Chapter 288: Mysterious Powerups!

Arianne didn’t hesitate at all.

As soon as the guard entered her range, her sword swung across—fast, almost a blur—and let his head roll in mid-air.

The other guard reacted fast, gaining distance while stabbing with his trident. However, Arianne easily dodged it before swinging her blue sword once again.

SHING!

The sharp edge of the Mithril Holy Blade quickly cut the spear’s shaft in two, almost as if it was cutting a blade of grass and not a solid metal shaft.

“I-INTRUDERS!”

The guard, seeing that he was at a disadvantage, shouted immediately.

“For the king and country!”

But a second later, Arianne’s blade pierced through his throat. Stabbing right through his Adam’s apple and out his nape.

His eyes quivered, his hands trembled, but soon enough, all of his movements stopped.

“Two down. Coast clear.”

Arianne whispered as she slowly turned around.

“What do you mean coast clear…” Axel sighed as he slowly marched forward. “That one called for reinforcements. Look behind you.”

“Hmm?”

Prompted, Arianne turned around once more. And as soon as she did, she saw the gate to the stadium open up. From within, more men and women, armed with various weapons, marched out. Arianne showed a thin smile, shrugging her shoulders.

“Welp, looks like I failed~!”

“…What a farce.” Fenrir added from behind. “You intentionally let it call its allies, didn’t you? Your movements were way too slow, after all.”

Right.

With their stats, if Arianne was serious, she could’ve sent both their heads rolling even before they could see her shadow!

“Ehehe~!”

Meaning, since the enemy was able to “see” her attacks, it was all intentional!

“Well, it works either way, so I don’t really care much.” Axel whispered with one eye closed.

Of course, there was no fear of the enemy running away. Eve and the others were watching over them, after all. It would be impossible for them to escape her eyes, no matter how hard they tried.

Furthermore, Eve’s new bullets, powered by her mana, had such great penetration power that even going underground wouldn’t save them!

Axel drew his sword before quietly turning toward the wolf girl beside him.

“Fenrir, go.”

“Yes, Master!”

And with his command, Fenrir quickly dashed forward. Faster than Arianne, but still far from her “top” speed. Now that 75% of her original stats were unlocked, she was roughly 3x stronger than any of the girls stat-wise!

As soon as Fenrir charged in, blood sprayed like a fountain. Body parts, bloody and mangled, flew left and right, almost as if they were simple trash.

“AH!” Arianne gasped, seeing Fenrir start her onslaught. “Unfair! This is my fight! Don’t butt in so aggressively!”

Fenrir didn’t stop, of course. She only scoffed, commenting without looking at Arianne.

“Then fight properly. Don’t play with them.”

Seeing that she’d run out of things to cut if she didn’t move, Arianne charged further in. Right into the middle of the enemy formation.

She became surrounded, boxed in, and attacked from all sides.

“Heh!”

But rather than feeling desperate or afraid, her smile thickened. Braver than ever, and completely merciless.

Her blade flashed once, swinging a full 360 degrees around her. The next moment, all of those within five meters of her… had their bodies cut in two at the waist or stomach.

“That’s sixty!” She growled, jumping forward. “One hundred two!”

Her slash flew forward, cutting all of those that got in the way. Fenrir saw the incoming slash and casually flicked it aside before glaring at Arianne. “Intentional?”

“As if!” She playfully replied.

However, it was quite obvious it was intentional. The aim was too perfect for it to be a coincidence!

Of course, Fenrir didn’t really mind either way. Even if she hadn’t blocked it, that slash wouldn’t have injured her. She knew it was nothing more than a little distraction to slow her down.

As the two girls continued their parallel onslaught, Axel stepped through the bloody entrance and frowned.

“This…” He whispered, staring deeper into the hall.

His eyes weren’t locked on Fenrir or Arianne, but on someone even further in. A presence that Axel felt for the first time, though he was quite sure it wasn’t human. No, not just one, but many.

The problem was that their presence was growing stronger by the second. At the start, it was at the level of those in the Valkyrie Knight order. Those who had drunk two potions and three tonics. But now, the strength they were exuding was becoming a “real” threat.

’But why are they gaining power so fast…?’

Of course, such doubts crossed his mind.

The rate at which they were powering up wasn’t justifiable by a simple buff. It was a more fundamental increase in power, not a temporary one!

Fenrir and Arianne, too, began to notice the growing presences. This change slowed their pace a great deal, as they had to watch out for surprise attacks. With the enemy’s current power, taking a hit would be no joke.

Axel frowned, thinking hard to figure out how the enemy was growing in strength. However, he was unable to work it out.

’I can’t let them grow any further!’

Thinking of the adverse effects that delaying their response might bring, his hesitation faded. Axel raised a hand, two fingers up. A signal for Eve up above.

BANG!

The next moment, a powerful explosion echoed.

From atop the tower, Eve fired her sniper rifle, sending a bullet flying through the air.

It was loaded with a mere 50 points of mana, but even with just that, the projectile broke Mach 5 in speed. It flew almost straight, diagonally downward, and hit the middle of the presences they were feeling.

BOOM!

An explosion occurred, spreading powerful holy mana waves around. This surprise attack successfully brought down a number of the targets, but…

“Shit!”

Axel cursed, frowning even deeper.

The reason was simple—he had figured out how the demons were gaining power so fast. They were simply devouring the souls of their fallen brethren!

And now that a powerful one had been hunted, a scramble began.

It was first come, first served as they tried to get a share. Within moments, the soul of the fallen high-ranking demon was absorbed completely. Those who successfully got even a bite experienced a rapid increase in their strength.

Of them, two… had actually reached the level of the girls!

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