A Good Recompense

"Whoosh!"

The silver sword, gleaming with a cold light, transformed into a silver afterimage, tearing through the air with lightning speed and a sharp whistling sound as it slashed towards the owner of the crimson longsword.

"Clang--Clang clang clang-"

1

With a backhand slash, Revis deflected the oncoming lightning-fast strike, but was quickly met with several more strikes that seemed to come at the same time, forcing her to leap backward and parry with her sword. Amidst the crisp sounds of clashing swords, she blocked the silver slashes.

Sparks flew through the air as the silver blades and red swords clashed at breakneck speed, causing two figures, one in gold and one in red, to crisscross the green wall of flesh at lightning speed—one attacking, the other retreating—in an incredibly fierce battle.

"Clang!"

Another powerful slash sent Ais flying as she parried with her sword, sending Revis flying backward a considerable distance, her feet scraping the ground.

Feeling her sword-wielding hand go slightly numb from the force of the impact, Revis's face turned ashen.

"How did you become so strong?!"

Revis cried out in disbelief.

The feeling that Ais gave Revis at this moment was completely different from that of ten days ago.

Even when Ais used her "wind" magic back then, it didn't pose much of a threat to her. In fact, Revis seemed to handle it with ease. But now, Ais didn't even use "wind" magic, yet she still managed to defeat her.

Strength, speed, skill, reaction time, agility—all of these are on a completely different level compared to ten days ago.

This is no longer a simple enhancement, but a complete evolution of the person, inside and out.

Could it be that...?

"Have you transcended, Aria!"

Revis finally realized this and roared in anger.

She pushed off the ground, and with emotions she had never felt before, she transformed into a bullet and hurtled towards Ais's head with a single sword strike.

Ais also raised her silver blade high and charged forward, abandoning defense to launch a counterattack, unleashing a heavy slash to meet Revis's sword.

The silver blade and the red sword clashed head-on, sparking intense friction. Then, they collided and intersected with unstoppable speed, exploding into blinding sword light.

Faced with Revis's relentless and fierce attacks, Ais met them head-on without backing down. Her slashes transformed into crisscrossing sword lights, pouring forward like a storm, leaving Revis overwhelmed.

"Clang--Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang-!"

At first, Revis was able to cope with the relentless, overlapping attacks thanks to her superior skills, but she quickly became overwhelmed and revealed several flashes of her sword.

"Pfft!"

The first streak of sword light that was missed sliced across Revis's face, leaving a glaring red mark that reflected in Revis sharply narrowed eyes.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"----

The sword light that followed landed on Revis's arms, thighs, side abdomen, and shoulders, leaving wounds on them from which blood seeped out.

"Aria!"

Revis's face contorted in rage as she screamed furiously. Her injured thigh transformed into a whip-like motion, lashing out with fury and striking Ais's raised arm.

"Bang!"

A tremendous force erupted, Ais was forced back a distance by the attack. But the next second, she suddenly stepped forward, wielding her sword with both hands and slashing fiercely. The silver military knife drew a large arc in mid-air, like a crescent moon, and slashed towards Revis's body.

"Pfft!"

The sharp blade sliced through Revis's body, drawing out large amounts of blood.

At the last second, Revis leaped backward, dodging the massive slash, but she was still cut in front of her by the blade of the Desperate, leaving a wound about two centimeters long from which blood flowed.

"How is that possible?!"

Revis ignored the stinging pain in her chest, unable to believe that she was being suppressed by Ais like this.

To this, Leo, who was watching the game, only had one thing to say.

How could you possibly know how much Ais sacrificed to defeat you?

Leo wasn't surprised at all; on the contrary, he took Ais's strong performance for granted.

"Aria ----!"

Revis glared angrily at Ais, but Ais remained calm in response.

"I'll say it again, I'm not Aria," Ais said. "But you must tell me why you—"

Or rather, you will know this name.

What is that green, Jewel Fetus?

What are you planning to do here again?

Ais's questions only fueled Revis's anger.

"You think you've already won?" Revis lowered her body, her anger blazing, and said, "Don't underestimate me!"

Revis lunged forward with lightning speed, closing the distance between herself and Ais in the blink of an eye.

She first swung her longsword, striking Ais's parrying silver sword. Then, her other hand shot out like a cannonball, deflecting Ais's Desperate. Her feet transformed into a continuous series of whip shadows, lashing Ais again and again, demonstrating overwhelming physical strength.

The fighting style was just like it had been in Rivira Town on the 18th Floor —fierce and less like an adventurer and more like a crazed monster.

