Killing Trell

Trell continued his assault, but he was no longer trying to kill Minos, instead just holding him back until Shadow arrived so the two could finish him off together.

Unfortunately for Trell, Shadow wasn't quite as fast as Minos's Gold-Nibbling Mouse, and before he could even realize anything was wrong, a little golden mouse suddenly burrowed out from the earth, biting Trell's toe with all its strength.

"Ahh!" Trell shouted in pain. Despite the Gold-Nibbling Mouse not quite having enough power to bite off Trell's toe, it was more than enough to cause serious pain.

Trell's movement was completely disrupted by the sudden toe bite, and the pain further muddled his mind, finally giving Minos the chance to go on the offensive.

Minos didn't hold back at all, using his full strength to slash at Trell, but while Trell was somewhat muddled, his exceptional vision still allowed him to defend himself.

"Was that really your strategy, a mouse?" Trell couldn't help but laugh, having blocked the attack.

By this point the pain was already gone, and Trell's mind was clear. After kicking hard and sending the Gold-Nibbling Mouse flying, he couldn't help but mock Minos's effort.

"You've lost your chance, it's over!" Trell shouted, pushing Minos back as he prepared to attack.

But what Trell didn't know was that both the Gold-Nibbling Mouse and Minos were diversions, and before he could properly react, Minos's Diving Eagle, using both its incredible speed and the help of gravity, attacked from his blind spot.

Its beak was aimed directly at the back of Trell's head, and before he could even respond to the sudden swishing of air, it was already over.

The sharp metallic beak with the help of such tremendous speed, dug deeply into Trell's head, nearly shattering his skull.

Even such a blow failed to kill him directly, but by now that didn't matter. The tremendous shock to his brain had completely paralyzed Trell, and before he could respond to anything, Minos used his Moon Tempest Sword, severing his head from his body.

Shadow's running came to a complete halt as he saw his master's head separate from his body, flying into the air before collapsing onto the broken earth.

His mind was in complete chaos, not believing what he was seeing. Exploiting Shadow's tumultuous state of mind, Minos attacked him with full force, and without much effort, he ended his life as well.

By this point, the battle was finally over, and besides Minos and Yola, everyone who came to Abyss Cliff today had died.

Minos took a deep breath while looking around at the shattered earth below his feet, the two fresh corpses lying in complete silence.

Trell's severed head lay only a meter or so away from his body, his eyes still confused, and filled with shock, seemingly never having the privilege of knowing when his death came.

Shadow's lifeless face was filled with sadness. Even after Minos attacked him and woke him from his chaos, he still didn't put up much of a fight, as if he had already given up on life the moment he saw his master die.

Minos couldn't help but let out a sigh as he saw these two, but since they decided to come for his life, then this was the fate they deserved.

Searching the corpses, he was disappointed to find nothing, but considering the circumstances, it made sense that neither of them brought anything.

Minos then spent another hour clearing the field, dumping the corpses over Abyss Cliff and removing any signs that a battle happened here.

With everything done, Minos finally left. Walking back the way he came from, Minos soon reached his horse, unleashing it before riding it home.

…

After reaching the sect, Minos didn't immediately go home, but rather sneakily headed towards Trell's house.

He had two purposes when he baited Trell, the first was to naturally help Venix and remove some competition, and the second was for himself.

Reaching Trell's mansion, Minos walked around the back before jumping up directly towards a window on the upper-floor.

He had long since noticed the maid on the first floor, and since he didn't want to alert her, he jumped directly towards the second floor.

Using his tremendous strength, Minos forcefully plied the window open before jumping into the room.

Looking around or a moment, Minos found nothing of interest, so he headed out and began inspecting the rooms one by one.

Soon enough, he found Trell's study. The two shelves on both sides of the room were filled densely with books that covered all fields, much to Minos's joy.

Not even bothering to read the titles, he stuffed all the books into his spatial ring, before continuing his search.

On a surface level, there was nothing left, but using his hearing and touch, Minos tapped the floor, soon finding an empty cavity underneath one floorboard.

Prying it up, Minos finally found what he was looking for. There were three books stacked on top of each other, each was a Three-Moon level sword technique.

'Three Split Shadow Sword'

'Flashing Flame Sword'

'Wave Eclipse Sword'

Briefly reading the titles of the three books, Minos realized that he was already aware of two of these techniques.

The Three Split Shadow Sword was what Trell had used against him in their fight, whereas the Flashing Flame Sword was the evolved version of the Flashing Spark Sword.

Meanwhile the Wave Eclipse Sword was foreign to him, but by reading its description, he could tell this technique was even stronger than the first two.

The Wave Eclipse Sword, much like its name, was akin to a wave, striking out three blades, each stacking on top of each other, making every consecutive sword slash stronger than the last.

Compared to the Flashing Flame Sword and Wave Eclipse Sword books that were still in good condition, the Three Split Shadow Sword book was clearly heavily read through.

It seemed Trell had invested all his time into mastering this technique, hence why he never used the other two during their fight.

Not everyone was like Minos, and for most people, just mastering one technique could take decades, even with good talent.

After tucking the three books into his spatial ring, Minos cleared all traces from the room, before once again jumping out the window he came in through, vanishing among the foliage.

…

Minos was in a good mood as he walked back home. With these three books in hand, he had saved at least 3000 contribution points, which was around two weeks worth of time.

Opening the door to his house, Minos found the man still waiting, sipping tea and eating cookies as he waited for Minos's return.

Hearing the door open, he turned his head towards Minos, his eyes shining. Jumping up from the couch, he quickly walked up to Minos before speaking.

"Have you found her Merth?" The man asked, hoping that he hadn't failed.

"Well done." Minos said with a smile, as he patted the man's shoulder.

"Ahh, no problem! So, about the reward…" The man said while twirling his fingers.

"Here." Minos said, before tossing the man a Nux Stone.

"Thank you, thank you! I won't bother you any further!" The man said, before running out of the house with glee.

Minos gently shook his head before shutting the door and sitting on the couch, Emilia serving him tea and snacks as he relaxed his muscles.

"Master, did everything go well?" Emilia asked, while pouring Minos another cup of tea.

"Naturally." Minos said, as he tossed a cookie into his mouth.

While relaxing, he couldn't help but begin thinking about the past couple of months. Without even realizing it, nearly half a year had passed, and so much had happened in that time.

With all the annoyance's out of his way, he could spend this next half a year comfortably, just refining his strength while further mastering his skills.

With three new sword techniques on hand and puppet skills to further refine, there was still a lot to do, and now he had the time to do it.

The sect life was a relaxing one, but this half a year had already made Minos feel slightly numb.

He needed adventure and excitement, and staying in one place for too long wasn't in his nature, so he hoped Venix could finish up with his quest soon, so that he could continue with his own journey.

Looking out the window at the endless blue skies, listening to the chirps of the birds, and smelling the scent of the flowers, Minos couldn't help but feel that there was still so much to see.

Noticing Minos had gone completely silent, just staring out the window, Emilia left in silence, deciding to give him space to relax.

Not even noticing Emilia leaving, Minos's mind was tranquil, his heart still, like an untouched lake with no ripples.

Suddenly, Minos's mind shook, the Embryonic Rune that was usually hidden on his forehead reappearing, three runes revolving around it.

With a shake, the Embryonic Rune once again split, a new rune joining the first three. Everything once again became calm as four runes revolved the Embryonic Rune.