53: Chapter 53 The First Wave of Reinforcements Arrives

Ryan Nephalem had been running madly for a day and a night. He was so exhausted that his tongue was practically lolling out. Fortunately, he had been receiving healing from Mia and Tuaner the entire time; otherwise, every time he used Frenzy, his HP would drop by a huge chunk, and there was no way he would have lasted until now.

"That damn woman, she's still following us." Tuaner said hatefully.

Mia didn't say a word. She had just crossed paths with the Sword Maiden and realized that the other party was truly a genuine Lv25 Elite Boss. Her Stamina was over 3000, and she possessed innate Holy-type recovery skills.

Furthermore, she didn't rely on Mana to heal; she relied on Divine Grace. Since she was a favorite of the God of Law, Divine Grace was as free as water. Therefore, their current team had no way to kill the Sword Maiden.

"Keep running. This is the direction back to the border city. Our reinforcements are on the way." Mia patted Tuaner on the head, who was currently hitching a ride by grabbing onto a wolf's tail.

"It's a good thing she isn't a speed-type, otherwise we would have been done for long ago with our speed..." Ryan Nephalem said thankfully.

"How can you be so sure she isn't playing a game of cat and mouse? The three of us combined don't even equal her level." Tuaner's skill at undermining him had leveled up again. "Also, there are only three types of swordsmen: Strength, Speed, and Technique. Which one are you hoping she is?"

"Strength, I guess? That would give us a better chance of survival." Ryan Nephalem began making a wish to the two moons.

Behind him, a strange sheathed sword slashed down, slamming into his back. [Damage - 480, Strength Overwhelm]

A mouthful of blood sprayed far away as he rolled forward. The second sword strike that followed was successfully blocked by him using [Silver Moon Wall Bastion]. [Damage - 100, Block Successful, Strength Overwhelm]

The two strikes nearly brought Ryan Nephalem to the brink of death. Tuaner's [Blood Summoning] slightly stalled the Sword Maiden's charge, and Mia flashed over to shoulder Ryan Nephalem, continuing their flight.

"...Did your wish come true?" Mia's teasing words deeply stung Ryan Nephalem's heart. "Yeah, she's a Strength-type. For me, it's a Strength Overwhelm type." Halfway through, Ryan Nephalem coughed up another mouthful of blood. "For you two, if she doesn't hit you, you're fine, but if she does, it might be game over."

"That old woman, she can't even touch..." Before she could finish, Tuaner was sent flying by Ryan Nephalem, who had been tossed at her. The spot where she had just been standing seemed to have been struck by a pneumatic hammer used for rolling steel. With a loud boom, the ground collapsed into a large, semi-circular crater.

Immediately after, in her line of sight, a strange sheathed sword adorned with two scale pendants slashed down towards her head. Tuaner could even smell the scent of death on the hilt...

"Get down!" A flash of red instantly appeared directly above Tuaner, arms crossed in an "X" to block upwards. The instant-cast divine spell [Holy Light Barrier Lv10], left behind by the Old Priest in the [Abyssal Lord's Banquet Gloves], was activated.

"Clatter..." With a sound like shattering glass, the unsheathed two-handed sword pressed down a second time, striking Mia's blocking arms solidly.

A sonic boom erupted in the air, and the red figure was smashed to the ground, crashing into the dust.

Mia was pinned beneath the sword sheath, her tight ponytail scattered by the chaotic airflow. She didn't turn her head. "Go, take Ryan Nephalem with you." The blood from her internal injuries flowed out of her mouth, dripping down her chin onto Tuaner's face and eyes. It was still warm.

Mia's figure, reflected in Tuaner's blurred, red-tinted vision, looked like a bewitchingly beautiful butterfly mercilessly struck down into the dust.

"I heard on the way here that you had reinforcements, so I was a little anxious and was rude." The Sword Maiden, holding her sword in one hand and covering her mouth with the other, said to Mia and Tuaner with a giggle, looking a bit neurotic.

