Chapter 393: Heyerar Swordsmanship Style Sixth Form—"Single-Minded Focus"

"We’ll just have to find out."

Hulim Heyerar raised her wand, pointing it straight at him.

Having traded blows with him up until now, Hulim had already gauged the gap in their power. Her decision to face him alone was by no means an act of self-sacrifice.

Karimal’s three eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze locking onto Hulim like a predator stalking its prey.

The two stood in silent confrontation, the air thick with tension.

"DEATH——!!!"

Without any warning, Karimal’s figure vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

He locked onto Hulim’s form, displaying a level of agility and speed completely contradictory to his colossal frame.

No—perhaps such speed was merely par for the course for a Rank S being.

Dimik and the others only caught a glimpse of a fleeting afterimage, unable to fully track his movements.

"Let’s move out! Leave Hulim to handle this!"

Monroe wasted no time, charging straight toward the remaining Rank A Demonic Beasts.

The others watched his retreating figure, then immediately followed suit. Now that they had chosen to trust Hulim, their task was to eliminate the other threats as quickly as possible.

Only seven Rank A Demonic Beasts remained now. The rest—over twenty in total—had been taken down by Hulim and Monroe alone.

......

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM......

Deafening sonic booms echoed continuously in the air.

Karimal pursued Hulim relentlessly, unleashing over a hundred attacks every single second.

The force rippling outward from their clash tore through the entire battlefield.

The City Barrier of Bongisto never ceased its trembling, leaving every defender inside the city trembling with fear.

Any other Rank A Adventurer would have lasted less than three seconds against such a ferocious onslaught.

But Hulim held her ground—not only that, she didn’t suffer a single scratch.

Ninefold Magic Array—Ultra Acceleration.

Originally just a simple enhancement spell, its effects underwent a qualitative change after being layered nine times over.

Even when facing a being from an entirely different tier of power, she was no longer defenseless like everyone else. She now had the means to stand her ground.

Hulim was once again reminded of the might of the Strongest Seven Sages of Antiquity. Across the long ages that followed, not a single one of the revered sages had ever been able to match his power.

Sometimes Hulim wondered—both were Rank S, but Avery was in a league of his own compared to the others. It made her question whether there was something inherently flawed with the Rank S classification itself.

At that moment, Karimal grew increasingly furious.

No matter how many attacks he unleashed against the infuriating human before him, she was like a duckweed caught in a storm—teetering on the verge of being submerged, yet always managing to stay afloat.

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Gradually, he began to sense that something was off.

Based on her speed alone, his attacks shouldn’t have been completely unable to land. But her movement patterns were bizarrely precise, always evading his strikes by the narrowest of margins.

And what was more!

He saw it with his own eyes!

The damned human actually closed her eyes at times!

A searing rage boiled up within Karimal, surging toward his head.

Humiliation! This was nothing but humiliation! The disgrace from the dungeon wasn’t enough! She must be rubbing his nose in it by avoiding his attacks with her eyes closed!

"CURSED HUMAN!!! HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME LIKE THIS!!!"

"???"

Hulim stared blankly at Karimal’s sudden outburst of unbridled fury.

She was clearly being suppressed, with no chance to counterattack—so why was he so enraged? Did demons all have such terrible tempers?

If Hulim had known the real reason for his anger, she probably wouldn’t have known how to respond.

Heyerar Swordsmanship Style Sixth Form—"Single-Minded Focus".

An auxiliary super-sensory swordsmanship technique that allowed the user to perceive everything around them in full detail and predict future movements, its effects akin to seeing into the future.

This was the reason Hulim could always evade Karimal’s attacks at the very last moment.

To focus her mind completely when activating this technique, she closed her eyes in moments of extreme danger to eliminate all distractions.

But Karimal knew nothing of swordsmanship. All he saw was that the human he should have been able to hit easily was dodging his attacks with her eyes closed!

Was this not the ultimate humiliation?

"ROAR——!!!"

Consumed by rage, Karimal unleashed a non-discriminatory wide-area attack. Pitch-black ripples spread outward with his roar, shaking the very air.

Hulim summoned layer after layer of magic shields.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH......

The shields shattered one after another—but in the end, they held firm against the attack.

There it was again!

Karimal’s eyes narrowed sharply. The reason he had been engaging Hulim in close-quarters combat was that his magical attacks were far less effective than his physical strikes.

Because his Anti-Magic Effect was exclusive to his hands—it only worked upon direct contact. His magical abilities possessed no such power.

Of course, his magic was still lethal enough to kill any ordinary Rank A Adventurer with a single hit......

But the human before him was far from ordinary. The defensive barriers she wove could block even his most powerful spells.

Individually, his magic could shatter her shields with ease. But when layered nine times over, they underwent a qualitative change—even his full-powered attacks couldn’t break through them easily.

Dammit!

After being sealed for so many years, his power had been severely weakened!

Karimal fumed inwardly.

In his current state, his strength was barely at the S- level.

But according to his original calculations, even S- should have been more than enough to raze this city to the ground. After all, that single Rank S human would never dare to leave his position—not when it meant risking the destruction of all the dungeons.

"Are you out of tricks already?"

Hulim spoke suddenly, her voice calm and steady.

"!?!"

Karimal snarled angrily,

"Don’t get cocky, human!"

Hulim tilted her head slightly, deep in thought.

Karimal was indeed powerful—more than enough to crush any Rank A Adventurer. But at the same time, he was weak......

In Hulim’s memory, she had a clear understanding of what a true Rank S’s power should look like.

The Karimal before her was clearly far inferior to that standard. Hulim knew this was the result of years of being sealed away.

But this was her chance. If he managed to escape now, there was no telling how much destruction he would cause once he regained his full strength.

She had to take him down here and now......

Hulim made up her mind.

The Helkem in her hand blazed with a pure, holy light.

Magic alone wouldn’t settle this fight—neither side could gain the upper hand through spells. Close-quarters combat, however, meant that both of them could pose a deadly threat to each other.

His Anti-Magic Effect and her Helkem could both pierce through each other’s defenses with ease.

"It seems this is the only way."

Hulim sheathed the Seven Luminaries, gripping the Helkem tightly with both hands.

"Hmm?"

Karimal noticed her movements, but couldn’t fathom her intentions.

In the very next instant—

Hulim’s figure suddenly darted forward, vanishing from his sight completely.

"Oh no!"

Karimal’s expression changed drastically. He immediately erected a defensive barrier, a pitch-black shield coating his entire body in an instant. This shield was so sturdy that ordinary Fifth-Tier Spells couldn’t even scratch it—only Hulim’s nine-layered magic arrays stood a chance of breaking through.

Karimal was well aware of this fact. He tensed, on high alert for Hulim’s magical attacks. In his mind, even if she launched a sneak attack with magic, his shield would hold long enough for him to find an opening to counterattack and claim victory in one fell swoop.

Karimal’s plan was foolproof—or so he thought. He never could have imagined that Hulim had another way to break through his defenses......