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Jotun unleashed its fist with a thunderous roar, punching a hole through the corridor’s walls, made of a mysterious material that boasted both elasticity and firmness—properties even I, its owner, do not fully understand.

The sword at the tip of the fist shattered, and the fist itself burst like a balloon—inevitable, given that it was essentially a chimera constructed from fragile human bodies, unable to withstand the force.

“Kyaaaa! Blood! Some strange liquid?! Eyeballs, brain tissues, entrails!”

“Noooo! This strange fluid is all over me! It stinks! Miss Hiyuki, please hurry and purify it!”

Tamegoro’s and my screams echoed as we swiftly dodged the splattering of putrid flesh, filth, blood, and various other unknown liquids across the corridor. Honestly, avoiding this filth proved more troublesome than evading direct attacks.

“This b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! Did he really think he could spread this filth just because it isn’t his house!?”

Fueled by rage, I sprinted as quickly as I could, purifying the filth that had soiled our garments along with Mikoto. I effortlessly dodged a downward punch, then accelerated and ran up the wall, vaulting to the ceiling.

“Haaaaaaa!!”

Once in his blind spot, I drove my ‘Gilles de Rais’ directly into the center of Jotun’s head.

Using the Sword Saint’s technique, «Seven Heavens Descend», my sword split into seven pieces, moving according to my will to converge on one spot and widen the wound.

As I soared over its head, I executed the Saint’s high-tier skill, «Holy Disruption»—an attack that inflicts physical and light damage with purifying light. The damage scales with the ratio of remaining to maximum MP. Distance also influences the effectiveness, but given the proximity, it should inflict 100% damage.

At my command, a multi-layered light magic circle activated, generating a whirlpool of energy that surged toward Jotun’s wound, culminating in an explosion.

The shock knocked the giant back onto one knee. Its head was pulverized and completely gouged out, and it did not heal immediately as before, thanks to the purifying effects of the light element.

Once back on the ground, I executed a sequence of four standard skills, rapidly changed my position while tracking the cooldown of «Force», and launched a downward slash at Jotun’s back to divert its attention and create an opening. Quickly halting my advance, I vaulted into the air again, launching a barrage of blades towards it.

Jotun quickly assumed a defensive stance, crossing both arms in front to protect itself.

I countered with a forceful downward slash, my ‘Gilles de Rais’ glowing red as it descended rapidly.

I unleashed the Sword Saint’s skill «Ascending Dragon Crescent Sky Impact», a potent one-hit physical attack and one of the most powerful in my repertoire. I was about to sever Jotun’s left arm when it emitted a burst of Holy Light in an attempt to strike me down from the air.

“As if!”

An attack is futile if it cannot reach its target; it’s as simple as that. I flapped the jet black wings on my back, La Vie en Rose, landing on the nearest object, which was Jotun, and swiftly used it as a platform to maneuver and evade the Holy Light (while my wings lacked the ability to fly, controlling altitude posed no issue).

Meanwhile, I deployed Holy Flare, a basic Saint attack, followed by a flurry of slashes from all directions. Once back on the ground, I caught my breath, quickly created distance, adjusted my gear, and expended all my MP on my most potent attack, «Swan Song of the Chirping Wind».

“Haaaaaa!!”

Jotun must have sustained significant damage as its left arm was severed and shattered. Seizing this opportunity, Utsuho unleashed her most powerful Ice skill, «Absolute Cold Crypt», which exploded with a ‘boom’, freezing Jotun to its core.

Lubbock manipulated his seven swords to swiftly dismantle that hand.

Meanwhile, my sword, Gilles de Rais, pierced through Jotun’s abdomen to the hilt, sending an intense shockwave throughout its body.

“Aaaaaarggg!?”

Shima, concealed within Jotun, could not have evaded this blow. Synchronized with my action, a jolt coursed through Jotun’s body, causing it to fall back like a puppet without a puppeteer.

I had hoped to expose Shima with this maneuver, but it appeared to be wishful thinking. After observing the collapsed Jotun, now resembling a turtle, I rejoined the others, extracted a high-grade MP Potion, and drank it down.

Though the potion provided only a trivial amount of MP, barely enough compared to my rapid consumption, it sufficed to activate a skill. I utilized the restored mana to cast an automatic HP & MP recovery skill, restoring myself to optimal condition.

Observing my recovery and Jotun’s condition, Lubbock shook his head in a ‘good grief’ manner and assumed the offensive role to relieve me.

“Agility, dexterity, and recovery abilities to support that style—I must say, Hiyuki, you’ve really allocated your points well, achieving a balanced playstyle.”

Huh?! Did he just compare me to one of those players who cheat?

At that moment, about 100 former church knights, now vampires, who had merged, detached from the trembling Jotun, each armed with a shield and sword. Simultaneously, Jotun’s body was armored with shields similar to those of the knights, resembling scales.

“Hmm? Is he adopting a defensive strategy while allowing his minions to control the situation?”

Lubbock muttered as he readied his nine swords. However, before he could act, a spirited yell from Tamegoro intervened.

“Leave the small fries to me, Lubby!”

Heeding the call, Lubbock stepped sideways out of the trajectory without looking back. Just then, an orb of scarlet fire whizzed past, narrowly missing Lubbock by a hair’s breadth.

“Flare Buster!”

The former church knights hastily raised their shields. The orb of scarlet fire landed squarely among them and rapidly expanded, forming a dome of fire that engulfed them completely. The swirling flames reduced the former church knights to ashes.

It was an impressive display from someone who had invested all their status points into enhancing their fire magic—a necessary feat to earn the title of «Blazing Force». Before receiving her title from the developers, she was known as the «Pyromaniac Sorceress» or «Burning Blockhead». I doubt any other players could eliminate high-level vampire thralls in a single strike as she did.