Chapter 263: Godly Lightning

With every single mercenary having been taken care of by either me, Lazuli, or Vanye, the two of us headed towards the only remaining fight amidst the destroyed and deserted encampment; when we arrived, we saw Vanye fighting against Boss, seemingly at a disadvantage, though neither of us stepped in to help. Lazuli didn't really like Vanye, so I doubted she would willingly help, and I could tell this was something she wanted to overcome by herself, so although slightly reluctantly, I stood at a distance and quietly watched the battle play out.

"She's one amazing swordsman; she makes me look like an amateur at best." Muttered Alexander lightly as he folded his arms while gazing at Vaney, watching in awe as her katana gracefully sliced through the air, leaving not an ounce of motion wasted in her deadly attacks.

"Hmm, I'd still rather fight against her than you… Killing you would be far too difficult." Said Lazuli indifferently as she looked at Vanye before glancing at Alexander, who faintly chuckled while wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"You've nearly killed me already, so I appreciate you not wanting to do it again." "I was aiming for Yuki. Though I suppose it is good you took the attack, there is a good chance she would've died." Remarked Alexander and Lazuli, respectively, as he gently kissed her cheek while the latter calmly glanced at him.

Shaking my head at Lazuli's words, I suddenly sensed an eruption of mana, causing me to close my mouth as I shifted my focus to Vanye, who was engulfed in reddish-black mana that covered her figure, destroying everything it touched, even her golden prosthetics were slowly being destroyed; the only thing that remained intact was the sword within her hands as the mana coalesced around the blade.

'Yeah, her sword is most definitely of the Mythical rank.' Thought Alexander as he used [Heroes Gaze] and narrowed his eyes at Vanye's sword.

////////////////////

Name: Bor -o Vanye

Rank: Mythical

Description: ???

////////////////////

Since the sword was a Mythical rank, I couldn't completely analyze it, but I mainly just wanted to check its rank, so I was satisfied, though its name was rather weird, if I'm being honest.

"Bor -o Vanye. Huh, weird name." Muttered Alexander softly as he rubbed his chin while gazing at the sword cutting through the air, turning everything it touched into dust.

Despite Vanye's transformation, although she had taken the advantage, Boss wasn't so easily defeated, and so the battle continued to wage on; every swipe of Vanye's blade either destroyed part of his axe, or left a shallow gash on his body, which only worsened from the residue mana that remained. Despite Boss being stronger, this ability of Vanye's was slowly giving her the edge, allowing her attacks to grow fiercer while forcing Boss to be more defensive, which only progressively got worse for him given that, unlike me, he wasn't able to deflect Vanye's swords.

"Vanye's going to win." Said Lazuli blandly as she clicked her tongue while watching the battle, only for Alexander to shake his head with furrowed brows.

"Maybe. She's draining her mana; she won't last like this; if Boss can hold out for a little bit longer, she'll be walking sheep for him." Said Alexander softly with a deep frown as he narrowed his eyes while Lazuli's eyes shone enthusiastically.

"Besides, the clouds up above are doing something weird." Added Alexander lightly as he summoned Zartha into his hand while staring at the dark clouds that blanketed the entire sky, lightning dancing about through the sea of clouds.

Seeing the flow of atmospheric mana surging towards the dark clouds, I leaped into the air, using [Air Step] to practically float high above Vanye as I awaited the lightning bolt that, yet the moment I arrived, the mana vastly increased in intensity while the clouds began to rapidly rotate, creating a powerful storm from absolutely nowhere.

'What the hell!? Why does the world hate me as well?' Thought Alexander in confusion as he struggled to stay floating in place, the powerful wind constantly pushing him.

However, the appearance of the storm was the least of my worries as I could see a massive lightning bolt snaking through the clouds, visibly growing in size and density, causing me to gulp since I was able to clearly make out the sheer amount of mana stored within that bolt of lightning.

'Heh, l-let alone Vanye or I, t-that could probably wipe out this entire forest. W-What God have I angered? I-I'm just living my life.' Thought Alexander fearfully as he nervously gulped while gazing at the bright blue lightning bolt that was full of mana, causing him to grip his other sword.

"~Move!~ ~Or face the punishment in her stead!~" Said a beautiful voice befitting a goddess, though the fury and hatred oozing from its every word was impossible to miss.

