Close Combat

"AAAHHHHH!" Myrrh finally screamed as searing pain traveled from her throat to the rest of her body. Black and red lines spread across her skin as the fanatic's weird mana devoured her.

"Shhh…be patient. I will finish it quickly." He remarked.

The elf frantically kicked the crazy man's side. It was futile. The cultist leader was unmoving. All of the ominous lines had reached her full body. Her mana was being drained.

At this moment, Jina burst into the carriage. She wasted no time and raised her weapon. Violent static danced around her railgun.

"Let go of her, bastard!" The red haired woman roared.

BANG

A powerful bullet pierced the air as it accelerated toward the man. With minimum effort, he backed away. The projectile beamed through the wall and left a steaming hole in the carriage. Myrrh fell to the ground, free of his clutches.

"Another one? Siiigh. This is taking too long…forget it. I won't devour you anymore. The starvanium is more important anyways." He muttered in annoyance.

Without another word, he immediately appeared beside Jina. Her eyes widened in shock. Too fast! She couldn't even react.

SMACK

The back of his hand struck her face. It was powerful, instantly giving her a concussion as she flew into the wall. Everything turned white for her. On the other side of the room, Myrrh could be seen shivering on the floor. The baleful mana wreaked havoc inside her. Her face soon contorted into an angry snarl.

'Damn Sword Demon! Where the hell are you?! Do your job!' The elf roared in her mind.

…

…

…

As if the young samurai could hear her thoughts, he smirked. He'd sensed the Supreme aura as soon as the leader flared it. Big mistake on the fanatic's part. It was time to act.

"...Duck." He ordered Glem. They were still surrounded by cultists.

The mercenary frowned at his authoritative tone but still complied. As soon as his body lowered, Shu took a quick breath. His arm blurred as he unsheathed his katana once more in a quickdraw.

SLASH

Nobody was able to see the movement. One moment the enemies were preparing to lunge at the two, and the next, they were all bisected at the waist. Glem's eyes bulged out of their sockets in shock. He didn't think he'd be able to defend against that. The corpses exploded.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

"If you could do that, why didn't you start with it?!" The mercenary growled. Shu suppressed a yawn.

"...It takes more effort."

"What?! I knew it! You bastard! Of course you don't care-" Before he could finish his words, the sleepy man vanished.

Glem couldn't even complain since more cultists were spawning around him. Shu had only given him a breather with his previous attack.

Time slowed to a crawl as the lazy swordmaster appeared inside the massive carriage. He was instantly beside the powerful leader who was reaching for the celestial ore. His katana was already mid-stroke, aimed to sever the man's head.

The blade cut into the fanatic's neck. Before it could go all the way through, the man leaned back due to his instincts. It was a lucky dodge. After a full backflip, he turned to Shu in anger.

"A sneak attack? I must say, you got me good. You almost sent me to my lord before I completed my goal. A dangerous one appeared." He started to monologue again while wiping the blood from his neck.

Shu ignored the man and flashed over to Myrrh. His iridescent mana washed over the elf, cleansing her of the corrupt mana. Only then did he focus on the Supreme leader.

"...Let's get this over with." He stated.

The glowing ring had appeared in his silver eyes. It constantly changed colors, seeming like divinity. Jina and Myrrh both etched the image into their minds. It was beautiful.

"Those eyes. I've never seen them before. How exquisite! Maybe I'll take them from your corpse. Since you are unique, you deserve to know my name. I am Saint Damian."

"...You are no saint. That's reserved for the higher powers of Laria." Shu responded. Damian chuckled.

"But of course. I used to be one. Their arrogance blinded me, however. Now I see everything."

"Enough with the banter. I don't care." The young samurai concluded. His sheath was back in his left hand, the blade in his right.

"Really? I quite enjoy speaking with my enem-" Before he could finish his sentence, Shu flashed beside him.

WOOSH

The two exchanged several moves in under a second. Cuts were appearing on the ground and walls. Shu made sure to limit his range of action due to Jina and Myrrh. As more attacks were thrown back and forth, the lazy swordsman kicked Damian in the stomach, sending him out of the carriage.

