The shield shatters like glass, cascading to the ground and fading away. The battle among the spiders looks dire as they retreat into the white ruined palace.


    Everyone on the palace roof also watches the protective shield collapse. Orphea was happy, but Saze and the spiders were worried. As for Sophia, she doesn''t seem to care about it but stares at her wound as if thinking about something.


    "Sophia! We''re winning now! And after the fight, we can bring Saze... ugh... Sophia...?" Orphea says happily and turns to Sophia.


    Sophia''s back face to Saze and Orphea and says nothing, without any joy but a little sadness. Then she raises her hand back and forms a metal piece that blocks a sneak attack which is Saze''s blood arrow that was shooting at Orphea.


    "Hey! Saze just surrender, you will lose anyway, what''s the point of keeping fighting?" Orphea shouts angrily as she sees Saze trying to attack her.


    "I don''t want to give up!" Saze roars and lunges at Orphea.


    Suddenly, Sophia moves, she turns around and blocks Saze''s attack with a silver long sword grips in her palm. The collision of swords made a crisp sound pouring into their ears.


    Ring!


    "Alright, I understand now, Saze. Because of those spiders, you don''t want to give up. I''ll take this seriously against you." Sophia speaks with a deep voice, raising her other hand to aim a revolver at Saze.


    Saze notices the danger creeping out from the black hole, his eyes widen, and uses a wind step dash sideward to dodge the bullet.


    Bang!


    He successfully dodges the attack but suddenly a wicked grin appears on Sophia''s face. The next moment, many slender spikes appear beneath Saze and pierce his body. Fortunately, no fatal injuries were caused.


    "Sophia! Are you going to kill him?!" Orphea says anxiously with a worried face.


    "hehe, he wants to fight then he must have ready to face the death." Sophia chuckles evilly.


    "Gaaah!" Saze let out a roar and burst out the crimson shockwave again, destroying the spikes and blowing away the silver mana, leaving a small circle.


    This small circle is the safe zone for Saze. As long as the silver mana does not linger with Saze then Sophia can''t cast metal arcane around him.


    Despite Saze having many shocking holes in his body and face with an unyielding expression. He controls his blood to not flow out and accelerates the speed of blood flowing in his body to enhance his physical ability.


    He gasps, messy black hairs blowing back from the strong wind coming from Sophia and traces of blood stains on his face. He stands firm in the strong wind, gazing at Sophia with fearless eyes.


    Sophia''s long, raven-black hair sway freely in the strong wind. Her noble attire was stained with Saze''s blood. One hand holds the long sword and another hand holds the revolver.


    "You ask for this so... don''t die." Sophia whispers.


    "Hmpf! I won''t die!" Saze shouts with confidence.


    At the same moment, they charge towards each other. Countless blades clash and blood flows in the battle between the two. The swords keep colliding, the figures keep intertwining, and dozens of huge moon-shaped blood slashes strike Sophia.


    Sophia uses her flexible body to dodge and jump into the air, using her arcane properties to attack Saze from the air. The revolver in her hand fires round after round of bullets, and spikes begin to appear on the ground again. The difference from before was that these spikes would continue to extend, bend, and follow Saze closely.


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    On the other side, Orphea uses light arcane to create a luminary staff, gripping tightly in her palm. She turns around and faces the spider swarm that is like an army, she holds the staff with her hands together, lowers her head, and closes her eyes as if praying.


    "Ah, please protect me, luminosity." She whispers.


    Two sudden light beams illuminate the sky and a vast battlefield, it strikes down from the sky and lands on the left and right sides of Orphea. As the light beams fade, two warriors with shining heavy armor and massive swords stand.


    Orphea''s appearance has changed, her hair is no longer white but now shines with a golden hue. Additionally, her black pupils have transformed into bright, shiny gold. Now, her appearance was holy as if a goddess of light.


    "Gruu!" Spiders shout loudly and cast their arcane.


    "Neutralize enemies." Two warriors say at the same time with a heavy, majestic tone.


    Both warriors were in the second stage. They immediately rush towards the spider swarm and swing their massive swords with the sharp scream of spiders. Orphea watches the massacre coldly from behind.


