Although both Lucy and Rina preferred to confront their enemies up close, their fighting styles didn't have much in common. While Lucy's style was characterized by efficiency, speed, and discretion, her way of moving from one enemy to another could be compared to the spread of a deadly virus, Rina's style resembled a meteor shower, leaving behind only destruction and scorched areas.

   "Slash! Slash!"

   'It seems these two were the last ones! From what I've seen, the sword cuts through flesh and bone much easier than through wood...', Lucy thought, observing the carnage she had left behind. Although she had cut down dozens of beasts in just a minute, not a drop of blood had landed on her clothes. The only hint suggesting Lucy was responsible for the deaths of the creatures around her was the ninja sword in her hand, occasionally dripping with the blood of the last slain beast.

   "Boom!!"

   Distracted by an explosion, most likely caused by one of Rina's punches, Lucy turned her gaze toward Rina's location. She noticed that more than half of the beasts in the area had been eliminated by Rina, who had begun battling the level 28 wolf.

   'Hmm, considering the wolf is no longer in its initial position, it seems it didn't wait to be attacked but decided to take the initiative and go after Rina. Though she seems to handle it, I think it's best if I get closer to be able to intervene quickly in case of an accident...'

   Lucy wasted no time and immediately headed towards where Rina was fighting the nearly 4-meter-long wolf. Although Lucy respected Rina's fighting prowess and decided to let her handle the situation alone, she wouldn't forgive herself if Rina got hurt. Thus, she positioned herself on a branch in a tree less than 100 meters away from Rina, ensuring she could intervene in a maximum of 2 seconds if Rina was in danger.

   'Hmm, while Rina's strikes may seem somewhat straightforward, the natural flow with which she executes them aids her in landing hits on her opponent. Should I attempt to teach her more advanced techniques? Doing so might disrupt the synchronization of her movements... Perhaps it's better if I engage in occasional sparring sessions with her so she can identify her own weaknesses and observe my techniques. This way, her fighting style can improve without being completely reconstructed. Yes, a cat doesn't need to be taught how to catch mice. I'm sure this applies to lions as well, hehe...'

   Keeping this thought in mind, Lucy observed the ongoing battle between Rina and the wolf, the latter now left with only a few patches of unburnt fur. Concurrently, Lucy began devising a training plan aimed at enhancing Rina's repertoire of striking techniques.

   Sensing its opponent's superior strength and realizing that continuing the fight in the same manner would lead to its demise, the wolf abandoned attempts to evade Rina's punches. Instead, it focused on a decisive strike, banking everything on a move that could potentially change the course of the battle in its favor.

   Seeing that the wolf no longer exhibited any traces of self-preservation instinct and that its attacks had become much quicker, Rina decided to move a little farther away from it and repeatedly use the Fire Claw skill from a safe distance to exhaust the wolf, suspecting that it will not be able to continue at the same pace for more than a minute, his additional speed being most likely the product of a skill that could only be used as a last resort and had adverse effects.

   Everything seemed to be going smoothly for Rina; the wolf hadn't managed to cause her even a scratch. However, an arrow, shot from a distance of over 200 meters without making any sound during its flight, suddenly pierced one of her legs, causing her to lose focus and giving the wolf a chance to bring its mouth full of sharp teeth closer to her head.

   "No! I can't..."

   Although it didn't take long for Rina to realize what had happened, she understood that there wasn't much she could do to avoid the wolf's attack, which was now less than a meter away from her. It seemed she might lose her life without even having the chance to ponder her regrets.

   "Slash!"

   Fortunately for Rina, the moment Lucy saw the arrow, she instantly rushed towards her. Although she couldn't stop the arrow as it moved too swiftly, and she noticed it too late, Lucy arrived next to the wolf before it could bite Rina and swiftly decapitated the wolf with a strike from her ninja sword infused with wind magic.

   However, before Lucy had a chance to say a word to Rina, she noticed two more arrows heading towards her; this was due to her activating her ocular powers at maximum level and already being aware of the direction from which the first arrow came.

   "Clank! Clank!"

