Breaking One's Own Rule

"Get behind me!" Ed told his companions. He gripped his Muramasa hard as he concentrated fire magic on it. The heat was so intense that it began to make the air around the sword warp. "Blazing Blade!" Ed used another one of his original techniques. A sea of flames erupted from his sword and engulfed all the undead monsters. With the undead being weak to fire, Ed decided to capitalize on this element in this fight. At least until he is able to kill the scrubs.

Most of the undead monsters that were summoned were weaker than the ones who were already on this floor. The skill alone killed them in an instant. However, Ed didn't care about those monsters. His only target was the Elder Lich, who wasn't even touched by a lick of flames. It was as if a barrier surrounded its body, making it impenetrable. Ed was baffled at this. Granted, this skill wasn't the strongest he could use. But, it not being able to even approach the body of the Lich was abnormal.

'I guess we're in for a long fight.' Ed thought to himself while activating his Sharingan. He didn't plan to use the Mangekyo Sharingan from the start as he didn't know how long this fight would last. Plus, trump cards should be kept until a critical moment. "How about these for a change!" The Elder Lich spoke as he activated another one of his magic abilities. This time, instead of the feeble zombies and ghouls, he summoned armored skeletal warriors. All of them looked like Legendary warriors that were summoned back to this world in order to wreak havoc.

Everyone in Ed's team started to take things seriously. Due to the number of skeletons that were summoned, every one of them was fighting at least three of them. Ed and Raikou planned to finish their opponents quickly and go to help the other. But, this proved more difficult than they thought. The armor that the skeletons wore had a weakening effect, making them take less damage. 'No way around it!' Ed activated his Nen. His increased attack power was able to overcome the armor's defenses. The rest of his teammates were able to slowly overcome their enemies.

'How can they be this strong…'. Ed had more difficulty with these Skeletons than he did with any other non-boss monster. The opponent this time was definitely in a class of his own. "Not bad! Not bad at all! Then try to overcome these guys!!" The Elder Lich continued to speak in high energy. Ed could only think about how an undead could be so energetic. Ed, this time, didn't stand around without doing anything. He attacked the Elder Lich by some flying slashes in order to get him to stop his magic. Regretfully, The barrier stopped the attacks.

"You know, it's proper manners to let someone finish their magic before attacking. I didn't stop you when you used that fire skill…" The Elder Lich had a sad and confused face. It seemed like his feelings were hurt. 'What now, are we in a manga?!' Ed retorted in his mind and stopped attacking. Even if he could break his barrier, it would be embarrassing if he did attack after being told by a Lich. "Then let me continue." The Elder Lich finished his magic and this time, something terrifying came out.

Six headless horsemen came out one after the other. 'Dullahan…' Ed could recognize them as he knew about this type of creature before. However, the ones in front of him lacked a distinct feature. They didn't have a head in their hands. All of them were pitch black in color, their horses included. Each one of them stood in front a member of Ed's team. It was now a one on one battle. "Everyone, don't hold back!" Ed couldn't let his teammates die because of them conserving their power for the Elder Lich. Even if they were exhausted after the fight, Ed would figure something out.

Ed engaged in battle with the enemy in front of him. Being at Earth Establishment level 8, the Dullahan was further ahead than Ed considering only cultivation. But Ed planned to finish this fast. He charged straight at his opponent. Before either the horse or the horseman could react, Ed was in front of them. Ed planned to cut the horse's legs fist in order to make the Dullahan lose its advantage over Ed. But as he was slashing, he felt an attack coming towards him. The Dullahan's spear cut through the air while aiming at Ed. If not for Ed's Sharingan, he would not have been able to read its trajectory.

Ed used Shusui, which was hanging on his wait, and blocked the attack. Ed was pushed back a couple of steps. Although Ed was not using Nen, it was still surprising to make his retreat. 'Guess I really can't hold back' Ed started taking his own advice and used Ken. Along with both of his swords, Ed was able to slowly overwhelm the Dullahan. His ability to parry the spear attack, even though the Dullahan had the advantage, gave him the upper hand in the fight. Even the horse tried to injure Ed, trying to bite him or hit him with its front legs. But, to no avail.

As Ed felt the Dullahan weakening, he crossed both of his swords in front of him. He used Fire magic on both of them and slashed upwards. A small explosion occurred once the flames connected with his enemy. Ed was finally able to win his battle. But, as he turned around to check on his teammates, he didn't see the Elder Lich anywhere. Ed got a bad feeling and activated his En, Ryūsui Seikūken, and Observation Haki. The three skill being layered on top of each other allowed Ed to perceive everything. Even the leafs falling down from the nearby trees were within his reach. His En could now be maintained at a constant distance of 40 meters.

'There!' Ed was able to catch the Elder Lich while it was teleporting. It could use space magic as well. The Elder Lich was targeting Gobuta who was still fighting his opponent. Ed used a short teleport and intercepted the Elder Lich who was about to attack Gobuta. His two swords struck the barrier and pushed him back.

"You bastard! You kept talking earlier about how unfair it is to attack someone while they're using magic. And now, you're attacking someone who is fighting!" Ed pointed one of his swords at the Elder Lich who broke his own rule.