The first to step back in the power struggle was the warrior.
Stepping back a pace, he raised his shield to block Revelin’s attack.
Five swords flew around, launching a ceaseless barrage of attacks.
It appeared that Revelin was overwhelmingly dominating the fight.
“That guy’s skills are impressive.”
“Indeed.”
The attacks coming from both the front and the sides were blocked as effectively as possible with the sword and shield.
However, one persistent sword attacking from behind went completely ignored.
Although five swords appeared to be very advantageous, Revelin was controlling them one by one.
Among them, there were some swords that were considerably weak and couldn’t perform a proper attack.
The sword lurking behind the warrior was one of those.
Whether he was aware of that fact or not, the warrior allowed the attacks to his back.
Flutter!
As the warrior spun around, the cloak he wore fluttered wildly.
Underneath it was thick metal armor.
Revelin, unable to see inside the cloak, continued to target the warrior’s back.
Dark energy gathered on the warrior’s sword and was swung toward Revelin.
Clang!
The two swords made of mana shattered.
“If it breaks, I can just make it again!”
Revelin quickly recreated the swords, but it was too late.
The warrior swiftly closed the distance and swung his sword.
Swoosh!
Revelin rolled on the ground to avoid the attack.
Maybe a moment too late, a shallow cut on her cheek began to bleed.
“Sword Dancing!”
The five swords gathered in one spot and began to spin around.
The buzzing swords flew toward the warrior like a swarm of bees.
With the rotation added to their attacks, their power was extraordinarily high.
The warrior’s helmet was struck by Revelin’s sword, deforming it.
The face hidden inside the removed helmet was revealed.
It looked ordinary, but where the eyes should be, there was nothing but emptiness.
“No eyes?”
“I sacrificed them for the price of defeat. And I gained this power.”
Dark energy gathered on the warrior’s sword and flew toward Revelin.
Whoosh!
The dark energy grazed Revelin’s right leg.
“Ugh!”
The difference in skill between the warrior and Revelin was starkly visible.
Currently, Revelin could not win against that warrior.
Despite the unfavorable situation, Maran simply stood by and watched.
“Can I help?”
“With wounds like that, there’s a capable healer around.”
Maran spoke while looking at Epiro.
Epiro was ready with healing potions, prepared to heal at any moment.
Although Revelin was a disciple of Leon, it seemed he had not received much training in swordsmanship.
He was simply attacking with the five swords made of mana.
If the opponent was human or a demon, the distracting attacks aimed at exploiting gaps would not be bad.
However, it was certain that the warrior before him was not an ordinary opponent.
He would be quite an overwhelming challenge for Revelin, who lacked practical experience.
“You’re too weak.”
“I know!”
The five swords shot toward the warrior like arrows.
The warrior casually deflected all the flying swords with his shield.
“I saw that attack method yesterday!”
“Ah!”
It would be quite confusing to see flying swords for the first time.
However, now that he had seen them once, they no longer seemed mystical.
Moreover, the straightforward and repetitive attack pattern was completely understood by the opponent.
The outcome of this battle was somewhat predictable.
Revelin grasped two of the five swords in his hands.
“That’s somewhat new.”
“No eyes!”
Grasping the sword, Revelin dashed quickly behind the warrior.
“Non-swordsmanship thrust!”
As the name implies, it was a simple thrust without anything special.
The two swords pierced through the warrior’s back, popping out from the front.
“Well. That’s nothing special.”
Despite being pierced by the swords, the warrior acted rather nonchalantly.
“Getting through is all that matters.”
Revelin immediately thrust in two more swords.
Thud!
“This kind of sword wouldn’t hurt, even if I thrust dozens of them in.”
Whether he felt pain or not, the warrior slowly turned his body toward Revelin.
The warrior, with four swords embedded in his torso, swung his shield.
Revelin was knocked to the ground by the force of the shield.
Struggling to get up, Revelin gripped the last remaining sword tightly.
“Non-swordsmanship! Flurry!”
With the sword in hand, Revelin charged at the warrior and unleashed systematic sword techniques.
A simple series of slashes and thrusts were repeated.
The warrior laughed heartily as he deflected the attacks.
“You’re pathetic. Pathetic! Hahaha!”
“Ha!”
With a bold shout, Revelin’s sword struck against the warrior’s shield.
Clang!
Although he couldn’t see the warrior’s expression due to the lack of a head, he must have been startled.
The arm that had held the warrior’s shield just a moment ago fell limp.
“Oh, no. This is!”
“Now, it’s a battle of swords.”
“You! What have you done?”
“Nothing. Your body was so rotten that it simply fell apart.”
Although pretending not to know, Revelin smiled as if he already knew.
