Unnatural Layout, Confirming Thoughts

At the same time, the wave of mana arrived before Ward.

Ward reacted fast with an anxious look on his face as he kicked off his back foot and unsheathed his weapon.

The weapon looked like a standard sword, except it lacked a proper guard, and its blade was pitch black. Additionally, its blade was extremely flexible—to the point that it resembled elastic more than it did actual metal.

The gloomy aura around Ward intensified and expanded outward as his facial expression darkened.

Just before the wave of mana could strike him, Ward swiftly stepped to the side and avoided confronting the attack head-on. However, despite evading the core of the strike, the wave of mana still carried with it a ferocious momentum that affected those in close proximity.

In the same motion, in order to counter that momentum, Ward adjusted the position of his blade to make slight contact with the wave of mana.