“Hahahahaha! Where do you think you’re going, mythical creature?!”

The voice boomed like thunder in Titis Forest, and into the ears of Gozu and his companions who were battling there.

Gozu immediately looked up and saw Mitsurugi Sora, who was holding a black sword and had a joyous smile on his face.

Whether he had strengthened his legs with ki to jump or built a foothold in the air to glide through the sky, Sora appeared directly above Hydra. In a stabbing posture, he thrust his sword forward.

“Phantom Blade Style – Flying Pierce!”

That was one of the basic techniques of the Phantom Blade Style, which Gozu and his companions were all familiar with. Another basic technique was a ‘flying slash’.

In the hands of a skilled user, it was possible to create a wind hole in the opponent’s body like a spear, but its power itself was not beyond the basic level. At the very least, it was not a technique suitable for use against dragon-type opponents.

Klimt seemed to say “What is he doing?” with a click of his tongue, but Gozu understood Sora’s judgment.

Sora had not officially studied the Phantom Blade Style, and he could only handle basic techniques. Even his basic techniques were only at the level of an amateur. Even if he had mastered the Soul Equipment and obtained great Kei, he had no techniques with which to use it.

If the opponent were human, there would be no problem even if he did not have a powerful Kei technique. A great technique was not necessary to cut off their head or stab their heart. In fact, Gozu and Klimt were caught off guard by Sora.

However, when dealing with a huge demon beast like Hydra, the story changes. Just cutting or stabbing alone did not cause significant damage. A big technique that fully utilized ki was necessary.

If no such powerful technique was available, the only option was to gradually chip away at the enemy’s stamina over time.

Sora also thought so and used basic techniques such as Flying Strike, Flying Pierce, and Blaze to gradually corner Hydra over time. This explained the meaning of the three-day-long battle and the reason why only three of Hydra’s heads remained when Gozu thought about it.

The wind blew.

It was an enormous gust of wind that ruffled their hair completely. It was obviously not a natural wind, but rather air pressure from above that had been compressed by an immense force and was blowing towards Gozu and his companions in search of an escape route.

Immediately after, a hole appeared in Hydra’s giant body. Sora’s ki technique had pierced Hydra’s back like a huge cone and cut through the scales, skin, and flesh, sharply and deeply, while twisting.

“Kyshaagaa!!”

Three heads roared at the same time. The volume and urgency were beyond comparison when they were attacked by Gozu and his companions. It was already a scream itself.

Upon hearing this, Sora burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! What’s wrong? Don’t you fight back?”

Once. Twice in a row. And thrice without stopping.

In the sky and on the ground, Sora continuously released Flying Pierce towards Hydra. Without paying attention to Gozu and the others, he relentlessly pierced the struggling body of the mythical creature.

As for Hydra, it ignored Gozu and made no attempt to counterattack against Sora, but staggered and headed south in the same direction as before.

Gozu finally realized that it was not towards Ishka that Hydra was headed, but was instead trying to escape from pursuers. Klimt and Claira also realized this.

This mythical creature was trying to escape from Sora.

“Hey, it’s that guy, Sora!”

Klimt clicked his tongue and moved away from Hydra. He glares at Sora, who repeats his attacks without any consideration for Klimt and the others fighting on the same battlefield. But Sora doesn’t seem to notice his gaze or maybe he is ignoring it.

On the other hand, Claira was not paying attention to Sora’s attitude, but rather to his kei.

“The amount and quality of his kei have completely changed since the last time we fought…”

It was clear just by watching from a distance. Sora’s body was surrounded by a roaring, powerful kei, which reminded her of the great river that flowed through the Adoasutera Empire, the Jouga River.

He had been fighting mythical creatures for almost four days, so Sora should have been exhausted by now, but he didn’t show any signs of it. His appearance was so unusual that it seemed as if he had just started fighting moments ago.

Speaking of unusual, his Flying Pierce was also like that.

To Claira’s eyes, Sora’s kei technique was a rough, unrefined one without any subtlety. However, the amount and quality of his kei were so extraordinary that this basic kei technique, compared to a spear, had the firepower of a cannon.

Claira could do something similar, but she certainly couldn’t produce the same amount of power as Sora. She wouldn’t even think about imitating him.

The basic techniques, such as the Flying Strike and Flying Pierce, originally involve channeling the ‘kei’ of ‘1’ to draw out the power of ‘1’. In other words, even if you add the ‘kei’ of ’10’ to a basic technique, its power remains at ‘1’. It’s not impossible to forcibly draw out the power of ‘2’, but that would essentially mean wasting the ‘kei’ of ‘8’.

Rather than doing something so inefficient, it’s better to use a higher-level technique to extract “10” firepower from “10” kei.

However, Sora was using this inefficient way of fighting on a large scale. It was like putting “100” kei into a basic technique and forcing it to produce “10” firepower.

A power technique with too many rough edges and too much waste. But his kei quantity, which enabled him to use this power technique repeatedly, clearly surpassed Claira. He was surpassing Claira Berch, who was level 51.

For some reason, her spine trembled.

“Sima!”

To dispel the fear that had attacked her, Claira raised her voice and asked Gozu for his decision. Whether to continue watching the situation or to join the battle, she sought his judgment.

Klimt also turned his attention to Gozu, following his sister’s lead.

In response, Gozu informed the two of them and Sora of his decision.

“- Lord Sora! The three of us will lend you our assistance from here on!!”

Gozu had some thoughts about Sora’s appearance, but he prioritized the extermination of the mythical creature in front of him rather than resolving his doubts.

However, Sora did not respond to his voice.

He seemed to glance briefly towards the three people, but it was just for a moment, and the next moment he had already charged towards Hydra.

Instead of striking from a distance with powerful Kei techniques as he had done before, he attacked directly at close range. Quickly closing in on Hydra, Sora lifted his black sword and flashed it from the bottom up, like lifting a scoop.

It was a simple slash, not even using Kei. Yet, with that attack…

“Giiiieeee!?”

One of Hydra’s heads flew into the air.

Sora’s attack didn’t stop; in quick succession, the painful roar of the mythical creature echoed three times.

All eight heads and eight tails were cut off, and Hydra became a bloody mass.

It was an event that occurred less than a minute after Gozu offered to lend a hand.