F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 360: Blundered

*CLANG!*

A massive, cleaver-like legblade sword bounced back as its target gleamed a translucent gold.

In the next moment, Daru counterattacked ferociously with a Double Strike, the first of the two consecutive slashes opening up a small laceration in the Elite Gray Ateles Mortis’s waist.

The second was deflected, however, and he was sent skidding back almost seven meters.

[-50]

The gap in raw strength was considerable, larger initially before he consumed the physical attribute pills and tonics he obtained from his victory in the Inter-Class Representative Competition.

Daru had contemplated using one of his few remaining Sinflowers. However, he ultimately decided against it.

The situation was not so desperate yet.

He glanced from time to time at the ongoing battle behind him, and his comrades were fighting hard.

Everything would ultimately come down to who can break the stalemate first.

For now, holding his own against the Elite Gray Ateles Mortis was his limit. Perhaps his comrades can quickly defeat their foes and assist him in taking down this one.

There were certainly a few close calls, but the worst he got was a moderately deep cut on his chest, tearing his armor set open.

Nothing too lethal but nothing to scoff at, either.

On the other hand, his adversary had a lot of small wounds — some deeper than the others. Ultimately, though, no one was able to get a significant enough advantage yet.

Somewhere further to the back, the two monkey tribes were warring.

While time wasn’t against them, it wasn’t on their side, either. Too many factors simply depended on how the battles would turn out.

They could only keep fighting to the best of their abilities for now, until something advantageous swung their way.

The good news was that the Elite Gray Ateles Mortis had a reckless fighting style, mayhaps partly due to the massive primate looking down on him, but this allowed Daru to reliably chip its 150,000 hitpoints down to 119,000.

There was still a long way to go.

However, he wasn’t about to run out of options, either. So, in the meantime, Daru continued clashing with the larger primate.

Like a swift and skillful swallow, he danced around his foe, occasionally bursting to a different position, tumbling, and somersaulting to dodge both the Sword Skills with chillingly corrosive properties and the standard attacks.

He would bite back like a snake in the chances he created for himself, not merely wasting stamina by evading conservatively.

Daru would then use either Double Strike, Mountainsplitter, or Spectral Thrust to deal huge bursts of damage to the enemy after taking its attack with Stoic.

There was one time he was forced to use Azure Swordfall to escape a nasty situation and deal some damage while at it, but that was it.

The Sword Skill would not only inflict a minor damage upon himself but also drain a huge amount of stamina.

It was a great finisher for sure, but using it regularly in combat wasn’t ideal.

From time to time, Daru tapped into his Life Sap and potion reserves, allowing him to continue keeping the massive monkey occupied.

His current physical limits never gave him a chance to deal a lethal strike, though.

This was generally how the battle went.

Gradually, he whittled down his opponent’s health, and while he himself suffered a few close calls, heavily injured as he was forced to temporarily flee to consume Bladepollen Bloom Liferoots and restore his hitpoints, the Elite Gray Ateles Mortis never managed to finish him off.

Daru had to admit, the Liferoots were very handy, since they restored hitpoints instantaneously with a single bite.

He could even consume three at a time if needed.

It was truly astonishing how a Bladeborn, through a mix of swordsmanship, Sword Skills, items, and courage, was able to slowly emerge victorious despite overwhelming odds stacked against them.

Before Daru even realized, his foe was down to 50% hitpoints. He was running dangerously low in consumables, though...

Behind him, the skirmish between his comrades and the monkeys was still ongoing, and it seemed like they were still neck and neck with their foes, like he was.

But only up until that moment...

In the next, a gray rune appeared on the Elite Gray Ateles Mortis’s forehead, and like its lesser kin, intensely pungent, harrowing gray smoke emerged from its pores.

His focus took a blow as his olfactory senses were violated.

It was as if his opponent disappeared an instant later and was suddenly in front of him.

Daru could only angle his weapon to block, sent flying away as an ear-shattering clang filled the air.

*BANG!*

His back crashed into a tree, dazed.

[-1,890!]

This, however, was not his first rodeo. He had been in a similar situation against Rocante.

Although greatly disoriented, he picked himself up, using Swift Tumble by instinct, then Azure Swordfall.

He meteored away, breathing a mess as his internal organs screamed for relief, hurriedly consuming what remained of his Liferoots.

Daru was back to eighty percent hitpoints the moment he landed.

However, he was not granted even an extra moment of respite by the SS-tier Sword Skill.

The massive blade’s shadow was already looming above just half a second after he turned to face his foe’s direction.

Daru scrambled to pose, a translucent golden sheen protecting him from the approaching death.

By the time the next attack came, he was able to Swallow Step away.

It was clear, though, that he was mere seconds away from defeat. The moment he ran out of tricks was the moment his second life was forfeit.

Still, Daru would fight to whatever bitter end.

He should’ve done better and thought of this possibility. Perhaps the three of them could’ve arranged something before the elite monkey powered up.

Another option was keeping the huge Gray Ateles Mortis above 50% and waiting for his comrades to defeat their opponents.

That would’ve been more manageable.

As much as Daru hated to admit it, he blundered, falling prey to the illusory possibility of victory.

He was able to bamboozle another second from the elite primate by messing up its timing through the Somersault Slash’s recoil.

However, that was the final card he had.

’Ah...how frustrating...’

Unbeknownst to him, that one second proved to be the difference between life and death.

His unwillingness to surrender to defeat without doing his absolute best opened up a path. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

As the legblade cleaver fell, a figure appeared in front of him, hair of dark wine swaying in the haunting night winds.

Durandal had found his comrades.