Chapter 296

Holding out his hand and flinging out a thin thread of Dark Mana, Cynrik retrieved his dagger, which he had thrown after hacking down an opponent with his shortsword, to finish off the final opponent on Wave: Four. Spinning the blade around his left wrist and watching the timer for the next Wave pop up, Cynrik decided to check in on his brother.

|You have completed Wave Four; 30 seconds have been added to the break timer.|

[Yo, what wave are you on?]

Twitching at the sound of his older brother appearing in his head, Brance stabbed forward and skewered two centaurs through their flank, piercing their hearts and clearing Wave: three. Although all three of his enemies had been of similar races, half-human and half-horse, each one was a different color, each representing a different variation depending on the region they came from.

|You have completed Wave Three; 30 seconds have been added to the break timer.|

[Cleared three, had Centaurs what about you?] Brance stated as he took a deep breath and calmly walked back over to his starting position.

[I had some weird-ass monkey lizard things. Annoying little bastards who wouldn’t stop yelling at me the whole fight. Did you notice that although they are all of the same genus, our opponents seem to be of similar races with minute differences?]

[Yeah, I picked up on that. Each of the three Centaurs I just beat had a different Affinity and several different physical traits, but in the end, they were still horse people. I don’t know how Yenni is categorizing them.]

|Wave Four is now beginning. Spawning Four Creatures at Random.|

|Wave Four Opponent, One Peak Tier-1 Begraz Demonoid, One Vir’eth Demonoid, One Ollmarug Demonoid, and One Ogodoth Demonoid.|

Watching the particle storm descend and break apart into four distinct clusters, Brance made a split-second decision and switched to his Tier-1.5 Katana. The weapon appeared on his left hip with a dull flash of particles.

Crouching down and gripping the saya (scabbard) at the very end, right under the swords tsuba (guard), Brance reached over his body and curled the fingers of his right hand around the tsuka (hilt) lightly.

Within seconds all four thin and intimidating Demons emerged from the particle storms, causing Brance to move into action. Activating [Haste], increasing his AGI, he began channeling a mixture of Wind and Light mana into the outer edge of the blade, or the Shinogi (blade ridge), which would allow him to get the most speed possible on his draw.

Sliding his right foot forward, Brance locked onto the vitals of all four thin, multi-colored demons and observed their differences. The first one his eyes fell on was the Begraz since it finished spawning the quickest. Its pale red skin, tri-horns, and batlike wings drew a repulsive grimace from Brance as it resembled what a typical demon was in his mind.

Next to the right of the Begraz was the pale green and severely emaciated Vir’eth; unlike the red demon, this green one only had a single shaved-down keratin horn, that seemed to have either been cleanly sliced through or filed down for some purpose.

Another key difference was the lack of wings but the presence of a gangly tail with a spade appendage on the tip.

On the opposite side of the Begraz was the Ollmarug, which was a poisonous shade of purple and had neither a tail or wings but instead a strange underbite that showed off rows upon rows of sharp jagged teeth.

Another key feature was the peculiar upward hooked nose that had three nostrils on top of it instead of on the bottom; these holes each pointed at one of its three eyes.

Lastly, to the right of the Ollmarug was an athletic yet skinny pitch-black demon with yellow eyes, the Ogodoth. With wings like a Begraz, a tail like a Vir’eth, and three eyes like an Ollmarug, the Ogodoth possessed all three demon’s traits in one.

But the one specific characteristic that contrasted with its fellow Demonoids was the prestigious and snooty bearing in the way it carried itself. One look at this midnight black demon and Brance could sense its air of superiority and almost spat on the ground while saying “royalty.”

The first creature to spot Brance, who was positioned behind a pillar, was the very same Royal Demon, the Ogodoth, who grinned evily, showing off its jagged teeth and clicked loudly, drawing the attention of the other three creatures, who instantly turned subservient.

Bowing slightly in reverence to the Ogodoth, which went unnoticed by the creature, the other three looked in Brance’s direction. They stepped forward, starting by striding in his direction before breaking into a furious sprint as they screeched wildly.

Seeing this, Brance didn’t panic but instead rushed forward, running while staying low to the ground. Tightening his grip on the katana as he continued pushing more Light and Wind Mana into the blade, Brance’s pupils constricted as he accelerated.

“Jetlen Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū!” Saying the opening line, showing respect to the original Sword Style, and adding his flair to signify his modifying and forming his own unique variant, Brance flickered from sight for an instant as he began drawing his katana.

As the Ogodoth sensed ill foreboding, its pupils constricted several meters away, forcing it to race in to stop what was about to happen. In addition to leaving it in a compromised position, losing its three lackeys would be unfavorable.

So acting on instinct and channeling strange platinum and garnet-colored Mana particles around its body, the Royal Demon flickered forward, skipping several paces as it did so until it was only a few steps behind the other three demons.

