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The changes under the moon did not attract Rill's attention; he was thoroughly enjoying his battle with the crimson-haired girl.
Two uninvited guests intruded into the quiet forest. Rill, like an elf, weaved rapidly through the trees, and every time he brushed past a tree, vines would sprout forth.
Nancy followed closely behind, her greatsword of rock constantly severing the annoying vines.
"Come chase me, quickly, quickly!"
Rill laughed joyfully, stomping hard and climbing rapidly up a tall tree. His paintbrush swept over the colors on his palette, and brown ink appeared in the air as several spiraling, gnarled wooden stakes shot out!
Another swipe of the paintbrush, and a sudden white gale enveloped the wooden stakes. The wind carried wooden thorns, and the stakes accelerated and spun within the wind.
"Painting Magic, Wood Shadow Overlap Stakes, plus a violent gale!"
Nancy glanced at the gale and wooden stakes heading towards her, plunged her greatsword into the ground, and slammed her fist onto the earth. "Earth Magic, Cracking Stone Slab!"
The ground instantly cracked like a spiderweb, trees swayed and fell, and square blocks of earth protruded and floated in the air, blocking the attacks of the gale and wooden stakes. The earth blocks shattered, and in the dissipated gale, fine soil and wood chips scattered.
Nancy lifted the greatsword from the ground forward, and several more square earth blocks appeared. Pulling out her greatsword, she batted the earth blocks one by one, sending them crashing towards Rill's location.
The heavy blocks of earth seemed to weigh nothing in her hands.
Rill leaped forward, landing on the earth blocks. The violently colliding blocks felt like a slide beneath his feet as he happily moved forward: "Fun, fun, give me more!"
Nancy pushed off with her feet, using the power of the earth, and swung her sword fiercely at Rill on the earth blocks. The stone sword glowed with a bright yellow slash. In an instant, the stacked giant earth blocks were split in two and fell downwards.
Vines and gnarled wood suddenly appeared in the air. Several wooden golems were hidden among the chaotic environment. Guided by the paintbrush, they caught Rill and continuously grew and spread upwards!
"Painting Magic, Forest of Dancing Snakes!"
The gnarled wood and vines danced together, intertwining. New branches sprouted from their bifurcations. From a distance, they looked like a vicious swarm of snakes biting and rushing forward.
A whistling sound resonated!
Nancy swung the stone sword in her hand, constantly cutting down the trees attacking her, but she couldn't withstand the numerous gnarled branches and vines, nor her disadvantage of having nowhere to hide in the air. She was trapped by the trees, dragged directly from the air, and plummeted to the ground beside the lake.
Rill slowly emerged from the forest, standing on a wooden golem. The glowing lantern grass swayed in the wind. Looking at Nancy, who struggled but couldn't escape the cage, he murmured, "It's over."
He tapped his chin with his index finger, pondering the recent battle. "I still feel like something is missing, my inspiration is still a bit off. What could it be?"
"So hard to think!"
A clang of a blade caught his attention. Rill looked towards the lake where Bai En was, and laughed aloud: "Ha... ha... Is that real?!"
Using the magic "Extreme Mikuriya Blades" for the extreme speed of the blades, Bai En repeatedly cut down Shadow Warriors only for them to reappear from the dark lake. He then aimed at the black moon in the sky.
After cutting down that black moon with his Zan Yan, the dead Shadow Warriors indeed did not reappear.
When the last Shadow Warrior's head was cut off, the lake water returned to its shimmering blue glow, and the humid air carried a fresh scent.
Bai En ran swiftly across the lake's surface, passing fish leaping out of the water. The blade of Zan Yan shimmered with ripples.
Rill also attacked again. His paintbrush, coated with paint, caused the wooden golems to sprout thick, gnarled branches that cut through the lake water and the reflected moonlight, bursting forth.
The blade, swirling with blue water, continuously sliced through the trees. Bai En leaped up and down, rushing towards Rill! Under the bright moon, the figure wielding a blade on the lake and the dancing trees were as beautiful as a painting.
Seventy meters, sixty meters, fifty-five meters... thirty meters... down to twenty-five meters.
