Mountain Cutting Slash

"Match start!" the referee announced before quickly stepping back to give the fighters space.

Ethan adjusted his stance, sliding his right foot backward while raising his sword to his shoulder. The tip of his blade pointed directly at Esdeath, steady and unwavering.

Slash… Splash… Splash…

A brilliant golden aura exploded from his body, spreading across the arena like a warm wave of sunlight. It was as if a powerful river of life itself had burst forth, washing over the spectators.

The air felt lighter.

The tension in the audience's hearts melted away.

A soothing warmth filled the arena, making everyone feel safe—protected.

Lilith narrowed her eyes, watching closely. "Righteous Aura… also called the Radiance of Hope," she muttered under her breath. "An aura that represents hope itself."

Lortell, however, was far from calm.

Her face was pale, her forehead damp with cold sweat. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her dress as worry clawed at her chest.

"Only one in a hundred thousand can possess a Righteous Aura," she thought, her mind racing with panic.

She clenched her fists tightly. "I told you not to enter the competition! What if you get hurt? My heart aches just thinking about it!"

Her stomach twisted with unease, and she instinctively wanted to interfere, to stop this match before it was too late.

But she couldn't.

Esdeath had made it very clear—no one was allowed to interfere.

"If anyone dares to stop the match, I'll be angry," Esdeath had warned her.

Lortell had no choice but to watch.

To suffer through the agony of waiting.

To pray that Esdeath would be okay.

***

In the arena, Esdeath remained completely unfazed.

She didn't summon any aura. She didn't take a defensive stance.

Instead, she simply raised her right hand.

With her index and middle fingers extended, her ring and pinky curled inward, and her thumb sticking up, she made the shape of a gun with her palm—aiming it straight at Ethan.

A smirk curled her lips.

"You should feel honored," she said casually. "I'm pointing my gun at you."

Ethan scoffed, unimpressed. "Hands don't shoot," he said, his voice firm.

BANG!

Esdeath mimicked the sound of a gunshot with her mouth.

Ethan's instincts kicked in instantly. His body reacted before his mind could process the ridiculousness of the situation.

A shimmering green shield materialized in front of him, blocking the supposed "attack."

Then—

Laughter.

Loud, carefree, echoing laughter filled the arena.

"Hahahahaha…"

Esdeath grinned, her sharp red eyes glinting with mischief.

"You just said hands don't shoot," she teased. "So why did you put up a defense?"

Her mocking words cut through the air like a blade.

The audience fell into an awkward silence.

She had just openly mocked Ethan—one of the strongest contestants—in front of everyone.

But no one laughed.

Not a single person.

Why?

Because this was a serious competition.

A high-stakes battle in front of countless spectators.

Who jokes around in a place like this?

The situation felt… strange.

Uncomfortable.

Awkward.

But if there was one person who wasn't bothered by it—

It was Esdeath.

She stood there, her expression relaxed, completely at ease, as if the battle didn't concern her at all.

Ethan ignored Esdeath's laughter and charged forward, chanting a spell in his mind as he moved.

Unlike Esdeath, Ethan had years of experience in magic, the use of essence stones, and sword techniques. As he rushed at her, two magic circles appeared on both sides of Esdeath—one to her left and one to her right. In an instant, sharp crystal needles shot out from them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Esdeath fired her pistols at the incoming crystals, shattering them before they could reach her. Yes, pistols—plural. Since there were no rules about how many weapons she could carry, she simply pulled out another gun from thin air and fired with both hands, her accuracy almost perfect.

Meanwhile, Ethan took advantage of the moment and closed the distance between them. As soon as he was close enough, he swung his sword down at her. But Esdeath reacted instantly—she aimed at his sword and shot, disrupting his momentum before turning her gun toward him.

Ethan quickly dodged.

The battle between them grew fiercer, with the constant sound of gunfire echoing throughout the arena.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"I can't aim for his head or chest. If I hit him, he might die. Using guns is really holding me back!" Esdeath thought, feeling frustrated.

But she didn't give up.

She jumped backward to create more space. Then, in a flash, her pistols disappeared, and in her hands appeared an AR rifle—a much stronger weapon.

Ethan's eyes widened in shock. As someone from the future, he knew exactly what kind of gun this was.

Tat! Tat! Tat! Drrr!

Esdeath opened fire, and Ethan had no choice but to run at full speed, dodging the bullets as best he could.

Even though she had gained some distance, Esdeath still felt uneasy. "I can't let him have enough time to use his sword arts!" she thought.

