The Shattered Sword

That was a remote control with only a single button. The moment the attacked Confessor saw the item in W's hand, his heart sank.

It was not as if the Confessors knew nothing about the mercenary who had attacked him. After all, over the past half year, the name of this new "W" had spread through nearly all of Kazdel. Even the Confessors, who were not mercenaries themselves, had investigated this rising star. They had even tried to recruit her into a mercenary group affiliated with the Confessor Temple, but she had refused.

He should have realized it when she launched her attack earlier. Unfortunately, he no longer had the chance.

When the Confessor lowered his head, he saw Originium explosives, like fragments, embedded throughout the surrounding ground. The closest one was right by his feet!

At that moment, the Originium energy within those explosives was steadily surging and becoming increasingly unstable. Her earlier attack had merely been a feint, and he had foolishly tried to block it!

"Bye-bye!"

As she gave a slight wave, W's smile gradually turned cruel. At that moment, she pressed the red button on the remote control. In an instant, dense Originium energy engulfed the entire area!

Boom!

The violent explosion was accompanied by flames like a dragon's breath devouring the earth. Even though the Confessors had unleashed every defensive Originium Art they could, they still could not fully offset the blast's power. After all, W had used most of her Originium explosives in this attack to ensure a one-hit kill!

With an attack that was practically like crippling herself, W not only severely wounded those Confessors but also cleared out a vast open space on the battlefield. Even Sarkaz, who were naturally far more resistant to Originium Arts than other races, could not emerge unscathed from such a massive Originium explosion. Aside from those Confessors, the people responsible for protecting them had all been reduced to ashes by that attack!

However, W did not seem satisfied. In her view, those Confessors should not have merely been seriously injured by an explosion of that magnitude. They should all have died!

Wooo...

A melodious horn call, as though from far away, rang out across the battlefield. Almost instantly, a faint crimson ring of energy spread outward from the surviving Sarkaz Confessors. When it touched the Sarkaz on their side, the energy entered their bodies. At that moment, their physiques visibly swelled, and the power within them became even more immense!

This was an Originium Art that only Sarkaz could use, and it only affected Sarkaz.

When Sarkaz were affected by this Originium energy, their hidden potential and accumulated Originium energy would be fully unleashed. Even a Sarkaz with no combat training could gain enough strength to defeat an ordinary mercenary after being affected by this Art, let alone these professionally trained fighters!

If it had merely increased their strength, it would not have been difficult to deal with. The key was that this Originium Art had very few side effects. Once its duration ended, the Sarkaz would only enter a brief weakened state. Under normal circumstances, Sarkaz sentries were the users of this Originium Art. However, as the developers of Sarkaz Originium Arts, the Confessors naturally possessed this ability as well, and its effects were far stronger when used by them than by Sarkaz sentries!

"This is bad..."

The instant he saw this, Roy leaped high into the air. Trailing a meteor-like radiance behind him, he descended into the area where the Confessors were.

At that moment, crescent-shaped sword energy spread outward from him. In almost an instant, the severely wounded Confessors were cut in two, but the effects they had caused could not be undone.

When Roy turned around, he saw the shattered defensive line. The Sarkaz whose potential had been unleashed were madly slaughtering their own kind, while the resistance of the mercenaries on Roy's side was growing weaker and weaker.

Without the slightest hesitation, Roy rushed toward his own formation. He could not save everyone; if he was surrounded, he might very well die here himself.

But he would not abandon these people and leave alone. After all, they were his allies for the time being.

"No one left behind. No one abandoned."

Roy had heard those words countless times before entering police training in his previous life. They were also one of the principles he upheld.

Almost the instant he returned to his side's formation, Roy was attacked by several Sarkaz wielding greatswords. As he used the standard-issue weapon in his hand to block those blades, Roy could clearly hear the sword's mournful cry. It would not hold out much longer. Perhaps in the next moment, it would truly "die."

This was one of the costs of using Shadow Ghost Swordsmanship. Upon mastering Shadow Ghost Swordsmanship, its practitioners not only gained the Weapon Mastery ability, which allowed them to wield all kinds of weapons proficiently, but also acquired a special state known as Weapon Breaker. In this state, practitioners could draw out their weapons' potential as much as possible, allowing the blades in their hands to become more powerful. In exchange, the weapon's "lifespan" would be drastically shortened.

And now, after fighting continuously for half a month, this weapon had already reached its limit.

Clang!

After another collision, cracks covered the blade. Then, the metal sword crumbled into stardust-like fragments and fell away. At that moment, the Sarkaz's greatsword came slashing toward Roy!

As he dodged the blow, Roy sheathed the remaining hilt in his hand. At the same time, his hand pressed onto the reward he had received after completing the final task before leaving Lungmen. Since this gift box was called a Sword Weapon Gift Box, it meant that it could only contain weapons. For Roy, that was not a bad thing.

After all, all he needed right now was a suitable weapon. He could not possibly fight these Sarkaz barehanded.

The instant he touched the box, Roy opened it without hesitation. Golden light scattered in every direction, and just like when he had first obtained the system, time seemed to have come to a standstill.

When the radiance faded, a brand-new sword Roy had never seen before floated in front of him. As his gaze shifted toward it, information about the blade appeared before Roy's eyes...