Chapter 242: Skill Issue

Subtly shaking my head, I got rid of such thoughts and focused on the matter at hand, which was to deescalate the current situation from further progressing; however, that was promptly cut short when the woman stepped forward while slicing her sword, causing me to gulp nervously.

'Why was that so badass!?' Thought Alexander as he eyed the woman in slight awe, only for her to suddenly lunge at him with immense speed.

Taken aback by her aggressiveness, I swiftly tilted my body to the side, narrowly evading her long sword while I quickly backed away, dodging another slash; raising my hands into the air, I tried to once again talk things out, but she didn't seem to have any interest in listening as she pushed off the ground and dashed towards me.

"M-Miss! P-Please, I'm n-not trying to fight you! L-Let's just talk things out!" Said Alexander anxiously as he continuously dodged the woman's attacks while trying to sound as friendly as possible, though to no avail.

As frustrating as it was, the woman had no desire to listen to me; hell, she didn't even at least think about my words as she continuously attacked, her sword always a hair's breadth away from slicing through my skin.

Leaning backward, I watched her sword stab right where I was previously standing, only for me to blink away as she sliced downwards, nearly cutting me in half.

"Alright, woman, you're making this difficult, but since you don't want to listen to reason, maybe I need to beat it into you a little. Sorry in advance; I would've preferred not to harm you." Remarked Alexander in slight annoyance as he twisted his swords, brandishing the dull side of his blades while eyeing the woman, who clicked her tongue, seemingly taking offense by his actions.

Just as I was about to go ahead and knock some sense into her, she raised her sword into the air, only to slash downwards, launching a curved wave of reddish-black mana that sliced through the air; quickly raising my swords, I firmly planted my feet and blocked the powerful attack that had pushed me a few feet back.

'Ouch!' Said Trina loudly as she and Zartha twitched in pain, their voices startling Alexander.

'Eh, are you two okay!? What happened?' Asked Alexander in concern as he glanced at his two swords, only to block the woman's sword, yet, she redirected her blade last minute, nearly poking his eye out.

'Focus, Master. We shall inform you later; just try to evade that attack from now on.' Said Zartha coldly as she bent down and gently rubbed Trina's head, soothing her pain.

Inwardly nodding at Zartha's words, I shifted my focus to the fight at hand, only for her blade to finally reach me as she nicked my cheek, causing my golden blood to flow down the side of my cheek, though it was for a split second as it healed right…

'Wait… Why isn't it healing?' Thought Alexander in confusion as he quickly leaped into the air, using [Air Step] to further distance himself.

Touching my cheek, I felt a stinging pain and saw my own blood, which only further confused me since such a small wound like this should've been healed within a second, yet, for some reason, it hadn't healed at all. I was entirely clueless as to why, but I knew it had to do something with that woman's blade; maybe it was also related to that reddish-black mana I saw; unfortunately, I wasn't given a chance to ponder as she swiftly charged right at me.

Quickly bringing my sword up, I stopped her blade while I used Trina to slash at her, using the dull side of my blade, yet, with a leap, she dodged my attack before kicking me in the face with her armored foot, causing me to wince at the lingering pain that I hadn't dealt with in so long.

Regaining my bearings, I slashed upwards at her approaching figure, yet she simply deflected it using her sword as she continued dashing toward me; using Zartha, I slashed at her from above, figuring she'd be forced to dodge as her sword was dealing with my other blade. However, I was sorely mistaken; with incredible skill, she flicked her sword and pivoted on her foot, using her heel to Trina into Zartha, slightly knocking me off balance, and although I managed to quickly recover, she had slashed right through my armor, leaving a deep gash on my chest.

Clutching my chest, I gazed down at my wound and winced before raising my head at the woman, who didn't give me an ounce of rest as she lunged towards me, her blade now coated in my golden blood.

Powering through the pain, I tried to fight her, but as much as I hated to admit it, I was merely her punching bag. Her skill with the blade… It was incredible, and she was able to easily take advantage of my lack of skill as she targeted all of my openings, leaving behind numerous wounds on my body that wouldn't heal no matter what.

