"Huh...?!!"
The vicious grin on the Hand Demon's face instantly turned to utter shock and agony!
He felt as though he had struck not a scabbard, but an eternal iceberg-and a black hole that devoured everything!
An irresistible chill instantly spread up his arm, freezing and killing his tough flesh wherever it passed.
At the same time, a devouring force as deep as night tore savagely at his arm, as though it meant to suck away his very existence.
Crack! Crack! Crack! The teeth-grating sound of ice freezing and shattering rang out.
Starting at the point of contact with the scabbard, his thick, massive limb, covered in smaller arms, was instantly encased in solid ice that gave off an ominous black vapor! The ice spread upward at a terrifying speed, shattering as it went.
"Ah... Aaaaah!!!"
The Hand Demon let out a heart-rending scream. He watched in terror as the arm he had been so proud of shattered inch by inch like fragile glass, raining down in fragments of black ice.
The power invading his body filled him with unprecedented terror! This power... completely countered him!
Velkhana frost swirled around the Sapphire Star. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at the enormous monster howling in agony before her.
"Your regeneration's pretty good, monster... but you're fragile."
So weak! That was the Sapphire Star's first impression of fighting him.
The monster's seemingly thick, powerful arms reaching for the examinees snapped and shattered beneath her blows like rotten branches! Cutting through them felt as soft as slicing cotton!
"Are your hitzones really that good?"
The Sapphire Star was actually a little surprised. This monster's body wasn't even as tough as an Aptonoth's.
The Sapphire Star was like a tiger among sheep. Every swing precisely interrupted the Hand Demon's attacks as she pushed or pulled endangered examinees out of his clutches. Her movements were clean and decisive, carrying the efficiency unique to a master hunter.
"Watch out! Everyone, stay back!"
She barked orders at the examinees who had frozen in fright.
Just then, to save a yellow-haired boy who was almost crushed by a giant hand, the Sapphire Star darted directly beneath the enormous monster and drove her weapon hard into the joint of one of the "legs" supporting his body!
Squish!
With a muffled sound, the Fatalis Demolisher easily pierced the seemingly tough joint.
"Aaargh-!!!"
The monster roared in pain again, his enormous body stumbling. Just as the Sapphire Star was about to follow through and cripple that leg completely-
A hoarse, distorted human voice, brimming with venom and fury, suddenly erupted from the massive body above her head.
"You... what the hell are you?! Why?! Why can your feeble strength hurt me?! Why can you destroy my regeneration?! This isn't fair!!! All of Urokodaki's disciples deserve to die!!!"
The voice sounded like a rusty saw scraping sheet metal, filled with inhuman malice, but those were unmistakably the syllables of human speech.
"Wait, what the fuck?! This monster can taaaaalk!!!!"
Every hair on the Sapphire Star's body instantly stood on end.
In the New World, she had cut down countless monsters that roared, snarled, and even communicated through specific sound waves-but never! Never had a monster spoken clear, complete sentences like a human, with logic and resentment behind them!
It was ten thousand times more horrifying than seeing a Jagras suddenly start discussing a Great Sword bro's hunting philosophy and saying, "deep dark fantasy"!
The sheer shock made her scalp prickle, and her movements stiffened for a moment.
That single instant of hesitation gave the enormous monster his chance.
Thoroughly enraged by the Sapphire Star, he abandoned every other target. Countless arms lashed down at her from all directions like giant pythons!
"Useless, useless, useless, useless! Useless!!!"
The twisted human face hidden between the arms was filled with venom and madness.
"Weak, weak! Die!!!"
The shadow of death instantly engulfed the Sapphire Star.
"Ewww-Great Iai Slaaaaash!!!!"
Her overwhelming horror instantly turned into an explosive surge of power. The Sapphire Star was utterly enraged. I don't care whether you can talk! You're this ugly and disgusting, and you still think you can ambush me?! Die!
The fighting spirit within her erupted like a volcano! The Velkhana frost wrapped around her arms and scabbard instantly surged to its limit, becoming a visible ice-blue storm!
Holding nothing back, she flicked the sword guard with her thumb!
Shiiing-!!!!!
A clear, icy sword cry that seemed capable of freezing the soul rang through the night sky. The Fatalis Demolisher left its sheath!
Propelled by the ice-blue storm, the Sapphire Star ignored the giant arms converging from every direction. She had only one target-the monster's ugly, talking head hidden among those arms!
Ting!
With flawless precision, the Sapphire Star placed her sword tip directly in front of the Hand Demon's eye, which was filled with terror and hatred!
The next instant-BOOOOOM-!!!!
A torrent of ice-blue, dragon-shaped energy burst from the tip of the Sapphire Star's sword, surging violently forward.
Crack-crack-crack-BANG!!!
Every monstrous arm blocking the blade's path was frozen and corroded by the terrifying ice-erosion power the instant it made contact, exploding into a skyful of powdered black ice crystals.
Without losing any momentum, the freezing energy slammed into the Hand Demon's enormous body.
"Im... poss... ible... I'm the Hand Demon! I'm the Hand Demon! Aaaaaah!"
The Hand Demon's screams were drowned out by the roar of the energy.
Before this woman, his tough demonic body, which had devoured countless swordsmen, was as fragile as paper. The extreme cold instantly froze every drop of blood and every cell within him, while the power of annihilation ravaged the very essence of his existence from within!
Before his regeneration could even activate, his entire enormous upper body turned to dust amid the intertwining ice-blue and black light of destruction! Only the remains below his waist, wrapped in a few arms, stayed frozen in place beneath a thick coating of black ice.
The freezing blast continued skyward, tearing a huge opening through the thick mist and wisteria overhead before slowly dissipating.
Moonlight poured through the opening, illuminating the center of the battlefield.