F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 345: Verdant Nucleus
Daru’s gaze turned serious, a fiery grin tugging on the corners of his mouth.
Across from them was an unlikely duo of a Veshari and a Vyrrkan. He recognized the Veshari, and she him, much more intensely.
Her pupils constricted for a moment, then turned cold, as though she wanted to kill him with her gaze.
"You! Onimaru Kunitsuna!" she snarled, greatly surprising the SSS-ranker Vyrrkan beside her, Karzalkhatun.
Elara, too, was taken aback at the anger in her tone.
"You know her?"
"You know him?"
The two companions asked simultaneously. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
The Vyrrkan was a bit dumbfounded to find an S-ranker in this inter-racial novice event, especially since even an SSS-ranker like her was barely surviving in this hellish place.
She even had to team up with a little Veshari she met on the way, as she was a bit lacking in the brains department.
The Veshari gritted her teeth, nodding.
"This cunning bastard took a life off me and one of my comrades before, but don’t worry. It has been some time since then, and I doubt he was able to keep up..." Lothara explained with a tinge of lingering anger.
That greatly shocked both Karzalkhatun and Elara, the former at the fact that the cunning Veshari, whose impeccable mix of combat prowess and intellect impressed her, called someone cunning.
But that made sense to the female Vyrrkan.
After all, how could a mere S-ranker, the bottom of those at the apex of talents like them, make it to this event if not for his brains?
As for Elara, she straight up could not believe what she heard.
Daru? Cunning?
There is no way those two words can be mentioned in the same sentence without the word "not" connecting them.
"You...outwitted them?"
Daru, however, only shrugged with a confused expression.
"Figures...she must be one unintelligent Veshari, then. What an anomaly indeed..."
Lothara caught her words, shooting a furious gaze at Elara, but the princess didn’t back down. She wasn’t intimidated one bit by an SS-ranker like Lothara.
No further words were exchanged, though.
The Veshari only whispered something to her temporary comrade, taking advantage of a Vyrrkan’s brute and slightly lacking brains.
Kestrari wings then manifested on Karzalkhatun’s back, and the two began flying towards the pearl.
Daru and Elara’s eyelids flickered at the sight.
Their foes might know something they didn’t, but the two weren’t stupid. If the enemy duo was rushing, then there must be something advantageous in reaching the pearl first.
Daru’s wings were on cooldown, though, so it was he who was carried this time. Fortunately, the princess’s brain worked fast, and her wings were ready in less than a second.
They were behind.
However, since their branch was slightly shorter and more advantageous in the sense that it is slightly sloping downward, granting them a small Dawn Dive bonus, the human duo quickly caught up.
The two parties were soon neck and neck.
Elara flashed a taunting grin towards their opponent, while the female Vyrrkan outright shot a vicious middle finger towards them.
The princess almost choked on her own saliva. The other party definitely won that round...until Daru flashed a middle finger back.
This time, Elara had truly choked on her own saliva, in utter disbelief at what Daru just did, though there was some suspicion at the back of her mind.
"Y-You! There’s no need to go to such vile lengths! Don’t stoop to their level."
His confused glance confirmed what she thought.
"Why? Isn’t it just a universal fighting gesture?"
"No, you silly! It means..."
Daru’s eyes widened momentarily, and he quickly removed his outstretched arm, a tinge of red creeping on his face.
Vile...
That was going to vile lengths indeed...
In a fit of embarrassment and fury, Daru glared at the female Vyrrkan, to which the brute also glared right back, grinning in challenge.
The fight for the pearl was on.
Aware they were at a slight disadvantage due to their recent battle with the Verdant Runebark, Daru and Elara quickly downed a Life Sap each before they reached the periphery of the space-locked mound.
A cunning glint flashed in the latter’s eyes, her muscles straining in the next moment as she hurled the former towards the pearl.
But the other party had the same idea.
A gray blur zoomed in on Daru’s peripheral vision. However, he wasn’t fazed one bit.
He confidently got in Lothara’s way, striking a pose as the Veshari’s unique, sickle-ended sword slashed at him with a vengeful glint.
"Agh!" Lothara yelped in pain, eyes widening momentarily as her sword bounced before she crashed into the immovable object.
She felt that her cheekbones, shoulders, and left wrist were broken.
The maroon-haired Veshari hurriedly retreated to treat herself, her right hand moving swiftly.
Daru, meanwhile, courageously grabbed the pearl, though it was way larger than his hands...
The moment his palm connected, a petrifying jolt ran through his body as his mind was overwhelmed by information about that specific pearl.
He learned its name: Verdant Nucleus.
It is apparently of both the Continuum and Life, allowing the dwellers of Yggdrasil to climb to the next level.
There was simply no other way to ascend to the next level of the Continuum of Yggdrasil without the pearl connecting to the life energies there, as each level was in a different sealed dimension.
It only looked like it, but things weren’t as simple as up and down.
After all, legend has it that Yggdrasil connected worlds. It was quite illogical, even for the limited minds of humans, if it could be contained in a single confined location.
So this was the secret of how it existed...
The sheer amount of knowledge that entered his brain, however, made Daru unable to move, his neck ripe for picking.
He didn’t know that this was the case...
Somewhere in the distance, charging towards him was Lothara with a mocking smile on her face.
Her plan worked.
Unfortunately, before she could even capitalize on the advantage, Daru felt a heavy blow on his side, and his awareness was suddenly back.
"Don’t get this princess wrong. Although it felt good kicking you one time, I only did it because of the circumstances. Quickly now, the average-faced shorty is upon you!"
