It was a special skill that the 4-star Near-Kin possessed.
Lightning Stride.
A skill that allowed her to dash a certain distance in just a fraction of a second.
Apparently it was an ability unique to the Guntur Near-Kin.
"What!"
The entire Party 7 shouted in shock.
Ulrica smiled at their reaction and leaped to the air.
It was then that Matrias sent a stream of deadly lightning to the 4-star.
[Maha Haljantarr]
Ulrica, however, did not seem bothered by the mage's stunt.
The Near-Kin instead raised her giant axe and let the lightning struck her weapon.
Strong electric current coursed through the axe's ivory blade and its metal shaft.
The 4-star was not affected whatsoever by contacting the overwhelming energy.
She actually smiled excitedly.
Zinngg!!!
The giant axe absorbed the lightning Matrias sent. The entire weapon immediately glowed with brilliant light.
"Spread out!"
Rizarde quickly shouted to his comrades as Ulrica was about to swing her radiating axe to them.
Boom!
The entire dueling chamber shook.
Ulrica's attack created a large gaping gouge coursing with electric current.
Had Party 7 remained where they stood, the entire party would already be obliterated by the 4-star's assault.
It was another unique ability of Ulrica.
One enabled by her weapon, Ptirryndra.
Apparently the Near-Kin's giant axe was a sacred artifact treasured by the Guntur people.
Ulrica claimed the axe's blade was carved from an ancient dragon's fang, presumably Indra himself.
While the axe's metal shaft was forged from a legendary iron that Ulrica claimed to be able to withstand the lightning of a million storms.
The weapon was only passed down to the Near-Kin that would lead all of the septs of Guntur.
Ulrica was bestowed with the artifact near the end of Dunia when she rallied most of Guntur people to fight the apocalypse.
It was truly a powerful artifact.
By relying on a mage to cast lightning, Ulrica's great axe could absorb the lightning's energy and used it to unleash immense destructive force.
The Near-Kin claimed she did not necessarily need a mage to pull off this stunt. But it helped in conserving her strength in battle.
Even so, just by using this technique alone, the woman surely took heed of my instruction to not hold back during the training.
[Maha Indra]
Matrias sent another stream of lightning.
This time he directed the assault toward members of Party 7 that had been scattered by Ulrica's assault.
Boom!
Rizarde tried to rally his comrades.
"Anaiya, pull back and ready your spells! Everyone, make a circle around Anaiya and—"
Clang!
Ulrica forcefully swung her axe against Rizarde's sword.
The former head knight had to put all that he had to prevent himself from collapsing because of the recoil.
"You think this is the time for talking, southlander? Shut your mouth and fight!"
The 4-star unleashed relentless waves of deadly attacks on Party 7.
Rizarde and his comrades had no choice but to focus all of their attention on dealing with Ulrica's assaults instead of coordinating and fixing their formation.
To make matters worse for the Reserve party, the remaining members of Party 3 had arrived and began to attack Party 7 from all sides, ruining their formation even further.
Ulrica delighted in her comrades' performance.
"Hahaha! That's it, ladies! Wreck them to pieces!"
Maura, Selin, and Harisse.
Three common village women that never held a weapon before arriving to the forged land.
Though not originating from the same village nor knowing each other before coming to the lobby, they were summoned at the same time and immediately formed a bond with one another because of their shared inexperienced background.
Each of the women's skills in combat were only slightly above average in the Raid Team.
But the three proved outstanding whenever they were fighting together.
It was the main reason Ulrica recruited them into her party.
The second reason being these three women were some of the very few heroes in the lobby that managed to obtain the Lightning Resistance skill, a condition to join Party 3 that had a lightning elemental mage.
[Maha Bhumi]
Anaiya suddenly casted a spell which made the ground flow like ocean waves.
The sorcery interrupted Party 3's momentum and allowed Party 7 to regain their footing, even just slightly.
Ulrica got excited by this stunt.
"Haha! Turns out you've still got some spirit in you. Let's see how long it will last!!"
The spar continued with greater intensity.
Rizarde, Anaiya, and the rest of Party 7 tried to put up great resistance against Party 3's onslaught.
However, Party 7 would lose this match.
Ulrica's group had caused irreparable damage to Party 7's formation.
With the Near-Kin acting as vanguard and dealing the most chaos, supported by Matrias's destructive spells, and aided by the three women's coordinated pincer assaults, Party 7 stood no chance.
I decided to not wait for the obvious outcome and left the dueling chamber.
Ulrica and her party would make sure Party 7 and Party 9 receive the training they needed for the Quintal Trial.
As the sound of thunder continued to echo behind me, I proceeded to enter the last dueling chamber.
Jafar and the rest of Party 8 had already collapsed at the side of the room once I entered.
Two other parties had now stood at the center of the dueling ground.
Another match was about to begin.
"By the Spirit of Agni…"
Djhotti chanted as he stood in front of his comrades in Party 4.
['Djhotti (★★★★)' is sounding a combat chant.]
A warm aura began to emanate from the dwarf, Vallerynne, and the three elderly men with them.
[Enchantment casted!]
[Party 4's strength, agility, and stamina have increased by 3 for the next 15 minutes.]
Djhotti had a skill called 'Warrior Chant'.
It was an ability learned by dwarves to enhance the power of themselves and others through spell recitation.
The skill was actually a low-level enchantment sorcery that could be done by non-mages, mostly warriors with slight aptitude in magic.
I was aware of the skill because it was also a technique taught to the paladins of the Serpent's Order and certain knight institutions.
It was primarily an auxiliary skill to aid a warrior in combat.
That was why the effect was not as great as an actual magic enchantment.
Even so, Djhotti claimed the Keepers possessed a much stronger chant that they used in dire situations.
That would explain why many witness records of the Flame's Campaign claimed that dwarves were immortal, which was actually not true.
The soldiers of that time simply found the dwarves too hard to kill due to their strong enchantment.
"Vallerynne and I will handle the Tchakran boys and the tall girl. Gharand, Bolav, don't let any of them get past you. Wallick, guard our rear. Watch out for those Tsahanam mercenaries. They're pretty cunning."
The dwarf ordered his comrades.
The three additional raiders Djhotti picked for his Party 4 were a group of elderly men that were amongst the eldest in the lobby.
The men bonded simply over the fact that they were old.
They trained together, had meals together, and hung out together.
Eventually the trio spent so much time with each other that they started to think alike that it showed in the way they fought.
Their camaraderie and teamwork attracted the 4-star dwarf's attention and made him recruit them into his party.
From what I had been observing of Party 4, Djhotti would put himself as the vanguard of the group and spearheading the formation.
Vallerynne would be at the rear and support him with her magic.
While the three elderly men would fill the center and act as both secondary vanguards to Djhotti and rear guards to Vallerynne.
Unlike Party 3 and 5 which relied on aggressiveness and mobility, the dwarf's party relied on tight formation with solid defense.
I wondered how their opponents would attempt to break them down.
"Here I go!"
Quinda of Party 6 fiercely shouted.
The tall girl carried her halberd and sprinted toward Djhotti's ranks.
Fangli and Haoban were following closely by her sides, weapons at the ready.
Clang!