Victoria Cross

"Big bro Kai, you..." Victoria was stunned as he watched Kaiden charge to the rear.

Kaiden bravely advanced forwards as he attacked an Evil Cultivator who was holding a spear. He unsheathed his twin swords and displayed astonishing skills with his swordplay.

*Shing* *Shing* *Shing*

"Hehe, despite being so young, you could actually perform such complex swordsmanship. You must be a newly conferred Sword Knight, am I right, kid?" The spear wielding man laughed as he blocked all the sword slashes with ease.

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

Kaiden did not respond as his sword strikes were getting faster as the two fought against each other. His attacks included more variations and feints which helped him land more and more attacks.

'This kid! He's getting faster and his attacks are becoming more precise!' The spear-wielder had been forced into a passive state as he tried his best to defend. 

However, he kept getting more scratches that soon became wounds that cut deeper with each passing moment.

The man had enough and attacked, "Damn it! How could this be?! A spear is a weapon for kings. The spear is supposed to dominate the battlefield! How can I lose to a mere kid?!"

"Take this! Wind-Piercing Thrust!" 

When he retracted his spear after launching an attack, he held the hilt and made the spear spin like a drill. The spinning spin attracted air that formed a tornado-like aura. Then, he thrusted it forwards to pierce Kaiden.

But Kaiden was well prepared! 

He has already raised his swords and formed a cross block with them. There was a grayish energy that cloaked the two swords which seemed to have strengthened its overall strength.

*BOOM*

"Useless!" The spear-wielder berated. The Wind Piercing Thrust struck between the gap of the two swords which was near Kaiden's head.

However, Kaiden was able to effortlessly adjust his sword block to the attack's change.

*Boom!* *Tzzzzhhh!*

"Tch! Then, I'll just break your swords!" The spear-wielder gripped his spear tighter as he injected dark-colored energy into it! The addition of the dark energy caused the tornado to turn darker and larger.

The increase in power also caused Kaiden to be pushed back. This made the Evil Cultivator rejoice and gloat, "Hahaha, we Evil Cultivators are invincible compared to those in the same realm! Die, brat from the Cross Clan!"

"Is that so? Too bad, I've finished reading how your energy flows." Kaiden said. By adjusting his block slightly, the balance that the two had earlier was quickly broken. He quickly made the attack deviate its course while he withdrew both himself and the sword.

The upset in the momentum of the Wind-Piercing Thrust turned wild without any obstruction. 

This caused the spear-wielder to be pulled along with an attack which made him lose his balance. 'Shit! How did this kid do it?!'

Seeing his opponent's attack and his body in discoordination, Kaiden spun his body to the right and delivered a devastating blow on his falling foe. He stabbed both his swords on the spearman's sides.

*Puchi* *Puchi*

"Gugh! I'll kill you!" The man coughed up blood but suddenly a spear-like image appeared from his right shoulder aiming for Kaiden's head.

"Die! Cloud Slicer!" Kaiden slashed the sword on the top upwards and the sword below downwards, thereby cutting the spearman's body into half.

*Krsssshhh!*

The vertically torn body sprayed its blood all around but it could not spill a drop on Kaiden as he was long gone from the scene and already went over to fight another Evil Cultivator.

His comrades felt relieved that they had someone like him as a companion. This person could mercilessly kill a person with the same strength as him efficiently without wasting much of his energy.

A man who was fighting with another Evil Cultivator said after he blew his opponent away, "That Kaiden has truly superb swordsmanship for his age and his ability to control Innate Energy is just as amazing. The way he handles his opponents is already that of a veteran. He really is a genius."

The man quickly returned his attention to his opponent and dashed towards him.

 His words were heard by a fellow comrade, a tall woman who was already in his thirties. She had also just cut off a limb off his opponent who was currently groaning on the ground.

The tall woman said, "They say that he could already fight men who were three levels higher than him but he still is considered the second strongest talent in the younger generation."

A bearded man who just knocked out his opponent unconscious said, "Really? He's that strong?! He's just 22 and to still be able to fight 3 levels higher at Mortal Severing is amazing! Yet, he's still not the strongest?? I didn't come back in the recent Clan Youth Tournament. So, who is the youngster who won it?"

"Flowing River Blade!"The tall woman used another powerful sword skill and obliterated the evil cultivator who she just injured, "Is that so? Well, you will be surprised if you knew."

"Earth Melting Blaze!" The bearded man noticed that his opponent was regaining consciousness and without hesitation, he conjured a blazing fire and stabbed his opponent.

"Nooo!!" The evil cultivator cried in despair as he was scorched to death.

The bearded exhaled and asked again, "So, who is it?"

"It's milady." The tall woman chuckled.

"What?! But that's impossible?! Lady Victoria is only fifteen..." The bearded man stepped back and he looked in Victoria's direction.

It was because of this that he saw an Evil Cultivator who was approaching Victoria.

"Oh no, we need to go and save, Lady Victoria! We actually let one get past us!" The bearded man said as he dashed to save Victoria.

The tall woman also followed closely. She clicked her lips, "We won't make it!"

The Evil Cultivator was only ten meters above Victoria standing atop a tree's branch. The trees of this forest were generally ten to fifteen meters tall which made it difficult seeing the stars and moon at night.