Hearing that same familiar voice from when I first encountered Vanye, I looked around, hoping to find where that heavenly voice came from, yet no matter where I looked, I ended up empty-handed, causing me to click my tongue as I continuously kicked the air, staying afloat while eyeing the massive lightning bolt that was seemingly frozen in place directly above me, just waiting for it's destructive might to be unleashed.

"~MOVE!~" Stated the heavenly voice intensely while the storm grew again, causing Alexander to barely stay in place despite trying his hardest.

"I-I don't know w-who you are, M-Miss Goddess, b-but can we perhaps talk things through…. Because I-I'm not moving. M-My heart led me to her, s-so she's important to me, e-even if I don't know it yet." Stated Alexander firmly as he was constantly getting knocked off course by the powerful wind which was uprooting various trees throughout the forest.

Although fearful of that lightning bolt hovering directly above me, I stood firm in my decision; after all, I couldn't let that thing drop; not only would it kill Vanye, but Lazuli and Vanimo would be caught in the explosion. However, the lack of response from my words only served to unnerve me as I prepared to try and redirect the attack to somewhere else because there was no way in hell I could block that behemoth of a lightning bolt.

'You won't be able to redirect either, Master. That lightning bolt carries Divinity, and not just a little.' Said Zartha coldly with a solemn expression as she and Trina gazed at Alexander, who wryly smiled though his expression remained firm.

Just as I was waiting for the attack, all of a sudden, the storm vanished, and the massive lightning bolt that loomed over my head like a guillotine all but disappeared as if it never existed in the first place. Tilting my head in confusion, I gazed up at the sky, hoping my mind wasn't playing tricks on me, but after a few moments, I released a sigh of relief while falling out of the sky.

"I don't know what the fuck just happened, but I don't think I've ever been so frightened in my life. The amount of mana in that lightning bolt, even Master paled in comparison to what I saw." Muttered Alexander softly as he landed on the ground while quickly backing away front the fight, returning to where he was previously standing beside Lazuli.

"What was that?" "Haa, I've got no fucking clue. The anger of a Goddess? I'm only grateful she can reasoned with; otherwise, we would've all died." Remarked Lazuli and Alexander, respectively, as the latter shook head in confusion, occasionally glancing up at the sky, seemingly expecting to see a lightning bolt.

'Great, I'm going to have nightmares now.' Mused Alexander lightly as he absorbed his swords back into his body while nervously chuckling to himself, only for a faint blue aura and lightning to surround him.

Pushing against the ground, I used every skill I had to enhance my physical attributes as I speedily dashed towards Vanye, who was about to die as she had just collapsed from running out of mana.

"DIE!" Stated Boss with an eager expression as he violently swung his damaged axe down to Vanye, intending to bisect her, though just before he could, he was violently kicked in the stomach.

Pushing Boss backward, I turned and glanced at Vanye, who was fine, causing me to sigh in relief as I leaned down to help her back up.

"You okay?" Asked Alexander softly as he grabbed Vanye's hands, helping her onto her feet while she shook her head before groaning in pain.

"Yeah, I expected as much; running out of mana isn't a good feeling." Added Alexander as he nodded in understanding while remembering when he injured himself from completely draining his mana.

"Hmph, I'll kill you as well, human!" Stated Boss as he wiped the blood from his mouth while lunging towards Alexander and Vanye.

Before I could set Vanye down behind me, she suddenly touched my chest, engulfing me in her reddish-black mana. It wasn't harmful—well, no more harmful than it already was—but it was fine as long as she wasn't actively trying to harm me. My healing barely offset its constant damage.

"K-Kill him." Muttered Vanye weakly as she collapsed onto the ground, causing Alexander to nod while shifting his focus to Boss.

Dashing forward, I narrowly evaded a swing of his axe before using [Blink] to appear right behind him, causing him to swing behind him, prompting me to further open my eyes, combining [Blink] and [Heroes Gaze] as we swapped positions. Since it was essentially the same as using [Teleport], I was able to do it on the spot without any prior practice, though this new move caught Boss unprepared, and by the time he managed to turn around, I had already stabbed Zartha, who was covered mana, through his chest, directly in his heart.