The Author's POV

BOOOM—!

Ferocious shockwaves appeared in the sky.

The residual mana that spread from the shockwaves enveloped the entire battlefield.

BANG—!

This exchange had been going on for about a day now, and it had started to become progressively stronger. Both sides were still not going all out as they were gauging each other and buying time for those fighting below. Whenever the situation shifted for one side, the other would quickly interfere to return the balance.

"Why don't you guys open up the barrier? The situation looks tough for you guys."

The Marquis ranked demon pointed at the battle that was ensuing below as he coldly laughed.

"Will you guys be able to last without it?"

"You're really full of nonsense."

Waylan glared at the Marquis-ranked demon. His hand that held onto the large broadsword swung downward.

The large broadsword whirled around, releasing waves of pressuring wind sounds.

WIIIIIING!

Seeing Waylan's swift and ferocious attack, the Marquis ranked demon's face grew darker. Finally, he let out a cold laugh, and a ferocious aura suddenly sprang out from its body.

"You're truly one annoying human."

***

At the same time.

"Khh..."

Taking a couple of steps back, a light groan escaped from my mouth.

Standing opposite of me was a demon. Similar to the other demons that I had killed before, it was Baron ranked one. However, this time, the situation was different.

"Haaa!"

—Click!

Crying inside of my heart, I tapped on the sheath of my sword. Just like usual, a subtle clicking sound rang out.

Clang—!

However, unlike my previous fights, the demon did not cower at my attack as it met it head-on. The demon appeared to specialize in speed; therefore, it left me with little to no time to attack. The moment I was about to attack, the demon was already upon me, preventing me from releasing the full might of my attack. Taking a step forward, the demon's sharp claws carried a powerful force as they violently met my sword mid-swing.

Clang—!

A clear sound of metal on metal came rippling out from the mid-point where my sword and the claw met. Then, following the circular sound waves that came as a result of the collision between my sword and the demon's claws, a powerful force soon began to spread out, blowing everything that was near away.

The ground beneath me and the demon also began to crack, forming small crevices that expanded for a couple of meters.

"Khh…"

At this fierce exchange, I came out at a disadvantage as I took a couple of steps back in contrast to the demon who was merely pushed one step back.

"Kekeke, very good human. I didn't expect to meet a human this strong at your age."

A disdained laugh escaped from the demon. It appeared that the demon was feeling confident about its chances against me. Or perhaps it was just trying to provoke me.

BANG—!

Ignoring the demon's blatant provocation, I stomped my foot on the ground, and my body explosively shot towards the demon, like a sharp arrow.

those useless dodging actions. Instead, its sharp and sturdy nails swiftly

would be violently repelled back, creating an opportunity

Clang—! Clang—!

as the ringing metallic sound lingered

Bang—!

Fine miniature crevices began to spread around the area I crashed as I spat

"Kuhk"

down and found blood lingering by the

sent back during our previous exchange, for anyone that witnessed our exchange, they would've been able to tell that the demon

air and letting my hair loose, I started to circulate the

'Enough playing.'

wiping the side of my mouth, a subtle

a couple of meters away from the demon, much

exchanges were merely me trying to figure out the demon's attack pattern and what worked against it. Although I did suffer quite a bit during our previous exchanges, I now understood how

reappeared in front of the demon, three rings revolved around my

now time to end

—Bang!

attacking range, I stomped my foot on the ground and tried to stop my body from fully entering it. But this wasn't enough as the momentum I had pressured me forward, but I had a solution. Pointing with my finger forward, one

the left ring before I tensed my leg and shot towards

was already upon it. The demon's face

mana suddenly burst out from

"Huuup!"

the Keiki style, I simply unsheathed my sword

I used its gravitational pull effect and changed the course of the swing. Since I was already going fast, the demon was

"Puchi!"

creating a

and upright body. Leaning forward slightly, the demon's body fell heavily towards the ground with a

Thud—!

the demon's 'lifeless' body on the ground, I was not fooled. Since the core was not destroyed,

at the nearing ground, sheathing back my sword in my scabbard, I walked up to its body and once again pierced my arm through its body and removed the demon core before putting it inside of my

turned into soft powder before it was blown away by the winds that arose due to

my chest, which had somewhat swollen, I let out

can't fight

found that the fight in

second wave was coming to an

of my mouth, I decided to move upstairs to

the condition to fight and needed to go

***

Waylan, who stood opposite, disappointment flashed the Marquis ranked

attack is also a

its hand, black threads of mana started to swirl around the demon's hands. Following this, a ferocious black ball levitated on top of its palm. The energy contained within the ball caused Waylan, who was standing opposite, to

Kracka! Kracka!

bolts of lightning crackled around the energy ball as circular waves of

had become the size of a car slowly started to compress together before turning the

as well even the playing

WIIIIIING—!

suddenly appeared before it. He had not been staying still when the demon was accumulating its

was just going to let the demon

onto the broadsword, the golden glow around it brightened

"Uaaghh!"

lungs, Waylan cut diagonally. From the

"You annoying fucker!"

as it glared

Fwuap—!

within an instant, the demon appeared a hundred meters away from Waylan. Outside of the striking zone

it was then

of Waylan's body. The veins on his

directly converged with the broadsword in his hand. The broadsword once again lengthened, this time, a lot more than before. The weight of the sword also increased drastically, and the

"You!"

Staring at the incoming attack, the demon had no choice but to discard its previous plans and