THUD!!

With a heavy slam of the giant body, a surreal peace drowned the utterly devastated fields that broke the intense flow of the monstrous duel. Under the glistening high moon, the image of the giant human lying flat on his back against the comparably tiny figure of the gallant heroine contributed for a crispy snack that most bards would strive to devour.

A multitude of mixed emotions donned upon the chieftain's mind as he lay slumped like a sack of grain. Even if he didn't want to, the man had no choice but to accept his complete defeat. When was the last time had he been overwhelmed to such a degree? Even during his younger days before the infamous Trial of Gods, Bojorn could not remember any incident where he had received a beating to such an extent.

The bandit's visage displayed immense fury. Or rather he had to do so. To maintain his berserker strength, the man had to squeeze out every bit of wrath within him, even if that meant to be angry at his conceited self. If he couldn't, the awakened state would cancel out and his body would probably break apart like a shattered piece of glass.

Bojorn held onto a final strand of hope that his body had sensed. The huntress' awakened form must have a backlash similar to his own, the law of cause and effect. Just like Shreya, the bandit had reached the same conclusion, that is to extend the fight as long as possible. And as a concrete piece of evidence, he had felt the woman's strength decrease ever so slightly with each pounding blow that had rattled his insides.

spurt!

Conforming the brute's line of thought, Shreya abruptly vomited a mouthful of blood as she stumbled back a few steps. A deep frown wiped out the blankness on her face, replacing it with a tinge of uneasiness. Without any further hesitation, the huntress dashed forth intending to end this fight for good. Just a few breaths before she neared the sprawled giant.....

shua!

"You shouldn't let your guard down at such moments~~"

Appearing out of thin air like a ghost, a man was already present at a striking distance even before Shreya could notice. With a wide grin on his scarred face, the new bandit reinforcement swung down his sword that glowed bright yellow with blinding speed and accuracy.

swish! pssh!

"What!"

But it didn't take long for the wide smile of the bandit to turn into a scream of surprise in an instant, as his sword dug into the maiden's forearms. The immense recoil felt as if he had just attempted to cut through a chunk of pure steel. His vicious slash could proceed no further, getting stuck in the dense flesh before it could damage the bones.

'Shit!'

Bang!

The scar-faced man had tried to immediately retreat the moment his ambush had failed, but the huntress was even faster, connecting a direct punch to the man's face. He flew back like a bullet, blood streaming down from the mangled nose. Had not rotated his neck with perfect timing to reduce the impact, that strike would have been the end of the fight.

The bandit had a strange assassin type skill and could easily ambush people if present out of their sights Shreyahad instinctively deduced said conclusion and instantly changed her target as she chased the new opponent with a deep furrow of her eyebrows.

Just after the man had impacted the ground from his flight, the huntress brought down her dark, aura covered fist to obliterate the man's head.

shua!

The scar-faced man disappeared from view, barely dodging the woman's fist that tore through the spot with a piercing screech! He frantically sprinted in the opposite direction with an insane velocity and Shreya followed right behind in the next moment, not loosing the slightest in terms of speed.

shua! shua! shua!

Both the individuals raced through the ravaged field, leaving behind flashes of afterimages. The breathtaking speed did not allow the naked eye to track their paths, only being able to visualize the glowing aura particles whenever Shreya delivered a missed swing.

Cold sweat drenched the scar-faced man's forehead as he ran for life with an expression of horror, desperately trying to dodge the huntress' vicious strikes. A single graze and the man knew the fight would conclude. For a moment, he had felt it was his chief that had been chasing with an intention to murder.

The hot pursuit continued for a few minutes until a certain instance when the bandit's expression suddenly relieved.

"Flame Bullets!"

A youthful cry resounded from the direction of the village, and small magic circles abruptly materialized in the air, shooting masses of hot crimson flames towards the huntress.

pew! pew! pew! pew!

Shreya halted her pursuit in an instant that let the fleeing bandit escape out of sight. Canceling out on her bone-cracking momentum with fair ease, she glided backward like a figure skater in a zig-zag path. At each point where her direction changed, a flaming mass impacted the ground with a miniature explosion.

boom! boom! boom! boom! shua!

And just at the moment the flaming missiles ended, the scar-faced man slithered in out of nowhere for a second time, delivering a light slash at the huntress' back that tore off her tanned skin, and he disappeared right in that instance before Shreya could turn back to respond.

"Fireball!!"

A large, crimson magic circle, almost the size of a human in diameter materialized in the distance that shot a massive mass of scorching hot flames. Like a cannonball of pure fire, the flaming mass zoomed at the huntress who was just about to give chase.

BOOM!

