Demon Sword Style

Yuri's discovery was actually noticed by others as well.

When Jill's body began to emanate a layer of crimson magical energy, growing stronger under its enchantment, many people noticed the problem with this swordsman.

"Ahh, so that man is a Demon Swordsman who practices Demon Sword Style, huh?"

The young nobleman from the royal capital exclaimed, his expression suddenly enlightened.

"Demon Sword Style?"

The young nobleman's attendant, upon hearing his master's words, immediately showed a shocked expression.

"Isn't that the swordsmanship that caused chaos three years ago?"

"Yeah, that one." The young nobleman nodded.

This was something widely known even by ordinary people.

Just three years ago, a group of very peculiar swordsmen suddenly appeared in various countries across the continent.

They were powerful swordsmen, not only were they powerful swordsmen on the level of Sword Masters, but without exception, each of them had eyes that glowed crimson.

What they wielded was not a typical sword, but a curved-blade sword resembling a saber with a single cutting edge. In battle, they would unleash crimson magical energy that enhanced their strength, making them virtually unbeatable opponents.

Such an extremely powerful and eerie group of swordsmen naturally quickly attracted the attention of many countries, prompting them to send people one after another to make contact with this group of swordsmen, intending to uncover the secret behind their peculiar strength.

At some point, this secret eventually spread.

It turned out that these swordsmen were so peculiar and powerful because they all practiced a very unique swordsmanship.

Typically, in swordsmanship, whether elementary, advanced, or special, practitioners stimulate the magical energy within their Gates through breathing, absorbing magical energy to hone their bodies and become stronger.

But this particular swordsmanship was different.

When practicing this swordsmanship, swordsmen didn't strengthen themselves by absorbing magical energy within their Gates, but rather by absorbing the blood of those who died by their swords to hone their bodies.

In other words, swordsmen who practiced this swordsmanship didn't rely on practice to improve themselves, but rather on slaughter.

The more people they killed, the stronger they became.

The stronger the people they killed, the stronger they became.

This was the swordsmanship that once caused a great uproar on the Akasha Continent—Demon Sword Style.

This swordsmanship was suitable for anyone to practice, as long as they were willing to kill and willing to feed on blood, they had no trouble becoming stronger.

With such unique swordsmanship, this group of swordsmen caused trouble everywhere, resulting in countless killings, but each one became stronger than the next, none weaker than Sword Masters.

"The swordsman who fights Riezel Brynhart right now matches almost perfectly with the characteristics of those swordsmen mentioned in the rumors. He wields a curve-blade sword with one cutting edge, has crimson eyes, and unleashes crimson magical energy during battle, continuously growing stronger. It can be confirmed that he is indeed a Demon Swordsman who practices Demon Sword Style."

As the young nobleman spoke with confidence, his attendant was still filled with uncertainty.

"But didn't they say this group of swordsmen had already been wiped out? Even the swordsmanship book of Demon Sword Style had been destroyed, right?"

Yes, both Demon Swordsmen and Demon Sword Style were no longer in existence.

Needless to say, these swordsmen were just too crazy, too fond of slaughter, causing numerous disasters. Because of this, one after another, many countries dispatched their knights to hunt down these swordsmen and eventually succeeded in completely eradicating them.

As a result, Demon Sword Style also fell into the hands of these countries.

However, they all unanimously decided to destroy this swordsmanship since it was too dangerous, and its side effects were too dreadful.

No choice.

In order to get stronger, those who practiced Demon Sword Style would engage in countless killings throughout their lives.

Of course, if it were just that, it wouldn't have reached the point of being destroyed.

The problem lay in the fact that after practicing this swordsmanship, practitioners would increasingly crave blood, becoming more and more frenzied, to the point where they could substitute blood for three meals a day.

Practicing this swordsmanship could make people addicted and attracted to blood, especially the blood of the strong, which could attract them even more.

With such side effects, it was natural that any sane person would steer clear of it.

Many countries also feared that someone would disregard everything to pursue power by practicing this swordsmanship, each becoming a Demon Swordsman disrupting the peace of the nation. 

For this reason, they decided to destroy it.

In this way, theoretically, both Demon Sword Style and Demon Swordsmen who practiced it should no longer exist.

However—

"Do you really believe it just because others say it's been destroyed?"

Upon hearing the young nobleman's question, the attendant was speechless.

Indeed, just because others said it had been destroyed, was that really the case?

This peculiar and unique swordsmanship, which could turn anyone as strong as Sword Masters, and even stronger without hindrance, even with its side effects, how many would willingly destroy it?

Not to mention, the ones who made such statements were the leaders of various countries on the Akasha Continent. Who knew if they said one thing publicly but did another behind closed doors?

