F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 225: Forged By Circumstances

It was as though time had slowed to a crawl for both Caleb and Lesha.

The only individual who could activate the portal to the Surface was falling, about to be sent violently flying at best, and bisected at worst.

Either way, with Daru’s remaining hitpoints, there was a very high chance he would die if struck.

It didn’t matter whether he could block the strike or not.

To make things worse, the black aura surrounding Rocante had all been transferred into his stone greatsword, and all that vile, accumulated power would be unleashed upon the falling target.

Daru was in a despair-worthy situation for sure.

Only, he didn’t despair, the gears of his brain shifting and turning as he thought of a solution.

Before his mind succeeded, though, his body was already on the move, as if it instinctively knew what to do to survive.

He began using the residual rotation of Tornado Slash almost as soon as he realized what the deceitful brute was up to.

Daru shifted all his weight to the upper part of his body and spun backwards.

Once...twice...

He could feel it — the huge stone greatsword veiled in a black aura approaching from the side.

However, before it could reap his life, he slashed downward, causing a red crescent to fire towards Rocante.

His strike was far too modest to even be compared to his foe’s harrowing attack, and it didn’t seem like Somersault Slash did much.

But it did.

It really did, as the F-tier Sword Skill saved his life, thanks to the small recoil that delayed his fall for just long enough to allow the greatsword to pass first, throwing off the abominable swordsman’s timing.

Daru landed gracefully a moment later under the bewildered gazes of his comrades.

That...was too damn close.

Rocante’s eyes momentarily widened in sentient surprise. If one could peer deeper, one would see a hint of expectant delight in them.

But Daru didn’t have such a luxury; the energized horror was already pulling on his greatsword again to continue attacking.

Of course, Daru wouldn’t just stand there, taking the initiative to dash in while performing preparatory steps.

He then carved a narrow slash into Rocante’s waist before bursting past the horror with Swallow Step, narrowly avoiding another lethal slash.

Caleb and Lesha immediately got back to helping, the former with gritted teeth.

Gris was gone.

They had to work harder to deal the same amount of damage they’ve been able to produce, and they had to do it despite the threat of the brute’s deceitful nature.

The bastard wasn’t dumb at all and had been, in fact, scheming to take all three of them out with a single swing.

Had it not been for Lesha’s swift reflexes, they would’ve been mowed down like random weeds, leaving Daru to fight the monstrosity alone.

Painful as it was to admit, this was already among the best results they could’ve hoped for.

Rocante’s act had just been too flawless.

On the positive side, the hulking horror was now down to less than six thousand hitpoints and was quickly being bled out by a level 4 bleeding status.

They still had a chance.

The battle resumed at a deadly pace, each participant as desperate, if not more, than the last.

The relic hunt for The Sword was clearly about to come to an end soon.

The strength-enhancing effects of the meat chunks were about to run out in a few more minutes, too, so Daru couldn’t afford to be too reactive.

It would be impossible to simply try to survive in an attempt to bleed Rocante out, as the consumables would expire first.

Unfortunately, as hard as they were trying, Caleb and Lesha were rather traumatized by Gris’ death, and they now second-guessed most of their attacks, thinking they might perish, too, if they pushed their aggression too much. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Daru was still the main target, but his comrades weren’t as courageous now, and so their total damage output was significantly reduced.

Nonetheless, they fought the best their young selves could.

Ashes billowed with every missed strike from their terrifying adversary, and there were more than a few times Daru had to clash head-on with Rocante, further reducing his hitpoints down to a third.

They were regenerating, thanks to the effects of Limbo Carrot, but the boon was never going to keep up with the battle.

Daru and his monstrous foe kept on chipping away at each other’s hitpoints, lost in the clangor of steel and stone, until finally, the decisive moment came.

Rocante was down to four thousand hitpoints, and Daru’s Azure Swordfall had just gotten off-cooldown.

He could end the horror.

Almost immediately, he rose to the skies, turning into an azure sword manifestation that locked on his foe.

The hulking horror only stood, waiting with the same, creepy, mad grin on his face.

Was there truly nothing Rocante could do while he was in the skies, or was the bastard scheming something again?

The former seemed more plausible.

Not one to overthink, Daru descended, this time aiming to rip through Rocante’s right waist and end him with the azure crescent immediately after.

Caleb and Lesha grew tense at their impending victory, jumping back to avoid being caught in the impact of their comrade’s sword skill.

Then...something went wrong.

Rocante straightened his posture and smiled proudly, as though a bodybuilder who won a competition, then he glistened.

The next thing Daru knew, the tip of the manifestation seemed to have hit something indestructible.

A piercing clang echoed, then Azure Swordfall was deflected to the side, and he rolled a few times on the ground, failing to land properly.

[- 320]

’What...was that?’ he groaned, struggling to get up.

"DARU!!" Caleb’s call informed him of what was to come, but his body faltered, and the best he could do was stand up and raise his sword horizontally to defend the lunging chop.

The clash of the swords sang once more, and Daru vomited blood as he was forced down on one knee due to the sheer force and weight of the blow he endured.

Another horrifying amount floated above him:

[- 510]

He was now down to a little over four hundred hitpoints. To make things worse, he was in a bad position.

Caleb and Lesha had now mounted Rocante’s back, stabbing with furious abandon in a desperate attempt to save him, but their efforts did little.

The hulking horror knew who he should prioritize...and killing Daru was the priority.

It had always been.

Meanwhile, Daru gritted his teeth, in the middle of a difficult decision, as blood streamed from the corners of his mouth.

He had already decided to stray from his honest ways to learn more about deceit and trickery.

But must he truly swallow his pride, too?