   Though Lucy had the ability to let them pass through her without suffering any damage if she activated the Phantom Body skill, she didn't want the enemies to gather too much information about her capabilities. Hence, she deflected both arrows using her sword, her cat-like reflexes being of great help.

   "Rina, hide behind that large tree! Stay there, no matter what you see happening!", Lucy shouted to Rina without turning her gaze, still alert for any other arrows approaching either her or Rina.

   Aware that she couldn't be of help to Lucy against such an enemy even if she wasn't injured, and because she trusted Lucy's abilities, Rina didn't hesitate. She swiftly moved towards the location indicated by Lucy, using her maximum speed at that moment.

   "Clank!"
   "Clank!"

   "Clank!"

   'It seems the bastard doesn't intend to let Rina out of sight. He'd better take full advantage of the moment because soon he won't be able to see anything...', Lucy thought after blocking another three arrows heading towards Rina.

   Although Lucy was extremely angry and wished to swiftly punish those responsible for injuring her girlfriend, she knew that at that moment, the most crucial thing was to protect Rina. Therefore, she tried to remain as calm as possible, not letting her emotions sway her, and continued to block the increasingly frequent arrows.

   "I'm safe, Lucy! Try to come over here too...!", Rina shouted the moment she reached behind the trunk of the gigantic tree.

   However, Rina didn't finish what she wanted to say before an arrow pierced one of Lucy's shoulders, causing her to drop the sword from her hand and seemingly rendering her defenseless.

   "Nooo! Lucy! Run away quickly!", Rina screamed in terror, not knowing what to use as a shield against the arrows to go and save Lucy.

   After Rina yelled, Lucy abandoned everything and began to move towards the place where Rina was sheltering, but her speed was significantly reduced, as if she too had been injured in a leg.

   "What are you doing, Lucy? Run faster!" Rina shouted again, her desperation growing more intense.

   'Could she have been hit by a poisoned arrow? No, I must do something...'

   However, before Rina could find a solution, three more arrows embedded themselves in Lucy's body, causing her to collapse to the ground, seemingly unable to move.

   "Lucy!!!", Rina screamed and, forgetting that she still hadn't removed the arrow from her leg, she rushed towards the spot where Lucy had fallen.

   "Go back. This is just an earth substitute...", Rina heard an emotionless voice coming from what she had previously believed was Lucy.

   'Huh? So Lucy wasn't injured? What a relief...', Rina sighed, recalling both Lucy's warning not to leave the shelter no matter what happened, and her previous fight with Lucy, in which she had used the same method to create an illusion of being killed.

   'This time I can't blame Lucy for scaring me because I fooled myself...'

   ...............................

   At that moment, approximately 500 meters away from where Rina was, a dark elf perched high in a tall tree, holding a long bow, was quite proud of his achievement.

   'Haha, the bitch thought she could take me on! Although initially, I intended to let her live to gather more information about what happened to the mercenary group, her ability to block my arrows twice has sparked my competitive spirit...'

   However, his joy didn't last long because Lucy, whom he believed to be dead, immediately attacked him upon reaching his position, intending to leave him without the hands capable of playing a silent symphony of death even with a simple wooden bow.

   "Clank!"

   To her surprise, Lucy saw no blood, as before the edge of her sword could make contact with the dark elf's hands, something akin to a force shield caused her sword to bounce back.

   "Hehe, that was a good attempt! You really fooled me! But don't think it'll be so easy to defeat me..." the dark elf told Lucy, who stepped back a few meters, trying to figure out what had happened.

   'Hmm, when the force shield appeared, I noticed a disturbance in his mana, centered around the necklace at his throat. It's probably an artifact meant to protect him...', Lucy thought, not paying much attention to the elf's words, as she knew he wasn't the type of adversary to offer information that could be useful in defeating him.

   "But how did you do it? Did you create an illusion? No, you're not a mage... and from that distance, it was impossible to cast a spell on me..." the dark elf continued to inquire, showing no trace of panic on his face.

   'For a silent killer, this damn Cupid talks too much...', Lucy thought, not planning to engage in conversation with the dark elf and immediately launching her attack.

Cantis

I'm back with a new chapter full of action. I've also added a poll to help me better understand my readers. If you have other suggestions, feel free to add them in the comment section.