With the third person dead, their numbers had dwindled to four though only three advanced toward Seth, as Boyle remained behind them. After witnessing Seth's brutal onslaught, the group had finally shaken off their shock, now approaching him cautiously with measured steps.
Seth exhaled a ragged breath, a clear testament to his growing exhaustion. Despite the precision of his movements and the calculated nature of his attacks, his frail body hadn't magically recovered. The relentless exertion was beginning to take its toll.
Turning to the dead boy beside him, Seth eyed the sword still lodged in the corpse's neck. He reached to pull it free but quickly realized it was stuck. Instead, he pried the sword from the dead boy's loosely clenched hands.
Exhaustion weighed heavily on him. The searing pain in his shoulder made using his left hand nearly impossible, and maintaining full focus was a constant struggle. To make matters worse, the advantage he once held, born from their initial shock had long since faded.
He knew that if he charged at them blindly now, it would only end in his death.
Taking a deep breath, Seth pressed his fingers against several pressure points on his body. His muscles tensed in response, and veins pulsed visibly beneath his clothes. A sudden surge of rejuvenating strength flooded through him.
With renewed vigor, he charged straight at the group.
The first to react was the boy wielding wind magic.
"[Aeris: Surging Gust!]" he shouted.
Once again, a gust of wind hurtled toward him. But this time, anticipating the attack, Seth rolled smoothly out of the way, causing the blast to miss him entirely. As he recovered from the roll, he transitioned seamlessly into a sprint, rapidly closing the distance between him and the group.
Stev, standing at the forefront, reacted quickly, swinging his sword mercilessly at Seth.
With his physical abilities heightened by the mysterious technique he had used, Seth moved fast enough to evade the strike with a well-timed kneeling slide. The blade whistled past his face, missing by mere inches. Without missing a beat, he slashed at the back of Stev's ankle, causing him to instantly lose his balance.
Stev collapsed to the ground with a scream of pain, blood pooling beneath him.
Still kneeling and vulnerable, Seth found himself in the perfect line of attack. The third noble, wielding a sword, seized the opportunity and lunged at him.
But, as always, it was a calculated move.
At the last second, Seth retaliated with the strange wooden staff he had picked up from the ground which formerly belonged to the girl he struck first. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through the searing pain in his right shoulder, using his left hand to wield the staff.
He thrust the object straight at the girl's face — and with brutal finality, it lodged itself in her mouth.
Feeling his essence surge, stronger and more empowered than ever before, Seth spoke softly.
"[Umbra: Repel.]"
With a deafening bang, an invisible force exploded from the staff, shooting directly into the girl's mouth. The amplification provided by the staff made the blast far more powerful than anything he could have achieved on his own.
The force sent her hurtling backward, but the devastation didn't stop there. Her head burst apart like a watermelon struck by a hammer, sending blood, bone, and brain matter splattering in all directions.
Seeing the gruesome way the girl had died and realizing how few of them remained, the noble who wielded magic hesitated for a split second — then broke into a desperate sprint, attempting to flee.
Boyle and Stev stood speechless, watching in disbelief as the boy ran.
But Seth wasn't about to let his prey escape.
With careful aim and precise timing, he hurled his sword. The weapon spun through the air before landing squarely at the back of the boy's head, killing him instantly.
With him dead, only two remained- Boyle and Stev.
Retrieving his sword once more, Seth spoke, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
"Three and two."
He approached Stev slowly, his gaze locking onto the young noble's eyes, sending an icy chill down his spine.
Panic surged through Stev as the realization of his impending death set in. Desperately, he tried to crawl away, his wounded ankles making it impossible to stand.
"Bastard!"
Before Seth could deliver the final blow to Stev, Boyle finally joined the fight, wielding a sword he had likely taken from one of the corpses.
Seth raised his own blade just in time to block the attack, but the impact made his body recoil- Boyle possessed a far more impressive physical strength.
Not giving him a moment to recover, Boyle pressed on with relentless fury, swinging his sword repeatedly. Despite the strain and growing fatigue, Seth gritted his teeth and managed to block or parry each strike, though it was clear he was being pushed to his limits.
Seeing Seth continuously parry and defend against his attacks only fueled Boyle's fury. The mere thought of a half-blood holding his ground felt like an unforgivable insult. Enraged, his strikes grew more aggressive and erratic.
As he poured all his strength into a powerful vertical slash, Seth neither parried nor blocked, he simply sidestepped. With nothing to catch his blade, Boyle's momentum betrayed him. He stumbled forward, losing his footing in a clumsy, unceremonious fall.
Without a moment's hesitation, Seth slashed at him- but this time, he didn't deliver a killing blow. Instead, his blade carved through Boyle's hands, severing them completely.
It took a few heartbeats for Boyle's mind to process what had happened, but when it finally registered, reality hit him like a thunderclap.
"Aaarrgghhh!"
"My… hands… t-they're gone!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking with agony as tears, snot, and saliva streamed uncontrollably down his face.
Ignoring Boyle's agonized screams, Seth turned his attention back to Stev, who was still desperately crawling away, his fingers clawing at the dirt in a futile attempt to escape.
'How did it go again?' Seth thought calmly.
'Right…'
"[Blackthorn Basic Technique: Inception Slashes]," he muttered.
With cold precision, he executed the sword technique commonly used by Casper. His blade flew swift and true, cutting through Stev's body with relentless force. Blood splattered in violent arcs, painting the ground in shades of crimson. Flesh was torn, bones shattered, and organs were severed.
Stev's cries for mercy rang out, desperate and pitiful but Seth didn't stop. He hacked without hesitation, without remorse, only ceasing when silence finally fell over the mutilated body.
"And then there was one…" Seth murmured, his voice calm and emotionless as his gaze shifted to Boyle.