"Wind Steps!"

She stepped onto thin air and shot upward, increasing the distance between them even more. Her wind affinity made such movements possible.

At once, she drew her gun again—but this time, instead of an AR rifle, she was holding a long, sleek, futuristic-looking sniper rifle.

Everyone watching the fight was stunned.

"Just how many guns is she carrying?!"

But what they didn't know was that Esdeath wasn't actually pulling out different weapons.

Everything she was using was the same gun—her ZK-20. She simply stored it inside her storage-type essence stone and re-summoned it in a different form each time. This trick made it seem like she had countless weapons at her disposal.

Of course, she did have other guns in her arsenal—but none of them matched the sheer power of the ZK-20.

As Esdeath hovered in the air, a huge glowing energy sphere started forming at the tip of her sniper rifle. Electric currents crackled wildly around it, making it look even more dangerous.

Ethan's eyes widened. He immediately knew that letting this attack happen would be a terrible mistake.

"Warp!"

He activated an advanced teleportation magic that only a handful of people could use, instantly vanishing from his spot and reappearing behind Esdeath.

Before Esdeath could even react—

BAM!

Ethan delivered a powerful kick to her back, sending her crashing straight toward the ground at high speed.

The impact was brutal.

Dust exploded into the air as she landed with a loud thud. The ground trembled from the force.

Lortell, watching from the stands, smacked her own head repeatedly, her face filled with worry. "That must've hurt… that must've hurt…" she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut.

But as the dust began to settle, Esdeath stood up.

She didn't look hurt at all.

However, when she glanced around the arena, she noticed something strange—there were multiple Ethans. No, not just multiple—dozens. No… nearly a hundred of them!

The entire arena was filled with Ethans, and each one looked as real as the original.

"Water Path Killer Move—Hundred Sea Clones!"

All the Ethans roared in unison as they charged at Esdeath from all directions.

A smirk spread across her lips.

"So, he finally gained an affinity with the water element," she thought.

Gaining an elemental affinity wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't easy either. If someone had an essence stone that granted affinity, all they had to do was use it. But finding such stones was the real challenge.

Esdeath also had an Elemental King Essence Stone that could grant her affinity with five different elements. However, since it was a B-rank essence stone, she couldn't use it yet.

As all the clones rushed toward her, Esdeath's smirk widened into a wicked grin.

"Hundred clones? Then I'll counter with a hundred guns," she whispered to herself.

In an instant, dozens of AR rifles, resembling M4A1s, materialized in mid-air around her. They hovered in a perfect circle, as if controlled by some unseen force. It almost looked like she had transformed into some kind of mechanical war machine, prepared to unleash destruction.

"Open fire!"

With her command, a surge of mystical energy flowed through the floating weapons.

Then—

Drrrrrrr!

A deafening storm of gunfire erupted.

The rifles fired in all directions, bullets raining down like a relentless storm. The sheer intensity of the attack was overwhelming. Even as Esdeath moved, the guns floated with her, proving that she wasn't restricted in her mobility.

The battlefield turned into chaos.

Dozens of clones were wiped out almost instantly, their bodies bursting into water upon impact. Even the protective barrier around the arena suffered damage, barely holding on against the insane barrage.

In just a few moments, all of Ethan's clones had been destroyed, leaving only the real him standing.

Although he had managed to shield himself with an invisible barrier, he was still injured from the attack.

But—

The wounds on his body healed at an unnatural speed.

After all, he had a Rank B Righteous skill.

The crowd was stunned.

"W-What was that move?!" someone gasped. "You can use guns like that?!"

Esdeath casually let go of her weapons.

One by one, all of them dropped to the ground, many of them breaking apart due to being used to their absolute limits.

Ethan gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tightly.

"It's time to end this—Rising Sea Slash!"

He roared as he swung his sword—not from top to bottom, but from bottom to top, like an enormous wave rising from the ocean. A powerful crescent-shaped slash of water shot toward Esdeath.

But Esdeath remained calm.

"Turn Phantom!"

Her body shimmered as she activated her essence stone's ability. In an instant, she became intangible.

The massive sword wave passed right through her, crashing into the arena walls and sending shockwaves everywhere.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"Ohh… so that's it!" He immediately realized what she had done.

"She used a Turn Phantom essence stone…"

Then, he smirked.

"I guess it's time to use my sword arts."

"Azurelion sword style–First Form", He said as he swung horizontally.

"Mountain Cutting Slash! ",