A Nightmare

Meanwhile, the two knights swung their blades and attacked with impressive synchronization. Heiness with frost mist engulfing her blade, and Neolen's was lightning. The frost blade could have left some frost effect on the opponent and slow them down, not to mention a possible frostbite after several hits. However, after many attempts, she was still unable to land a hit.

The same applied to Neolen.

The silver haired girl nonchalantly and skillfully evaded each and every attack. They couldn't even cut a part of her long hair.

"How is this possible?!" Heiness exclaimed.

"Tch!"

Neolen thrust his sword forward, sending a lightning strike at great speed. But the girl turned her body and the lightning strike went past her, scorching the bushes in an instant. Heiness, the moment the girl evaded, poured her mana into the sword, then with a single sweeping motion of her sword, a thick mist of frost emerged and headed towards the girl as though carried by the stormy wind.

But also, at that exact moment, the girl vanished from her spot, leaving the attack to hit an empty spot causing a fairly wide ice field to spread out on ground. Heiness's eyes went wide, and she immediately looked up, there she saw the girl in mid air before she landed back to the ground with grace.

The magic that these two knights used could have killed dozens of soldiers with ease, but this girl evaded all of it like it was nothing.

"Hm… Strange, I didn't even break a sweat…"

The girl said that as though she was genuinely bemused. Was she mocking them? Or was she truly puzzled about something? It was likely the former. But Heiness had to keep her composure.

"I would suggest you just behave and await death to come for you. Struggling is pointless. No, seriously."

"Struggling is part of human nature, so no," Neolen said.

"Part of human nature? Are you serious? Then is giving up not also a part of humanity? I really couldn't think of a way for you guys to escape this, so wouldn't it be better to give up? For the same outcome will happen in the end, and struggling will only serve to delay the inevitable."

The girl neither grinned nor scowled but only looked at them with stern eyes. But why was she yet to attack them? But she was provoking them. Heiness couldn't understand her at all.

"Neolen, let's give this our best shot."

"Yeah!"

This time, Heiness decided to use her trump card. The downside of this was that it would almost deplete her mana, and thus she preferred she would leave it to last. The same situation applied to Neolen.

Heiness gripped her sword tightly and flipped it to point towards the ground. She poured as much mana on it as possible, and the sword began to glow with bluish gentle light. This was her strongest spell, "Frozen Sector."

She plunged her blade to the ground, and in an instant, the ground froze and ice spread in all directions. The effective range was 10 meter radius, and it had already reached the girl halfway. As she was the target, the ice rose from the girl's feet and gripped her legs.

The girl looked down as though in surprise. But that was not only it, Ice pillars rose from the frozen floor and struck the girl like spears. However, the tips broke when they made contact with the girl, but that pinned her in place. It could have pierce anyone else, but unfortunately, their opponent was stronger than they were.

Neolen ran forward as electricity covered his body. The lightning cackled loudly, and when he got closer, he pushed his blade forward. Countless streaks of lightning crashed against the girl's position, easily shattering the ice all around with ease.

This spell was called "Lightning Tide", which sends a strong torrent of lightning towards where the caster willed it. This could even vaporize a high ranking knight if taken head on.

Smoke and dust filled the air, and everything quieted down. The two glared cautiously, waiting for the obstruction to subside. Surely that damaged the girl intensely that she would be at least unable to move. Yes, they were not praying that she was dead, but only at least the girl would be too damaged to move so they could kill her at that time of vulnerability. Wishing that she was dead would be too tall.

But then, a voice calmly travelled the air, causing their wishes to break down.

"Impressive, so is this the new standard? No one can do this last time. It stung a bit though."

The smoke and dust cleared up, unveiling the girl who was standing there with nonchalance. The two were in utter disbelief. They gave their all, but it appeared like everything was useless. No, it wasn't completely useless, they could see burned marks on the skin of her shoulder and the center of her chest, then along the neck.

"Hm, I was damaged…"

She casually patted her dress and at the same time, the burned marks vanished and her torn clothes were restored anew.

The two knights stood frozen.

How could such a being exist? Even strong demons could have been killed by those combo of attacks. This was a nightmare. That was the thought that came to their minds as despair crept into their hearts.

"But thanks to that, I finally gathered a little information and impression."

Heiness then realized the reason the girl hadn't counter attacked. She was trying them out.

Heiness's breathing turned rapid, and her heart raced and throbbed. She could feel her feet faltering.

But there was someone different from her. Neolen still stood closer to the girl than her and remained steadfast and gripped his sword tightly.

"You're a true monster," he said. "I can't allow you to be set free."

"You have no right to deny me of my freedom. Now, we're done here. You will be useful, so I won't damage your bodies."

"What—"

His words were cut short as some sort of dark haze flew from the girl's hands and touched him. But nothing happened, he looked at himself in confusion.

"W—"

He was about to ask what she did, but he stopped when he saw a ball of light on the palm of the girl. The two knights had no idea what that was.

"Die."

When the girl said that word, she closed her hand, then the orb of light broke apart like glass. Just like that, nothing else happened except for the sound of a hard metallic object hitting the ground.

Heiness watched in utter confusion as Neolen's sword slipped from his once firm grasp and fell to the ground, then he himself followed.

"What…?"

She couldn't process what just happened. Was he dead? No, it can't be. It can't be that easy.

"Hey, Neolen! Get up!" She called out to him before turning to face the girl. "W-What did you do?!"

She was terrified to speak with her, but she couldn't hold back her confusion anymore.

"I destroyed his life core, think of it as the center of a living being's life force."

"What?"

She had never heard of the concept of life or, nor has she heard of a spell that can do that. She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't. No way this was real. This must truly be a nightmare.

Her feet trembled.

This girl was the truest monster she had ever faced in her life.

"Oh? Will you behave now and await your death?"

"..."

Heiness gaze towards the girl with terrified eyes. But then, she took a deep breath.

"N-No… I am a knight… I will not falter, I will fight to the bitter end."

She raised her sword and prepared to attack.

"I see. I'm impressed."

Heiness was about to charge forward, but the girl waved her hand, and a dark haze reached Heiness in a second. The last thing she saw was her perception falling to the ground before everything darkened.