Even though the white light beam continued to burn his body, the damage no longer increased—in fact, his original wounds began to heal.

  This was the immense power gained in exchange for his entire life, lasting only a few minutes.

  The white light beam faded.

  The moment the attack stopped, Morgar struck.

  Faster and more powerful than ever before.

  He landed a solid punch directly on Hulim.

  Boom——!!!

  The air erupted with a shockwave the moment the punch landed on Hulim.

  The Thunder Armor on her chest shattered. Hulim flew away like a meteor streaking across the sky at high speed.

  Yet before she hit the ground, Morgar caught up to her mid-air.

  Then he kicked out with all his strength.

  Thud!

  Hulim’s body was forced to change direction, flying upward.

  But she had barely crashed through two floors when Morgar caught up to her again.

  He clasped his hands together and smashed down with a mighty punch.

  Boom——!

  This time, two floors were pierced instantly. The ground below shattered, forming a huge crater.

  "Cough! Cough!"

  At the bottom of the smoky crater, Hulim lay with her Thunder Armor almost completely shattered.

  "......So strong."

  The sound of a heavy object landing echoed beside the crater. Then heavy footsteps slowly approached.

  Hulim gripped her mithril steel sword and stood up.

  "Whoosh——!"

  She took another deep breath, then closed her eyes.

  Boom!

  Morgar’s ultra-fast punch hurtled toward her.

  At the same moment, Hulim opened her eyes—like a bolt of lightning cutting through the world. Everything in her field of vision seemed to slow down. She could even clearly see the air tearing and twisting as Morgar’s fist advanced.

  "Hayelar Swordsmanship, Fifth Form——"

  "Thunder."

  Boom——!!!

  A bolt of lightning streaked past Morgar.

  "......"

  The air fell eerily silent.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  Morgar slowly turned his head to look at Hulim, who had appeared behind him. Then,

  Thud!

  His right hand—still mid-punch—broke clean off at the shoulder and fell to the ground.

  The stump of his shoulder squirmed, and the wound healed quickly, but the severed hand could not be restored.

  Without a word, Morgar turned around and attacked with his remaining left hand.

  Boom——!!!

  Lightning streaked past him again......

  Thud!

  This time, his left hand also fell to the ground.

  "......"

  Hulim slowly raised her mithril steel sword to her chest.

  "【......】"

  "Thunder Dragon Descent!"

  Boom!

  A massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky. At the same time, Hulim swung her sword again, merging with the descending lightning like a thunderous dragon slashing at Morgar......

  After the attack, a huge slash appeared on Morgar’s chest. The wound surface was completely charred, rendering his healing ability ineffective.

  But even if his healing ability had worked, it wouldn’t have mattered.

  His life force—long since cut off from its source—gushed out wildly at this moment, finally reaching its end.

  "......"

  In his final moments, Morgar said nothing. It was as if his earlier madness had been an act. No— it wasn’t an act. Even until the end, those purple eyes stared fixedly at Hulim, still filled with mad coldness......

  Dazzling white light engulfed Morgar’s body once more.

  This time, he had no more tricks left. He disappeared completely into the white light......

  Clang!

  In the now-quiet bottommost floor, the mithril steel sword fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

  Hulim looked at the sword, then raised her trembling hands.

  "Using Thunder three times in a row is still too much......"

  Unlike the previous forms, the Fifth Form of Hayelar Swordsmanship was not a regular sword technique, but a rare burst skill.

  As a burst skill, its power was naturally extraordinary—but this also meant it couldn’t be used casually.

  It took Hulim a long time to recover.

  Fortunately, she had practiced regularly, and using it only three times had saved her hands. If she had used it a few more times, even if her hands weren’t crippled, they would have been severely damaged—requiring countless Healing Magic spells to repair......

  She picked up the mithril steel sword again.

  Hulim glanced upward.

  "I wonder how Miko and Arthur are......"

  Whoosh!

  Hulim flew straight up, quickly reaching the topmost floor through the battle-damaged levels.

  Meanwhile, some time earlier......

  Outside the prison cells.

  "Madmen! These two are mad!""I want to live a few more days!""Whoever wants to die for this cause can keep fighting—count me out!"

  Under Arthur and Miko’s near-mad assault, the remaining armed men finally lost their will to fight.

  As the first man fled, the rest soon scattered, leaving no one behind.

  "Hah! Hah! Hah......"

  Miko and Arthur leaned on their weapons, gasping for breath as they watched the men run. They had no strength left to chase—they had persisted solely through willpower.

  When the last man disappeared from sight.

  Clang! Clang!

  With two sounds of weapons falling, Arthur and Miko collapsed to the ground.

  ......

  When Hulim arrived outside the prison cells, she saw the two lying on the ground.

  "Miko!!! Arthur!!!"

  Whoosh!

  Hulim rushed to Miko’s side.

  "Heal! Heal! Heal......"

  As the light shone down, Miko opened her eyes.

  "......Huh? Hulim? Are you okay?"

  "I’m fine, but you two aren’t!"

  "Ah......"

  Miko stared for a moment, then smiled.

  "Don’t worry—most of this is the enemy’s blood. We’re not seriously injured, just exhausted."

  "That’s a relief."

  Hulim let out a slight sigh of relief.

  Once Miko’s injuries had mostly healed, she hurried to Arthur’s side and cast Healing Magic.

  After some time, Miko and Arthur had regained some strength.

  "Hulim, what exactly happened here? Earlier, it felt like some terrifying figure was fighting underground?"

  Arthur asked, stretching his sore limbs.

  "Yeah, I remember there was a really strong leader here......"

  Miko also recalled Morgar’s existence.

  "Don’t worry—someone’s already dealt with him. We won’t be threatened for the time being."

  "Huh?! Really!? ""Dealt with him? Who did it?!"

  Both Miko and Arthur were shocked.

  "Do you think I would know?"

  "Uh, right......" Arthur nodded. "From that commotion, if you’d been nearby, you definitely wouldn’t be unharmed like this, right?"

  "......"

  "But what on earth happened?"

  "Enough—we don’t need to investigate that. The most important thing now is to leave quickly!"

  "You’re right! Alice is still inside—I need to get her out right away!"

  Arthur rushed into the prison cells anxiously.

  "Miko, let’s go too——"

  Hulim turned around, only to see Miko staring at her intently.

  "......What’s wrong?"

  Miko tilted her head, looking at Hulim as if trying to figure out something inexplicable.

  "Why does Hulim have the aura of that powerful guy on you?"