Chapter 9: The Power of Authority

At the very moment the woman’s iron fist was about to make an intimate connection with his cheek, Lucas’s hands completed their self-healing.

By a hair’s breadth, he dodged the woman’s punch and rolled on the ground, casually grabbing a tree branch nearby.

Taking advantage of the woman’s momentary distraction from surprise, he launched an attack from behind her.

The tree branch struck the back of her head, causing the woman to utter a sound in pain.

“You bastard!”

The woman clutched the back of her head, furious and embarrassed, glaring fiercely at Lucas.

Could it be that being hit there would trigger such a strong reaction?

Unexpectedly, despite her whole body being as tough as iron, she had a weak spot.

It really was a lucky discovery.

“You’re going to fight me with something like that?”

The woman swung a hand blade, splitting Lucas’s branch in two.

Apparently, what happened just now was nothing more than a fluke.

If it came to a real fight, a mere branch wouldn’t be of much use.

“Your hand’s healed?”

At this moment, the woman also noticed something odd about Lucas.

“Impossible. Your arm’s bones should have been completely shattered by now. How could you even hold anything?”

“You tell me.”

“What are you exactly?”

The woman rushed forward, throwing a punch at Lucas.

“I’m going to take you back for thorough research!”

“That depends on whether you have the ability.”

Though he said so, Lucas was still barehanded, without a proper weapon.

He didn’t dare to casually block her punch with his hand.

Now that the woman knew he had a powerful regeneration ability, if he tried the same trick again, she would definitely be prepared.

How good it would be to have a sword right now.

With a crisp “clang,” the woman’s fist hit something hard.

Even Lucas was shocked by the scene before him.

He had only thought about it casually, but a sword suddenly appeared in his hand out of thin air.

Though it looked like an ordinary sword, having a weapon was far better than having nothing at this moment.

“Where did that sword come from?”

The woman’s tone grew frantic.

“Is it that Iveena? Come out here!”

The woman shouted hysterically, looking toward Iveena and the Giant Beast’s direction.

But Iveena was still locked in battle with the Giant Beast and had no chance to provide Lucas with a weapon.

This sword really did appear out of nowhere.

“Hah, so this kind of effect exists.”

Lucas murmured lowly as he looked at the sword in his hand.

“That’s a big help.”

Taking advantage of the woman’s distraction, Lucas swung the sword at her.

At that moment, she turned her head away, leaving the back of her head completely exposed to Lucas.

This was the perfect opportunity!

Unfortunately, the woman reacted just in time and raised her fist to block.

A violent vibration came through her punch, almost causing Lucas to lose grip of the sword.

He tightened his hold and forced the woman’s iron fist aside, stabbing toward her eyes.

The woman raised her leg, the blade edge of her kick cutting straight at Lucas’s abdomen.

To avoid being gutted, Lucas retracted the sword defensively and blocked her kick.

Sparks flew as the sword clashed repeatedly against the woman’s metallic body.

Her combat skills were indeed formidable.

If Lucas had already fully mastered the use of the Divine Authority, he wouldn’t be wasting time fighting her here.

The woman kicked again; Lucas raised his sword to defend.

The clash of weapons sent sparks flying. He pushed her leg away forcefully and pivoted the blade to stab at her chest.

This time, the woman had no time to defend.

But she made no attempt to.

Her body was sturdy enough.

Even if Lucas had suddenly gotten a sword out of thin air, there was no way he could break through her defense.

The sword’s blade pressed against her chest, and Lucas clearly heard her cold, disdainful sneer.

Using both hands, Lucas pushed harder, driving the blade into her chest, leaving a visible dent.

“What?”

It worked! Lucas kept pushing the blade deeper into the woman’s chest.

Her body seemed to be made entirely of metal.

There was significant resistance as the blade advanced, and even Lucas struggled to drive it in.

Still, despite being pierced through the chest, the woman seemed unfazed.

“Useless, useless.”

She gripped the sword embedded in her chest and tried to pull it out.

“Do you think this is enough to kill me?”

Lucas didn’t waste words and conjured another sword, stabbing at her again.

He knew this wouldn’t kill her, but he could inflict more damage.

Eventually, she would be unable to continue.

Besides, the woman was extremely sensitive to attacks on the back of her head, so perhaps that was her true weak point.

Without wasting words, Lucas swung his sword at her.

Sword techniques came flooding into his mind one after another.

Seeing Lucas’s attack, the woman gave up on pulling out the sword from her chest and switched to defense.

Lucas’s feet tapped the ground sharply as he gripped the sword tightly.

His body became a blur, making it impossible for the woman to pinpoint his movements.

The blade sliced upward, slashing at the woman’s face.

She panicked and raised her hand to block, barely managing to stop the blow.

But as she defended, Lucas’s second strike came right after—from the side.

Her movements clearly faltered.

While hastily blocking the strike, Lucas retracted his sword and swung backhanded, slashing her chest.

“W-what’s going on?”

Before the woman could comprehend, the fourth strike descended from above.

She retreated, barely avoiding the slash, but a bright red streak was left across her forehead.

Lucas spun and chased after her retreating form, thrusting his sword straight for her throat.

The moment the blade pierced her throat, he angled the tip upward.

One strike faster than the last, at first she could barely defend herself.

Eventually, she had no room left to block and was forced to take the hits.

Her metallic body was scratched and scarred from Lucas’s slashes.

Staggering backward, she tried to regain her footing, but the seventh strike was already coming down.

The sound of the sword cutting through the air rang in Lucas’s ears.

This time, he gave her no chance to breathe.

The blade severed one of the woman’s hands, metal fragments scattering across the ground.

She staggered and collapsed, and Lucas pressed the ball of his foot lightly against the crown of her head before leaping behind her.

It was over.

He thrust the sword into the back of her head, and this time, the blade slid in easily.

The woman’s body stiffened, then collapsed to the ground.

She was not dead, but her body twitched unnaturally, as if it wanted to break free from her control.

But it only lasted a few seconds before she stopped struggling, lying quietly.

Those blue eyes stared blankly and unblinkingly at Lucas.