Envy lashed out with attacks that could only be called superhuman. Against any regular opponent, he would win in a matter of seconds. But his opponent wasn't average in any way, shape, or form. She was the Sword Saint. She was a human that transcended strength with a sword alone. Without breathing, she repelled every attack flawlessly.

"Barqerin!" Lightning that was over three times the size of a regular bolt boomed forward from his fingertips.

Without missing a beat, Rhea found the death of the bolt and split it in half. Anything and everything had an end, and these eyes specialized at finding these ends. Hiding in the aftermath, Zelus lunged forward with his dagger, hoping to impale her gut. With a grunt, she barely deflected it but could not stop the follow-up kick.

Her body tumbled down the street, picking up brick and cement.

"Surox." Another superpowered blow came from behind. Without looking, she countered and aimed a strike that could split nearly anything. As she came down, Zelus disappeared. Behind her, rushed breathing could be heard.

"Are you done already?" Not waiting for a response, Rhea zoomed forward. With an obtuse stance, she struck towards him. Zelus raised his dagger to intervene. Before her blade could make contact, she boosted her speed and fainted the attack. From the side, she came with another strike. Zelus was able to keep up but not with the next three faints. His whole body was off balance attempting to figure out where she would attack from. Above him, her blade came down at lightspeed. As it touched his neck, the resistance disappeared, and so did he.

"Again?" She had come into this battle knowing that her opponent might cast or use anything, but she had been assured that he could only use each once. He had teleported twice now.

"Six Waters!" From above, he fell through the air with six orbs of different colored water. Rhea sprinted away as the torrents came down. Each water was destructive in its own way wrecking the neighborhood and making part of the battlefield rather dangerous.

"So even after all that, you won't invoke a skill? Your pride is something else." Zelus landed outside the pool of bubbling acid and looked toward Rhea with contempt. "You would fit in with that book toting bitch rather well. You're holding up at the moment, but what would happen if I kept the spells coming nonstop?"

Rhea leaped forward. Each step she took was equivalent to about ten an ordinary person would need. Zelus was unperturbed by her speed. One after another, spells were hurdled at Rhea, and one after another, she split them down their middle. His skills materialized metal spikes, and the Reaper sang as it glinted off metal. Lightning, fire, water, earth, air, explosions, darkness, light, every element and combination that could be thought of was propelled at her.

"Impressive! You're really burning through my stock here! I might run out at this point! Still..." More magic was being directed towards Rhea. Despite his worries about running out, he only amped up the coverage and use of skills. The grimace on his face was unmistakable as he stared down at the brave warrior in front of him. "Why won't you use your abilities!? Are you looking down on me? I'm giving my everything for this, and you still... I loathe people like you."

Rhea could not respond to the question or even hear his low grumble. Her impromptu zone was working against the spells. Still, even she was just a person. With the onslaught directed at her, she was now breathing heavily and heaving.

"Behtarin."

Her eyes widened at his incantation. The neighborhood they were dueling in became the epicenter of a massive light. Homes burnt to ash while the ones on the outskirts fell over. Flames poured out, and the red hot ground glowed exquisitely in the night.

She limped her way forward. Her ankle twisted while she was running for her life. Even an all-powerful athlete such as herself could get stupid and minor injuries like that. She wanted to use her healing magic but-

"Margra!" A beam of mana expelled forth from his mouth. Her foot wouldn't allow her to move at the speed she wanted. So instead, she chopped the attack with an improvised supreme cut. From behind, two figures lunged out. Without blinking, she kept Reaper deflecting the blast in one hand and took up her second sword with the other. She grasped the handle and threw it with precision. As if it were a boomerang, it looped around at sonic speed, chopping their heads off and destroying a few buildings. Cloned bodies of Zelus fell to the ground before fading to dust.

"El Rathor." The beam had ended, and in its stead, a new attack took the stage. A shockwave penetrated her gut while rocking the ground beneath her. She lifted into the air a few inches. Her mind was blank as the pain took over.

"Ul Rathor!" A shockwave three times stronger than the previous one hit her in the same spot. She convulsed, spit mixed with blood, and various other fluids flew. She lifted even higher into the air with a momentum that could rival an automobile. But before she could fly, an invisible string kept her in place. Zelus had used a slow spell on her during the moment she blanked.

