The moment my eyes landed on the five that used their mana to blend into the darkness, I lunged toward them, using every skill available. I saw no reason to try and hide some of my skills for Sash; there was no way I'd be able to defeat her, so it was pointless. Rather than try to defeat Sash, it was better to ensure that Jasmine could safely flee to her Kingdom; hopefully, she could get the Royal Captain to help me.
As I lunged toward them, numerous tendrils of darkness emerged from the ground and shot at me, seeking to bind me, yet I sliced through each one while tossing a [Fire Ball] into the ground, creating a large explosion that lit up the entire area, dispelling the darkness that enveloped us.
Using that chance where they had been weakened, I used [Blink], appearing directly beside two of them as I attacked without any concern for my well-being, and although I had managed to gravely injure them, they weren't dead. Inwardly cursing, I took a deep breath and cast [Fire Breath], releasing a torrent of powerful flames at one of the two injured men, and although he used his darkness mana to create a shield around him, I wasn't stopping my attack until I overwhelmed him.
However, while I was attacking him, two lunged at me from behind, while the third one ran towards the alley that was about to be roasted alive by my fire breath. Although I saw this happen and had time to react, I didn't and continued to attack; I wasn't in a position to care for my life. There were literally only seconds until Sash arrived, and once she did, I'd be entirely helpless; even if it meant my Ichor would be exposed, I had to go for it.
As I broke through the man's shield of darkness, he was saved at the last moment while the two attacked me from behind, going for my joints as they slashed the back of my knees, severing my muscles and tendons, before stabbing a needle into my neck, clearly seeking to immobilize me as they could've easily attacked lethal spots instead.
Unlucky for them, their attack meant next to nothing as my legs healed almost a second after they finished, prompting me to grab the arm of the man who had stabbed me in the neck with a needle while firing a [Lightning Bolt] at the second man who attacked me. As I did that, I yanked the man forward into the air while slashing, bisecting him at the waist, and using [Void Slash] in conjunction to attack the man I had been blasting with fire and the man who saved him.
Using blink once more, I appeared beside the second man who attacked me, prompting him to quickly distance himself before I could even attack, which was fine since with a faint glow of my eyes and a whole bunch of mana, he reappeared right in front of me as I stabbed him with Zartha.
Tossing him at the third man, I coated my swords in wind and fire as I swung them together, creating a [Fire Storm], preventing any darkness from creeping near me while I swiftly dashed towards the two, ignoring the third guy that chased behind me.
Leaping through the small fire tornado, I shot lightning bolts after lightning bolts at the two of them, slowing down their retreat while they launched bullets made of darkness at me, and although a few tore through my neck, I hardly cared, as I would be healed shortly afterward.
Just as I was about to near the two, the non-injured one lunged towards me, and right when he reached me, I used blink, appearing right behind him while using a new spell I had finished creating on the ship, which was destroyed at sea. It was a spell involving space mana, so not only was it strong, but it also required a lot of mana. I first thought of it during my fight with Yamen Mercenaries, specifically when I fled from them. It got me thinking: what if the roles were reversed, and I needed to stop someone from fleeing?
It took a few weeks to perfect, with Lazuli helping me, and now, I saw no better time to use it to get a two-for-one.
Thrusting Trina forward, I injected a large amount of mana into her before casting my new spell, [Spatial Lock], onto the two enemies, the man chasing me and the one that lunged at me. The instant I cast the spell, several cracks appeared in the sky as they extended from the tip of my sword until they enveloped the two men, freezing them in place.
My spell didn't last long, merely half a second, as it was still level one, but for a battle at this level, being unable to move for half a second was beyond deadly. Thrusting Zartha forward, I skewered them onto my blade before slashing down, killing them just as they were set free from my spell.
However, just as I turned to lunge towards the final person, a massive orb of darkness suddenly appeared in front of me, causing me to narrow my eyes as I tried to raise my sword to block whatever it was, but I was far too slow as it suddenly exploded into numerous spikes, impaling my whole body and flinging me into across the ground and through several trees into the forest.
'S-Shit. She's here.' Thought Alexander with an ugly expression as he groaned in pain, slowly standing up with the help of his swords while his injuries quickly healed.
"Tsk, you five couldn't even deal with one man? What a useless bunch." Muttered Sash in annoyance as she observed the four corpses, only to spit on the ground before eyeing the only survivor.
"The Saintess is still nearby; find her… Fail again, and I'll kill you." Added Sash blandly as she eyed the man, who softly nodded before turning around and dashing into the forest, leaving behind a faint trail of blood.
Using spatial lock again, though this time on Sash, I teleported right in front of the man, trying to kill him, yet thick tendrils of darkness suddenly emerged from the ground, grabbing my limbs and binding me in place while the man vanished into the forest.
"You're far too weak for that little skill to work on me, Alexander." Said Sash lightly as she waved her hand, bringing Alexander to her while she observed the holes in his armor that were coated in his ichor.
"You see, Alexander, I'm supposed to bring you to the Great Church without any harm, but seeing how you can heal from anything, I'll wait for confirmation that the Saintess is dead." Stated Sash lightly as she unholstered a small dagger, only to yank Alexander's chest piece off, revealing his bare skin.
Suppressing grunts of pain, Sash trailed her dagger across my chest, leaving a shallow cut that slightly bled before quickly healing, causing her to stare at me in fascination.
"Golden blood? Oh, you're something special. Pope was correct about you, not that I ever doubted him… However, I don't like you. Your presence will lower the Hero's value, and he is all the Great church needs to spread the purity of Goddess Junsuina." Remarked Sash as she looked at Alexander before licking the ichor on his chest, causing her to shiver in delight.
"Mhm, delicious." Muttered Sash softly as she licked her lips before checking her status, only for her eyes to widen slightly.
"Natural regeneration? Epic? Your blood… What is it?" Asked Sash in slight shock as she carefully observed Alexander before suddenly snapping her fingers, destroying all of his clothes.
"Not going to talk? That's fine. I'll wait for my men to return." Said Sash lightly with a faint smirk as she continued to trail her dagger across Alexander's skin while licking his blood.
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'C'mon, Justina! Sense me! I'm right here!' Thought Jasmine anxiously as she ran through the forest, slowly approaching the Crestfallen Kingdom.
I was supposed to be hiding as Alex told me to do so, but we were so close to the Kingdom that I couldn't just wait and do nothing; if I could get Justina to sense me, we would be safe. I know we would.
'Please stay safe, Alex! You can't die, not now, not when safety is right here.' Thought Jasmine as she continued to run, moving at her fastest speed possible, only for her to hear a groan of pain.
Widening my eyes at the noise, I quickly came to a stop and held my breath as I hid against a tree, searching for who groaned in pain; I nearly called out, thinking it was Alex, but I quickly stopped myself, knowing it couldn't be him.
After a few moments, I saw a tree branch nearby shake, yet I could see nothing but a faint shadowy blob; I didn't know what it was, but I knew it couldn't be good. While staring at the shadowy blob, I saw a drop of blood fall onto the ground, causing my eyes to widen as I thought the worst of Alex.
'N-No, he's not dead. My blessing is still active. That just means one of them managed to sneak by him and come after me.' Thought Jasmine with a hardened yet nervous gaze as she stared at the shadowy blob atop the branch.