Klein had already disappeared.

His legs bent, then relaxed with explosive power.

He used <Dash>

A surge of bluish aura propelled his body to the right, appearing on the beast’s flank. The wind whistled in his ears during this instantaneous movement. His blade unfolded in an ascending arc, shining with a strong bluish glow.

<Art: Sundering Eclipse >

<First Movement: Crescent Moon >

A blade of white aura burst from the katana, as sharp as a scar in the sky. The shockwave split the air and struck the monster square in the chest. A shrill grinding sound rang out. Blue and red sparks flew from the point of impact.

But nothing broke.

The monster’s chitin was so dense that the attack left only a trail of sparks and a thin white scratch on the surface of its natural armor.

"Shit," Klein breathed between clenched teeth.

The second guardian did not give him time to retreat. It swept the air with its claws in a wide and fluid motion, too fast for a creature of this size. The attack came from the left side, where Klein could not parry without losing his balance.

The claws tore through his white shirt and skin like silk paper. Three deep gashes opened on his flank, from the bottom of his ribs to his hip.

Blood spurted.

A hot red spray splashed the wall behind him, then flowed down his leg. His white shirt immediately turned a vivid red that spread like a tide.

A growl of rage escaped his throat.

Walpurga tilted her head to the side without stopping smoking. A slight crease appeared at the corner of her eyes.

"Already hit?" she murmured in a barely audible voice, as if she were commenting on a chess game rather than a fight to the death. "Interesting."

Klein limped back a step. His free hand pressed his flank, and blood flowed between his fingers.

The Guardians advanced together, their shadows growing on the walls in the dancing torchlight.

They were not in a hurry.

They knew their prey was trapped.

"Kuh! They are... much faster than expected," he growled.

Blood continued to flow down his leg, forming a thin dark puddle on the cracked tile. Klein gritted his teeth and pressed harder on his wound, the pain helping him stay focused. The three Guardians advanced slowly, their claws scraping the ground with a sound of metal on stone.

He had to change strategy. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Klein plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small glass vial containing a dark red liquid. He popped the cork with his thumb and swallowed the contents in one gulp. The healing potion burned his throat as it went down, then a pleasant warmth spread throughout his body. The gashes on his flank closed slowly, leaving three thin pink scars.

No time to heal completely, he thought as he tossed the empty vial aside. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces on the stone.

"They got you, after all," Walpurga called from her rock. She crossed one leg over the other and tilted her head, her long black hair sliding over her shoulder. "Do you still want to take them on all by yourself, my little warrior?"

Klein did not answer immediately. He adjusted his grip on the katana’s handle, feeling the cord wrapped around the wood slowly soaking up his sweat.

Walpurga frowned, but she respected his order and did not move, though her fingers tightened on the handle of her parasol. The dark wood creaked under the pressure, and her knuckles whitened for a second before she deliberately released her grip.

"You will get your revenge on her later," she murmured to herself, loud enough for Klein to hear. "If you make it out alive, of course."

The first guardian stirred again, but this time Klein did not wait for it.

He sprang forward once more, chaining movements with desperate fluidity. His right foot struck the ground, then his left, and his trajectory became unpredictable as he zigzagged between the shadows cast by the torches, changing direction every two steps.

<Art: Sundering Eclipse >

<Second Movement: Quarter Moon >

His katana sliced the air horizontally, and a much wider aura wave than the previous one burst from the blade. The attack did not target a single guardian; it swept all the space in front of him.

The white wave met the three monsters at the same time. The black chitin sizzled on contact, and this time thin cracks appeared on the surface of the plates. The second guardian stepped back, unbalanced, while the third raised its massive arms to protect its face.

But Klein did not stop there.

He pivoted on his left heel, and a second wave of aura followed the first. Then a third, faster. The white energy blades multiplied in the air, tracing luminous arcs that hung suspended for a fraction of a second before striking their targets.

Afterimages of his sword remained in the air, bluish trails that drew circles and broken lines, like a spiderweb woven by pure speed. Each afterimage was a full attack in itself, an extension of his will frozen in space.

The Guardians retreated under the assault. Their chitin plates became covered in white streaks, then real gashes.

He is getting faster and faster, Walpurga observed as she took a puff from her pipe.

She was not wrong.

Klein felt his body exceeding its usual limits. His legs moved almost on their own, guided by months of training and by that glow of mana warming his chest. He dodged a claw, passed under an outstretched arm, then struck the first guardian’s knee. His blade bit into the chitin where it was thinnest, and this time it went through.

A shrill howl tore through the air.

The first guardian collapsed onto one knee, and Klein seized the opportunity to leap onto its shoulder. He ran along the monster’s arm, his soles screeching on the black plates until he reached its neck. The joint connecting the head to the torso was less protected, a thin grayish membrane appearing between the chitin plates.

The weakness.

Klein plunged his katana into this membrane with all his strength.

The blade entered with a wet sound, like a knife into overripe fruit. The guardian convulsed violently, its arms flailing uncontrollably, then its head tilted backward at an impossible angle. Its entire body stiffened for three long seconds before collapsing heavily against the wall.

The sound of the impact made the torches tremble, and two of them went out, plunging a corner of the room into thicker gloom.

Klein landed nimbly on the floor, one knee on the ground, his katana still steaming with the creatures’ black blood. His breath was short, and abundant sweat beaded on his forehead, flowing down his temples to his jaw.

"One less," he breathed as he rose with a spring.