F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 327: Gorgeous Catch

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Stormcrest Jayari Lv. 83

HP: 78,000 / 78,000

==

Daru was in awe of the new arrival’s gorgeous feathers — a mix of varying shades of blue and pristine white — for a moment.

Only when the smaller Bloodscarlet Cardari attacked, sword legs clanging, did he get his wits about him.

This was his chance to escape!

Without hesitation, Daru turned to flee, leaving the three half-birds to each other’s talons.

But before he could make it far, leaves from the other mature trees rustled, and more half-birds took to the skies.

Daru stopped, ready for battle. Thankfully, the winged Swordspawn ignored him.

They were fast, and it was difficult to see what they looked like without clashing with them.

However, based on the color of the feathers of the one who blurred past him, it was a different humanoid avian than the Cardaris and the Jayari.

Alarm bells rang in Daru’s head.

’Things are about to get messier, isn’t it?’ he thought inwardly before continuing to run away.

For some reason, the half-bird Swordspawns was suddenly roused into action.

Even those from the distant trees were suddenly active. This couldn’t have been from him simply attacking that strange cypress.

’Maybe they just woke up and it was now time to hunt for food?’

That was quite the probable guess...

If so, then he must find cover and observe the situation first. It was very possible that he would be on the menu, after all.

Fortunately, there were a lot of hollows around, and he could simply choose one.

Daru looked around.

There was one just a few meters away from him, and so he bolted towards it, frowning at a thought that could be highly possible.

Unfortunately, hesitation was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

The skies cried in chaos — louder with every passing moment. He had to hide soon. The alternative would be to be forced into unnecessary battles he could not take.

Calf muscles straining, Daru sprinted and arrived at the nearest hollow.

The hairs on his body rose as seven pairs of black, shiny eyes, ones similar to the Cardaris, stared back at him, a few blades gleaming in the darkness of the young pine’s hollow.

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Barkshade Volini Lv. 75

HP: 51,000 / 51,000

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A rodent family!

’V-Voles?’

Perhaps these were the prey of those half-birds?

"Tch." Daru clicked his tongue, immediately turning to leave for another hollow. First of all, it would be unwise to pick a fight with seven voles of a little over fifty-thousand hitpoints each.

Secondly, they didn’t attack him, even shivering slightly as they eyed him warily.

These folks were only trying to survive their everyday lives in this dangerous ecosystem.

If he attacked them first, then not only would he be starting an unnecessary, difficult battle for both parties that could very much result in a buffet for the half-avians — him included on the menu — but he would also feel rotten for doing so.

So, he quickly sought refuge in another tree. There were lots of hollows around him, anyway.

Upon arriving on the second tree, this one a spruce, he froze.

More voles. This family was even larger than the first one.

Above him, mighty wings flapped, metallic clashes erupting here and there. More half-birds were taking to the skies for whatever reason.

Daru felt genuine danger, his heart racing faster with every passing second.

He didn’t even believe he could have defeated one of those Bloodscarlet Cardaris, as not only were they tough, they were fast and had wings, too.

The winged Swordspawns would just fly away once he wounded them enough, resulting in wasted stamina.

Staying out to engage the half-birds would simply be a path to his second death.

’Not this one, either...’

Daru gritted his teeth in frustration.

Had he known the winged spawns would be active at around this time, he would’ve looked for shelter earlier.

Unfortunately, in Yggdrasil, he had to pay a price for new knowledge. It was just that a second death was too expensive.

Daru definitely didn’t want to pay such a fee if he could help it.

He was about to check a fourth one when, suddenly, the leaves above him rustled, and a figure of brown, gray, and black meteored at him.

’Me and my rotten lu–’

Before he could finish his words, however, a huge silver sword manifestation dropped from the skies in perfect timing, pinning down the new species of half-bird.

[-3,550!]

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Emberchest Robari Lv. 82

HP: 70,950 / 74,500

==

Daru’s eyes widened.

Almost instinctively the next moment, he charged towards the struggling Swordspawn, eerie black aura veiling the golden edges of his blade.

Then he struck with all his might.

The birds were unbelievably tough, considering how fragile birds were in Neo-Earth...but they were nowhere near as tough as the Runebarks.

Far from it.

Onimaru Kunitsuna was a dark guillotine, chopping through the feathers, then the thin layer of skin, then the flesh, continuing deeper into the neck of the struggling half-bird.

Blue, slightly viscous blood spurted out of the wound, crawling along the blade.

[-60,320!!]

One of the Emberchest Robari’s dark eyes completely stopped working, rolling to the back of its head as it thrashed wildly, harrowing chirps escaping its lethal beak as the sword manifestation disappeared.

Daru had to pull his weapon back, feeling that the power of his strike had reached its limit, his sword struggling to proceed deeper.

The half-bird, on the other hand, felt that whatever was pinning it suddenly disappeared, and it quickly attempted to fly away, its head chillingly falling to one side, barely intact.

Yet, somehow, it was still alive. Still desperately trying to escape.

Daru chased with a Crescent Dicer, the spinning cross-slash cutting deep into its left waist.

It was another clean, lethal strike. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[- 6,530!]

"No way!" he complained in disbelief.

He could not accept that his full-powered Sword Skill that landed squarely on its body was still unable to finish the Emberchest Robari.

Daru could still try to chase with a Full Moon Assault.

But the half-bird was extremely fast, and he would still have to perform certain motions before he could use the A-tier ability.

It was then that a silver, piercing tornado rose to the skies in pursuit, penetrating through its heart.

The skies wept blue as its child perished.

A set of notifications appeared above Daru, but he had no time to pay attention to them. Someone was falling from the skies.

He quickly rushed towards where the individual was falling, catching her in a princess carry.

Elara smiled at him.

"A gorgeous catch, don’t you think so?"