This battle lasted for no more than a few minutes, and although I held out longer than the several adventurers from before, I was left in a rather pathetic state.

Gritting my teeth, I slashed down at her, causing her to retract her blade from my stomach while she backed away, causing me to drop to one knee as I stared at her in annoyance.

"Y-You know, w-we really c-could've j-just talked about this." Said Alexander softly as he stared at the woman, who flicked her blade, cleaning it.

Once again, she didn't say anything and merely lunged right at me for the umpteenth time, causing me to roll my eyes; I decided to start fighting for real as I used [Lightning Cloak], causing my body to be coated in a thin bluish aura while faint arcs of lightning danced across my body.

Using [Heroes Gaze] in conjunction, I pushed off the ground and speedily dashed toward her, taking her by complete surprise as I dropped my sword before clenching my fist and punching her in the stomach.

Watching her skid across the ground, I felt slightly better about myself, though even after taking my surprise attack, she quickly recovered as she held her helmet while stopping her momentum.

"Ouch." Muttered the woman quietly as she spat blackish blood onto the ground, causing it to seep into the soil as it swiftly destroyed everything it touched.

Opening my hand, I summoned Trina right back to me just as the woman stood up, prompting me to raise my swords, yet instead of immediately attacking, all of a sudden, her clothes evaporated off her body, though that didn't catch my attention, no, it was the potent reddish-black mana that seeped out of her body, that drew all of my attention.

'Dangerous.' Thought Alexander with a solemn gaze as he stared at the woman, watching as her aura continued to increase.

At some point, I felt the ground tremble while it quickly darkened, a thick blanket of dark clouds covering the sun as thunder violently roared from above. I had no idea what was happening, and the only time such a drastic change in weather occurred was when I wept for Master; however, it was apparent that whoever this woman was, she was someone very special.

"Die!"

"Who!?" Exclaimed Alexander with a deep frown as he used Heroes Gaze to look all around him, yet he couldn't find the voice's origin.

Whoever that was, despite her voice sounding like a Goddess, it was laced with venom and seemed to carry a deep-seated hatred for who I assumed was the woman before me.

Speaking of her, the blade in her hands was now enveloped within her dangerous mana, though unlike her pieces of armor that were slowly being destroyed, it remained perfectly fine. However, what followed next caused me to gulp as I saw her leap into the air while placing her sword above her head and behind her back; I didn't dare to blink as she speedily arrived beside me while violently slashing her sword.

Even with my enhanced speed, I found it incredibly difficult to block her sword, not to mention the reddish-black mana that seeped out of her worsened my already present injuries; however, regarding my injuries, most of them have healed, it just takes some time for them heal.

Getting stabbed in the back, I bit my lip and ignored it, doing my best to survive her onslaught of sword slashes from seemingly every direction.

One by one, gashes and holes appeared on my body just as my older wounds slowly healed; I ensured my vitals were always protected while forgoing less important places, which were pretty much everything that wasn't my heart or brain.

It felt like it'd been minutes, but not even ten seconds had passed, and I'd blocked over a hundred attacks; it might've just been my imagination, but she seemed to be getting faster.

'This isn't good, w-why couldn't we have just talked!?' Thought Alexander as his blades turned into a purplish-black blur as he did his best to block, divert, or redirect.

The longer this went on, the more I began to sense her frustration as her attacks became faster and more accurate, making it more difficult for me as I struggled to hold out.

However, just when I felt I'd have to make a desperate move to escape, I saw a massive bolt of lightning suddenly leave the clouds as it struck right where we were standing.

'No, it's aiming for her.' Thought Alexander with slightly widened eyes as he gritted his teeth before lunging forward, receiving many deadly gashes.

Feeling her sword pierce my heart, I coughed blood while raising Zartha and using [Expand], causing her to grow to over twice her size as I used her as a shield to protect us from the lightning bolt.