Both of them could now fight freely. The fallen saint was previously restrained due to the starvanium, while Shu didn't want to harm his comrades. Both of them prepared for the real battle.

"Ahhh…that was a great warm up. Let's get serious then, shall we?"

"...Tch." Shu clicked his tongue.

Whenever he fought Supreme level beings, he had to dip into his mana reserves. This caused his eyes to reveal their true forms. Unfortunately, this man was a mid tier Supreme. This meant that merely dipping into his mana reserves wasn't enough. He'd need to utilize it fully. Two glowing horns grew from his head, adding to his features.

"Oh? You must be a rare demon." Damian realized. He then shook his head. "No matter. You will die all the same."

VRMMM

Two photon blades were ignited in his hands. Both of them were red in color, and hummed with power. The blades were just pure laser energy. Only the hilt could be touched.

The battle to the death started in earnest. Shu would utilize his speed as much as possible. It was the main aspect of his light properties. With a quick flash of light, he appeared beside Damian once more. His katana was already in motion.

The fanatic crouched down and spun both of his photon sabers, carving molten lines into the ground. The samurai flipped over the defensive attack with elegance. Several moves were exchanged while Shu was in mid air. Cuts were appearing on Damian's body.

ZZZT VRRRM WOOSH

This entire time, neither of their weapons clashed. It was a deadly dance that only one of them would survive. Damian raised his hand causing the black and red mana to spiral out like a tornado. The baleful energy devoured the entire ground and structure in front of him.

Shu flash stepped behind the man, evading the attack. His katana shone with iridescent mana. As he cleaved toward the fallen saint's back, a distorted grin appeared on Damian's face. The lazy samurai frowned. Another cultist had appeared in front of him! His arms were spread open and his body was glowing.

BOOOOOM

The explosion sent him spiraling back. Luckily, it wasn't powerful enough to harm him. The force was strong enough to send him flying through the air, however. Damian accelerated below him, catching up with incredible speed.

"I admit. You have much better technique than I. But you forget, I have disposable resources! It doesn't matter how fast you are!" He exclaimed crazily.

His glowing photon blades swiped toward Shu's waist. The young swordsman vanished like a ghost, evading the fatal blow. Their battle had brought them to the front lines at this point. Turd and the other dwarves watched with apprehension. Their movements were too fast to track with the eyes.

Corpses fell to the ground as they exchanged moves. There was no time to differentiate from friend or foe. Such was the result of a battle between two powerhouses. Suddenly, Damian vanished.

The swordmaster looked in all directions in order to find him. At that moment, several cultists lunged at him. Each of them had a crazy grin on their faces. Shu's arm blurred, dicing them into little squares. Time slowed down to a crawl. His eyes widened. Damian had appeared behind the corpses!

One of his photon blades stabbed through the gap of the diced bodies. Shu barely dodged the attack, the laser sword cutting through the side of his haori. A searing line appeared on his hip.

"Gotcha!" He chuckled.

"........" Shu took a step and froze. The baleful aura had invaded his body, trying to destroy his innards. Lines were spreading across his body.

"Do you feel it? Accept it. Lord Bhadyx is inviting you to his domain. Accept the summons!"

"...You won't get another chance like this. Why are you talking?" He mocked.

"Hmph. Fine! This is the end!" Damian exclaimed.

The Supreme fanatic accelerated once more. His glowing sabers slashed in an 'x' toward the samurai. Shu grinned. This was what he'd been waiting for! His perception sped up to incredible levels, causing time to slow down even further. The iridescent ring in his eyes glowed with an intense radiance. Instantly, his body was cleansed.

The sleepy man took a step and appeared beside the dashing leader. He was moving in slow motion compared to Shu. With a stroke of his katana, Damian's head was lopped off. Time finally resumed. There was still an expression of confidence on his face as his corpse hit the ground.

In the direction of Shu's cleave, a thin cut had appeared on the ground and stretched out for miles. The clouds in the sky also had the same cut. At that moment, every cultist in the area fell to the floor. Their bodies shone with mana.

BOOOOOOOM