"This is the REAL warrior I've been waiting for...! Even though you are the same type as the ice princess...! You got more experience!"
"Almost as if you're the strongest of your type."
He threw his arms wide open in a joyful way. "And you're not just some ice princess playing the lame hero!"
"NOW...!!! Show me, Marshal! Show me what made you a LEGEND OF WAR...!"
The monster army moved when he made a gesture. Most of the drakes pulled back and got into a formation for aerial bombardment.
The only monsters left that could fight directly were the Obsidian Wyvern with Corvus on its back, the Shadow Chimera, the Thunder Behemoth, the Flame Colossus, the Ice Golem still holding Glacielle, and the Storm Griffin circling above.
Corvus shouted, "Let's see if legends can BLEED the same way as commoners...!" for the first time with real excitement in his voice.
There was no smile on Marshal Kyrathiel's face. She kept a cold, professional look on her face as she looked at the tactical situation.
"Six SSRs, one level fifty wyvern, twenty-eight trash mobs, and one gacha addict who thinks he's a god."
"Tch!" She spat once more. "I've fought worse things before breakfast."
Her solar aura got even bigger and brighter. The air shimmered, and the heat waves made it hard to see.
Nearby plants died due to the intensity of her solar aura. It wasn't just magic, but this... was solar power in action.
"Here's a lesson for you, villain boy," Marshal uttered, her voice cutting through the noise like a knife. "Numbers don't mean anything when skill is better."
The Thunder Behemoth was the first to charge. The huge beast was forty feet tall and looked like a moving fortress.
Every step shook the ground. Electricity crackled all over its body, getting ready for a powerful blow.
It swung a fist the size of a car, and lightning came out of the point of impact.
Marshal didn't move out of the way.
She raised one blade and blocked. The flat of her sword hit the electrified fist, and somehow, the blade won.
The steel cut through flesh and electricity, cutting the Behemoth's hand in half.
Sparks flew all over the place. The Behemoth screamed in pain and shock as it pulled back its broken fist.
Right away, Marshal struck back. She turned with her other blade and cut a line across the Behemoth's chest.
Sunfire lit up along the wound, making the flames burn hotter than usual. The flesh of the creature cooked from the inside out.
The Thunder Behemoth screamed and actually ran away, tripping over its feet. An SSR-rank monster was scared for the first time in the whole battle.
Corvus's smile grew bigger. "Oh...!? HAHAHA...! This is going to be GREAAATTT~!"
The Storm Griffin dove down from above, its claws ready to stab Marshal in the back. It moved so quickly that it easily broke the sound barrier.
Marshal stayed put. She didn't move at all, not even to look up. The griffin was about to hit her, and its claws were about to tear through her back.
She moved at the last possible second.
"SOLAR FLARE...!"
The two blades crossed in front of her chest. At the intersection point, concentrated sunlight burst forth, sending out a flash so bright that everyone watching had to cover their eyes.
It was like a little sun had blown up.
The Storm Griffin lost its sight while diving. It couldn't change course or pull up until it hit the ground at full speed, leaving a trench in the earth.
Marshal was already on the move. With both blades raised high, she jumped onto the back of the fallen griffin with perfect balance.
"Not fast enough."
She drove both dawn reapers straight down through the Griffin's back, right where the wings met the body. Sunfire flowed out of the wounds and spread all over the creature's body.
The Storm Griffin didn't even have time to scream. It turned to ash in seconds, thanks to solar magic.
And with that, Corvus' first SSR is gone, and all it takes is a mere eight seconds.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Corvus whistled in approval. "Do it again!"
The Flame Colossus moved forward slowly, obviously angry that its smaller friends were being killed so easily.
It was a fortress of molten rock and flame that walked around, and it was by far the biggest monster left.
It opened its huge mouth and breathed fire. Not regular fire, but superheated plasma that could melt steel or anything right away.
A thirty-foot-wide death zone.
Marshal charges TOWARDS it.
