"Boom!"
With just a single swing of the sword, half of the back mountain was split open by a massive wave of air! Vegetation was sent flying and shattered, startling a forest of birds, leaving only a straight, deep trench on the ground!
She had thought Himmel would rush up to slash at her with his sword, but he merely swung his mana-infused longsword with force, yet it possessed such power.
If she hadn't dodged in time, that strike would have severed one of her arms.
Nanoda's expression was calm. She steadied her stance and released her Severance Magic.
At this moment, the distance between them was about ten meters; Severance Magic could barely reach this range.
As if sensing something, Himmel rapidly slashed twice at the empty space on either side of him. The mana, which had not yet been compressed to its limit, was severed just like that.
In less than the blink of an eye, Himmel had neutralized the Severance Magic!
"That child used this magic too, didn't she? It is truly unexpected that a Demon would teach their own magic to a human."
Relying on unimaginable intuition and swordsmanship, Himmel was completely composed.
When he was obstructed by Yuna and grazed by the Severance Magic, he had already gained an understanding of this magic.
If it were Frieren, she would certainly use defensive magic for precise protection. He could only rely on his senses and swordsmanship to meet it head-on.
"Hey, are you really a human?"
He was really strong. This was the strongest guy Nanoda had encountered in both her past and present lives. Was this really a height that a human body could achieve?
"Humans are constantly becoming stronger."
Himmel revealed a smile. For a moment, neither of them made a move.
Even so, neither could see the slightest opening in the other.
"You are the second Demon I have met who wants to coexist peacefully with humans. The first was your Demon King, but despite saying such things, it launched a war. Two-thirds of the human population died in that war."
Himmel frowned slightly, his tone revealing disappointment and sorrow.
"Regarding the Demon King you speak of, I do not know it, nor do I acknowledge it. I will use my own methods to realize my ideas. I am the last Great Demon remaining from the Mythical Era!"
Centering on Nanoda, a vortex seemed to form, and the surrounding mana began to gather towards her at high speed.
Nanoda's pillar of mana continued to devour and expand. In the blink of an eye, the entire back mountain was covered within it.
An unrivaled aura surged and pressed down towards Himmel!
"A Great Demon from the Mythical Era? Truly remarkable. To forcibly control surrounding mana that doesn't belong to you... even the Demon King would find it difficult to reach this level..."
Sensing that even his own mana was being cannibalized, and the mana attached to his blade becoming unstable, Himmel knew he absolutely could not be careless now.
Gripping his longsword with both hands and holding it horizontally before his waist, he slightly lowered his stance. He intended to swing this sword with the optimal posture.
Observing Himmel's movements, Nanoda had already set up her Severance Magic along the path of Himmel's sword energy. As soon as Himmel struck, the moment she shattered his sword energy, she could close the distance, and the Severance Magic she had prepared could directly harm the Hero.
"Bang!"
The air seemed to explode. Himmel transformed into countless afterimages, charging directly at Nanoda with that sword strike.
Himmel chose to attack with full force!
This time, the Severance Magic was successfully released, but the invisible slashes were all wiped away by that sword like splitting bamboo.
In an instant, her vision seemed to blur; the blade had already arrived, and only then did Himmel's figure appear.
Fast! It was simply too fast! Almost preceding her instinct for danger perception, Nanoda only had time to retreat half a step before a gash was cut into her chest by that Hero's Sword.
Fresh blood sprayed into the air along the edge of the blade.
Nanoda had still somewhat underestimated the Hero's full-strength strike.
At this moment, Himmel changed his move again. The longsword, already raised, chopped heavily downwards towards Nanoda's right hand!
"Do you have a grudge against my arm?!"
Spitting out a few drops of blood, without the slightest panic, Nanoda responded calmly and rationally.
She raised her left hand and blocked the Hero's Sword with the Severance Magic she had only half-prepared.
"Zzzzzzt!"
A clashing sound rang out; Nanoda barely managed to block this move.
After struggling against each other for a moment, they bounced apart like repelling magnets.
Scrape.
Nanoda slid backward on the ground for a distance before steadying herself, leaving two deep furrows in the earth.
Her brows knitted slightly. There were faint traces of blood in her palm, and the wound on her chest opened by the Hero's Sword was bleeding even more.
Himmel stabbed his longsword into the ground and only retreated a little before steadying himself.
"Phew..."
Exhaling a long breath, Himmel quickly adjusted his state. Pulling out the Hero's Sword, he walked slowly toward Nanoda while guarding against the Severance Magic.
Nanoda was truly strong; her intuition was not inferior to his own.
If her magic weren't so monotonous and simple, she would be a formidable enemy even more terrifying than the Demon King.
He had thought that this full-force strike would take Nanoda by surprise and knock her down, but Nanoda still hadn't fallen, and the wound he inflicted was slowly healing.
"Truly tenacious."
Himmel swung his sword at Nanoda once more. Since Nanoda was already injured, he held back some strength this time. Although they had already gone beyond the initial intention of a spar, he rarely felt his blood boil like this in a fight.
Since that great battle with the Demon King that lasted for several days, Himmel was more excited than ever before. She was truly a good opponent.
Her long-dormant blood began to churn violently. Nanoda felt as if something inside her body was calling out to her, as if something had awakened with this battle.
Under Himmel's astonished gaze, Nanoda plunged her hands directly into the massive wound on her chest. With a squelch of flesh, two bloody objects appeared in the hands she pulled out.
They were two horns—or more accurately, the broken horns of a Demon. The pitch-black broken horns were each over half a foot long. Covered in blood at this moment, they looked extremely gruesome.
The oval edges and tips of these broken horns were extremely sharp, like a pair of keen daggers.
Reverse-gripping what must have been her own two broken horns like short swords, Nanoda gave them a casual swing.
"Heheh, they're actually quite handy."
Himmel, who had intended to pursue, was also somewhat dumbfounded. Seeing Nanoda's baffling action, he froze in place.
What was the situation? What kind of decent person stuffs a pair of broken horns inside their chest cavity?
Severance Magic has its limits.
This was the realization Nanoda came to after fighting the Hero, so she decided to change her fighting style.
Look at that, she just happened to pull out a handy weapon.
____
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