"Al Rathor!" Shockwave could not describe this mass of energy. The vibrations coming off his arm were fast enough to turn metal into dust. The air no longer trembled; it fled from the arm of this man. A vacuum took the place of his arm. The energy let out after he released it was so concentrated that it acted as a sword technique.

Feeling her life was on the brink, Rhea reacted. She shielded her face with the sword flat against it. Nothing could pierce a sacred blade after all. In the next moment, the slow spell was lifted, and Rhea had flown all the back to the square. She tumbled through buildings and monuments alike. Her armor had the same look as an aluminum can that someone used for target practice.

"I have to... hold out... until I know." Her breaths were shallow now, and she was convinced something was poking her lung. With a quick effort, she swapped the hand her sword rested in. Her other hand was beyond damaged. Her entire right side was in critical condition. She tapped her right foot against the ground, testing it. She found it satisfactory, but she definitely wasn't going to be attempting any more sprints.

"Still alive! What a surprise. I really thought I got you with that last one." He eyed her up and down with great intrigue as he casually marched forward. "How many broken ribs do you think you have? Can you really beat me in that condition?" His smug aura gave her the impression that he already thought the answer to his question was a resounding no.

"This is more than enough to beat someone like you... I only need one foot to squash a bug."

His face twitched at the word bug. His free hand pointed into the sky. Following that, a terrifying presence amassed in the sky of Priscillaca. The feeling that came from looking at such a thing was a primal one. A fear that whispered to you deep in your mind to run. From his lips came the name of the most horrendous spell. "Eclipse."

Dread filled the atmosphere as death incarnate bloomed in the sky. A spell to end all things in its wake. An eclipse over life. Two people smiled while looking up at this unthinkable object. Both of them were in the square together.

"Finally." Rhea's grin was unmistakable. Her conversation with Ryuji had been playing through her mind since she started this battle. Back at the bar, he laid his detailed plan for overcoming Envy.

"I'm pretty sure Envy can use any skill he sees as long as he meets the criteria for it. He can also use past skills that he's seen. He can even copy inherited skills even though they don't use incantations. These copied skills somehow bypass the need for mana. I'm guessing it's because his authority is somehow overcoming the need. But one thing I do know is, he can't imitate impacts."

The others sitting around the table listened in even though Rhea was the only one that would be facing him down. Rhea had a thoughtful look before replying. "So I can only use impacts while fighting him? That sounds rather difficult. I can learn any sword skill after looking but remembering an impact takes practice. So the only impacts I know are low-level sword techniques."

"That's alright! You won't finish him off with an impact. You'll use one of your strongest skills to seal the deal when you see the opening. I recommend you wait until he uses what has to be his trump card. At that moment, strike!" Ryuji pumped his fist in the air. Rhea thought it odd that in this sort of situation, he was so chipper. Even yesterday, he wasn't that energetic. "Though you don't have to listen to me, I mean you are the one more versed in combat so-"

"I'll follow your plan Ryuji." She smiled sincerely at the friend in front of her. She always dreamed of the day one of her friends would help her in the heat of battle. This wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough for her. "I think it's a fine strategy."

Her mind snapped back as she looked at the ball of death. For any regular adventurer or ranker, this ball would signal their end. But Rhea was anything but usual, and the time for holding back her skills had ended. Triumphantly she raised her one useful arm up with Reaper in hand. "Al Buris!" Ryuji promised that Envy couldn't copy this skill mostly because it could only be used with swords. Envy only had a dagger on him, making this skill impossible for him to replicate. The energy carried in the slash split the ball and dissolved its killing potential before it could become a problem. Eclipse was powerful, but the start-up time was atrocious.

"So now you decide to use them? Now you use them!? Fine. I'll end this farce-"

Their blades screeched as they rebounded over and over again. Rhea hurried to end the fight. Her vision was slowly getting worse from using her blessing, and soon she would go blind.

"Damn!"

The onslaught continued as Rhea violently charged without pause. Envy was being pushed back by each blow. Still, he was not perturbed. She lashed out with a Mallenian sword skill. Her body spasmed from the pain, slowing her down. With the opening in sight, Envy parried the blow. His leg kicked out with brutality. Rhea was sent skirting a few feet away, wobbling as she struggled to stand.