With the shield gone, the warrior’s movements were not as fierce as before.
Though not powerful, he allowed Revelin’s attacks occasionally.
Clang! Clang!
Like chopping wood, Revelin hammered the warrior’s armor with his sword.
Revelin’s attack speed increased, while the warrior’s movements slowed.
Even simple swings were not defended against, allowing attacks.
“That should do it!”
As Revelin’s sword struck the warrior’s armor, the warrior was pushed back several meters.
Crumble!
The warrior’s thick metal armor crumbled apart.
“Then, it’s over now.”
Revelin extended a finger toward the warrior whose armor was broken, pointing at the sky.
The four swords embedded in the warrior began to lift him up.
The swords soared into the sky until the warrior became a small dot.
Revelin watched that happen and snapped his fingers.
Boom!
With a huge explosion, a bright yellow light flashed in the sky for a moment.
If caught in such an explosion, survival would not be easy.
Moreover, falling from that height would turn any ordinary creature into a pulp.
Having triumphantly returned from battle, Revelin’s expression was not particularly bright.
“You did well.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“None of my techniques worked.”
I wanted to hear more details, but I decided to let her be alone for now.
Afterward, Epiro took care of the soldiers who had entered the range of divine power.
Her fighting style was very simple, using a special weapon at that time.
A white long staff made of iron.
Gripping it with both hands, she mercilessly struck the undead, and soon the undead disappeared.
Maran would step in only for those that Epiro couldn’t catch even after hitting them.
It seemed they were a well-organized team.
“Shouldn’t we let Ririan rest a bit?”
“Right. Then let’s have her sleep here for now.”
I pointed to a separate room next to the lobby’s reception desk.
Inside, there was a small cot, sufficient for sleeping.
I told them to wake me when the time came, and I closed my eyes for a nap.
I don’t know how long I slept, but I opened my eyes in the dark room.
“Are you awake?”
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Revelin.”
“It’s time for the shift.”
As I got up and turned on the light in the room, I saw Revelin crouched at the door.
“There’s still some time until the shift starts.”
“Really? Were you guarding the door?”
“Just in case.”
With Maran guarding the hotel entrance, who would dare to easily intrude?
I stepped out of the room to check the situation in the lobby.
The warriors who were supposed to be in the banquet hall were downstairs fighting the undead outside the hotel.
“Why are those people down there?”
“They need practical experience.”
Indeed, it would be difficult to maintain two teams taking turns for long.
If we wanted to escape the city as soon as possible, those warriors needed to improve their skills.
“By the way, they are now openly attacking.”
“Since their position has been revealed.”
It seemed wise to look for another place to stay instead of the hotel, in case of the worst situation.
Of course, the best solution would be to quickly eliminate that giant.
Jema and Melorna came down from the banquet hall, accompanied by five warriors.
They decided to divide the training of the warriors between the two teams.
Epiro retrieved the sword she had left in front of the hotel before returning to the banquet hall.
The effect of the sword imbued with divine power couldn’t be said to be uniformly beneficial.
It could prevent weaklings from converging, but it was unable to stop those of considerable skill.
It was much more reassuring to deal with weaklings that could be handled easily.
Instead of returning to the banquet hall, Revelin stayed in the lobby, watching the warriors fight.
The warriors were confronting the undead soldiers while assisting Melorna.
No matter how poor the warriors’ skills were, they certainly had some combat experience.
“Think of them as monsters and fight.”
“Yes!”
Following Melorna’s command, the warriors gradually improved their skills.
I spoke to Revelin, who was blankly watching.
“Did you not learn swordsmanship?”
“I did learn.”
“Then why aren’t you using it?”
“Because it’s not something I made myself.”
The swordsmanship I learned from Jema was rooted in Latnia’s swordsmanship.
After dozens or even hundreds of years of refinement and development, the completeness of that swordsmanship was very high.
From there, new sword techniques could derive, but creating a new style independently was quite difficult.
“If you want to create your own swordsmanship, shouldn’t you first learn other sword techniques?”
“I learned a few, but they didn’t suit me.”
“How much did you practice?”
“About ten times?”
Hearing Revelin’s words, I was momentarily dumbfounded.
To master a single style of swordsmanship, one repeats a single move hundreds or thousands of times.
But to judge that it’s not a fit for oneself after just swinging it ten times is far too little.
“You. From now until the shift ends, keep swinging your sword over there.”
“You’re saying the same thing our master does.”
Leon had already proposed the necessary solution to Revelin.
“What do you think would happen if the flying swords applied various sword techniques?”
“Ah!”
Upon hearing my words, Revelin seemed to sink into thought for a moment before getting up and disappearing down the hallway in the corner.
