635 – Miia’s Strength

Miia will reach the xiangliu before me.
Her base speed is faster than mine, and she used [Godspeed Flash] to zoom past me.

But, it still shouldn’t be easy for her to take it on by herself.
Especially not with her attack still halved by [Humanisation Technique].
The power of her magic is unaffected, but her main means of magical attack seems to just be [Dark Sphere].
It won’t be enough to deal a decisive blow through the tough scales and high regenerative ability of the xiangliu.

So then does she plan on cancelling [Humanisation Technique]…? Her species is a thanatos.
It’s clearly some kind of undead based on her skills, but I have no idea what she might look like.
If I wanted to, I could examine her species with [Status Inspection], but I’d rather not invade her privacy without asking her first.

The xiangliu’s many eyeballs glare at Miia.
But, apparently deciding to deal with the closer treant first, it turns away.
Treant jerks back with surprise and raises his branch again.

“You make me lonely… Don’t look away.”

Miia opens her eyes wide.
A terrible bloodlust courses through the area.
Even though I’m behind her, a chill runs down my spine and my body tenses up.
This must be her characteristic skill, [Death God Aura].

The xiangliu freezes.
Then, its eyeballs become bloodshot.
A bright red liquid begins to ooze from between its eyes.
It looks like it’s angry at Miia’s provocation.

Miia smiles as she draws closer.
She raises her [Black Fly Greatsword] and slips into the xiangliu’s range.

『Shouldn’t you undo [Humanisation Technique]!?』

I hurriedly raise my claws, ready to provide covering fire with [Dimension Claw].
It shouldn’t be possible for her to deal a decisive blow while her attack is halved.
Her HP is also halved, and doesn’t have any of the tough skin that many monsters have.

The xiangliu is specialised in close quarter fights where it can rely on its its toughness and powerful attacks.
It’s reckless for her to enter its range while still humanised.
Even if she’s able to hit first, its counterattacks could potentially be fatal.

“There’s no need.
I’m more used to fighting in this form.”

But she’s not at a range to use magic.
Can she really deal a decisive blow with her attack halved…?

Miia swings her sword.
A heavy slash flies through the air to cut the xiangliu’s eyes.
Two of the eyeballs burst in a shower of red blood.

As though completely unaware of its injury, the xiangliu slams its head down towards Miia.
The surroundings shake, and the ground splits.
But, somehow, Miia is standing on the xiangliu’s head.

“[Afterimage Sword].”

Miia’s hand blurs.
Her [Black Fly Greatsword] has become two.
I can’t see it as anything else.
The two blades slice through the top of the xiangliu’s head.
Several eyeballs tumble down, severed at the nerves.

The xiangliu violently writhes, trying to shake Miia off.
She immediately leaps into the area and sends another slash into the side of its head.

The xiangliu seems to falter for a moment, but then a mouth opens up from behind its eyeballs, pushing them to the side.
From inside the mouth, three thick tentacle-like tongues stretch out.
The fangs in its mouth are each as long as Miia is tall.

It lunges towards Miia with its mouth open wide.
She leaps in the opposite direction.
The xiangliu chases and lunges again as she lands.

But, as its mouth closes, Miia is once again on top of its head.
She must have kicked off its lower jaw to jump up.

So fast…! No, it’s not just a matter of speed.
She completely read the xiangliu’s movement.

I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to very complicated movements with [Godspeed Flash].
It can only move you in a straight line.
If you use it repeatedly, it could become a weakness instead.
But, Miia read her opponent’s movements and used [Godspeed Flash] with extreme precision, which is definitely easier said than done.

The xiangliu’s head has no scales, so it’s vulnerable, but it’s also the source of a lot of its attacks.
I would have kept my distance and attacked with magic.
But, instead Miia rushed its head and committed to dodging all of its attacks.

She reminds me of the swordsman hired by Lilixira, Howgrey.
I don’t know if she’s using the same sort of cheat techniques as Howgrey was, but in terms of swordsmanship and the precision of her skills, she’s probably at least as good as Howgrey.
Howgrey was a lower level than even an ordinary Holy Knight, and yet he fought me with a single dagger.
Miia seems like a high level Howgrey.

Miia slices through the bases of the xiangliu’s eyeballs again.
A huge amount of [Corrosive Acid] sprays out from between them.
Miia leaps off to escape to the ground.
The xiangliu shakes its head wildly, scattering the [Corrosive Acid] around.

It falls like rain.
The ground melts and fumes rise.
It looks like she’ll need to take her distance to wait this out.

But, contrary to my expectation, Miia dives forwards.
She seems completely unphazed by the [Corrosive Acid] rain.
For a moment, I think she must have a resistance to it, but that’s not the case.
She darts between the rain, cutting away any splashes she’s unable to dodge.

My brain can’t process what I’m seeing.
So this is the Hero Miia…! I’ve thought before that the best swordfighters seem to be more powerful than their statuses would suggest – both for Volk and for Howgrey.
Miia is the completed form of that.

However, in the midst of the acid rain, the xiangliu arcs its tail back.
It wants to crush her now that she can’t move around as freely.
In the first place, the xiangliu has resistance to its own [Corrosive Acid].

If she dodges, she’ll be hit by the acid.
But if she doesn’t dodge, the tail will hit her directly.
With her stats halved by [Humanisation Technique], she can’t afford to take such a strong attack head on.

But instead, Miia stops moving.
The then slams into her directly.

『H-hey, Miia!』

Should I have covered for her!? I don’t think she could be dead from the attack of such a low level Legendary.
But she still must have taken a huge amount of damage.

“[Hollow Moon Scoop].”

The next instant, the xiangliu’s thick tail is gouged open.
Its thick, hard scales are torn apart like butter.
Blood and chunks of meat scatter, and the xiangliu’s heavy body flies back before slamming into one of the giant trees.
It slumps limply to the ground, not even twitching.

W-what was that attack…? She was able to beat a Legendary endurance type monster in a single hit with her attack halved.

She returns her sword to her back.

“It’s a technique that converts the energy of being hit back at the attacker.
It’s possible by putting power into the sword tip.”