Chapter 355

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[Grrraah!]

Ozdock roared as it slammed both its hands into the ground. The impact not only caused the ground to crack and rocks to scatter like roasted beans but also triggered an earthquake. Mary's body was propelled into the air by the shockwave.

Then, Ozdock extended its fist toward Mary as she hovered in the air.

Crunch!

The enormous fist tore through the air, emitting an unsettling cracking sound. If Mary took a direct hit, even her blessed Runcandel's body would have been heavily injured.

However, just like Barton had done, Mary released sword aura into the air, rapidly altering her position.

Moreover, at the moment Ozdock's fist struck the air, she managed to wrap her sword, Venom, around its arm.

Twist, twist!

Mary pulled coiled venom, elongating Ozdock's arm into a spiral.

Although sparks flew due to the friction between the Venom and Ozdock's arm, she was still unable to a effective strike.

Ironically, before Mary could even touch the ground, she was countered. As Ozdock's tail reached out along with its fist, Mary had to lift her arm to block the attack.

Swoosh!

Mary exhaled as she staggered back. The gruesome mark on the ground followed the direction she had retreated.

"It is much better than I expected."

However, rather than disheartening Mary, it only further ignited her fighting spirit.

In fact, she was feeling a bit disappointed.

'If it weren't for the youngest and Lord Murakan, I could have enjoyed a more thrilling fight.'

That was the source of Mary's disappointment.

No matter how outmatched she was against Ozdock, the stakes were not about "risking her life."

She trusted her youngest brother behind her, and the same applied to Murakan behind them.

No matter how strong of a monster Ozdock might be, as long as they were there, Mary believed their odds of winning were close to 100%.

'I need to read the flow before my sister gets tired.'

Jin hadn't yet initiated any attacks.

He was reading "Mary's flow."

It involved attacking from a different angle, in a different way, at the same time.

Even for a duo that had perfected their teamwork, successfully pulling off such a feat was far from easy.

For a while, Jin just observed without taking any action, and Mary didn't show any resentment. She had sensed what her youngest brother was calculating.

As the exchange of attacks between Mary and Ozdock continued several more times, Jin slowly gathered his mana in his palms, as if his calculations were coming to an end.

'The little brat is truly remarkable. Did he manage to read his sister's attack flow during that short opening?'

Of course, Murakan was also secretly admiring Jin's plan.

And on the battlefield, there was another man who shared similar thoughts with Murakan.

'Ohoho, Jin Runcandel. This is interesting. They didn't praise him for nothing.'

He concealed his presence completely, hiding on one side of the battlefield and observing the group since earlier.

And no one had noticed his presence.

With a sly smile, the man continued to watch the fight unfold.

Sizzle!

The blue flames of the ruler of flames flared up.

Then, the ruler of the Flame World extended its long neck through a dimensional gate, roaring as Ozdock flinched and turned its head.

"Where is this monster bastard looking in front of me!"

Seizing the opportunity, Mary leaped upward and thrust her sword into Ozdock's jaw.

Until now, she hadn't found any openings, so it's the first time she attacked the face.

Bang! The Venom's blade was stopped by the teeth, unable to enter the creature's throat. But a wicked grin spread across Mary's lips.

"Oh, you have a weak tooth?"

Ozdock trembled.

One of the teeth that touched the blade was clearly shaking unsteadily, transmitting a sensation through the blade of the sword.

A weak tooth – that was Ozdock's first weakness. Moreover, the creature seemed to shudder quite painfully upon its tooth being struck, as if in discomfort.

"The youngest!"

At Mary's call, Jin nodded as if understanding. He immediately signaled Tess to use its breath at Ozdock's jaw, while simultaneously weaving new offensive magic in his hands.

A 7-star Flame orb and an 8-star Hellwind. The swelling mass of flames and wind grew to the point where they seemed ready to burst. As they were released, Ozdock took its first steps backward.

Blocking the magic wasn't a challenging task, but Ozdock realized it instinctively. The two humans before it had found two ways to hurt it.

The teeth and physical blow simultaneously with magic attack.

A thousand years ago, when Ozdock first became a core monster, humans took quite a long time to discover this weakness.

Back then, Ozdock was several times stronger than it was now, and there weren't many individuals capable of close combat and searching for its weakness.

[Grrooaaar!]

Ozdock roared as it raised its fist.

However, the flames of Tess penetrated between its fists and headed toward its jaw, causing all of Ozdock's focus to be drawn to the flames.

Mary, being clever, targeted its ankle. If it were her youngest brother, he would have likely known that hitting a different spot instead of focusing on the teeth would be more advantageous.

That thought hit the mark.