Seeing this, Brance smirked as it was already too late in his eyes. Ignoring the invasive and ominous sensation tickling his skin as he came closer to the pack of demons, Brance’s steps subtly grew longer. With each step, he pumped his calves harder, straining the muscles yet increasing his running speed triggering an after-image effect behind him as he ran.

“Akeru Kuzu Ryu Sen!” Initiating his sword draw, time slowed to a snail’s pace as Brance faced the first demon. Exhaling in time with his steps, Brance executed a high downward slash while angling his body and vertically slashing back up, cleaving the Vir’eth demon, the fastest of the four, cleanly in half as he switched to the next attack. This high downward cross diagonal slash sliced the Vir’eth into fours instead of half, along with the Begraz, who was cut from shoulder to hip.

Moving into the fourth strike while stepping through the Vir’eth demon’s remains and toward the dismembered Begraz, Brance swiftly slashed with the same attack as his previous, only from the opposite shoulder.

His attack blitzed through the Begraz, dicing it into more pieces, biting into the third demon, the decrepit Ollmarug, and swiping two more times, each one from across his body on opposite sides with horizontal slashes, totaling six hits. The Ollmarug’s eyes shot wide open as all three of its eyes looked in different directions, unable to dodge.

At the same time, Brance stepped through the second creature and forwarded again while executing two more diagonal strikes from the left and right bottom corners of his vision.

Feeling fear, the Royal Demon tried stepping back but could only watch as the illusion of nine different katanas bore down on him. In contrast, Brance brought the katana down to his belly and stabbed forward, piercing through the Ogodoth’s chest and out his back, finishing his nine-stroke combo.

Brance didn’t stop moving as he rammed his katana through the demon’s body until the sword tsuba (guard) was halted by the creature’s flesh. Using his shoulder, Brance rammed into the Ogodoth, tackling it off its feet and slamming its body into a nearby pillar, causing the katana to stab through the soft stone and sending spiderweb cracks from top to bottom.

Staring at the human with dazed and unwilling to give up eyes, the Ogodoth wanted to fight back by extricating the blade which had him pinned to the stone pillar and tearing the young human limb from limb. Still, just as it began struggling, Brance pushed off the pillar, removed his sword, spun his body, and executed another move.

“Ryukansen!” Brance said as he whipped his body in a full 360-degree circle, using his momentum and centrifugal force as the pivotal power for the sword swing and locked onto the back of his opponent’s neck.

FWOOSH

A beat later, Brance finished his rotation, landed on one knee, and sheathed his katana just as the Ogodoth’s head hit the ground and shattered into particles. Exhaling through his nose, Brance caught sight of the notifications and slowly rose to his feet before walking back to his starting position.

|You have successfully Killed a Level 20, Peak Tier-1 Virtual Vir’eth Demonoid.|

|You have successfully Killed a Level 20, Peak Tier-1 Virtual Begraz Demonoid.|

|You have successfully Killed a Level 20, Peak Tier-1 Virtual Ollmarug Demonoid.|

|You have successfully Killed a Level 20, Peak Tier-1 Virtual Ogodoth Demonoid.|

|You have received 20 Obelisk Kill Points.|

|You have received four 1000 Essence, XP Crystals.|

|You have received 12 Merit Points.|

|You have completed Wave Four; 30 seconds have been added to the break timer.|

Reaching the spot he started every Wave; Brance rolled out his right shoulder and kicked his legs several times to loosen them up since they were cramping after executing ten strikes in less than three seconds. A smile crept onto his lips as he changed his Loadout back to the one with his Greatsword. Feeling the weight of the heavy hunk of sharp metal, Brance unsheathed the blade, rested it on his shoulder, and looked up at the countdown timer for a beat before pulling out a Stamina and Mana potion and chugging them down.

With only a few strikes, he had drained a significant chunk of both resource stats and felt the need to replenish them quickly, or he would dip below 75 percent, which could potentially become fatal if left unchecked. With so many continuous Waves, it was imperative that he manipulated his output correctly, or else he would very quickly end up in what Cynrik called “The Danger Zone,” limiting his ability to continue fighting at an acceptable pace.

[Wave Four complete, oh before I forget, have you ever seen a Platinum and Garnet colored Mana particle?] Brance asked as he watched the timer hit zero.

|Wave Five is now beginning. Spawning Five Creatures at Random.|

[I just wrapped up five and am moving on to six. As for that aura, no clue; what was using it?]

[Demonoids. There was one that seemed overbearing, like a noble, and when he felt threatened, I saw him charge up some kind of Mana cloud around his body in that color.] Sighing in his heart, Brance lowered his sword from his shoulder and got back into a fighting stance as he witnessed the cloud of particles again.

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