Her longsword was merely her claws; her fists and feet were also her weapons.

Sometimes slashing, sometimes punching and kicking, the sword light mixed with the shadows of fists, the shadows of fists mixed with whip kicks, and the whip kicks connected with slashes, the offensive was more fierce than raging fire.

This offensive was far stronger than it had been ten days ago.

In other words, the strength that Revis is displaying at this moment is even greater than when she fought Ais and Leo in Rivira Town on the 18th Floor.

If it were Ais back then, even if she used "wind" magic, she probably wouldn't have been able to withstand such an attack and would have been defeated in a short time, becoming a defeated opponent of Revis.

But today's Ais has been completely transformed through the miracle called "Level Ascension," and is no longer the same as before.

Therefore, despite being repeatedly deflected by Revis's fierce and fiery attacks, Ais always managed to pull her beloved sword back before the attack landed on her and meet it head-on.

Revis attacked fiercely with her fists and feet as if they were weapons like longswords, Ais responded by using her body as a pivot, spinning and...

Using techniques such as stepping aside and jumping back, he either dodged or countered, making the silver sword light seem to attack from all directions, blocking Revis's longsword and fists time and time again.

Of course, Ais also uses her fists and feet, kicking Revis when Revis stance collapses, and sometimes she manages to land a few kicks, forcing Revis to retreat.

With her overwhelming power and skill, Ais drove back the humanoid beast, reminding people that this female swordswoman also had another nickname—[Sword Princess].

"Leave this to me."

Ais suppressed Revis while speaking without turning her head.

Go help Asfi and the others.

Upon hearing this, Leo, who had been watching the battle, also felt that there was no opportunity for him to be of any use here, so he nodded.

"I'll return the favor to her, along with my share."

Leaving those words behind, Leo reached out again towards the wall of flesh.

"Boom!!!"

A brilliant meteor suddenly struck the green flesh wall, and a stunning explosion erupted on the flesh wall, shattering it to pieces.

Thick smoke billowed out, and a huge gap suddenly appeared in the flesh wall, allowing gasps of surprise to reach the other side.

"Asfi! The wall has been breached!"

"Is it [Sword Princess] and Leo Eligos?!"

"That magic—it's Leo Eligos!"

Hermes Familia kept shouting, accompanied by the clanging of broken gongs.

Clearly, things are not peaceful over there.

Leo immediately turned around, intending to rush into the wall of flesh and head towards the passage on the other side.

"Don't even think about it!"

Seeing this, Revis immediately unleashed her power, punching Ais away and charging towards Leo.

"Go to hell!"

Revis was ferocious, swinging her sword and thrusting wildly. She darted towards Leo like a red lightning bolt, so fast that even Ais couldn't keep up.

She planned to kill Leo first, and then deal with Ais with all her might, determined not to let Leo escape alone.

After all, she had declared ten days ago that she would definitely kill this adventurer.

Ais was her target, and so was Leo, which is why she deliberately separated the two of them from the Hermes Familia in order to eliminate them.

It seems getting rid of Ais won't be easy. In that case, let's deal with this troublesome adventurer first.

Compared to Ais, who has already reached Lv.6, this adventurer, who is at most Lv.4, can be easily defeated if I just go all out.

With such murderous intent, Revis was met by Leo, who suddenly turned around and advanced instead of retreating.

"Clang!"

As the black longsword slashed down like a black light, Revis's fiery spikes, which had transformed into red lightning, were cleaved in two by the downward slash.

Leo transformed into a blur, instantly closing in and delivering a powerful punch to Revis, who was completely caught off guard.

"Bang!!!"

With a loud thud, Revis was sent flying by Leo's punch, crashing into the green flesh wall and smashing it to pieces.

"What----?"

Revis was completely stunned.

Leo didn't even glance at her, as if she were no longer worthy of his attention. After punching her away, he rushed into the healing green flesh wall without looking back, successfully squeezing through before it was completely repaired and reaching the other side.

"Stop right there!"

Revis finally came to her senses, and as if unable to accept the fact, she let out an angry roar and got up to chase after her.

"Shuashuashua----!"

Several silver slashes came flying through the air, blocking Revis's path and forcing her to scramble to the side to dodge.

Your opponent—is me.

Ais stood before Revis, sword in hand, and declared this.

"Asshole!"

Revis was on the verge of losing control due to her bruised ego.

"Then I'll take care of you first, then I'll kill him!"

Revis has completely transformed into a raging beast.

Ais silently charged forward, clashing with Revis, who had raised her red sword.

The fierce battle thus broke out.