The two spells Jin had prepared were flying towards Ozdock's right ankle. They were perfectly aligned with Mary's charge toward that spot.

At the moment when both attacks struck the ankle, there was not even a second of discrepancy.

Thud, crack!

"Well, you managed to hit it all at once! Good job, my youngest."

The characteristic sticky blood of demonic creatures sprayed from Ozdock's ankle. The spewing blood coated Mary's hair and armor, but she was smiling with a sense of satisfaction.

On the other hand, Ozdock intended to tear the blue flames from its face and regenerate its ankle.

So it let out an unpleasant scream that surpassed the cry of ruler of blue flames, attempting to delay the two's attacks even a little. But the Runcandels weren't the type to retreat just because of a scream.

"Now's the time to take the hits until you fall, Ozdock!"

Mary shouted as she put a new aura on Venom. After being hit by Ozdock's fist and tail on the ground dozens of times within just a few minutes, so the moment of counterattack was bound to be exhilarating.

Jin prepared successive offensive magic spells.

As things were, they could likely achieve victory without resorting to techniques like decimating effusive flame orb.

"Ahahaha!"

Mary felt like a "Magic Swordsman."

Whenever she attacks, Jin's attack magic assists her, just like two frames that fit perfectly together.

Even if she were to awaken to another level as a martial artist, she even started to wonder whether she could perform attacks that were even better and more efficient with Jin's magic attack assistance.

'Now I understand why Lord Murakan said that the ancient Runcandel Magic Swordsmen were the most powerful of the time.'

Nevertheless, they had the upper hand.

Ozdock's gigantic body was now almost completely bloodied and its movements had notably slowed down.

Its fingers had been severed, and a few of its teeths had melted away from Tess's flames.

However, as time went on, Mary and Jin's attacks were growing stronger.

In particular, Mary's stamina was recovering as she didn't have to avoid or block Ozdock's attacks like before.

'My sister is also a monster. After taking such a beating earlier, she's only becoming more fierce.'

If only considering pure stamina, even calling her the second-best after Luna among the flagbearers was far from inadequate.

[Groooan...]

Thud!

Ozdock kneeled with a low groan.

Amidst the sharp roar of Tess cleaving through the sky, it seemed that just a little more attack would end the fight.

However, Jin and Mary were thinking differently.

'He didn't seem like the type to be defeated this easily.'

Was it enough to end this demonic creature that had only been provoked once? It had become weaker beyond measure, but this was the same gold eating monster that terrified the world a thousand years ago.

But there was no need to cautiously wait for its end.

Slash, tear, cleave, shatter—whatever it took to bring it down.

Jin and Mary's gazes focused on the center of Ozdock's chest.

It was the spot where its inner core resided. Despite its entire body being reddened, only the center of its chest where the inner core was located radiated a faint golden light.

Attack the inner core.

They didn't need to voice this thought; it was mutually understood between the siblings.

Despite being surrounded, Ozdock had consistently protected its inner core.

It might even be a trap.

'Attack the inner core, and when the elder sister approaches, it might unveil a new attack.'

It was a plausible development.

However, Mary had made those considerations as well. Even if Ozdock used its inner core as bait for a surprise attack, she had confidence she could avoid a fatal injury.

Jin didn't offer any separate advice since he had read Mary's thoughts.

Instead, he prepared the appropriate magic to perfectly synchronize with her until the very end.

'From one to ten, every move you make pleases me, my youngest brother. Here's a thoughtful gift for you.'

The corners of Mary's mouth lifted up.

Then, as she firmly fixed the slackened Chain Sword straight, her eyes glowed.

A brilliant radiance shone from the blade that had been suddenly soaked in aura, blinding like it might cause one's eyes to sting.

A stance for thrusting.

A secret technique.

Unlike the decisive killing moves, this was another category of Runcandel's special moves.

The thrust Mary was about to perform was one of the seven secret techniques of the Runcandels.

Jin had never seen this technique before, but he could easily tell it wasn't an ordinary thrust.

'Last time, she showed me the transformed version of the Volcano. Is she trying to surprise me again?'

There was no time to deduce what this technique was.

The tempo that had naturally matched until now suddenly surged.

Before Mary's movement was completed, Jin had to prepare his magic at the same speed as her.

'It seems like the Lord cared about the Seventh flagbearer. Judging by the stance, it looks like he personally taught her.'

The eyes of man, who was observing them, lit up with interest.

'Moreover, it is undoubtedly new to the Twelfth Flagbearer, yet he's already following its flow and providing support....'

It was a good decision to come and see for himself.

As the man organized his thoughts,

Swaack!

Mary extended the Chain Sword straight.

Runcandel's Fifth Secret Technique:

Lightspeed Thrust.

That was the name of her unfolded sword.