"It, it's alright. It wasn't Mr. Goblin Slayer, *cough cough*." Mia said, coughing up another mouthful of fresh blood halfway through. "Are you breathing a sigh of relief?"

"Is that so? Then I can rest easy and ki—ll— you~" After saying this, the Sword Maiden raised her arm and swung her sword, slashing down again with no frills!

Mia quickly extended her leg and used her toe to send Tuaner out of the range of the Sword Maiden's attack, then used all her strength to cast [Holy Light Barrier]. This time, there was no sound of shattering glass; the sword sheath pierced through like a layer of paper, slamming heavily onto Mia's crossed arms.

In her blood-red vision, the broken, dangling arms, the scattering dust, and Mia, who had been slashed into a bloody mess, flickered constantly in Tuaner's mental world. When Mia was lifted up by the Sword Maiden, who gripped her throat with one hand, Tuaner felt like she was going crazy. But she still shouldered Ryan Nephalem without looking back and fled in the direction she and Mia had agreed upon. Her canine teeth bit through her lower lip. "You bitch, doing this to Mia. I will kill you, I will definitely kill you!"

"Oh! Your little retainer ran off with your dog?" The Sword Maiden, completely unaware of who could stop her from killing Mia at this moment, began her final taunt before the execution. "Do you want me to spare your life?" Her eyes shone with a compassionate light, and then she tightened her grip. Mia's neck emitted a sound of unbearable strain. "Not talking? Then I guess you don't want it..."

Beneath her tattered Blood Rose nun's robe, the rose-shaped tattoo below Mia's collarbone began to emit an eerie glow. [Scarlet Tear] passive activated; because the host was near death, critical hit rate increased by 70% up to the skill's limit. [Thorns of Reverse Life] passive activated, [Corrupted Petal] (2/7), immediately recovering 30% HP and triggering 3 seconds of invincibility.

Several poor-looking scrolls fell from beneath the Blood Rose nun's robe. These were the entire stock of A-rank explosives she had bought from Firing Pin, her last resort. Mia tore up the detonation scroll in her hand. [A-Rank Explosive: (Automatically converts form based on dungeon background) Scroll, Cluster Bomb, Damage Radius 100*100*100, indiscriminate attack. Explosion damage value is calculated by heat, intuitively manifested as clearing all physical existence within that range not belonging to the category of super-technology. Or destroys a small community.]

The earth-shaking explosion and the firelight shooting into the sky completely engulfed this forest—or rather, the former forest. Tuaner and Ryan Nephalem were sent stumbling by the explosion. After being blasted awake, Ryan Nephalem smacked his lips. "I'm not dead, and you're not dead? Based on the inference that you are her retainer, she probably isn't dead yet either..." Tuaner slapped Ryan Nephalem across the face. "My whole family isn't dead! Especially Mia!! Say that again and I'll slap you again!!!"

The stench of charred flesh wafted from the Sword Maiden. Her voluptuous and seductive figure had been almost entirely destroyed by the explosion and the high-heat shockwave. Now, she looked like half a skeleton scorched by fire magic.

The difference was that her bones were golden. Cold, inhuman syllables flew out from her trembling, bony mouth. "So, this is your reinforcement? Truly impressive!" After saying this, she raised her scale holy sword, and obscure, difficult-to-understand syllables emanated from her mouth. Miracle — [Resurrection].

A large amount of flesh and blood rapidly regenerated on the Sword Maiden's golden skeleton, looking like an alien monster from a horror movie. A moment later, the dignified and beautiful Sword Maiden was restored to her original state, except—the wild does not provide clothing.

Mia was using her hands to push off the ground, struggling to breathe. As she had expected, the Sword Maiden was indeed powerful, and she was already a monster. She got up and quickly ran in the direction of Tuaner and Ryan Nephalem...

Because she still had a second wave of reinforcements on the way...