    During the fierce battle with Sophia, Saze hears the screams of the spider, which make him instinctively glance sideways. At this sight, he sees Orphea''s cruelty. His eyes widen and his body trembles because of the strong inner wave, he raises his sword and slashes out a huge moon-shaped blood slash.


    "Orphea!!!" Saze shouts angrily and slashes out more attacks.


    Oprhea notices Saze''s attack, but she ignores the fatal slashes. Suddenly, a huge metal shield materializes behind Orphea and blocks those slashes.


    "I am your enemy so don''t mind other people and also, don''t get distracted during a battle, except that you want to die." Sophia smiles.


    Three long swords materialize in the air and shoot toward Saze, but he is too late to dodge the attack. Long swords impale his body, there is even a sword that almost stabs in Saze''s heart.


    "Thanks for your lesson..." Saze says while dodging the next attack and struggling to draw the long swords.


    "Alright, then take this!" Sophia shouts.


    The silver mana cloud becomes restless, countless blades materialize and suddenly start spinning. The next moment, those countless blades turn into a blade storm rushing towards Saze.


    When Saze sees it, a rush of fear compels him to run, but the blade storm is already just a few feet away. Realizing that its speed far exceeds his own, he understands there''s no point in fleeing, he must stand and fight.


    "AH!!!" Saze grips the blood sword high with both hands and roars.


    Majestic crimson mana bursts from his body, enveloping the entire battlefield. Veins bulge beneath his skin, and his scarlet pupils gleam with rage. In his hand, the blood sword suddenly expands, reaching skyward, a towering manifestation of his fury and power. The air crackles with energy as he prepares to unleash devastating force upon his foes.


    "What the..." Sophia and Orphea''s eyes widen as they see the blood sword and see it keep rising.


    "Go to hell!!!" Saze yells and wields his blood sword, swinging towards Sophia and Orphea horizontally.


    As the colossal blood sword swings at them, their faces display fear and panic. Even Sophia does not dare to confront it and can only evade it. The blood sword slashes through the two luminosity warriors, cleaving them in half. It then collapses, and other towers are similarly split to the same height by Saze''s blood sword.


    This attack of this intensity is almost the power of the fourth stage. All the spiders and arcanists on the battlefield stop for a moment look in the direction of the palace roof, and then start fighting again.


    On the palace roof, Saze holds his blood sword against the roof to support his body. He looks at the roof and that his seven orifices were bleeding very scary.


    "Phew, you really scared me, you overdraw your life, right? Impressive, your attack has almost reached the power of the fourth stage." Sophia gasping, cold sweat wet her attire.


    "I-I''m still alive...?" Orphea says with a trembling tone, she collapses on the floor.


    "Gru..." Those spiders lie down on the ground, didn''t get split in half by blood sword.


    "Thanks for the compliment..." Saze collapses the blood sword turns into normal blood.


    "Lack of mana now, isn''t it?" Sophia walks towards him and raises her hand.


    As her hand rises, a huge metal cage materializes above Saze. He notices it and raises it with difficulty, jade green mana starts flowing out of his body.


    Sophia sighs heavily, looking at Saze''s severe injuries but he still refuses to surrender.


    "Can''t you just lie on the ground obediently, you can just sleep if you want to, Orphea will heal you..." Sophia persuades him to surrender.


    Saze doesn''t say anything but responds to her with several cyclone needles forming behind him. Regardless of the pain in his body and the lack of mana, he bravely stands up and faces the powerful enemy.


    "Just surrender already!" Sophia shouts angrily and aims with a revolver at Saze.


    Bang!


    The bullet shot into his body, the pain making him bend instinctively but at the same time, those cyclone needles launch and shoot it to Sophia.


    She deftly dodges the attack, then moves in on Saze and strikes him squarely in the face. The impact sends him flying, propelled by an overwhelming force. In a swift motion, she delivers a powerful kick that crashes down, creating a gaping hole in the palace roof as Saze plummets to the ground.


    "Oops, hope he didn''t die." Sophia says calmly and jumps off.