The Gamer’s POV

'Damn… she's a monster.'

Although I was impressed, I quickly looked away from Evelyn, then slashed two rabbits that were attacking from the side at the same time. Without slowing, I spun and defended myself from a few more while swinging both swords around intensely.

The intense slaughter continued on for a few more seconds, before the flailing chaos of the rabbits ceased as both Celeste and Dion pinned the last of the rabbits to the ground.

I didn't hear any EXP notification, which probably meant that Celeste and Dion were the only ones who got a power up since they were the ones who killed the last of the rabbits.

'Talk about severely high risk and no reward!' I frowned and cursed inwardly in frustration.

…By now, the mountain pass around us was slick with blood and dotted with shredded corpses.

We all stumbled backward, exhausted and shivering, trying to catch our breaths in the cold air. But since we could already hear the high-pitched squealing of the next approaching horde, we couldn't relax for long.

I then looked at my wakizashi and called out.

'Aika?'~

In response, the sword vibrated intensely, and her voice resounded in my mind. Since she already knew what I wanted to ask, she quickly responded, '…Sure.'~~

I released my grip on the wakizashi, and it dropped into the snow and transformed into Aika. She immediately moved swiftly, circling the battlefield and tapping the scattered rabbit corpses. With each tap, the bodies faded and vanished instantly into the inventory.

While this was happening, the rest of us looked ahead and braced ourselves as we could now see over a hundred aggressive mountain rabbits approaching from both the sides and the front of the mountain pass.

Seeing the horde, rather than feel fear, I felt immense joy. In my eyes, all I could see was EXP to take me to the next Grade.

'Ahhh… Time to farm.' I smiled and raised my katana, then I ran two fingers across its flat. As I did, a wave of eerie black flames erupted and coated the blade.

I couldn't wait for the monsters to reach us. Instead, I lunged at them, spun and swept my blade low across the snow, taking off the front legs of the first dozen rabbits in a single, fiery arc.

Then I raised my katana high while also expelling more mana, and the flames on the blade grew so intense that it began to distort the air around it. With a savage motion I brought down my sword, and a long line of burning, black devastation tore through the approaching horde.

The rabbits that were not hit began to swarm around me with frantic speed, threatening to overwhelm me. But for some reason, instead of fear creeping in, my heart hammered with exhilarating confidence.

A grin split my face as a cocoon of black flames instantly surged from me in a circle that expanded, taking everything in ten meters around me.

Before the large blossom of flames could even die down, I launched out of it, spun mid-air, and swung my sword releasing a second, concentrated wave of black fire that sliced through the horde.

Those that did not die by the blade, died after being fully consumed by my flames.

As the deafening flood of notifications rang in my ears, I couldn't help but feel like I was almost intoxicated.

'What is this feeling?' I thought as I lunged without slowing, carving another arc through the dense ranks of the charging rabbits.

Since coming to this realm, I had been in many battles, but because I had always been on the struggling end, fighting just to survive, I never noticed the raw, addictive thrill that came from absolute dominance.

"Ha!"

I didn't even notice myself laughing as I pulled my foot back and savagely kicked a dissolving rabbit corpse into the path of an oncoming wave.

The corpse landed with a wet slap and rolled amongst the front rank, and then I snapped my fingers and roared, "Burn!"

Instantly, the fire from the rabbit exploded in a blinding flash that consumed the rabbits nearest to it.

But right after that, I swayed suddenly, feeling a bit dizzy, and all my flames began to flicker and shrink dramatically, which signaled that I was low on mana.

"Aisshh!"

I clicked my tongue and forcefully regained my focus, immediately shifting from magic back to pure sword skill.

My flames all hissed and dissipated into smoke, leaving only the flame on my sword, which I used to cleanly cleave the head off a rabbit that had slipped past my guard.

But just then, I saw someone dash past me into the horde.

It was Evelyn.

She grabbed two rabbits with her hands and smashed their skulls against each other, then laughed and yelled. "Oi! What are you doing taking all for yourself? Leave some for me!"

'Eh?'

As she spoke, the blood from the rabbits she held in her now outstretched arms suddenly flew out in crimson streams, sharpening instantly and turning into tiny, razor-sharp needles that shot toward dozens of rabbits around her in a lethal spray.

The rabbits within a few dozen meters all dropped dead, oozing blood that rapidly stained the entire snow around her a dark, shocking red.

But just like before, in the next second, all the dead rabbits began to split into multiple others.

However, before they could even lunge, Evelyn raised a hand, and the vast pool of crimson that stained the snow suddenly shot upward, coalescing into gigantic, jagged thorns of hardened blood that impaled and annihilated the multiplying clones.

[The character Evelyn Marcus has activated the exclusive skill: Blood Aegis.]

…At this point, only a few dozen of the rabbits were left. Evelyn let out a savage laugh and charged. "They are mine!"

I gripped the hilt of my sword tighter, smiled, and yelled back after her. "No, they are mine!"

Then I lunged as well, and both of us disappeared into the remaining horde, dissolving into a chaotic, final frenzy of blood, black fire and red snow.