Chapter 246: Woman Like a Dragon (Part 3)

Chapter 246: Woman Like a Dragon (Part 3)

Blood splattered, and the air was filled with swirling blood droplets.

There was fresh blood spewed by Shiki, and there was blood brought out from Araya's body by the knife.

Both Araya's kick and Shiki's blade carried deadly force, but despite the formidable strength of the two far surpassing that of ordinary people, their lives were not taken away. They endured the impact on their bodies and continued the brutal exchange of attacks with a self-sacrificial momentum.

At this point, neither of them had any room to hold back.

In Araya's eyes, perhaps Shiki's body would become tattered, but it didn't matter how it looked on the outside. As long as he could maintain a body that allowed him to move, he only needed the body connected to the "Root." In contrast, his own body could be discarded. As long as he left his head and replaced it with Shiki's body, it would suffice.

On the other hand, in Shiki's view, Araya's life was resilient, unlike that of a human. Under the premise of enduring multiple fatal injuries without dying and in a situation where the "line of death" couldn't be captured, the only hope of truly killing this terrifying man was to leave as many wounds as possible.

To kill you!

No words were spoken, but the meaning was conveyed through their gazes, movements, willpower, and spirit.

A blade, colder than the moonlight, embedded itself in Araya's left shoulder.

Araya's remaining left hand struck Shiki's right shoulder.

Accompanied by the distinct sound of bones cracking, powdered blood splattered abundantly, soaking the magus' black robe and staining the girl's pure white kimono.

Driven by bloodlust, the old man and the young girl exchanged one arm.

Shiki gripped the knife with her left hand. Although the speed of her attacks was not as swift as before, her swordsmanship remained undeniably precise. She aimed to dismember Araya before her.

Souren Araya showed no intention of retreating. With his hands gone, he still had his legs and his head. More importantly, he had a final bounded field in place.

Perhaps this last bounded field couldn't stop the ancient blade with its long history, but as long as it could delay Shiki's movements, even if it was just for a second, it would be enough for Araya to secure the victory.

Although this might be the worst possible way to handle things, in the end, the actions taken are the same—it's just that when failure comes, there's no insurance left. But it is precisely because of the fear of taking real action that one becomes weak. If both Shiki's had been killed from the beginning, it wouldn't have come to this point of being hunted.

At this moment, Araya had already forgotten the presence of anyone else around him. His eyes were fixed solely on Shiki Ryougi.

Golden, floating Sanskrit rings appeared beneath Araya's feet as the final bounded field opened.

However, once he saw clearly, he would have preferred to remain ignorant and simply faint. That way, he wouldn't have to endure another blow.

"That, that is... a shadow creature... Shadow Apostle!!!"

As one of the modern magus who primarily focused on rune magic aside from their reverence for ancient magecraft in "Wandering Sea," Alba was well aware of the magecraft Sakura was employing.

The Shadow Apostle is one of the high-level rune magics.

The classification of rune magic is mostly determined by the runes used. Low-level rune magic spells, such as "Rainbow Missiles" or "Ice Pillar Blade," are composed of the "Derivative Twenty-Four Runes." High-level rune magic requires the inclusion of the "Original Eighteen Runes," while grand sorceries surpassing high-level magecraft must consist entirely of the "Original Runes."

Since the incantation includes the Original Runes, the effect of the magecraft is naturally much stronger.

The principle of the Shadow Apostle is to invoke and command shadow creatures using rune symbols imbued with special power.

The creature Sakura manipulates, resembling a jellyfish, is one of the most common types of shadow creatures, with a strength equivalent to an elite Dragon Tooth Warrior. However, due to the unique nature of shadow beings being able to lurk within shadows, the practical evaluation of the Shadow Apostle exceeds that of Dragon Tooth Warriors, and the difficulty of magecraft is likewise increased.

To Alba's knowledge, there is no runic magus in this world capable of using Shadow Apostles.

"Ahahaha, impossible, impossible. I must be dreaming."

Cornelius Alba, who hasn't even fully mastered the "Secondary Twenty-Four Runes" and can't even perform the most basic rune magic, was completely devastated and finally began to escape from reality.

Sakura ignored Alba's pitiful state. This loli, who stood at the pinnacle of rune magic but was completely unaware of it, focused on commanding the Shadow Apostle. In the instant Aruba landed, she followed up with another collision, which is the only attack method of the jellyfish-like creature.

"I promised Touko-nee and Big Brother that I would teach you a lesson with the new magecraft I learned, you hentai(Stalker). And I did it!"

Alba's eyes rolled back, and he almost passed out.

PS: Shadow Apostles are similar to ordinary assassins. They excel at surprise attacks from behind but are not particularly formidable in combat. If Alba had time to prepare, one or two fire magic spells would be enough to deal with them. But who made Alba get beaten by Touko first, then by Fujino, and just when he finally managed to escape, he got hit by Sakura. It's even worse than Tokiomi.

PS2: Alba, why did you have to provoke the whole family of designated seals? Couldn't you have picked someone else to mess with?

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