Chapter 431: Hulim vs. Arudok

“Don’t even think about it!”

Irus moved with lightning speed, shifting the positions of her three Holy Tree Staves.

The staff that had been targeted—originally serving as a support—swapped places with the one channeling her full power. With its strength unleashed completely, the staff’s ability to withstand external force skyrocketed to its peak.

Two titanic forces collided violently mid-air.

BOOM——!

In the end, both combatants were thrown back by the impact.

Darius’s attempt to destroy the Holy Tree Staff had ended in failure.

“Quick reflexes—but can you block all of my attacks?”

His first missed strike didn’t faze Darius in the slightest. He immediately launched a relentless, storm-like barrage of attacks.

Irus responded by rapidly switching the roles of her three staves between main offense and support, thwarting his every attempt to damage the artifacts.

For a time, the battle between the two fell into a tense stalemate.

......

WHOOSH~!

A fierce wind howled across the land,

carrying the coppery stench of blood-soaked earth far into the distance.

WHOOSH!

As another gust swept by, a solitary figure appeared on the horizon.

“......”

Arudok slowly lifted his head,

his gaze locking onto the figure standing amidst the battlefield littered with corpses.

He reached out his right hand and closed his fingers around the hilt of his sword.

“You——”

CRACK.

With a single powerful heave, he pulled the greatsword free from the rocky ground.

“Who are you?”

“......”

Hulim came to a halt, her eyes sweeping across the desolate landscape.

Nothing met her gaze but blood and broken bodies—

monsters and elves alike, strewn across the field in lifeless heaps......

After a moment, she turned her attention back to the only other living being in sight.

“Arudok Fix, Captain of the Great Demon Mercenary Corps?”

Arudok didn’t answer. He simply stared at Hulim in silence.

After a long pause,

he finally spoke.

“So it was you who killed Nadra and Fink.”

Hulim’s eyes flickered slightly.

Did he pick up on the faint traces of blood lingering on my body?

Her gaze drifted downward, landing on the corpse at Arudok’s feet. She recognized the man—he had been present at every important meeting. If she remembered correctly, he was an A-Rank powerhouse from Ravenrim.

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Then her lips moved slightly, and she said,

“......No. I took care of three people.”

Arudok blinked in surprise.

He paused for a moment to think, then replied,

“The third must have been Agdin. He wasn’t one of my subordinates.”

“I see.”

WHOOSH!

She flicked the silver wand in her hand, pointing it straight at Arudok.

“......”

Arudok watched her gesture, then slowly rose to his feet.

“It seems our conversation is over.”

He tightened his grip on the greatsword with one hand and swung it sideways in a casual arc.

BOOM!

The ground split open instantly, a hundred-meter-long chasm tearing across the earth.

“Still not going to tell me your name?”

“......”

Hulim remained silent, her expression and gaze unchanged.

“Very well.”

Arudok shook his head.

“The last one didn’t give his name either. And I was asking for his own good.”

With that, he raised the greatsword high above his head.

BOOM——!

A terrifying sword aura cleaved through the ground, charging straight toward Hulim.

Just as the attack was about to hit her, Hulim moved her feet and shot upward into the sky.

Arudok’s strike sliced through the empty space where she had stood.

As the attack passed, Hulim hovered in mid-air, and the silver wand in her hand burst forth with brilliant light.

SWISH——!

A beam of white light erupted from the tip of the wand.

CLANG!

Arudok swung his sword upward to block the attack. The white beam slammed into the blade, scattering into countless tiny shards of light that tore the surrounding ground to shreds.

When the attack subsided, clouds of steaming dust billowed from the earth.

“I knew it.”

Arudok lowered his sword from the blocking position.

“You’re far stronger than you look.”

WHOOSH, WHOOSH.

The wind whipped at Hulim’s robes and hair as she stared down at the unharmed Arudok with a blank expression. The Seven Luminaries in her hand began to glow again.

HUM! HUM! HUM......

Layer upon layer of magic circles unfolded in the sky around her.

“This is quite a surprise.”

Arudok murmured, his grip on the greatsword tightening slightly.

BOOM——!

Powerful beams of light rained down from the sky one after another.

Arudok’s figure blurred as he darted across the ground at breakneck speed.

Behind him, beams of light slammed into the earth repeatedly, melting the ground and blasting deep, bottomless craters into the soil.

SWISH!

Arudok weaved through the dense hail of attacks and appeared directly in front of Hulim.

His massive greatsword glowed white, wreathed in what looked like white flames.

BOOM——!

The blade tore through the air, slashing toward Hulim with terrifying momentum.

Hulim stared calmly at the sword edge as it hurtled toward her eyes.

She flicked the Seven Luminaries in her hand gently.

HUM!

A barrier flared to life in front of her in the blink of an eye.

CLANG——!

The sword blade slammed into the barrier with tremendous force.

The shockwave rippling outward stirred up a violent gust of wind, sweeping away all the dust within a kilometer radius.

CRACK, CRACK......

The sword blade pressed against the barrier, trembling violently, but it couldn’t advance even a single inch.

The barrier, thin as a sheet of paper, stood like a wall separating two worlds—fragile in appearance, yet utterly indestructible.

For the first time, a flicker of surprise appeared in Arudok’s eyes.

A wave of disbelief washed over him.

Her strength was indeed on par with his own—but this gap was impossible.

Through the barrier,

Arudok stared into her eyes, trying to find some clue in their calm depths.

HUM!

Suddenly, the barrier before him flashed brightly.

Arudok’s heart skipped a beat. He poured all his strength into his arms and pushed off violently, retreating backward as fast as he could.

But the moment his body cleared the barrier, it expanded rapidly, transforming into a white light curtain that spread outward in all directions at an astonishing speed.

THUD!

The white light curtain slammed into Arudok. He managed to block it with his greatsword just in time, avoiding direct contact.

Even so, a searing pain shot through his body, leaving his skin red and smoking.

BOOM——!

He was sent flying by the impact, crashing into the ground and carving out a deep crater before finally coming to a stop.

The white light curtain faded away.

Silence descended over the battlefield.

Hulim stared silently at the ground below, not for a moment believing that her opponent had been defeated.

Seconds ticked by, and the silence lingered.

Then, without warning—

Hulim swung her wand in a certain direction.

HUM!

A transparent magical shield materialized in that spot.

CLANG!

A sword aura that had been hurtling toward her was blocked dead-on.

After that—

HUM! HUM! HUM......

Shields continued to appear and vanish around her, one after another.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG......

The dense sound of sword blades colliding with shields echoed endlessly around her.

A blurry afterimage moved at incredible speed around her, trying to close in and land a direct hit on her body.

The intense exchange of blows raged on for some time.

Arudok’s attacks grew not weaker, but stronger with each passing second.

But Hulim had already locked onto his trajectory.

WHOOSH——!

Another sword strike came slicing through the air.

This time, no shield appeared to block it.

The blade sliced through the empty space, heading straight for Hulim’s body.

But just before the attack could land, a beam of white light—faster than the eye could follow, impossible to dodge—came streaking toward Arudok head-on.