Eamon went flying and fell at a distance. His head hit a stone.
For a few seconds, he could not hear anything.
The impact had left his ears ringing, and his vision had become blurry. He tried to move his fingers, but his body felt heavy. Blood slowly trickled down the side of his forehead.
He gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up.
Not far away, Damien and Roneth stood beside Haizer. Haizer was still lying on the ground, barely conscious. The wound in his chest had been stitched by Damien's blood magic, but every breath was still painful for him.
The mermaid suddenly rushed toward them.
Damien immediately raised his sai-daggers.
Roneth tightened his grip on his remaining weapons.
The mermaid's arms suddenly changed.
Water gathered around both her hands, and in an instant, her hands turned into long, sharp blades. The edges shimmered like glass under the faint light coming through the trees.
She jumped.
The ground beneath her feet cracked from the force of her movement.
She came down toward Damien and Roneth with both blades raised.
The entire ground shook.
Damien brought both his sai-daggers together and blocked the blade coming toward him. At the same time, Roneth crossed his two swords and stopped the mermaid's other blade.
The collision sent a powerful shock through their arms.
Damien's knees bent.
Roneth's feet dug into the ground.
Neither of them had expected such strength from a single attack.
The land below their feet cracked a little.
They could feel the mermaid's power through their weapons. The pressure from her attack was immense. Their arms trembled as they tried to hold her back.
Damien gritted his teeth.
"She's too strong."
Roneth did not answer.
He was already using almost all the strength he had left.
The mermaid looked at them calmly.
Then she jumped back.
She landed a short distance away and gave them a smile.
But the smile was not soothing.
It was creepy.
There was something almost unnatural about the way she smiled while looking at them. Her eyes remained cold, and the red serpent inside them seemed to move faintly.
Then she attacked again.
This time, her movement was faster.
Damien barely managed to block the first strike.
Roneth blocked the second.
The mermaid attacked again.
And again.
With every attack, the force seemed to increase.
Roneth and Damien were barely able to keep up.
Their weapons moved rapidly as they blocked, dodged, and countered. Sparks flew every time metal collided with the water blades.
Roneth's breathing became heavier.
His chest wound was still hurting badly.
"When she attacked me two nights ago, I didn't even get to see her, yet she gave me such a big wound." He remembered the pain from that night.
"That wound is why I am so weak now."
He blocked another attack and almost lost his balance.
"But even if I was at my full strength, I don't think I would've been able to keep up with this monster."
The mermaid swung her blade toward his head.
Roneth ducked.
The blade passed above him.
He immediately moved to the side and attacked her shoulder.
She blocked his sword with her other arm.
At the same time, Damien attacked from the opposite side.
The mermaid twisted her body and avoided the attack.
Damien's eyes narrowed.
His vampire senses allowed him to follow her movements. He could see her attacks coming a little earlier than Roneth could.
But sensing her movements and stopping them were two different things.
He simply did not have enough strength to fight her head-on.
His muscles were already tired, and his blood magic had consumed a large amount of his energy.
The mermaid suddenly increased her speed.
She disappeared from in front of Damien for a fraction of a second.
Roneth saw an opening.
He jumped from behind her while she was clashing with Damien.
His sword moved toward her back.
But before Roneth could land the attack, the mermaid kicked Damien away.
Damien was thrown backward.
The mermaid turned instantly.
Her water blade struck Roneth's sword.
Crack!
Roneth's sword broke into pieces.
His eyes widened.
Before Roneth could even process what had happened, the mermaid pulled her right hand back.
The blade disappeared.
Her hand became normal again.
A magic circle suddenly appeared above that hand.
Roneth's eyes widened.
"Oh no..."
The mermaid brought her hand forward.
A huge explosion erupted from the magic circle.
The blast struck Roneth directly.
He was thrown far away.
His body crashed through several branches before hitting the ground.
Pain spread through every part of his body.
Blood covered his clothes.
He tried to move.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
His arms shook, but he still could not stand.
His vision blurred.
The mermaid turned toward him.
Damien suddenly attacked her from behind.
"You monster. I will not let you hurt anyone anymore."
The mermaid turned her head.
Damien swung his sai-daggers.
She ducked beneath the attack.
Damien immediately followed with another strike.
The mermaid moved away.
Then both of her hands changed again.
Water gathered around them.
Her fingers disappeared beneath the flowing water, and both arms became long blades.
She was using both her hands to fight.
Damien's expression hardened.
The mermaid rushed toward him.
Their weapons collided.
One strike.
Two.
Three.
Damien was forced backward.
Roneth, still lying on the ground, tried to raise himself.
He could not.
He saw Damien fighting alone.
He forced his body to move.
His hand reached for his daggers.
With great effort, Roneth pulled himself up.
He staggered forward.