"What the hell is she doing?!" Lucian tried to shout, but all he could do was groan.
The flames hit Marshal right away. For a short time, she was completely on fire.
Corvus smiled more because he thought the attack had worked.
But then... they all knew the truth.
The flames were getting to Marshal. Her solar magic was drawing in the heat and sending it to her own power source.
The fire that should have killed her was making her stronger. And now, her blades started to glow more brightly, and the air around them caught fire because they were burning.
She came out of the flames without a scratch, her red hair flowing behind her in a dramatic way. "Thanks for the power-up, you piece of shit."
One slash across the page, and that was all it took.
The superheated blade cut through the flame colossus's waist. The top half of its body slid off the bottom half, and both pieces fell to the ground.
The sunfire in her weapon had cut through the molten core like it was butter.
And then the second SSR is gone, and it only takes four seconds this time.
Corvus wasn't smiling like he used to. His eyes were sharp and focused, watching every move.
She was better than he had thought, and it almost made him lose all of the bravado he had earlier.
"Interesting." He said, "She's not just strong, but... she's also experienced!"
"This isn't a new warrior who's learning on the job, but this is a... real veteran who could help his master."
"I guess every master has one to get better, huh?" Corvus crossed his arms.
Marshal turned her attention to the Ice Golem. It was still holding Glacielle in its massive frozen hands, crushing the life out of her.
Glacielle's HP had dropped to critical levels, with barely thirty percent remaining.
The issue was tactical. Marshal was currently fighting the Shadow Chimera, which had moved to her side.
The three-headed monster was using shadow magic to block her sunfire, which reduced the power of her solar attacks by creating areas of darkness.
She couldn't give up the fight to save Glacielle. The Chimera would attack Lucian when she wasn't paying attention.
She also couldn't let the first warrior die. That would ruin the Master's morale, and she needed him to be able to work.
And then, a solution was required.
Marshal reached back and grabbed the banner of the Unbroken Sun without breaking her rhythm in the fight against the Chimera. She pulled it out of her back and stuck it in the ground with one hand while fighting with the other.
The wind caught the torn red cloth on the banner, causing it to unfold dramatically. The golden sun symbol started to shine.
"SUNFORGE DOMAIN!"
A huge golden magic circle burst out from the banner, growing perfectly in all directions up to 200 feet. There were complicated runic patterns spinning around the circle, and each one stood for a different tactical buff.
Everyone in the area felt the effects right away.
Lucian's blood flow slowed down. The pain got a little better as healing energy flowed through her body, Glacielle gasped.
[Area Buff Activated: Sunforge Domain]
[All allies within range: +30% to all stats]
[All enemies within range: -20% to all stats]
[Additional effect: Solar Regeneration - 1% HP per second for allies]
The Ice Golem was close enough to the domain. The heat from the sun started to melt its frozen body.
It started to crack all over. The magical ice that held it together began to melt.
It let Glacielle go, trying to get away from the heat. Thick clouds of steam came out of its body as frost melted.
Marshal's eyes followed its movement without looking directly at it. She was still fighting the Shadow Chimera, but she was completely aware of her surroundings.
"Now it's too late to run."
She threw one of her Dawn Reaper blades like a spear. It flew perfectly, spinning end over end and leaving a trail of golden fire.
The blade went right through the Ice Golem's core. Sunfire exploded inside its body, sending out a sphere of light and heat.
The golem erupted from its interior, causing fragments of ice to fall and melt before they reached the ground.
The third SSR is gone.
The blade that was thrown changed direction in the air and came back to Marshal's hand as if it had been magnetized. She caught it without looking and smoothly added it back into her fighting style against the Chimera.
Glacielle collapsed to the ground, free from the golem's grip. The banner's healing effect was already working on her, slowly restoring her HP.
She looked at Marshal with pure awe.
"She's... amazing," Glacielle whispered as she watched Marshal fight. "This is what a real legendary warrior looks like..."
"It seems like... I'm still too far away to be called a worthy bikini warrior."