Chapter 28: If there are cracks in the rock

What astonished him even more was the chilling killing intent infused within the opponent’s dismissive snort of ‘naive’—a sensation that eerily mirrored the predatory aura of professional assassins who thrived in the shadows, or perhaps, something far more perilous.

“Hmph!”

Wain let out a cold snort, his body dissolving like smoke caught by a fierce gale, completely merging into the dense tree shadows at his feet the instant the rapier pierced his afterimage.

The rapier struck nothing but air, merely disturbing a ripple of distorted light.

‘Oh?’

The wielder of the blade emitted a soft sound of surprise, seemingly taken aback by Wain’s swift reflexes and the exquisite mastery he displayed over shadows.

Yet, his movements remained utterly relentless; his form, too, became ethereal and unpredictable, flickering swiftly between the shadows cast by the colossal trees, akin to a reflection dancing on water.

The rapier’s cold gleam, like the flicking tongue of a venomous serpent, appeared with deadly precision, each strike aimed squarely at Wain’s projected path of movement.

“Hey, be careful, that kid isn’t simple!”

The Wind Vortex Spirit Master, witnessing his comrade instantly drawn into a high-speed duel, immediately shouted a warning.

Simultaneously, he brandished his scythe once more, unleashing several swirling wind blades that sealed off any potential path for Sephylia to offer assistance.

“Mind your own business!” Sephylia’s eyes blazed with an even fiercer fighting spirit.

Confronted by the renewed onslaught of wind blades, she did not retreat; instead, she surged forward, her right arm’s golden gauntlet flaring with brilliant light!

“Lesser Radiance!”

She suddenly materialized a colossal, radiant hammer and brought it crashing down upon the ground!

Boom!

A golden shockwave of spirit energy violently rippled outwards in a circular pattern, akin to a massive boulder hurled into the placid surface of a lake.

The potent tremor not only disrupted the wind blades’ trajectories, sending them veering off course to crash haphazardly against nearby tree trunks with splintering cracks, but it also destabilized the Rock Wall Spirit Master standing before her.

His condensed stone shield, too, suffered a momentary, chaotic surge of energy.

Fighting two opponents single-handedly, Sephylia’s unexpected manifestation of her weapon caught both adversaries completely off guard, allowing her to seize a decisive advantage.

“Sephylia… she’s incredible!” Melina, recognizing her own compromised state, wisely refrained from rashly joining the fray.

Observing from a safe distance, she couldn’t help but voice a heartfelt exclamation at Sephylia’s prowess.

Although she had diligently trained during her time at the academy, striving to swiftly enhance her combat prowess after forming a contract with a Companion Spirit Weapon, ensuring she would not become a liability.

However, in her current battles, she found herself overly reliant on the combat experience resonated from Melo.

Indeed, combat experience!

Spirit Masters and Spirit Races, through the resonance of their contract, inherently possessed the ability to share one another’s combat experience.

Yet, for the majority, Companion Spirit Weapons primarily functioned to provide abilities and offer support.

For the primary combatant remained the Spirit Master, acting as the conduit for spirit energy.

Melina, however, differed from other Spirit Masters.

Melo, her contracted companion, already possessed an exceptionally vast reservoir of combat experience.

Consequently, the meager experience she had gleaned from her academy training barely qualified as combat proficiency; compared to Melo’s immense well of battle wisdom, it was nothing short of child’s play.

Now, observing Sephylia’s battle from a bystander’s perspective, she instantly recognized the chasm that separated her own abilities from her opponent’s.

Sephylia was truly the kind of individual endowed with genuine combat intellect and innate talent!

‘If it were me…’

Melina silently placed herself in the scenario, only to discover with a touch of dismay that she would likely have simply drawn her sword and brute-forced her way through, relying solely on Melo’s shared combat experience.

Not like Sephylia, who first concealed her weapon, then launched a sudden, unexpected assault, thereby achieving the feat of single-handedly overwhelming two equally skilled adversaries.

