His sword came up from below...

Clang!

This time, he met her head-on. Power surged through his arm as he increased his output just a little more. Her feet slid back a few inches, but the only reaction from her was her grin widening maniacally.

"Ooooh..."

Elion thought about following up; however, there was already something else coming from behind him.

He didn’t need to turn to feel or see what was coming. He literally had a three-dimensional perspective of the whole battlefield around him, thanks to his enhanced perception.

Dozens of hands converged toward him once more.

At the same time, the swordsman raised his shield and drew his blade, and Yaana quickly recovered, as they executed a coordinated attack from all three angles.

’Better.’

Elion smiled. This was what he wanted to see! It would be quite disappointing if this ended too quickly! He wanted a challenge, goddamnit!

He pushed off Yaana and jumped back to create space so that he could activate a certain skill.

"Temporary Stat Conversion."

For a brief instant, his mana dipped, and his body surged as his speed and agility spiked to impossible levels!

He instantly vanished from where he stood, and the hands slammed into an empty space. At the same instant, the swordsman’s blade cut through nothing but air, and Yaana’s scythe carved a deep trench into the ground where he had been standing.

Elion reappeared mid-air above them with his sword raised and ready to strike.

"...Let’s get serious," he muttered as his lips curved into the slightest smile.

Then he dropped like a blade, the air screaming around him from the impossible speed he was moving at. At the very last instant, he pushed his stat points to his strength stat. And then... Impact.

Boom!

The ground shattered as his strike forced all three of them to scatter, the catastrophic shockwave tearing through the battlefield and sending dust and debris flying outward.

Yaana slid back, her thick-soled boots carving into the earth as she attempted to steady herself. For some odd reason, her grin looked even more feral, despite having been pushed back so far by her opponent.

She seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself despite being on the losing end.

The swordsman planted his shield, absorbing part of the impact, his arm trembling slightly beneath the force.

Uta staggered. His hands lashed out wildly, the grotesque limbs thrashing in every direction, grabbing onto what they could as he tried to regain control of his own momentum.

However, Elion didn’t give them the time to do so. He moved again, faster, sharper, and even more precise than before.

Bam!

His blade collided with the swordsman’s shield, the sheer force pushing the man back several steps, his shield barely keeping up as Elion’s strikes came one after another in a relentless, overwhelming flurry.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

Each blow landed heavier than the last.

The swordsman looked shocked by the display of overwhelming power as he grunted every time an attack landed. His stance broke slightly as Elion’s strength surged past what he could comfortably handle.

Behind him, Yaana reappeared to support. She quickly vanished from her position, using that same burst of movement to appear behind Elion.

Her scythe swung toward Elion’s waist area, and though he didn’t turn or look toward her, his foot pivoted, and he drove his Elbow back.

Thud!

It slammed into her ribs, cutting off her breath as she staggered back, her weapon slipping just enough for the strike to miss its mark.

"Too slow," Elion muttered.

Uta screamed, and the hands surged again. Hundreds of them moved this time. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The attack looked desperate and chaotic, but it was never going to get to Elion; he actually stepped forward into them, cutting and dodging every single one, making it look like it was simply too easy for him.

Which it was. He could see and trace the path every single hand was going to take before it even appeared before him.

He weaved through the storm as if it were nothing more than a light rain, his blade flashing as it severed the extensions of dark energy one after another, with fluid, controlled movements.

And before they all knew it, he was in front of Uta again. It had all happened too fast and too suddenly for him to react to it.

Uta’s eyes widened, but he was never going to have any time to counter. Elion’s fist drove forward.

Boom!

It connected squarely with his chest.

A sickening crack followed as his ribs caved in. The boy’s body folded inward before being sent flying again, crashing into the ground and skidding across it violently.

"You bastard!" He looked back to find that the swordsman was furiously swinging his broadsword at him, but a simple parry was all it took to get him completely off balance.

Elion capitalised instantly, following through the parry with an attack of his own. The sharp blade of his sword flashed.

Shhhk!

A shallow cut across the man’s side, drawing blood beneath the golden armour. It wasn’t very deep, but it was enough to keep him down, wincing from the pain.

"Haaaaa..." Yaana roared and rushed him. Her scythe came down in a wild arc, but Elion met it evenly.