As the two got closer, Rill keenly sensed a hint of danger. 'I feel like something is coming!'
The colorful grimoires around him began to flip rapidly.
Bai En stopped swinging his blade, but his forward movement did not cease. He extended his left hand, and all his Mana poured out at that moment!
"Mana Zone 'Fukuma Mikuriya'!"
The slashes of "Dismantle" and "Cleave" began to frantically cut within a 25-meter radius around Bai En. Trees, grass... lake water... everything was being cut by the slashes. Flying grass and wood chips were like dust.
Rill swung his paintbrush the instant the slashes arrived, using Painting Magic — Doranru's Shield. Countless standard shields with a cross pattern in the center separated the surroundings, enveloping him in layers like an iron ball.
The slashes continuously struck the shields, sparking and clanging!
One second, two seconds, three seconds... The outpouring of Mana made Bai En's face pale. As Doranru's Shield became utterly ruined, the surging slashes gradually stopped!
This battle seemed to be nearing its end.
One side had released Mana to its limit but had not caused a single bit of damage to the other. The outcome was obvious! Bai En's slashes were too weak, not enough to cut through the opponent's defense.
He needed stronger... sharper slashes!
Did he have any? Of course, he did. Bai En's Zan Yan was no longer in his hand at some point. The slash, imbued with Mana and enhanced by the Mikuriya "Zan Yan," flew at extreme speed.
This strike was like a white light!
At the same time, Nancy, lying on the ground, had broken free from the gnarled wood's restraint. With extremely delicate Mana perception, she reached out and released magic towards that blade light. She hadn't even expected it to be so smooth; in just an instant, Mana perfectly covered Bai En's Zan Yan.
"Earth" × "Mikuriya" Combined Magic, Stone Meteor Sword, First Flash!
Mottled stones and soil suddenly appeared on the blade of Zan Yan. The white light became obscured. At the moment the soil and grit rubbed off, Zan Yan revealed an unprecedented sharpness.
The broken Doranru's Shield was directly cut down.
Rill swung his paintbrush, and surging Mana brought forth sky blue and crimson. Chilling frost and burning flames appeared simultaneously. As the paintbrush tip descended, the blade light collided with the flames and frost.
The ripple of the explosion stirred up a gale!
Zan Yan passed through the obstruction, carving out a graceful bloodline, then fell to the ground like a meteor.
"Did it succeed?"
Nancy, lying on the ground, looked at the figure in the center as the gale gradually dispersed, and asked. Bai En, completely exhausted of Mana, lay quietly in the shallow water where the lake met the soil.
The cool lake water gently lapped at him. The high temperature of his body gradually dissipated, and a sense of comfort spread through his heart. Bai En looked at the bright moon in the sky and murmured, "Still... lost, huh!"
Rill looked at the sword wound on his arm cut by Zan Yan. As his paintbrush swayed, the grimoires quickly flipped: "Painting Magic, Light of the Tree Spirit's Kin!"
A verdant skirt swayed behind him, transforming into a human figure. Lush green hair fell naturally, and green healing light continuously emanated from the tree spirit's palms.
The wound on Rill's hand slowly vanished. Nancy's skin, pierced by the gnarled wood, began to heal. Bai En's sword wounds, inflicted by the Shadow Warriors, were also continuously being healed.
Under the moonlight, Rill, holding his paintbrush, had a shy blush on his face. He couldn't help but exclaim to Bai En and Nancy, "Bai En ~ Nancy ~ you two are amazing. I, as the leader, couldn't even block that last strike. How embarrassing."
"Oh dear ~ It seems besides painting, I also need to put in a little effort. I can't let my teammates surpass me!"
Saying this, he gently bound the two of them with Painting Magic. The tree spirit's healing light was still radiating. Rill handed each of them a sheet of paper, about 4k in size.
"What is this?"
"A gift for joining the group."
Bai En took the paper Rill handed him and looked at it. It was an oil painting. Under the moonlight, the figure wielding a blade amidst swirling water was exceptionally handsome. But, this guy actually had the leisure to paint during a battle?!
"Damn it, I'm still too weak!"
...