‘An opportunity!’ Melo’s calm yet urgent voice resonated within Melina’s mind, instantly yanking her from the depths of self-deprecating comparison back to the harsh reality.

A sharp jolt went through Melina’s heart.

She forcefully suppressed the waves of searing pain emanating from the thorny black纹 (TL Note: “黑纹” literally means “black pattern” or “black markings,” likely referring to a specific magical tattoo or mark on her wrist related to her abilities) on her wrist, her body instantly achieving full resonance!

In that moment, the scene unfolding before her eyes transformed into an endless torrent of information that surged into her mind.

Without pausing for rational analysis or careful sifting, she made an intuitive choice in a flash.

She did not join the frontal assault to alleviate Sephylia’s pressure; such an action would only serve to distract Sephylia.

Her gaze, sharp and precise, instantly pinpointed the Rock Wall Spirit Master, who swayed perceptibly from the shockwave’s impact, his shield’s energy wildly fluctuating.

Melina, moving with silent swiftness, surged forth from the flank, her objective squarely fixed on the Rock Wall Spirit Master’s exposed side, vulnerable due to his precarious balance!

She intended to replicate the prior battle that had unfolded outside the arena!

It was another encounter with [Rock Wall], a strikingly similar scenario.

The Rock Wall Spirit Master detected her movement.

With a furious roar, he forcibly stabilized his stance.

His right arm, encased in thick stone, swept out with a dull, rending whoosh, striking at Melina’s slender form like a colossal battering ram!

Though his shield remained unstable, the sheer force of this hastily delivered blow was still not to be underestimated.

This was the very weight of bedrock!

‘Do not meet it head-on!’ Melo’s warning reverberated through her mind.

A flicker of fierce resolve ignited in Melina’s eyes!

The state of instant resonance had not yet dissipated.

In that critical, hair-thin moment, Melina executed an utterly astonishing maneuver—

Her body, as if devoid of bone, twisted inwards at an impossibly acute angle, perilously slipping past the colossal stone gauntlet.

The sheer force of the wind lashed painfully against her cheeks.

‘Now!’ A brilliant glint sparked in Melina’s eyes!

Enduring the excruciating agony inflicted by the Kiss of Thorns, her previously dull Golden Knight longsword once more blazed forth with a dazzling golden radiance!

Shhh—!

The longsword, with unerring precision, plunged into that almost imperceptible fissure!

For if bedrock is rent by a fissure, its strength is utterly compromised.

Sephylia’s earlier, unexpected hammer strike had forged this invaluable opportunity for Melo’s decisive thrust!

This particular [Rock Wall] Spirit Master proved to be far less formidable than the one from the Fire Lizard Guild.

“Urgh—!” The Rock Wall Spirit Master let out a cry of pain and astonishment!

The light enveloping his entire stone gauntlet flickered violently, like a faulty bulb on the verge of dying.

Immediately thereafter, the thick layers of stone visibly cracked and peeled away inch by inch, and the seemingly impenetrable defense crumbled into dust in that very instant.

Having successfully struck her target, Melina, with no desire to linger, sprang clear of the engagement.

She urgently needed to rest and recover her strength, particularly to alleviate the throbbing pain inflicted by the Kiss of Thorns.

After all, with a battle erupting here, there was no telling if it would draw other teams, potentially setting the stage for a game of ‘the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘tángláng bǔchán, huángquè zài hòu,’ meaning that while one is preoccupied with gain, another is poised to take advantage; literally, ‘the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.’).

“Well done, Melina!” Sephylia, her spirits greatly buoyed, couldn’t help but exclaim with a loud cheer.

Seizing the opportune moment—the Rock Wall Spirit Master injured and the Wind Vortex Spirit Master momentarily distracted by his comrade’s plight—Sephylia’s colossal warhammer blazed with golden light.

She launched herself into the air, bringing the weapon down with merciless force!