Underworld Crow Crossing

"Hey, this isn't the time to space out." Naimus's reminder brought Isabella back to her senses.

Only then did she realize that Big Black had not retreated after having its claw severed by a single strike.

On the contrary, it had only stirred up more of its ferocity.

No blood flowed from its severed arm. Instead, it was filled with countless strands of broken "hair."

The hairs continued to squirm, interlocking with those spilling from the severed palm before rapidly drawing themselves back together.

In an instant, Big Black's hand looked as though it had never been cut off.

Every blood vessel in Big Black's body had already undergone Alienation, gaining active control.

Simply severing its limbs could not truly harm it.

"This body's stats are still a little lacking. I can't freely use Secret Swords."

The three elements of strength—stats, traits, and skill.

The issue with Nigel's current body lay precisely in its stats.

A stat value of thirteen was still too low. Its traits were decent, but merely decent; they could not truly bring out Naimus's techniques, which had already far surpassed the current limit.

Back when Naimus had still been human, he had not made his name through Secret Swords alone. He also possessed formidable stats granted by the Breath of Holy Law, which he had pushed to a high level through Dual Law Coordination.

At the time, Naimus had been considered the Paladin of that generation most likely to become a Golden Breed.

"If I want to kill this thing, it looks like I'll need to use the Mutated Secret Sword: World-Swallowing Whale."

Swordsmanship was not actually suited for fighting monsters capable of reattaching their limbs.

Swords focused mainly on cutting and thrusting, making them highly effective against enemies without regenerative abilities.

Among Naimus's large-scale Swordsmanship attacks, the only one he could barely use at present was World-Swallowing Whale.

But...

"That strike wouldn't do me any good." Naimus had not come here to risk his life. At least, not yet.

"Against a monster like this, spells are more useful. Isabella, shouldn't you reveal some of your trump cards as well?"

While Naimus had given Isabella information so she could probe the Old Priest, he had naturally been probing Isabella as well.

At the cemetery last night, Isabella had not trusted him much. Yet when Naimus suggested searching the wilderness, she had agreed.

That was not because Isabella was naïve, but because she was confident she could handle a sudden attack from Naimus.

That confidence had revealed itself today.

Big Black was powerful, capable of suppressing Naimus. Yet Isabella had faced this monster's surprise attack and fought it for so long without suffering a single injury.

That proved Isabella was far from simple.

Sure enough, when Naimus's Secret Sword failed to achieve any further results, Isabella also realized how troublesome the situation was.

Such a commotion had broken out here. The Old Priest might return at any moment.

If they did not want to face a Steel Breed priest while dealing with this monster, they would have to bring out something they had been saving.

With that in mind, Isabella looked at Naimus. After basically confirming that Naimus, who had used the Thousand Moon Extinction Bird Turning Underworld Sword, was worthy of trust, she said, "Buy me some time. I need to prepare a powerful spell that isn't from the Holy School."

Naimus nodded upon hearing that, then used the Secret Sword: Spinning Flying Swallow once more.

It used rotational force to enhance the sword technique's piercing and cutting power.

This time, however, the strike was no longer aimed at Big Black's claws, but at its head.

Naimus no longer defended either. He intended to trade injury for injury.

The instinctive threat made Big Black slow its assault. Although every blood vessel in its body had undergone Alienation, it would still struggle to survive if its head were split in two.

Thus, Big Black instinctively tucked in its head and rammed into Naimus from the side.

The spinning blade sliced through some black hair, while Naimus's body was knocked aside.

The power of Gift of Forgiveness spared him much of the damage.

That level of resilience was beyond even Big Black's expectations.

The moment Naimus landed, the sword in his hand underwent another change.

Holding the sword in reverse, he pressed the blade against his arm and lowered his body. His breathing changed with it, and from in front of Naimus, the sword nearly vanished from sight.

Secret Sword: Underworld Crow Crossing!

Naimus lunged forward, nearly charging into Big Black's embrace. The vanished blade suddenly appeared, stabbing upward into Big Black's body in an instant.

With just one strike, Big Black's entire body was nearly cut in half.

But Big Black had prepared for this. Huge numbers of black blood vessels shot out from both sides of its severed body, then bound themselves together.

Its body resembled black rice cake, pulled apart yet still connected by countless sticky threads.

Under the pull, its body rapidly fused back together. At the same time, countless black blood vessels reached toward Naimus, intending to drag him into its body and envelop him.

After raising his sword in one motion, Naimus immediately followed with his next move.

It was no Secret Sword, but an exceedingly basic technique—a jumping cleave.

The blade turned slightly, no longer moving straight up and down. It slashed downward from right to left, chopping toward the creature's head.

They had tested this before. Its head was not immune to damage. If its head was split apart, it would die just the same.

But the creature itself knew that as well, so in the next instant, its head "detached."

The blood vessels within its body tore apart its own bones, pulled open flesh and skin, and dragged its head to one side.

Countless black threads extended from all over its body, attaching themselves bit by bit to its head and spine.

It did not affect the monster's ability to continue controlling its body in the slightest.

In truth, if the habits left behind from its past as a human had not influenced it, its optimal form of existence would have been to hide its head within its body and control the body from inside.

And the monster quickly realized this as well.

After evading Naimus's jumping cleave, it retreated backward as its entire body began changing.

The eyeballs in its head shot out, trailing black blood vessels behind them.

The two eyeballs then landed on its shoulders, while even more black blood vessels pulled at its head and wrapped it inside its body.

Thus, a tall, headless monster covered in black hair, with one eye on each shoulder, appeared before Naimus.

The monster twisted its body and pounced toward Naimus once again.

"Decent strength and traits, some intelligence, but mediocre combat experience and technique." Naimus made his assessment.

Big Black's technique could not fully bring out its own stats and traits.

If Naimus possessed the same stats and traits as it did, he estimated that he could finish it within three moves.

It was at that moment that Isabella finished preparing her spell.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.