Ultimate Skill: Gale-Severing Breath Slash!

"Whirlwind Slash."

The tornado, like an invisible millstone, slammed violently into the falling pillar of vines!

Riiip—!

Amidst a piercing sound of tearing.

That strike, which had condensed the monster's berserk power, was instantly shredded into a sky full of dust by the raging cyclone!

Cyan-green fragments mixed with foul-smelling sap were swept up by the gale and splattered in all directions.

The Whirlwind Slash did not lose momentum, instantly swallowing the main body of the Man-eating Flower whole!

Wooo—!

The monster let out a shriek of terror.

The hard, scale-like skin covering its body began to peel away in layers under the frantic tearing of the fierce wind.

Its massive body, rooted deep within the rock strata, shook violently. Its gnarled root system was pulled frantically by an upward force, and the body was actually ripped several inches off the ground!

Thor's gaze swept over the cracks in the ground beneath the monster, which had suddenly shattered and spread like a spiderweb.

He raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly.

The roots are deeper and wider than expected; no wonder it could withstand the wind pressure... and it has a bit of cunning, too.

"Watch out behind you! Lord Thor!" Lefiya screamed to warn him.

Lefiya had keenly caught sight of an unusual bulge under the rock layer behind Thor.

Several thick vines were breaking through the ground, preparing to attack his back from a tricky angle.

At the very same instant Lefiya cried out her warning!

Thor moved!

His body suddenly crouched, as if he were a spring compressed to its limit. The next moment, he transformed into a cyan afterimage wrapped in a gale, charging head-on toward the giant net of vines attacking him!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

More vines wove together into an airtight net of death, attempting to strangle him in mid-air.

However, Thor displayed counter-intuitive flexibility and agility.

His body twisted and folded sharply in the air, fitting with absolute precision into the almost non-existent gaps between the trajectories of the vine strikes!

Ais's pupils constricted.

That angle... at that speed... how could he possibly... slip through a gap like that?!

Is he relying on astonishing dynamic vision? Or extreme speed?

Likely neither.

That is the ultimate perception of the wind.

Those vines stir up faint air currents whenever they swing.

It is precisely by relying on this limit-breaking perception of the wind that he dodged them!

That is Steel-Cutting Dash...

Ais's dynamic vision could barely keep up with Thor's movements. She only felt a flash of cyan light before her eyes, and that figure had already passed through the vine blockade that seemed impossible to break, like a ghost!

Amidst the whistling brought on by the wind pressure, Thor's figure had already used the air current disturbance caused by the monster's main body to flash directly in front of the Man-eating Flower.

Thor took a deep breath, held his focus, and all his power and will condensed to a high point at this moment.

"Sweep them away!"

The output power of Ariel rose another level.

The cyan radiance wrapped around the blade suddenly flared, like a burning cyan flame!

A fatal sense of crisis made the Man-eating Flower tremble frantically! It desperately tried to close its petals, and countless vines curled back like mad in a bid to save itself!

But, it was too late!

Thor's body sank slightly, his center of gravity as stable as a mountain.

His right hand rested firmly on the hilt of Storm Cutter.

He assumed an iaido stance.

Lefiya felt her heart stop beating for that instant.

Such... such terrifying pressure! It's like the center of a storm!

Thor exhaled the air from his chest and whispered.

"The final strike, Secret Technique: Last Breath!"

Clang—!

The wind-song of the blade leaving its sheath tore the air apart!

The field of vision was completely occupied by a violent, cyan blade light!

Countless trajectories of slashes, condensed to the extreme and faster than the limits of thought, erupted like a cyan storm, completely enveloping the Man-eating Flower!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

The blade light crisscrossed, moving so fast that only a continuous, piercing whistle of air could be heard!

The tough flower bud, the thick stem, the vines rushing back to defend...

Everything, the moment it touched that cyan storm, was as if thrown into an invisible meat grinder!

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Dull tearing sounds merged into one.

The blade light vanished.

The figure of Thor appeared behind the remains of the Man-eating Flower, maintaining the posture of sheathing his blade.

Behind him, the Man-eating Flower monster froze for an instant, as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next moment.

Clatter--!

The massive body collapsed and shattered along countless smooth cuts, turning into a mess of debris on the ground.

A Magic Stone the size of a fist, emitting a light brown glow, rolled onto the slime-covered, debris-strewn ground with a "ding."

Dead silence once again enveloped the tenth floor of the Dungeon.

Only the cyan air currents remaining from Ariel continued to emit a faint whimper.

Resolved?

Ais could no longer express the shock in her heart with words.

The deep-level monster she was convinced could never be defeated at Lv.1 had been so nonchalantly... shredded by Thor?

Is Thor strong?

Strong!

But Ais realized clearly at this moment that this strength did not stem from overwhelming physical power.

His Lv.1 physique had no chasm-like gap compared to hers.

What made him strong was that pinnacle, near-Dao technique!

It was the minute perception and control over the power of wind!

So that was it...

Ais finally understood the meaning of Thor's "last lesson."

Thor had fully demonstrated to her the ultimate realm that the Wind-Riding Sword Style could reach.

Turning the wind to his own use, integrating it into every breath, every movement, and every strike.

That was no longer mere swordsmanship, but the art of commanding a storm.

Thor flicked his wrist, and Storm Cutter turned into specks of starlight, vanishing into his body.

He turned around, raised his fingertips slightly, and gestured the distance that was so familiar it made Ais daze.

"You were just a 'billion' points away from winning."

His calm voice carried a hint of familiar teasing.

Ais's thoughts were instantly pulled back to the fifth floor of the Dungeon, the scene of her first encounter with Thor.

The same gesture, the same composure.

Back then he faced a crisis; now he faced a formidable enemy.

Time seemed to overlap at this moment, and that unfathomable composure remained unchanged.

Almost instinctively, her body reacted before her thoughts.

Ais bowed deeply to Thor.

Her golden hair fell, concealing the complex emotions surging in her eyes.

"Thank you for your guidance."

Thor's gaze swept over her, responding calmly: "You're welcome, it is what you deserve."

Thor was willing to teach Ais, partly to repay her kindness, and partly because he enjoyed watching shining "stars" become increasingly brilliant.

This could be considered a personal hobby of his.

The process of creation and cultivation always moved him deeply.

In his eyes, Ais was a brilliant raw stone worth polishing.

No longer paying attention to Ais's shock, Thor leaned down and picked up the light brown Magic Stone from the ground.

This was the first time he had seen a Magic Stone of this color, and judging by the power within it...

Thor cast his gaze toward Ais...

Ais's gaze followed that strange Magic Stone, but her thoughts had already drifted far away.

The chill of the Dungeon and the lingering tremors of battle seemed to fade away in this moment.

A thought, one that had lingered in her heart but had never been spoken aloud, surfaced with unusual clarity.

She raised her head and looked at Thor.

"Lord Thor, the Monster Festival... may I invite you to go with me?"