Chapter 444: Part 2 - Tiona's Envy

Meanwhile, Ais and Aiden had transformed into the battlefield’s deadliest storm.

A symphony of wind and fire played out. Every swing of the wind-enchanted blade kicked up invisible, razor-sharp cyclones of immense power, often killing medium-sized monsters in just two strikes. Aiden’s slashes were even more direct and overbearing. The crimson arc of his blade, wreathed in the Godslayer’s flames, seemed capable of incinerating all of creation. Every collision sparked with searing heat, charring the monsters’ carapaces black.

Their coordination was flawless, like partners who had danced together for years. Ais’s figure was like golden wind, agile and swift. She always found the most impossible angles to tear open the monsters’ defenses, drawing their attention. Aiden followed close behind like clinging red hellfire, using the most brutal stances to deliver the fatal blow. They needed no words; a single look or a subtle shift in posture was enough to read the other’s intent, elevating their offense and defense into an art of slaughter.

Just then, several monsters poured out of the corridor, perfectly aligning into a somewhat straight line.

A sharp glint flashed in Aiden’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, he leveled the Godslayer horizontally. The flames on the blade suddenly retracted, leaving only a thin, almost dying crimson glow.

In the next microsecond, a slender, crimson sword aura erupted from the tip. The air shrieked like tearing fabric. The aura shot forward like a taut, searing red string, silently slicing through the corridor.

In an instant, everything in its path—the yellow-green bodies of those monsters and the solid rock floor beneath them—was split cleanly in two. The cuts were as smooth as mirrors, still smoking with scorched heat.

Ais’s figure paused for a fraction of a second. Looking at the perfectly straight slash mark extending all the way to the corner wall, she pressed her lips together. A fleeting, almost imperceptible trace of gloom and frustration flashed through her pure golden eyes.

Lumina Slash.

Aiden had spent a long time teaching her this technique. She completely understood the theory—highly compress the power of the Enchantment Magic, then release it instantly as a flying slash. Yet, no matter how many times she tried, the power always dissipated at the tip of the blade, failing to form that distance-erasing strike.

Knowing exactly what to do but being physically unable to execute it left her deeply frustrated.

“Don’t rush it,” Aiden’s voice suddenly spoke beside her.

With a backhand swing, he decapitated a monster trying to ambush them. The flames on his sword hissed as they evaporated the corrosive blood. He hadn’t even looked at Ais, yet it was as if he could read her mind.

“I believe in you. You’ll master it soon,” he said, his tone gentle, steady, and filled with trust.

Aiden knew exactly where Ais stood in her training. With her peak sword skills, immense strength, and mastery over Enchantment Magic, she had long met all the hard requirements to execute a Lumina Slash.

So what was she missing?

Aiden guessed it was some esoteric “conviction,” or perhaps “sword intent.” That unique, unparalleled will belonging solely to the swordsman—something that transcended mere technique. In any case, she was only one step away from a true Lumina Slash.

Perhaps to vent her frustration over being unable to grasp the technique, Ais vanished again with divine speed. She became a golden wind, an unstoppable vortex of destruction.

The new monsters didn’t even have time to bleed before the invisible wind pressure sliced and tore them apart. The corrosive blood was blown far away by the gales, unable to leave a single drop on her pure white combat attire.

Before Ais’s god-like speed, the massive, bloated monsters looked clumsy and laughable. Entirely unable to track the wind’s trajectory, they could only passively endure the fierce, fatal strikes raining down from all directions. They constantly lost sight of her, uselessly swiping their flat arms only to have them severed. Sometimes, just brushing past that golden shadow was enough to leave their massive bodies hacked to pieces and collapsing into ruin.

Transforming into a gust of wind, the girl darted endlessly across the battlefield, her speed simply jaw-dropping.

Vast amounts of acid exploded outward like shrapnel. The splashing liquid even reached Tifa’s side of the battlefield. Several Black Rhinos hit by the acid let out agonized shrieks, rolling in pain before melting into puddles of gore.

“Didn’t expect them to explode when they die,” Aiden noted with a hint of a sigh, charging into the swarm of caterpillars.

A medium-sized enemy twisted its body, sweeping its ray-like flat arm at him. Aiden didn’t bother dodging. The blazing greatsword met the attack head-on, effortlessly shredding the monster’s flesh. The splattering corrosive blood vaporized the instant it touched the flames.

Like Ais, Aiden’s Enchantment Magic rendered him completely immune to the acid. The corrosive sludge that was so incredibly troublesome for Finn and the others couldn’t even get close to him.

“Dammit, I’m so jealous! I want Enchantment Magic too! Then my Urga wouldn’t have melted!” Tiona cried out during a break in her fight with the Black Rhinos. Watching Aiden and Ais’s flawless, flowing combat left her red-eyed with envy.

Especially when she remembered her beloved weapon being destroyed, tears threatened to spill from her eyes. It wasn’t that she had some deep, emotional bond with the weapon, but rather… forging a new Urga would cost an astronomical 100 million Valis. That meant she would be aggressively saving money to pay off her debt for a very long time.

Just thinking about it sent a surge of nameless fury straight to her head.

“Ahhhhhhh—!”

She let out a feral roar, venting all her anger and frustration onto the Black Rhino in front of her.

At this moment, Tiona completely abandoned her usual wide-open yet agile combat style. Her movements became frantic, brutal, and brimming with primal savagery. She braced her shoulder to forcefully tank a monster’s charge, then used the borrowed, awkward shortsword in her hand—not to “slash,” but to use every ounce of her strength to “smash,” “cleave,” and “tear.”

“Ais!”

Aiden’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and perfectly timed.

Ais understood instantly, moving in perfect sync with Aiden as he attacked from the front. The two flanked a monster that was notably larger than its peers.

Aiden swung his sword, the crimson light precisely severing all of the monster’s short legs. Stripped of its balance, the massive body pitched heavily forward.

Right on cue.

Aiming at the stumbling enemy, Ais leaped high into the air, tracing a beautiful golden arc. Desperate swung down from above, carrying the weight of a thunderbolt.

The sensation of biting into something unnaturally hard traveled up the blade, followed immediately by a crisp shattering sound.

A flawless strike that crushed the Magic Stone. The giant monster didn’t even have time to scream before it instantly dissolved into a shower of ash.

Just then, the roars pouring out from the congested corridor finally began to die down. No new monsters were entering.

However, no one let their guard down.

While Aiden and Ais completely outclassed these enemies, they were still heavily outnumbered. If this turned into an endless war of attrition, the scales of victory would undoubtedly tip in favor of the monsters and their limitless stamina.

Their magic was not infinite, and their stamina would eventually drain.

They needed to end this quickly.

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