed lightly on the ground.
'Fast.'
Stephen said nothing.
He gripped the hilt of his sword and quickly glanced toward the four members advancing toward the students.
He could not ignore students in danger, so he activated Shadow Art.
Several shadow beasts emerged from the ground.
The woman looked at the beasts that had formed, then turned toward Stephen and slowly applauded.
"Wow. Those shadows are incredibly cute..."
Then, in the very same moment, the scorpion tail behind her shot toward Stephen at astonishing speed.
Stephen raised his sword and shifted sideways. The tip of the tail struck the stone floor instead, leaving a deep crack behind.
Stephen looked at the crack.
'If that had hit me... that would have hurt.'
Suddenly, he heard Nathan's voice calling out to him.
"Heeey, my crow! We'll deal with these guys, so focus your strength on your opponent!"
The corner of Stephen's mouth twitched.
'My crow?! Is he mocking me?'
Stephen had no time to focus on Nathan.
He decided to leave the four members to them.
Stephen used Vital Point on the woman.
As expected, it failed.
The woman advanced toward him again, this time moving faster.
At the same time, her tail attacked from behind at a different angle from her own assault.
'She's attacking me from both directions.'
Stephen quickly retreated and used the shadow beneath his feet to propel himself sideways.
He avoided her kick, but the tip of the tail left a shallow cut on his left shoulder.
Stephen made no sound.
He stopped four steps away from her.
His breathing became uneven, and his face grew paler.
'Her tail... it's poisonous.'
The woman spoke playfully.
"My tail's venom is extremely potent. Though it won't affect you fully until twenty minutes pass."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"You'll probably die afterward~."
Stephen silently stared at her.
The woman took several slow steps and spoke cheerfully.
"Hmm. Do you think Cipher would agree to be my boyfriend after I get rid of the source of his annoyance?"
"Oooh, just imagining it would be wonderful."
Stephen felt his body gradually weakening.
'I need to finish this fight and get to Jens as quickly as possible.'
Stephen straightened his posture, took a deep breath, and called all his shadow beasts back.
All the shadows gathered around him.
Stephen extended his hand toward them.
The shadows were drawn toward him and merged into his body.
After all the shadows merged with Stephen, markings appeared across both his arms and spread over his back beneath his clothes where nobody could see them.
Stephen felt lighter.
And far stronger.
The woman sensed the change.
The playfulness disappeared from her demeanor, and she adopted a serious stance.
She charged toward Stephen, attacking with both her tail and her body simultaneously.
She even used demonic power, causing her scorpion tail to lengthen further.
Stephen rushed toward her at the same moment.
They collided halfway.
Stephen blocked the tail with his left forearm this time without taking even a single step backward.
He grabbed it firmly despite its immense force.
"..!"
For the first time, the woman let out a surprised sound.
She tried pulling her tail back.
Stephen's hand did not move.
Using the tail itself as leverage, Stephen shoved her away.
She flew backward and slammed into the stone wall with a loud crash.
The wall cracked behind her.
She landed on the ground and immediately stood again.
But for the first time, there was something different in her posture.
She silently looked at Stephen for a moment.
"Oh?"
Then amusement returned to her voice, though sharper than before.
"Now you've become interesting."
She charged again.
This time her assault intensified.
A kick from the left.
A tail strike from the right.
And something else coming directly from below.
Stephen moved.
Right.
Then a sidestep.
Then his foot slammed into the ground hard enough to crack it as he jumped over the tail.
He directed his sword toward her shoulder.
The steel struck something hard beneath her robe and stopped.
"Hmm."
She tilted her head while looking at the sword.
"I heard your sword can cut anything."
"But it seems it needs a little more strength."
Suddenly she slammed her elbow into his stomach, forcing him back two steps.
Stephen felt heaviness creeping into his legs.
'The poison is working faster than I expected.'
But he did not stop.
He attacked again.
This time with a single concentrated strike carrying all the strength in his body.
