As the two of them had grown up together, they had naturally sparred plenty of times before, and Eredar knew Wright's Palace Swordsmanship all too well.
If he struck first and Wright caught an opening, he would be countered in an instant and fall into a disadvantageous position.
Precisely because he understood this, Eredar immediately assumed a defensive stance.
During the standoff, Eredar watched Wright, who likewise had no intention of acting rashly, and taunted him in an unhurried voice...
"What? You're not going to attack? If you keep waiting like this, my Nine-Headed Serpent is going to lose patience."
Almost as soon as Eredar's voice fell, the Nine-Headed Serpent in the distance let out a suitably irritable hiss. The pressure in Wright's heart doubled.
That was right. The threats before him were not limited to Eredar. There was also that Nine-Headed Serpent.
Through the coordination of the Elf Mage Corps and the Elf God Archers, they could indeed suppress the Nine-Headed Serpent to a certain extent, but whether they could actually defeat it was still uncertain.
The most stable course of action was naturally to deal with Eredar first, then take care of the Nine-Headed Serpent.
At that thought, Wright stopped hesitating. He sprang forward, exploding into motion as he charged.
Catching Wright's movement, Eredar—who had maintained a defensive stance the entire time—immediately moved as well. The instant their weapons collided, two astonishing energies, one azure and one black, erupted from their bodies.
Centered around Wright and Eredar, two terrifying energy fields rapidly took shape.
One was azure, like fierce winds swirling around it. The howling of those winds could even be heard.
The other was a profound black, like an abyssal black hole, radiating a deathly silence that sent chills down the spine.
As the two energy fields