Shreya jumped back a few meters, evading the giant flame sphere that exploded right at the spot where she had stood. The intense explosion radiated fiendish, scorching hot flares that heated up the air in an instant. Even though she had dodged the magic attack by a large margin, the heat waves still burnt the huntress' skin that brought forth faint, burnt patches into sight. Even some of her hair strands glowed bright red as if they were burning embers before they were extinguished by the scarce misty aura that gradually decreased in volume.

"Hmph!" annoyed at the mage's intervention, Shreya picked up a fist-sized shard of rock. Unwinding her self like a bowstring with amazing flexibility, she hurled the rock in the direction of the village with all her might.

screeech!

The shard zoomed in like a meteor as the razor-sharp winds created from the sheer momentum eroded anything remotely close on its path. Even though the rock whizzed past open air, it dug up a trail on the ground below, instantly reaching its target at near supersonic speeds.

"!!!"

The black-cloaked mage at the distance flinched with horror at the unconventional danger. In almost no time, a ring that adorned one of his fingers glowed brightly before numerous distortions warped the fabric of space ahead, creating layers of protective barriers.

RIIP! bang! bang! bang! BOOM!

But to the man's further terror, the numerous barriers were comically torn apart like pieces of paper, as the rock covered with the pitch-black aura pierced through. The magical equipment couldn't offer any commendable resistance, only being able to delay the danger for a breath or half. In a desperate attempt, the mage dove out of the way before his body came crashing down like a heap. The rock followed through and impacted within the village as a few huts nearby the entrance exploded with an ear deafening noise.

The mage's back was instantly drenched with cold sweat and he was barely able to steady himself. The hands of death were almost reflected right in his pupils. The special magic ring had shattered like a frail piece of pottery, bringing forth an expression of pain and regret as the man trembled on the ground with fear. It took a few long and deep breaths before the intense shivering calmed down, and his hands glowed bright with power as a magic chant in a strange, infernal language escaped his mouth.

On the other side, Shreya was battling the scar-faced man who had ambushed her for the third time right after her devastating pitch. Strangely enough, the man decided to contend with the monster of a huntress as the two of them exchanged blows with their limbs blurring out of sight.

Even though the scar-faced man was pushed back with numerous injuries in each encounter, he held on gritting his teeth as he endured the huntress' occasional pummeling that disfigured his very physique.

Bang! A mighty shin to the pelvis. Bang! A vicious punch to the left abdomen.

As the fierce dogfight continued, the frown upon Shreya's visage only grew deeper.

Only a single strand of the dark aura visibly swayed around the huntress, but that was enough to combat the bandit's insane speed. The grievous injuries stacked up on the scar-faced bandit and the crippling pain might have already knocked out the strongest of men. But he still hung on like a leech, trading furious blows with death itself, until a moment when a gleam of resolve flashed within his desperate eyes and he suddenly dashed forth without any care of danger.

Bang! CRACK! pssh!

The result was expected, as Shreya slipped in like the wind, planting an overbearing kick at the man's ribs that instantly turned a few of his bones into a fine powder. The ferocious momentum launched the assassin into the air as he coughed out a mouthful of blood, but not before he managed to accurately slice at the huntress' knee. The mutual blow was timed perfectly by the scar-faced man as the infernal chant had concluded just then.

"Flame Binding Arts : Confinements of Hell!!"

schiiiing!

As soon as the mage uttered the words invoked with magic, a massive circle that glowed bright blue with exquisite patterns and symbols, appeared right beneath the huntress' feet.

clank! clank! clank!

The severed ligament didn't let Shreya dash out of the circle in time and the next instance, burning chains of bluish infernal flames shot out with clanking sounds from within those strange symbols before they wound all around the huntress' physique as if she was a condemned prisoner.

"Ughhh! Arhhhhhhhh!" Shreya screamed with grueling agony, as the bluish flames threatened to purge her body into ashes. No matter how much strength she exerted, the seemingly ethereal chains showed no signs of breaking.

"HAHHHH!", arriving close at death's door, the black tattoos upon the huntress deepened by a shade, emitting an exuberant amount of pitch-black aura like the final flash of a dying candle.

KABOOOM!

The two forms of energy collided with another deafening explosion that sent powerful tremors throughout the region. Much to the mage's expression of astonishment and horror, the magic circle was destroyed in an instant and the burning chains disappeared like a wisp of smoke. But fortunately for them, the mage had already completed his job.

"Haaaaaaah!"

A giant crimson mass swished forwards, right at the instance the explosion cleared out and the giant adamantite sword connected fair and square with it's longed target.

BAAANG!

The single strike Bojorn had been waiting for was finally delivered after a long and arduous high-level battle. The heavy blow made the huntress travel a distance of a few hundred meters, shooting her right through the village. Her body drilled through the thatched structures, destroying any huts or houses in the path before exiting through the wooden walls at the back of the settlement and disappeared within the dense foliage.

The intense fight had ultimately concluded in favor of the bandits, as Shreya did not get back up to her feet ever again.