An Eight Fingers stronghold.
The area in front of the Gothic-style building was brightly lit. A large number of Eight Fingers' members surrounded Kenichi, Erza, and the group.
The five leading figures among them were the Six Arms of the Eight Fingers, who possessed strength equivalent to Adamantite-ranked adventurers.
Looking at this terrifying lineup, Climb tightly gripped his long sword, his expression extremely grim. His heart sank to the bottom.
'Princess Renner, I'm sorry, it seems I might die here.'
Beside him, Brain also placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his left waist, staring at the five powerful figures before him as if facing a great enemy.
"Hehehe..."
The surrounding Eight Fingers' members, seeing the grave expressions on Brain and Climb's faces, all revealed smiles like cats playing with mice.
"Zero, before that old man arrives, let me handle Brain Unglaus. Any problem with that?"
The red-haired man with a rapier at his waist looked at Brain with a playful expression.
"Suit yourself."
Hearing the red-haired man's words, the burly, bald man covered in various animal tattoos standing in the middle grinned and said.
"Eh?! I also want to have some fun with this genius swordsman who can rival Gazef!"
A foreign woman wearing a veil looked at Brain and said with a smile.
"Edström, I chose first. Don't steal him from me!"
"Malmvist, you really have no gentlemanly manners!"
The foreign woman teased, then her gaze, sharp as a snake's, fell upon Kenichi, Erza, and Kagura.
"Fine, I'll reluctantly play with these three Mithril-ranked adventurers instead!"
The foreign woman moved her hands, and dagger-sized curved blades appeared out of thin air, revolving constantly around her body.
"Adventurers, your adventuring career ends here!"
As she spoke, the foreign woman's figure shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
Soon, she was directly above Kenichi, Erza, and Kagura.
"Blood Dance Scimitar!"
The airborne foreign woman swung her arm down fiercely. The large number of scimitars circling around her swept towards Kenichi and the other two like a long serpent.
Seeing the numerous scimitars rapidly enlarging in her vision, Erza didn't hesitate. She pushed off with her feet, her figure turning into a streak of light as she charged directly towards the foreign woman in the sky.
Whoosh-
In just an instant, Erza's figure had already rushed to a position behind the foreign woman.
Squelch-
Before the foreign woman could react, a silver blade energy slashed across her body.
Accompanied by a spray of blood, the foreign woman's body fell from the sky in a free-fall trajectory.
"How is this possible... I didn't even see..."
During her fall, the foreign woman looked up at Erza in the sky, who was still maintaining her sword stance bathed in moonlight, her face filled with horror.
Thud-
Before she could finish her sentence, her body had already crashed onto the ground.
From Erza's move to the foreign woman's landing, it had only been a matter of a few seconds.
Because everything happened so quickly, the surrounding gloating Eight Fingers' members hadn't reacted yet.
By the time they reacted, all they saw was the scene of the foreign woman being slashed and falling.
"Edström... actually lost?"
"How is this possible?"
Looking at the motionless foreign woman lying in a pool of blood, the smiles on the faces of the surrounding Eight Fingers' members instantly vanished, replaced by disbelief.
Climb also stared dumbfounded at the foreign woman who had crashed to the ground.
Then, with difficulty, he shifted his gaze to Erza in the sky.
"Instantly killed?"
"What exactly..."
One must know that foreign woman was a member of the Six Arms, possessing strength comparable to an Adamantite-ranked adventurer.
Even the kingdom's strongest warrior captain, Gazef, probably couldn't defeat her in an instant.
But now, Erza had instantly one-shot her.
Naturally, Climb was extremely shocked.
At the same time, Brain, who was using his secret technique [Field] to confront the red-haired swordsman, caught a glimpse of the sword technique Erza used to kill the foreign woman from the corner of his eye. His pupils instantly contracted.
'What a fast sword speed!'
If he hadn't encountered Shalltear and Sebas before, Brain would probably have been as utterly shocked as Climb.
At this moment, the words Lakyus said before the operation echoed in Brain's mind: 'Fairy Tail's strength is not inferior to yours.'
'The Blue Rose captain's words were indeed correct... No, they are far above me!'
Just as Brain was thinking this, the other Six Arms's members looked at the foreign woman lying in the pool of blood, their expressions also very grim.
"It seems they aren't ordinary adventurers."
"Attack together! Kill them!"
The tattoo-covered bald man stared grimly at Erza, then gave the order to the mass of Eight Fingers' members.
With the tattooed man's command, the large number of surrounding Eight Fingers members, holding poisoned weapons, swarmed towards Kenichi and Erza.
The remaining Six Arms' members didn't idle either.
"Undead... "
The low-tier Undead holding a dark purple magic orb immediately raised the orb in his hand.
Just as he was about to cast a Necromancy spell, Kagura, at some point, had rushed to his side.
Thud-
Before he could react, the hilt of the sword in Kagura's hand struck him directly.
Although it was just an attack with the hilt, Kagura was capable of destroying a mountain with a single strike even without drawing her blade, so how could a low-tier Undead withstand her attack?
The moment her hilt struck the Undead, a violent impact sound rang through the air.
The Undead's body flew backward like a cannonball, finally crashing into a wall not far behind him.
Boom-
Another loud noise. The Undead's body directly collapsed the wall and was buried under a pile of rubble.
After dealing with the Undead, Kagura didn't pause for a moment. She pushed off with her feet, and her figure instantly appeared in front of the Six Arms' member clad entirely in black armor.
"Fearing Nothing Under Heaven, Steel Form!"
She raised her sword and brought it down.
Before the black armor could draw the sword at its waist, the still-sheathed sword in Kagura's hand had already struck the black armor.
Boom-
Accompanied by a loud noise, the black armor's burly body spat blood and flew backward.
The mass of Eight Fingers' members charging from behind couldn't avoid it in time and were sent flying along with the backward-flying black armor.