He aimed at the same area he had struck moments before.
This time the sword pierced through.
The woman let out a faint sound.
The first sign of pain she had shown since the battle began.
She looked at her wound.
Then at Stephen.
"...Oh, you're absolutely amazing! What do you think about stopping the fight and becoming my boyfriend?"
"I can cure you~."
Stephen frowned upon hearing this but completely ignored it.
He noticed that his hands were becoming heavier.
The markings on his arms were already beginning to fade.
'Time is running out. I can't maintain this form much longer.'
This form was the result of Stephen's long training with Shadow Art.
He had discovered that merging with his shadow beasts greatly increased his strength.
The problem was that he still didn't know how to use the abilities of his shadow beasts, nor could he maintain the form for long.
Stephen's eyes landed on the black stone above.
'Oh right. She knocked me away from it at the beginning. It must be important to them.'
Stephen narrowed his eyes and stared at the black stone for a second.
Then he suddenly rushed straight toward it, completely ignoring the woman.
"Oh?"
The woman sounded surprised.
Then her tail shot toward him at incredible speed to stop him.
Stephen did not stop.
He twisted aside while continuing forward, narrowly avoiding the tail.
Then he jumped toward the black stone and raised his sword.
"Don't you dare!"
For the first time, her voice completely changed.
The amusement disappeared.
The calmness vanished.
She rushed toward him faster than she had at any point during the battle.
But Stephen's sword reached the stone first.
It struck the black stone.
It did not break through.
The sword rebounded.
A numb sensation spread through Stephen's entire arm from the impact.
At that moment, the woman arrived.
She grabbed his collar and hurled him away with incredible force.
Stephen crashed into the ground and slid several meters.
He immediately tried to stand.
But his legs were heavier than they should have been.
He looked at his arms.
The markings were visibly fading now.
The woman stood before the black stone as though protecting it.
There was something completely different about her stance compared to before.
"No one may touch this stone."
Her voice was cold and firm.
Nothing like before.
Stephen slowly rose while gripping his sword.
His breathing was ragged.
The cold sensation had already reached his knees.
'I won't be able to maintain this form for more than a minute.'
Stephen rushed toward her again, unleashing a chain of rapid consecutive strikes.
He knew his goal was not to defeat her.
It was to push her away from the stone.
She blocked every strike, but under the pressure she retreated step by step.
'Now.'
Stephen suddenly changed direction and leaped toward the stone once more.
This time he poured all the remaining power of the markings into his sword arm.
"I said no!"
The tail lunged toward him from behind.
Stephen clenched his teeth.
Then activated Time.
'There's no other choice.'
Everything froze.
No one moved.
Not a grain of dust shifted.
Even the woman stood completely motionless.
Stephen flew forward.
With a swift strike, he shattered the black stone before him using all the strength he possessed.
Then he immediately deactivated Time after striking the stone.
The moment time resumed, Stephen altered the trajectory of his sword and redirected the attack toward the woman.
The woman was stunned.
Stephen had vanished from before her.
A shattering sound had come from behind her.
She could not understand what had happened.
And now a black sword was already heading toward her.
She had only enough time to partially evade.
Stephen's sword slashed across her abdomen.
The woman immediately swung her tail toward him.
Stephen retreated, avoiding the strike, and landed steadily on the ground.
His entire body hurt now.
Yet he remained standing and watched her carefully, ready for any movement.
Stephen could feel the taste of iron rising in his mouth.
But he could not cough blood in front of her.
Nor could he show weakness.
The woman held her bleeding abdomen.
She looked at the shattered stone.
Then at Stephen with anger.
"So this is why you were such a nuisance to Cipher."
"Since there's nothing left to protect here, I'll leave. You're going to die soon anyway."
"Oh, right."
"My title is Venina."
She pointed her delicate hand toward Stephen.
"Don't forget your killer."
Then she turned around and fled the area.
...
I'm not good at fights so excuse me if you find anything inconsistent.