"Buris!" She hastened and used a weaker version of her previous strike. Envy teleported away, opting to run instead of risk being cut. "Buris!" Again he teleported before the blade could reach. Again and again and again.

"Insufferable little bitch!" Envy caught on to her plan and used each opportunity to counter. Rhea would never allow his dagger to cut her, but because she was so fixated on that, Envy's body blows started to number in the tens.

"Buris!" This time Envy didn't teleport. His breathing was heavy, and his body appeared strained. They were both physically at the end of their ropes. Envy's dagger flew back from the force, but he still held on to it.

"El Buris!" A more potent vertical cut rang out. Envy blocked but sank into the ground. His arm shook and wavered as a look of ire spread on his face.

"Lion Bolt!"

"Ul Buris!"

With his free hand, he aimed. A lion figured conduit shot out and pierced Rhea's center. The armor buckled and finally caved in. Red lurched out the hole in her crimson armor. But her approach didn't stop for a second. Her footsteps were heavy as she raised her arm. The cold metal of her sword heated up from the acceleration and split the ground.

Envy had managed to block the hit, but his wrist was shattered. As it flapped in the wind, Rhea planted her feet firm. With her next strike, she would end this. With a single blow, she would thrust through him. Her sword raced forward right toward the center of Zelus.

"Huh?"

But before it could make it, her foot gave out. The injury from earlier, along with the kicks, had made it fail at the worst possible moment.

An evil smile bled over him as Zelus silently laughed. He vaulted forward, avoiding the shaking sword with ease. His dagger plunged straight at her neck as she fell forward.

"This is the end!" Zelus's malicious smile widened as victory was within his hands. But something wasn't right. His instinct screamed out that he should run that he was about to die. He couldn't make any sense out of it. This woman in front of him had surely lost, hadn't she? She made it to the very end but choked before she could finish the job, right? So why? Why was he so uneasy?

Her smile was that of a demon. She stopped falling and planted her broken foot firmly into the ground. She winced, but even then, the grin didn't fall. She paid no attention to the dagger that was inches away from her throat. She paid attention only to the space in front of her sword. She did not need to incant this ability since she was born with it, but in her head, she shouted it out.

'True Strike!'

"...Huh?"

Envy was no longer directly in front of her. Instead, Zelus was impaled on the tip of her sword. His face said that he had no idea how he ended up in this position. Her sword had gone straight through his gut. Without a doctor, he would die. Even still, Rhea would not let things be decided by fate. "Photon Razor!"

Thirty strikes, each one aimed at a line that would end his life swiftly tore through him. In a matter of a few milliseconds, Envy had turned into a falling pile of meat and bone.

His final thoughts were simple ones. He lamented the world that branded him weak. He lamented his parents for not loving him. He lamented his doctor for not being able to fix him. He lamented the kids at school that would knock him out of his wheelchair. He lamented the adults that gave him looks of pity.

He hated the adventurers who were nothing like the stories. He hated the priests that forced their religion on him. He hated the heroes who were neither heroic nor noble.

He cursed the people who had things he didn't. He cursed those who were born great and lived great.

And in these final moments, as he stared into the face of one such talented individual, he cursed the determined eyes she possessed.

Never in his whole life had he run on determination, only fear, only pain, only hatred. And in this last moment of life, he had one thought as he looked into the crimson eyes that had slain him.

'Stop... looking down on me!'

A sickening sound echoed throughout the now quiet square. His blood flowed out in a great pool along with other less desirable liquids.

Rhea huffed as she attempted to remain standing. Her legs shook, and so did her only usable arm. She closed her eyes and turned off her blessing. Her vision blurred, but she still moved forward a single step.

"Have to... help the others."

Another step.

"Have... save..."

Her next step failed as her knees buckled, causing her to faceplant into brick.

"Damn..."

She could no longer move a muscle. Everything screamed and ached, but she paid no heed to her injuries. Instead, she was more focused on the others and, in particular, how the awkward boy she had met was doing. She was positive he would win. After all, she saw great promise in that clumsy man. Thinking of him, she smiled warmly for no one to see.