The mermaid swung her left blade toward Damien.
Damien blocked it.
Roneth moved behind her and attacked.
The mermaid turned.
Roneth raised his daggers and blocked her strike.
For a few moments, the three of them moved across the battlefield like shadows.
The mermaid attacked with both blades.
Roneth defended with his daggers.
Damien moved around her, looking for an opening.
But every time they attacked, she responded instantly.
Then the mermaid made a sideways slash.
Roneth pulled his dagger in front of his chest and pulled his body slightly back.
The attack struck both daggers.
Crack!
The attacks cut down Roneth's daggers from the middle.
Roneth stared at the broken weapons in disbelief.
He had barely recovered when Damien jumped backward.
He raised his hand.
"Noctis Blood Barrage!"
A huge number of small, pointed, stone-shaped chunks of blood appeared around Damien.
More than a hundred formed at once.
They floated in the air for a moment before shooting toward the mermaid.
The blood projectiles filled the battlefield.
The mermaid watched them approach.
She simply waved her hand sideways.
Following the movement of her hand, huge waves of water erupted from the ground.
The waves crashed into Damien's attack.
The blood projectiles were instantly pushed away.
Some were swallowed by the water, while others flew harmlessly into the trees.
Not a single attack reached the mermaid.
Roneth clenched his teeth.
He raised his hand.
"Noctis Blood Barrage!"
The same attack appeared again.
Hundreds of blood projectiles rushed toward the mermaid.
She moved her hand.
Another massive wave of water erupted.
The attack was deflected again.
Roneth stared at her.
He could barely believe it.
He tried again.
And again.
Each time, the mermaid simply waved her hand and destroyed the attack as if it were nothing.
The battle continued like that for a while.
Blood filled the ground.
Water covered the trees.
Branches were torn apart.
The earth was cracked from the constant attacks.
But the mermaid remained almost untouched.
Roneth's breathing became rough.
His body was exhausted.
His chest wound was burning.
His broken weapons had left him almost defenseless.
He knew that another powerful attack was coming from the mermaid.
He could feel it.
But there was simply no way to anticipate what she was going to do.
She had already shown several different types of water magic, and every spell seemed more powerful than the last.
Roneth took a step back.
His legs almost gave out.
The mermaid slowly raised her hand.
Roneth's eyes widened.
A huge magic circle appeared beneath him on the ground.
It was almost forty feet wide.
Roneth immediately jumped upward.
But it was too late.
The magic circle activated.
Water exploded from its edges.
A cyclone rose from the ground.
Within seconds, it reached hundreds of feet above the forest.
Roneth was trapped inside it.
The cyclone spun around him at terrifying speed.
Water surrounded him from every direction.
The pressure was so strong that Roneth could not control his body.
He was actually floating in the air inside the cyclone.
He tried to move his arms.
The wind and water pushed him back.
He tried to force his way out.
It was impossible.
Then something flashed through the spinning water.
A sharp blade made of water came from one edge of the circle.
It flew across the center of the cyclone and struck the other side before dissolving.
The first blade passed just above Roneth's head.
Roneth's eyes widened.
"What...?"
Another blade appeared.
Then another.
Then several more.
Sharp blades made of water began coming from all sides of the cyclone.
They flew across the spinning space from every direction.
Roneth tried to dodge.
One blade passed beside his face.
Another cut his arm.
A third grazed his leg.
Then another struck his shoulder.
Blood began spreading through the water around him.
Roneth tried to regain control of his body, but the pressure inside the cyclone would not allow him to move properly.
More blades came.
Some grazed his arms.
Some cut his legs.
Others struck his torso.
He twisted his body whenever he saw one coming, but there were simply too many.
His wounds continued to increase.
Blood flowed from his body and mixed with the water.
Roneth's breathing became weaker.
His regeneration had already begun slowing down.
He had used too much energy.
Now there was barely anything left.
His body could no longer repair the wounds fast enough. "I can't keep this up..."
Another blade cut across his side.
Roneth clenched his teeth.
His vision began to blur.
He had lost too much blood.
The cyclone continued spinning.
The blades continued coming.
Roneth's movements became slower and slower.
Finally, his eyes could no longer remain open.
The cyclone suddenly started to shrink.
The huge wall of water began lowering toward the ground.
Roneth's body fell from a great height.
He hit the ground hard.
His body bounced once before becoming completely still.
He had lost consciousness.
The mermaid looked at him.
She slowly began walking toward his fallen body.
Her footsteps were calm.
There was no rush in her movements.
She reached Roneth.
He did not move.
The mermaid raised her hand.
Water gathered around it.
She was about to attack Roneth.
Then suddenly, someone screamed.
"Arcana Serpent Coil!"
And multiple, huge and long serpents made of fire attacked the mermaid.