THE USELESS PRINCE

At first, Ash's steps were rather limp and slow because his stamina was almost depleted, but when the Dread Reaper was about to launch its next attack, he began to speed up.

Clutching the Sword of Dawn that was surrounded by a magnificent golden aura, he began to run.

Meanwhile, the Dread Reaper had quickly summoned over 100 sharp spikes from nowhere, all of which had already determined their target - Ash.

The Dread Reaper had no intention of killing Furina because from what it saw, Ash was a much greater danger.

He was an unknown that could not be read, meanwhile, Furina was injured and could not move anymore.

"RUN AT ME, DREAD REAPER!" He shouted loudly, starting to run faster.

His legs felt like they were about to explode, but he did not care about that. All that was going through his head were only 3 things:

Dodge the incoming attacks, accelerate, and slash.

And then, the spikes started flying towards him, one by one at a terrifying speed, as if they wanted to turn his body into a beehive.

Normally, when a normal person faced those spikes, they would feel panic and hesitation, and if it was Ash from before, he would 100% feel the same way.

But now… things were different.

When facing those terrifying weapons, Ash didn't feel the slightest bit of fear.

He just felt…

'They're so slow.'

Maybe it was because of his current buffs, that Ash didn't feel nervous at all?

The spikes flew towards him, and Ash dodged them with ease and extreme skill.

If they attacked him from the right, he would dodge to the left.

And if they attacked him from the left, he would simply dodge to the right.

But of course, nothing was perfect. Especially when Ash was constantly dodging hundreds of sharp spikes that were launching at him at a horrifying speed.

Because of that, a few wounds appeared on his body, but he did not flinch in pain, on the contrary, he ran faster.

The distance between Ash and the Dread Reaper was getting shorter and shorter, at the same time, his sword was also ready to attack, he just needed to wait for the right moment.

On the other hand, the Dread Reaper also realized that something was wrong, after all, it was an Unholy Wraith.

So, to Ash's surprise, it ran away.

***

To be honest, the Abyssal Creature running away was not in Ash's original plan.

It wasn't that he had forgotten about that possibility, but rather that he was confident that he could still handle it if it happened.

The moment the Dread Reaper started to change its target to Furina and charged towards her was also the moment Ash turned around in time.

He quickly accelerated, not allowing the Dread Reaper to reach its goal.

Ash tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, his hair fluttering in the wind.

The rays of light dancing around his blade became even more insane.

"STOP! YOU BASTARD!" He shouted.

Ash jumped, the sword raised high, the light bursting out, shining like a shooting star.

A beam of light, as bright as the fire of heaven, shot out from the blade, tearing through space, carrying with it violent whirlwinds.

And then, Ash swung the Sword of Dawn down, aiming to split the Abyssal Creature in half.

But unfortunately, at that crucial moment, it reacted in time and dodged to the side.

However, even though its speed could be considered extremely fast, it still couldn't completely avoid Ash's slash.

As a result… The Dread Reaper's right wing was severed and slowly fell to the ground. The next moment, blood began to flow out like a waterfall.

The Dread Reaper screamed in pain, its body trembling uncontrollably.

Then, it glared at Ash, emitting a large amount of killing intent. But it couldn't do anything anymore because that pain was continuously tormenting the Abyssal Creature.

Angry, it could only run away like a loser, returning to the place where Furina and Ash first discovered it to heal its wounds.

It wasn't just the pain - it was the weapon that Ash was holding. That sword wasn't normal. It feared it.

Dread Reaper understood that it could not defeat Ash when he still had that weapon, thus, running away was the best option for now.

The battle had ended.

And Ash had successfully driven the Dread Reaper away and survived, however, he knew that this was not the actual end.

The Dread Reaper would definitely come back, even stronger than before.

Only when it died, could everything truly come to an end.

But at least for the time being, he would not have to worry about that Unholy Wraith anymore.

***

Ash quickly ran towards Furina, not even having the time to feel happy after his victory because he was worried about her.

"Furina! Are you okay? Are you feeling better? How is your leg?"

"First of all, congratulations on winning. As for my leg, I don't think it's healed yet. I still can't move."

Hearing that, Ash hesitated for a moment but still chose to say:

"...Then let me carry you."

"Huh?" Furina was stunned.

Ash didn't give her any time to refuse or say anything and immediately put her behind him.

But the next moment, Ash realized how stupid his choice was.

His body was still extremely tired and sore from fighting that Abyssal Creature and using the Sword of Dawn to the point that he just wanted to faint at this moment, and now, he had to carry a girl on his back?

Needless to say, every part of Ash's body was screaming for him to stop.

'Shut up, you idiots! If I let her go now, it would be humiliating.'

Furthermore, if they stayed here for another second, who knew what kind of danger they would face?

Because of the tremors and noises just now, Ash was 99% sure that many more Abyssal Creatures were heading here.

Meanwhile, Ash was almost exhausted and Furina could not move anymore.

Therefore, defeating those Abyssal Creatures was impossible.

"Hey Ash, am I heavy?" Furina suddenly spoke up.

"...Yes, you are." Ash replied nonchalantly without thinking much.

Right after that, a thick killing intent was suddenly emitted from behind him, causing him to feel a shiver run down his spine.

Realizing that he had just misspoken, Ash immediately thought of some excuse to cover up his mistake:

"Ah…but since it's you, I don't mind! No matter how heavy you are, I'll still carry you! Hahahaha…" Cold sweat continuously broke out.

"..." Furina didn't respond, but since she had stopped emitting her killing intent, it seemed like everything was fine.

With a sigh of relief, Ash began walking. But this time, his steps were not as steady as before.