“That was dangerous, our bodies would have been torn to shreds had we been a step too late”.

Unlike the demons, humans did not possess inherent abilities like regeneration. Unless it was a high ranking priest, even their healing skill had a limit to what it could do.

Kevin gulped. The attack earlier, unlike [Flame Pillar], was invisible and spread in a wide area; he doubted whether his sword would be able to eat that or not. Thankfully, he was not alone; his reliable team was with him.

“Everyone, good work. We saved the little girl’s mother.” At this moment, Silivia and Delicia came out of the wreckage, carrying a middle aged woman, unconscious but breathing.

“You four, look after the woman and her child.” Lying her down in a corner, Silvia addressed the squires.

“What? But we can battle too…” Rolan tried to say that they can help. However, he was cut off by Silvia, whose eyes seemed to be serious right now.

“Don’t overestimate yourself. It is too early for you squires to face a high ranking demon from the get go. Although you all might have some experience fighting demons, due to the previous mission in the Tainted Lands. However, fighting demons in tandem with the knights while getting buffed by the titles of the holy Knights is different from facing a demon without any title buffs”…

“You all still need more experience. For now, focus on learning something by watching our techniques and movements. Don’t worry, we two knights are enough to handle the likes of Darkmaw”.

Just like she said, the squires were far too weak and inexperienced to face a high ranking demon. Earlier too, if not for the last second warning from Vangeance, the squires would have died.

Delicia was no exception. She might have experienced fighting as a knight before; however, her current stats were barely passable for a squire. Against a high ranking demon, she would only die a quick death.

The squires nodded and did what they could, safeguard the mother and child.

With that taken care of, Silvia and Vangeance turned their attention towards the Duskmaw.

“Heh, what was our record last time?”

“Ten minutes and twenty one seconds,” the former replied.

“Hehe, let’s finish this one in seven; no, five minutes tops.” Vangeance grinned, excitement oozing out of his body.

“Well, I have no qualms, but if you drag me down like the last time, know that I won’t hesitate to throw you in front of the demon and use you as bait”.

“What did you say… Oi wait!!”

Silvia did not wait and started with her offensive. Her petite and lithe body glided through the air, opening numerous wounds on the body of the high ranking demon. Every slash and movement of hers was an imitation of how Reianhrdt swung his sword.

His techniques and how he dodged and timed his attacks. The girl got it right down to the very last minute detail. From this, one could see that she had learned well and incorporated every knowledge she could and made her own.

With a heavy step forward, she jabbed her sword, deflecting the demon’s tentacles every so slightly for it to miss her body without making any more useless movement. She then, in the same instant, transitioned her attack to a sideward slash in an attempt to enter the transcendent state of [Transition].

However, how could it be so easy to enter a state that even the holy knights struggled to master?

The tentacle was cut; nevertheless, it was not as clean as she expected. She felt slight pain in her fingers from having to apply great force.

While still not perfect, one could see the shadow of Reinahrdt behind Silvia’s movements.

On the other hand, Vangeance was… Vangeance. He took one to dish one. His movements, sword techniques, and strategy were very unrefined compared to the silver haired girl. That said, when it came to pure raw damage and finding the opportunity to deal great damage to his opponent, no one was better than him.

Then there was that chant of his…

“Your blade shall carry the weight of your vow. Your movements and your swing shall become one with your mind, breath, and blade. Finding unity in all three will remove all gaps. [Holy Blade Arts] Second Light”.

At that instant, his sword flashed, and numerous cuts appeared on the demon, who had to fall back and resort to using that same scream magic again to get them away from itself.

Extreme tenacity, that was the talent the former thug turned knight possessed.

Having failed again and again to enter the state of [Heart of the Sword] during his fight against the demon so far, he finally pushed open that gate of transcendence with sheer willpower.

BOOMM…

The Duskmaw, having suffered too much damage, started going into a frenzy. It released indiscriminate magic and flailed its tentacles and razor sharp tongue everywhere with no aim at all.

.

Four minutes in, the two knights were starting to overwhelm the demon. Five minutes down, and the Darkmaw’s attack became more violent and desperate.

“Dammit!” Vangeance cursed.

Four minutes were up, and the demon was still not down.

“You are holding me back.”

Having entered three transcendent states at once, [One with the Sword], [Heart of the Sword], and [Transition], Silvia was unstoppable. She was manhandling her opponent as if it were not a high ranking demon, but a low ranking one.

Watching the battle from a distance, the squires were amazed. The knights were so powerful that they were once again forced to realise how much of a gap there still was between them and the progress that needs to be made before one can even reach the kind of mastery displayed.

Every skill, every slash, every step, and every breath, it was perfectly timed and came like a combo that dealt massive damage to the demon.

That was not all, they were not only aware of their own skill timings, but also of the demons and their comrade as they perfectly timed their attacks, keeping their opponent on the back foot the entire time.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep