As Dalis continued to chant, his eyes ended up glancing upwards to the tri-section staff. He had only intended to briefly take a peek at it, but as he continued his action it turned into a gaze. 

The world blurred, his eyes became unfocused and remained affixed to the swinging of his weapon. Unknowingly, he looked over to his side, slightly up where the staff was, but no longer was there any attention to the staff. Dalis’s murmurs were replaced with a series of words that sprung to his mind . . . Words not by Dalis himself.

“Remember, if you can’t handle the pressure, do not force yourself to wield it upright. Bend your arm back a little, and keep your knees bent.  . . . It is pivotal that you do not dally when pressured. In sacrifice of the generated power, you will gain far more control . . .”

As the words resounded, Dalis’s body moved in accordance. He alleviated some of the stress by bending his arm back a little, and dug his stance more to keep his knees bent. Soon, Dalis’s posture and movements were in coordination to the rest of the following words . . .

—And the shadow of Dalis followed, but seemingly appearing alive . . .

While Dalis was preparing his attack, his comrades were busily handling the beast.

"That guy, all he's doing is swinging . . . shouldn't he attack so the damn reptilian will be preoccupied at the front? At this rate . . . " Jessica said.

The beast was staring down at Dalis, watching his movement. It instinctively knew that he was the biggest threat. This was not solely due to his prior blow; rather, it was afraid of the tri-section staff that has yet to be unleashed. Thus, the beast decided to vomit its extra gross serving.  

However . . . 

"Haaaaaa!"

Slash.

A concentrated strike had been dealt onto the beast. The beast felt a great pressure equaling the strength of a boulder. This was the strength of a body consolidator. 

Sienna had successfully landed an adequate blow onto the tail of the beast. In retaliation, the Spliz immediately shifted its attention towards Sienna on its back and launched a flail at her. Sienna was ready for this and dodged the opposing counterattack, thus flogging itself instead. 

"Nice Sienna!"

Jessica followed up, delivering swift consecutive strikes on various parts of the Spliz's body. Although her strength was not on par with Sienna, each strike of her sword artefact built up considerable damage. 

One must not forget that these weapon artefacts were enchanted to augment its core—strengthened and sharpened.

AOAAAAR

The beast roared from the pain and splurged his mustered up spit into a convex shape, through the air, downwards to his back, where its foes were. The liquid inevitably trapped the two girls, who had not expected the degree of vomit, not to mention targeting itself!

"The hell? Is it trying to take us down with him?"

"No . . . look at the tail! Even though it’s milked with its own spit, it seems to be moving just fine!"

Just as her last word was said, Sienna took a sweeping pound.

"Ugghhhh."

Sienna flew with great velocity and crashed onto the ground. 

"SIENNA!"

Jessica, driven mad by her comrades fall, relentlessly cut down the threads tying her down, following the dispatch of mighty waves. She was not going to let things end here. 

"Let thee divine strike thy foe!" 

SLASH!

The final strike of her merciless pursuit inflicted great damage onto the Spliz. The Spliz groaned with anguish as green blood was seen trickling down various parts of its body. This was especially noticeable through the two dire blows that each girl had done. These locations had been forcefully pierced through, destroying the exterior of its once rugged skin.

"Ha . . . ha . . . ha . . . "

While the girls may have accomplished significant damage . . . it was not enough to fully take it down. 

Jessica was kneeling down on one knee, using her sword to retain balance. She could see the tail of the beast. It was sprung back, ready to launch straight at her. In the state she was, it was impossible to avoid. It wouldn't be short of saying, she would be pierced to death. Owing to the fact that she was incapable of propelling up a defensive posture to minimise the incoming assault. 

It was at this moment, the boy, who was supposed to be the leading combatant, entered the battlefield, sauntering. 

Jessica glanced towards Dalis, who had just entered her peripheral vision. She saw the outline of his figure, masked by the cover of dusk to be hidden from view. Although her eyes were half-open, it was conceivable to her that she wouldn't need to voluntarily retire. As she mused this, one crucial thought overrode all other thoughts. 

Where was his weapon? That tri-section staff was nowhere to be seen.

Did he abandon his weapon? 

Is he stupid? 

Yes. 

But this had gone too far.

Wait . . . what's that . . . 

If one were to examine closely, glints of small blue lights could be seen above Dalis's head. These lights, not once had they changed their position of sightings. It was perfectly perpetual. 

Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh

The soughing of the wind could be heard from the direction of Dalis. Jessica was so focused on making out the brief outline of Dalis she had not discerned the subtle sound. It was subliminal to her. 

The tri-section staff was, in fact, still being held by Dalis, but the rotation of the tri-section staff was so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye. The only thing one could make of it was the perpetual sound it made when cutting the wind.

Despite all this, the notion that had baffled her the most was the impression of him  being one with the dark. If Jessica hadn't heard his footsteps and looked over in the direction of Dalis by chance, she wouldn't have noticed him at all. Even though the whooshing sound had come relatively close to her. 

She looked back to the beast. Though the beast had not seen or heard Dalis, it was about to unleash its strike.

“Now! Extend your arm out quickly, release it, and flick your wrist at the end!”

WHOOSH!

AOOAAARRR!!

The tri-section staff was released from Dalis's grip, and the moment it did so it became a spinning embodiment of death. Before the beast's tail could reach Jessica, it took the full ferocious blow to the face. The tri-section staff flew with such speed that it was invisible to the naked eye as if it were a large razor shuriken.

A gust of howling wind accompanied the staff as it struck squarely onto the beast's face before wrapping around it and crushing it outright. It did not stop there; however, the force of the throw was significant enough that the beast's head was wrenched from its neck and impaled into the tree behind it. 

It was so unsightly that Jessica had unawaringly, turned half of her head to the side. Sienna was dazzled by the brilliance brought in front of her. 

How could he produce so much force?

A tri-section staff is not meant to be a projectile weapon. 

Yet, he had accomplished such a feat to make it work.

"W-What was that?" Jessica had to gasp out to ease her risen urging curiosity.

Dalis, however, did not seem to hear Jessica. In fact, he was still in a daze simply staring at his fallen target. 

When he turned over to face the side of where he had thrown the weapon, his eyes blurred deeper into vacancy. 

There was nothing there. Yet, he stared into the space and was compelled to touch the surface of his head, caressing his smooth hair. 

 . . . And that was when he would hear him say . . .

"Hey! Don’t ignore me! When did you learn to do a move like THAT?"

With a blink of an eye, he had snapped out of his daze and returned to awareness. Dalis wore a very indignant expression as he wondered what was the deal with her. But it only took a matter of moments before he pieced out what happened and guessed what she asked. 

"Dalis Style: Tri-Section Shuriken,” he replied without giving much thought. From the tone of his voice, the aggrievedness was highlighted. 

“Your own original skill?!” Jessica was awed, hearing it in his words. The unbelievability of the situation made her unable to recognise the fact that she had struck a chord with Dalis. 

Dalis did not directly answer her and instead said, "It was inspired by a certain ninja, a particular martial artist, and . . ." Huh? Who else?  . . . What was I doing?

Dalis then saw the fallen beast. Right, I had actually managed to slay the beast with my meagre throwing technique.

It was as if all the obscure strangeness that occured within Dalis did not occur at all.

[Your skill Night Vision has worn off.]

Dalis’s field of view darkened. 

Leaving behind a confused Jessica, he walked over to the beast, careful to not tread on any of the webs. He could see that the beast was indeed defeated as its body appeared to be fully given up. Only its eyes barely remained awake, refusing to surrender to the enemy. 

For the record, Dalis did not manage to learn a new skill. 

Dalis looked at the tri-section staff. It maintained the fact that it was skewered. While this may have locked the beast in place, Dalis could not rejoice. The tri-section staff was smudged with green and white liquid. Dalis would be willing to abandon his weapon if it wasn't for the large mana he would gain from this beast. He believed that this Spliz was a matured adult, much stronger than the average Spliz. 

Dalis then slowly reached out his hand to scavenge and return his weapon. 

"Ughhh . . . to think I'd want that guy here now."

Dalis was referring to Melvin. As a Feeria, he naturally could conjure water to wash off this filth. 

Yes. 

Dalis wanted him to be used as a dishwasher.

Dalis then looked over to Sienna. He saw her weakly standing up next to Jessica, who had sat down. For some reason, he had quite a bit of anger towards Jessica. He was unable to pinpoint why but had no time to mull over it. 

Before he could regroup with them, he abruptly froze from the things that came to view. Several beasts that had been spectating the fight have now come to join the after-party. 

They were not invited.

These guys won't even give us a rest . . . at least let me extract the mana from the Spliz.

Dalis rushed over to the two of them. He could see their pale faces look at him.

What should we do? 

He surveyed the situation to determine their next course of action. Although the beasts were unable to be compared to the Spliz, their vast numbers covered their lack of strength. Rather, for Dalis, who was suited for surprise attacks, the circumstances were worse than before. 

In spite of this, it wasn't that troubling as it seemed.

Dalis had noticed that the beasts were not a pack of beasts. Instead, a group of solitary figures. Therefore, Dalis would not have to worry about any meddlesome teamplay. 

Moreover, the liquid ooze threads, which encased the clearing served as a defensive fort. The beasts were required to watch their step if they wished to have a meal tonight. 

"Can you girls last?"

"Ha ha . . . don't look down on me. I could go another round if I wanted to."

"Although I took a direct hit. With my body, it would take a lot more than that. I'm a body consolidator for your information," Sienna grumbled.

"Understood. It should be noted that my style of combat is through the element of surprise. So try not to expect much from me."

"Is that so? I have my doubts about that.” Sienna doubted. “You can even stand par to par with Stilla in martial combat.”

"The moment she activates her skills, it’s another story." Dalis shrugged his shoulders. 

Jessica laughed. "Haha so true. I remember the last time . . . "

“There is no more time to talk. What's the game plan? Dalis,” Sienna interjected, cutting Jessica’s trail of words.

"We will stick together. I will be the lead distracter. You two attack from the sides and try to shove or lead them towards the webs. Once they are caught in the spider den, it's over."

"Huh? Those words are somewhat familiar . . . " Jessica mumbled.

"Dalis you’re not going to try that Tri-Section Shuriken again are you?"

"No."

"Alright, I look forward to working with you,” Sienna said.