Chapter 56: Darkness and a Sword

John’s eyes widened at the realization, and before he could react, he had already crossed the first cluster of threads. They bit into his skin, carving deep cuts across his arms and chest.

But it wasn’t that easy.

Whatever that potion had done to him, it had made him absurdly durable. I’d expected the threads to cleave through him like butter. Instead, he managed to snap them outright.

And before his momentum could carry him into the second cluster, he forced himself to a stop.

But I wasn’t an idiot. I’d prepared for that.

"Smart."

John barely got the word out before I detonated a light orb behind him. Even if it didn’t damage him, the sheer force was enough to send him stumbling into another group of threads.

Compared to the momentum of his supersonic speed, though, this time the threads didn’t cut as deeply.

"Tough bastard."

I twisted my arms together, commanding the threads to converge rather than hold position. But before they could blend him like a blender—

BOOM!

A powerful gust of wind crashed down from above him, sending my threads flying back toward me. I dispelled them at the last second, skidding backward from the sheer force of the blast.

"Using my momentum against me..."

John winced, staring at the deep cuts across his arms, legs, and chest. The kind of wounds that only appeared when someone ran full speed into a wall of knives.

Which, technically, he had.

John straightened despite the wounds, the potion’s glow still pulsing beneath his skin. The cuts were healing. Not as fast as mine, but fast enough that I could see the edges of the deepest ones knitting together.

That potion was more than just a speed enhancer. Strength, durability, and regeneration. It was a full combat package. No wonder the novel treated it as a game-changer for the later arcs.

"You’re full of surprises, Lord Brimstone."

He swiped his arm in a wide arc with a smile, and before I knew it, a massive chunk of wind materialized at my left, like an executioner’s halberd preparing to cut me in half.

But unlike his previous attacks, this one was made from pure magic.

With a thought, the anti-magic cloak I’d gotten from Titania manifested, covering my body just seconds before the sharp gust met the cloth.

The moment it did, the magic shattered like a million sparks, and Radiant Aegis was already responding, unleashing a hundred tendrils of light from behind my back and sending them barreling toward John.

He moved in quick succession, dodging each tendril and letting them crash harmlessly into the soil. He was moving so fast it looked like he was teleporting.

"How did you survive that? I didn’t even sense—"

He was speaking while moving across the field, continuing to dodge. And while my automatic counterattack from Radiant Aegis continued, I sensed something wrong with the field.

The darkness itself felt like it was clotting, bubbling up like an infected wound.

Did John have more assassins with him?

BOOM!

He used my momentary distraction to rush straight toward me just like before, willingly taking a few hits from my tendrils.

And unlike before, the strange movement in the darkness kept me distracted enough that I wasn’t able to set up my threads in time. Unlike before as well, he was planning to punch me straight in the face.

Not magic. That meant Titania’s cloak wasn’t going to help at all.

I couldn’t dodge it!

"Shit..."

I attempted to brace.

But I was too late—!

"REYN!"

A massive, piercing sound boomed across the battlefield. The darkness shot up around me and encased me like a cocoon as it met John’s punch instead of my face, sending me flying backward and crashing through an entire barn into a pile of hay.

But I wasn’t harmed. The cocoon had tanked everything before disappearing now that I was safe.

"Was that... Trish!?"

I actually laughed. That crazy, incredible woman had actually arrived. If I had to guess, she’d panicked after realizing I wasn’t home at the estate yet, despite the time.

The impact of hitting solid darkness threw John back just as he’d been about to follow through. He skidded across the field, his heels carving trenches in the soil, and when he straightened, his expression had shifted from confident to genuinely wary.

"Lady Fillaunete..."

Trish stood at the edge of the ruined barn, her chest heaving, her silver hair a mess of tangles and windblown strands. She’d clearly run the entire distance from the capital.

Her maid’s uniform was crumpled, and her hands were already weaving another spell, shadows pooling at her feet like waiting serpents.

"You," she said, her voice low and trembling. "You took him. You took Reyn."

She wasn’t asking.

John glanced between us, reassessing. The potion’s glow flickered beneath his skin, still burning bright but noticeably dimmer than before. Whatever he’d consumed, it wasn’t infinite.

"Lady Fillaunete, this doesn’t have to—"

The shadows erupted.

They didn’t reach for John this time. They shot straight into the ground beneath his feet, bursting upward as a forest of dark blades aimed to impale. He barely twisted away, wind gathering around him to deflect the worst of it, but the distraction was enough.

"Lady Yuria, now!"

Yuria!?

The darkness around John exploded as a woman emerged from the dust and smoke, and just as Trish had called, it really was her.

Yuria held a half-sheathed sword with the iconic Brimstone pommel, its engraved blade still pristine. She was dressed in her training uniform, drenched in sweat as if she’d been pulled from practice without warning.

SLASH!

She fully unsheathed the sword and delivered one terrifying slash. John managed to raise a wall of pure wind, but Yuria’s strength, combined with John being overwhelmed from all directions, made it too weak. Her swing cleaved the wall in two and met his skin directly.

The blade carved through his arm, splitting flesh and bone.

"As you command, Lady Fillaunete!"

Yuria yelled out.