Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Rin Aspen smirked at her words. He could feel the intense fury in her eyes, but he remained calm.

“Since you are eager to die, your blood shall become food for my sword!” He instantaneously activated the blood domain as he quickly made his move.

He released a swift forward slash that cleaved the ground in half.

Bang!

The devastating attack caught the imperial guards off guard. Luckily for them, the empress was there to block the full brunt of the attack.

She raised her sword and triggered her own domain.

Boom!

A fierce explosion rocked the battlefield.

When everyone regained their vision, the empress had already vanished from her spot and reappeared in front of Rin Aspen.

With a cold snort, she brandished her sword, causing violent fluctuations in the air.

Whoosh!

Seeing this, Rin Aspen’s eyes flashed with gravity. Although he had the demonic sword, he was well aware of his own strength. As arrogant as he was, he knew that he still fell short compared to the empress.

He raised the demonic sword while activating the blood domain’s ability. He continuously absorbed the blood of the fallen soldiers to increase his own power.

CLANG!!!

A mighty collision rang out, bringing out immense force that sent shockwaves across the battlefield.

The imperial guards and the warriors of the heretic cult were forced to retreat under the overwhelming force.

With the blood domain’s influence, Rin Aspen managed to stand firmly against the empress.

Clang! Clang!

The two exchanged hundreds of blows in mere seconds. They were so fast that everyone could only see their afterimages. Even the crazy old man, Sen, who had a smile earlier, was now wearing a serious expression.

Rin Aspen can’t hold her for too long. I’ll wait for the chance to-

Just then, he sensed another powerful presence approaching at lightning speed.

He instinctively moved his head back.

Whoosh!

A glaive brushed past his face, drawing a line of blood across his right cheek.

“Lord Sen…” A cold voice drifted into his ears.

The old man stared coldly at the beautiful woman in front of him.

It was Bai Seol-hwa. Despite her injuries, she had chosen to follow the empress into battle.

Sen didn’t dare underestimate her. She might be injured, but she was still the mighty Commander of the Crimson Phoenix Knights Order. An absolute expert whose power was only behind the empress’s.

“Kekeke! It seems like you managed to heal your wounds well, girl.” He muttered, while sneakily taking out a concoction from inside his sleeve.

Without warning, he then swiftly threw it at Bai Seol-hwa.

Bai Seol-hwa seemed to have anticipated his sneaky attempt and slashed it with her sword.

Whoosh!

The bottle broke apart and released some kind of toxic smoke.

“Kekeke! Foolish!” Sen laughed upon seeing this.

Just when he thought that Bai Seol-hwa had fallen for his tricks, a figure suddenly emerged from the smoke and pounced at him.

Huh?!

“Did you think I would fall for the same trick twice?! I already knew you would do something underhanded!” Bai Seol-hwa roared as she stabbed out her sword.

Whoosh!

Sen hastily drew a short sword from his waist in an attempt to block her attack.

Shit!

Clang! He somehow managed to block it, but Bai Seol-hwa’s momentum didn’t stop. She released a series of attacks, forcing Sen to be on the defensive.

He might be strong for a Venerable, but against a true powerhouse like Bai Seol-hwa who had been through numerous fights, he realized how lacking he was.

Wounds started to appear on his body and he couldn’t even find a way to escape Bai Seol-hwa’s relentless aggression. All he could do was passively defend himself. He couldn’t even fight back.

Clang! Clang!

Dammit!

Left with no choice, he activated his domain.

Green mists appeared around them, spreading with it a strong potent poison. The few unlucky warriors who were nearby started gasping for breath as the poison entered their bodies.

Seeing this, Bai Seol-hwa had to abandon her attack. She covered her airways with mana to prevent the poison from entering her body.

“Stay away from the poisonous mists! Use mana to cover your airways!” She shouted to the troops.

Hearing her warning, the imperial guards quickly used their mana to cover their airways.

“Tsk! Tsk! Clever, but for how long can you keep up this resistance?” Sen sneered at them.

Bai Seol-hwa glanced at him and waved her glaive. “Don’t worry. I will make this quick.”

After saying those words, she tapped her feet and jumped straight at him, while brandishing her glaive with great momentum.

Whoosh!

Sen didn’t dare to meet her head-on. He chose to evade her attacks, dodging with his best effort.

In terms of raw power, the difference between them was huge.

He knew that Bai Seol-hwa only needed one strong attack to defeat him.

While evading her attacks, he casually released poisonous mists at her to slow her down.

However, Bai Seol-hwa pushed through without fear. Her skin already had patches of green after being in close contact with his poison, but she remained unimpeded.

How?! How is she unaffected by my poison?!

Sen found it hard to believe.

His poisonous mist was powerful enough to bring down a Venerable, but it was useless to the woman before him.

Fucking hell! This crazy bitch! For how long does she intend to waste her mana like this?!

Bai Seol-hwa was blocking all her airways so his poison couldn’t seep through her body. It could only affect her skin, but the damage was minimal.

“Crazy bitch! Once you run out of mana, you will die under my poison!” Sen shouted, his face covered in sweat.

He had been dodging her glaive nonstop and it was starting to tire him out.

He wasn’t as nimble as he was in his younger years.

“Is that your last desperate effort?” Bai Seol-hwa snorted at his words. She stomped her foot and delivered a mighty slash that cleaved the air.

Whoosh!

This attack opened up her wounds, but she forced it through with gritted teeth.

“Dieee!!!”