This kind of swordsmanship, which allowed one to get stronger by just killing, would definitely be coveted by ambitious individuals, while some would want to use it to develop a powerful army of killers to destroy their enemies.

Given this, the statements of the so-called destruction of Demon Sword Style by various countries should be taken with a grain of salt.

"Moreover, nobody knows if any of these Demon Swordsmen, who were said to be annihilated, managed to escape and survive."

After saying that, the young nobleman shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jill, who was gradually losing his sanity in the training field.

At this moment, Jill was indeed nearing madness.

"Give me your blood! Give me your blood! GIVE ME YOUR BLOOOOOD—!"

As the crimson hue in Jill's eyes was illuminated by the crimson magical energy, it was almost indistinguishable from that of a demon's eyes. There was no trace of rationality inside, only an infinite craving for blood and the peak enjoyment of slaughter.

*DING!*

When a metal collision sound rang out louder and stronger than any previous collision, Riezel, who had been continuously defending against Jill's fierce attacks, was finally knocked back.

His feet scraped against the ground, his body unable to stop its backward momentum, plowing a deep trench on the ground, sending gravel and debris flying everywhere.

"Hahahahahaha!"

Jill laughed loudly, excited like a fierce demon emerging from hell, not giving Riezel any time to catch his breath, darting toward him like an arrow released from its bow.

Seeing this, Riezel knew he had to get serious.

"Follow blindly the sun in the sky, so that all will flee from thee."

"Blossom, Armor of Laurel."

"Raumure."

As the protection magic that highly reinforced 'END' and 'AGI' was chanted, Riezel's body was enveloped in a deep green membrane.

"Tempest."

With the addition of Ariel, Riezel once again used this overpowered magic, revealing its prowess for the first time in a world other than Danmachi.

*Whoosh—!*

The air in the training field began to surge, turning into streams of air currents that entwined around Riezel's body. With howling winds, the deep green light coated the air, turning the originally invisible and colorless wind into a deep green hue.

Riezel, wrapped in deep green winds, met Jill, whose body was permeated with crimson magical energy.

*BOOOM—!*

Amid the astonishing collision, a shock wave exploded outwards, blowing away sand and breaking the ground, sending countless stones and debris flying.

"What?!"

"Fuck!"

"Stones! Stones are flying toward us!"

In the audience seats, people watched as stones and debris mixed in with the shock wave flew toward them, plunging them into panic.

Fortunately, these stones and the shock wave were all blocked by the suddenly appearing transparent barrier.

It was none other than the barrier of the training field.

After not being used since the first two rounds, it finally proved its worth in this third round.

Upon seeing the barrier, the audience breathed a sigh of relief and finally calmed down. However, this caused them to become completely absorbed in the battle taking place on the training field.

*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*

In the ruined training field, two swordsmen wrapped in the deep green wind and crimson magical energy were slashing at each other at astonishing speed, causing the sword lights to constantly flicker, collide, disappear, and fly in all directions.

Riezel's Hermit had already become a blurry silhouette in his hand, accompanied by his movements that turned into endless sword lights slashing toward Jill's whole body with a speed as swift as the wind.

Jill, on the other hand, slashed out crimson sword lights, aiming straight for Riezel's neck, heart, head, and even his eyes. Despite not having as many sword lights as Riezel, he targeted vital points with deadly precision.

Without a doubt, this ignited anger within Riezel.

Although his gaze and expression remained calm, Riezel no longer attempted to defend himself against Jill's slashes. As he allowed these slashes to land on his body, he cut through Jill's countless sword lights with Hermit, violently aiming toward Jill's body.

Seeing this, the crimson hue in Jill's eyes deepened, seemingly provoked by Riezel's reckless behavior. Ignoring Riezel's slashes, he broke the sound barrier with his sword and aimed it at Riezel's head.

This mutual suicidal action, however, did not result in mutual destruction.

*DING!*

Jill's sword, arriving later, fiercely struck Riezel's forehead, but was flicked away by the wind enveloping his body, causing nothing but a burst of sparks, inflicting no damage.

"What?!"

Jill exclaimed in shock, his crimson eyes widening in an instant. However, before he could react further, Riezel's attack had already landed on his body.

*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*

The sound of flesh tearing apart echoed, causing blood to splatter.

Riezel's slashes landed respectively on Jill's cheek, side, thigh, shoulder, and positions of major arteries, mercilessly cutting open these areas.

Jill, with wounds appearing all over his body as if struck by lightning, trembled violently and was sent flying backward.

"Arcs Ray!"

Riezel quickly recited a short chant, unleashing a more powerful Arcs Ray, shooting a light arrow the size of his body at Jill.

*BOOOOM!*

In the next second, an explosion shook the entire training field, causing exploding flames to sweep over the audience seats along with the shock wave.

As this happened, the transparent barrier protecting the audience immediately trembled.