Clang!

This time, he didn’t hold back his raw strength. Power surged through his arm, making his biceps bulge momentarily, and he pushed as hard as he could.

Her stance broke instantly, and her weapon was knocked aside. And his follow-up strike...

Slash!

Cut across her side, drawing a spray of blood as she was sent tumbling back, her body rolling across the broken ground before coming to a stop.

A heavy and oppressive silence fell over the area as the dust settled slowly. And when it cleared, the three of them were battered and bleeding, struggling to stand.

Their bodies looked broken, their breathing uneven as they glared at him from across the field. And Elion stood there perfectly fine and not a single scratch on him.

A single exchange, three versus one, and it was enough to paint a vivid picture of who was stronger than who. To say they were all shocked, including Elion’s four spectating allies, was an understatement.

"...Monster," Uta said through clenched teeth, his glare filled with frustration and something closer to twisted awe, or maybe disbelief that they had all been manhandled by a single person.

The swordsman frowned grimly as he got back up on his feet. He quickly realised that this was not a fight they could win. Even if they somehow got past Elion, there were three more powerful mages and warriors waiting to take them on right behind him.

’We could have handled that fight better if we hadn’t fought those other three before he arrived,’ He shook his head, ’No, what am I saying, we don’t even know the full extent of his strength.’

There was no doubt that they had been dominated during the whole exchange.

Every single time it looked like they had managed to corner him, he somehow turned the tables on them, and they ended up on the losing end of every exchange.

He didn’t need to think about what they were going to do next; he threw his sword over his back, as it was held in place by multiple straps, and grabbed both of the kids by their waists in one swift motion.

They both let out surprised yelps as they were picked up off their feet.

"Manfred?" Yaana gave him a questioning glance.

"We are leaving," He said simply as he turned on his heel, then he bolted. As fast as his feet would allow him, while Yaana put her scythe away to avoid accidentally slicing through her companions.

’They are retreating!’ Elion’s eyes narrowed, ’Not happening.’

He pushed off the ground and chased them quickly, and he managed to close the distance in an instant.

"He’s coming!" Uta’s desperate and furious voice cut through the air. He twisted in the swordsman’s grip, his eyes locking onto Elion, "Fuck you...!"

Uta’s hand flashed, and Elion glanced at it, thinking he was casting some kind of spell to drive him back, only to see some kind of talisman igniting in a flash of brilliant, blinding light that quickly consumed all three of his targets’ bodies.

He shielded his eyes with his hand, and when the light finally dimmed, he looked back, and to his shock, they were all gone.

Elion skidded to a stop.

"...Fuck," he muttered in annoyance, clicking his tongue. "They got away." He looked around briefly, just in case they happened to be close by, but he couldn’t find any trace of them even after spreading out his perception.

He sighed and turned back slowly, putting his sword away even as the distant booms of battle still echoed in the distance.

He slowly walked back to the small crater that had formed during the battle, and found Aeron, Yakuza, Maya, and Zenovia all staring at him with shock written clearly across their faces.

They had seen everything. Every exchange, every strike, and every overwhelming display of power, and it shook them all to their very core. Aeron let out a slow, shuddering breath.

"...Monster," he said quietly.

No one disagreed with his statement; in fact, they all seemed to nod lightly in agreement. It seemed like it would take them quite a while to recover from shock. But for the moment, they just stood there, frozen stiff, with their jaws practically on the ground.

The most expressive person was Yakuza. His eyes were... sparkling.

Elion blinked, ’Wait... is he crying?’

He looked again, and sure enough, tears were actually running down the older man’s cheeks. Yakuza sniffled...

Then he suddenly charged toward Elion with his arms wide open as if he intended to pull him into a bear hug.

"...Nope."

Elion dodged swiftly, letting him hug nothing but air. It was times like these that he wished Lena was here to put him on a leash.

’What a weird guy...’ he thought as he watched him stumble and look around, trying to search for him.

Without wasting another second, Elion ran toward the other three, who were waiting and watching the exchange with shock still written on their faces, but he didn’t slow down his pace.

He wasn’t about to give Yakuza a chance to grab him. He didn’t want to be smothered in snort by another grown man. If it was a cute young lady or a voluptuous woman, maybe he might consider it.