He was inwardly laughing by successfully sneaking near Victoria. He mumbled to himself, "It's a good thing my Night Snake could cover its tracks and aura during the night. Now, I can kill her with ease!"

"Oh no! Lady Victoria!!" The bearded man and the tall woman screamed.

 Their loud screams attracted the attention of their colleagues. They were all shocked to see someone was actually above Lady Victoria and was just about to assassinate her!

Everyone showed panicked expressions except for Kaiden and Hawks. They abandoned their battles and sprinted to save Victoria which took their opponents off guard!

They still continued to fight their individual fights. Kaiden handled two opponents at once while Hawks had three enemies in front of him.

Victoria who was being attacked actually had her eyes closed! As she immersed herself with her thoughts, Kaiden's words resounded in her mind.

...

"Milady, you should be more confident in yourself. If you put your heart into it, even I might have to concede defeat. After all, you are recognized as the Clan's strongest genius, a talent that may not appear even in a thousand years."

...

'Big bro Kai, believe in me... So, I will do my best to help Uncle Hawks fight these bad guys!' Victoria steeled her resolve.

She immersed herself in her own world even more. 

Making the time feel slower in comparison to how she was collecting her thoughts in her mind, 'Just like in the clan competition... I don't need to see my opponents getting hurt nor the blood they spill when I cut them if I just close my eyes...'

'Remember your surroundings…' In her mind, she was starting to quickly reanimate everything she saw for the past two minutes. 

She remembered every position of her clansmen and their enemies as well as the terrain of their battlefield.

The layout of the entire battlefield was quickly formed in an instant of thought!

...

"Scream all you want but it's too late! Die, little princess of the Cross Clan!" The man attacked from above as he held a dagger in his hand. He jumped down using his dark Innate Energy which increased his speed greatly and thrusted it forwards towards Victoria's neck.

"Why is she closing her eyes?! She should dodge!" The bearded man said in alarm!

Suddenly, Victoria grabbed one of the two swords she was carrying back! But, her eyes were still closed.

In her mind, she was still as immersed as she previously was, 'Cast aside unnecessary thoughts... Determine the location of everyone by their auras.... their breathing...and their heartbeats...!'

'Is she too afraid that she closed her eyes and would just randomly poke her sword in hopes to stab me? Hahaha, what a pitiful spoiled brat!' The attacker was only half a meter away from Victoria while his dagger was only several centimeters away from her neck!

The moment after, he hit nothing but air and Victoria had already disappeared in front of him! 'What the fuck?! She was just there?!'

The Sword Knights were also equally shocked. They all thought to themselves, 'Are my eyes playing with me?! Milady just vanished?!'

It was not only them, the remaining twelve Evil Cultivators were dumbfounded by what they just saw. They could not see her movements or sense her presence. It was as if she vanished completely!

Quickly right after, he felt a presence on his back! When he turned around to look, he saw Victoria in mid-air holding one sword on top of her head using both hands.

"Heavenly Cross, First Sword: Nightsever!"

The man heard a fleeting voice before his vision bisected. 

When Victoria swung her sword, he saw a flash of light that divided into numerous lights and covered his eyes with nothing but light. 

His dying thought was just one word, 'How?'

His blood fell and his body was cleanly cut into hundreds of pieces while his blood formed a pool on the tree's roots.

Despite killing an Evil Cultivator, Victoria did not celebrate nor stop and she used the tree she was near to land her feet. Then, she disappeared again.

Despite being shocked by Victoria's unbelievable speed, the tall woman noticed a sneak attack from behind the bearded man's back.

 It was Jaken who was sent flying earlier! 

The tall woman warned, "Koma, behind you!"

"Too late! Darkstone Golem, crush him!" Jaken roared.

The stone golem from before reappeared on his back!

To complete Jaken's command, the stone golem raised both of his arms and clasped both of them which he, then, used to pummel Koma!

Koma reacted but he was still too late to respond because he was so caught up by Victoria's shocking display of strength. 'So this is it, huh?'

"Heavenly Cross, First Sword: Nightsever!"

Right, when he was about to close his eyes, he saw a flash of light that divided into countless rays and blotted out his vision with nothing but pure light!

After an instant, Koma saw the beautiful Victoria appearing like a war goddess in front of him with her eyes still closed and her hands grasping two beautiful white swords that glistened like a star.

Then, he turned his attention to Darkston Golem and Jaken. Darkstone Golem has already been stopped primarily because it was nothing but dust now.

Jaken also met a similar fate as Victoria's previous attacker. 

He was cut into hundreds of pieces with his blood covering his remains and spreading throughout the ground and mixing with rainwater.

The Sword Knights were also shocked and the same went for the Evil cultivators.

"Splitting your attention in a fight..." It was also due to this that Hawks was able to launch a finishing attack against the three men he was fighting.

"Is the biggest mistake you could make!" Kaiden was also able to seize the moment of shock and attacked at the same moment as Hawks.

"Sky Lord Slash!" Hawks' attack resembled the claws of a true hawk as it ripped apart the bodies of the three Evil Cultivators in his path. All of the three had their bodies divided into three different parts!

"Cloud Piercer!" Kaiden's move was similar to how the clouds are pierced through by jets as they scatter them in the sky. 

He pierced through the bodies of his opponents and scattered their remains to the muddy grounds of the forest.