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In the end of the Mirage Maze, Mira and the man faced off in front of the Ancient Circular Gate. Their eyes were locked together, staring at each other. The instant their gazes shifted, the fight went from entirely silent to swift movements. Three Dark Knights appeared around the man, swinging down their swords at him. Mira had started with multiple summonings at once.

「I noticed before, but you’re very fast.」

The man looked slightly surprised seeing three black heavy swords coming down on him from all sides, but he stopped them with his sword, before unsheathing a second sword from his hilt and swinging it around like a soft stroke, cutting through all the Dark Knights.

「Sadly for you, my golem isn’t the only one that can slay spirits.」

The three Dark Knights shattered into small particles that quickly vanished in the air, while the man returned his two swords to their scabbards. Mira had only been able to see it for a short moment, but one of them was covered in a black mist.

「So that’s one more thing I’ll have to question you about.」

She had heard that black mist was a spirit-devouring curse, and she held a strong disdain for the man controlling it in front of her. Chimera Clauzen and the black mist both were connected to spirits in some way, so Mira felt there was a deeper relation between the two.

「Well, I still have no reason to tell you anything though.」

The man snickered saying that, lifting his spirit sword high up in the air and swinging it down towards Mira. A bright red trail followed the sword, which then shot arcs of flames straight ahead.

Mira stopped the flames from reaching her with a Holy Knight, activating another summon she had planned while surrounded by flames diverted by the shield. Since the man had just launched an attack, Mira let another Dark Knight swing its sword from his blind spot.

「Is that all you know to do?!」

Either due to his acute perception, or the powers of his spirit sword, the man was immediately aware of the Dark Knight’s presence and turned around while clicking his tongue, leaning to a side to dodge the black sword. Then he took a step forward, unsheathed the mist sword and sliced through the Dark Knight’s torso.

The mist turned the Dark Knight into dust, and before he could pull his arm with the mist sword back, a black sword appeared and swung against it. That black sword appeared with such a timing that the man could not evade it on time, the blade hitting his arm. A dull metallic clang resounded, and shortly after the black sword vanished.

「What was that freaky arm that just appeared?! Is that something summoners can do? Don’t go scaring me like that now.」

The attack had connected, but the man just glared at the air, before returning the mist sword to its scabbard as if nothing had happened.

His gauntlet was also a spirit arm, strong enough to resist an attack from a Dark Knight.

「Now that’s just great, it didn’t even leave a scratch.」

When the flames died down, Mira stood beside the crumbling Holy Knight and looked at the man’s arm before muttering to herself. But opposite to her cynical words, her lips formed a twisted and entertained smile.

「You say that, but your face seems to say something else.」

The man noticed that much and remarked that while crossing his arms, chuckling at Mira.

「Of course it does, it’s such a cute face after all.」

Saying that, Mira tilted her face to the side, resting her cheek on her palm while striking a pose. 「Maybe you have a point, but you’re definitely not my type」 he spat out before breaking into a run to attack again.

「Hmph, you don’t have an eye for quality then.」

His heavy equipment belied the swiftness and speed of his movements. Mira stood still waiting for him, summoning Dark Knights one after another. The man swung his mist sword at them, slaying them as he passed. It was hard to believe he was a spellcaster considering his physical skills.

「You still have mana left?」

It took a short time for the man to stand in front of Mira, three Dark Knights standing as a last line of defense.

「We’re just built differently.」

These Dark Knights were slightly unlike the earlier ones, moving to surround him as if calculating the ideal distance, before swinging their swords in order.

But the man countered that perfectly. He blocked the first attacks with his spirit sword, following it with a slash of his mist blade before turning around and doing the same with the second Dark Knight behind him.

Two Dark Knights were down, leaving only one standing. That one swung down as well. The man turned around, holding his spirit sword up to block the incoming attack with a movement he had already gotten familiar with, and then held the mist sword with a firmer grip.

Before he could swing it though, a loud and shrill metallic noise was produced between the man and the Dark Knight, followed by a bright flash. That was Sanctia’s power. The last Dark Knight was not holding its usual black sword, but instead it had the summoned holy sword.

「What the hell?!」

The holy sword’s power flicked the man’s spirit sword away, while the flash blinded his eyes.

That was the first time the man showed a moment of hesitation, after appearing to have an impenetrable armor so far. But that was something Mira had been planning all along. No matter how hard the Dark Knight’s sword hit his armor, it caused no damage. After continuous attacks, that would lower his attention towards the swords.

「Alright, time to end your endless yapping.」

He was blinking constantly, trying to regain his vision, but it was still not enough for him to see where Mira was. Even her voice sounded like a distant echo in his ears.

The man understood he was vulnerable, so he quickly assumed a defensive stance. He knew his armor could withstand the simultaneous attack of all Dark Knights, and then some. But if he let dozens of attacks rain carelessly on him, the armor could come apart at the seams, which he wanted to avoid at all costs.

But that was a miscalculation on his part.
Mira had run right up to him, looking at his face from below his chest. A smirk on her face as she turned her golden magic eyes towards his stiffened face.

「Try to stop this!」

She stood with her feet apart to stabilize her center of mass, striking her right palm against the man’s chest.

Inherited Sage Art: Windmill of the Full Moon

A strong wind seemed to explode from her hand, blowing strongly against the man.

「What the-?!」

The wind enveloped his body, carrying it up as the gusts of wind pierced through the air. That violent wind easily brought him to an altitude only to blow down smacking him on the ground, repeating that multiple times.

Mira had caused what could only be described as a dragon-like tornado. Roaring loudly and scurrying on the ground, baring its fangs and claws to destroy anything in its path. Even Mira’s arm was subject to those cuts.

(This hurts more than expected… inherited skills are definitely too extreme.)

Mira glanced at her bloodied arm, her brow knitting in pain.

Inherited Sage Arts. While very powerful, they had the side effect that even someone as trained as Mira would suffer collateral damage from their immense force. But that also made them all the more powerful. Mira was prepared for the consequences, unleashing that cruel indiscriminate wind that carved out everything in front of her.