F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 363: Odd Discovery

As dawn came, three humans journeyed in grim silence.

Aside from the fact that Elara didn’t like Durandal too much and wasn’t making an effort to hide it, Peter’s death was a heavy blow, especially to the two SSS-rankers.

While the Aziyan was still alive and had probably respawned somewhere on this level of Yggdrasil, they did not have the capacity to look for him.

The trio was already running low on consumables.

In fact, even food was starting to run low.

Looking for a comrade, especially when such a mighty enemy is on the opposing roster, would simply be admitting defeat.

They had to proceed with what they had and hope that somehow, they would reunite with their remaining two allies later.

Fortunately, they made massive progress while on the run.

The far horizon was where the Spider Graveyard ended, and there, like a star of hope, was a verdant nucleus.

The sight only gave them a sense of urgency, though.

Since it turned out that they were so close already, another clash might be inevitable. Elara and Durandal suddenly weren’t so confident.

The other SSS-ranker Veshari, Shae’kharis, was manageable.

It was only Sylvares who made the princess regret being picky about her Soul Avatars a bit.

The Veshari with long, dark-purple hair and a black blindfold wielded a strange power where he could open spatial rifts and use them to strike from anywhere, evade, and redirect the opponent’s Sword Skill elsewhere.

The bastard was basically untouchable.

How could one defend when one’s enemy would stab from the front, but the blade would emerge through a spatial rift from the back?

Daru hadn’t experienced fighting Sylvares, so he was slightly less shaken by the loss of a comrade.

Nonetheless, he felt it, too. The change in how he saw the Vesharis.

It was truly easy to underestimate them since their only redeeming quality is their speed — easily countered by mere necessary investments in Perception — and their natural inclination to work with those from their race.

Their affinity with the elements is also quite limited to the common ones, and even humans are more talented than them in this regard.

The Hissing was upon them.

But due to the pressure freshly served by Sylvares, the three of them decided to utilize every second they could to advance, hiding only when this level of Yggdrasil would exhale death plumes in less than ten seconds.

Hiding in a decently spacious burrow, Elara and Durandal were still not of a mind to discuss matters.

The trio opted to rest first.

Daru was the one tasked to remain awake this time.

With them and an enemy race being so near the Verdant Nucleus, it became even more paramount that they wake up and leave the moment the Hissing ended.

Durandal also seemed very exhausted and awkward, opting to immediately fall asleep and set aside his chaotic emotions for later.

Daru diligently worked his shift.

To his delight, he was rewarded with a realization.

He tried planting a Dark Sentry on his back. It worked wonders. The wiggly eye’s sticky base latched at the back of his armor securely, then it vanished.

The ward could be destroyed, which was why he placed it at his back.

If it could be touched there, he was as good as dead, anyway.

Daru woke the two up an hour and fifteen minutes later, and the three of them continued on their journey to the Verdant Nucleus.

For a while, they couldn’t talk, vigilance on high.

They would glance behind them to see if the monkeys would continue the pursuit and to the east, wary of the Vesharis.

"So, what’s the plan?" Daru, the calmest of them all thanks to the Dark Sentry, initiated the conversation.

To his surprise, Durandal’s tone was a bit more pleasing to the ears this time...but only a bit compared to earlier.

"What else? We race for that Verdant Nucleus and proceed to the next level. We can’t waste time looking for the other two. The enemy will surely not be waiting for their comrades."

His next words were then spoken more coldly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Even if they do, there would be four of them, at most."

Elara’s eyes narrowed.

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

She naturally already had an idea and just wanted to confirm.

Durandal sneered in response: "I dealt one of them a true mortal blow on the way here, after all..."

One of the enemy Veshari representatives was dead for good!

That...was reassuring news, both for the current event and the future. Everyone here was a future menace on the battlefield of Vigrheim, after all.

Nonetheless, Sylvares’ shadow still loomed over both SSS-rankers, and since the plan was to secure the Verdant Nucleus as quickly as possible, they would have to deal with the backbone of the Veshari roster.

Their gazes sharpened.

If the bastard was difficult to defeat, then holding him off is an option — wipe out his comrades first.

The goal was securing the portal to the next stage, after all.

There were plenty of ways they could achieve that.

For one, that Ae’shkar seemed inferior to Onimaru Kunitsuna and would’ve lost a life earlier, had his comrade not saved him.

They can start with that.

Durandal sneaked a glance at Daru, who wasn’t feeling the weight of Sylvares’ combat prowess, then fell into silence and ponderment.

The Noravian SSS-ranker found it hard to deny, based on how he fought earlier, that his fellow Noravian was not useless, and that his reputation was more or less deserved.

That he was their equal.

Of course, Durandal would never admit that.

With their straightforward plan finalized, the trio proceeded forward, hastening their pace a bit.

They continued until the Hissing forced them to a burrow.

This time, it was the princess who kept watch, lost in her own thoughts mid-morning.

Once the Hissing was over, she quickly woke her comrades up, then the three of them resumed their quest for the Verdant Nucleus.

They appreciated the fact that there were not many spawns in the area, though the peace also felt a bit ominous.

On their fourth Hissing after escaping the furious chase of the primates, however, the trio noticed something.

The distance between them and their destination...doesn’t seem to be shrinking.