Any human will falter and feel severely vulnerable under any powerful beast’s predatory gaze, to the point that one might not even be able to muster the strength to move their limbs.

This time, however, it is the beasts’ turn to tremble under such a predatory gaze, as they watch members after members of their group falling under the brutal might of each slash, cleave, and thrust from either of the two forces pinning them.

Behind them, a vertical, rising slash separates yet another one of them into a lengthwise half, the beast’s innards falling down the ground in pitiful fashion as blood pooled deeper underneath this small battlefield.

And it was not like they had any chance in moving forward to escape this threat, too, as lying in wait right in front of them is an even more brutal death. Another threat wielding the power of mana in his palm makes him all the more terrifying compared to the blade-wielding lady, as he needs no weapon to tear through their flesh and bones.

There is nothing but pitiful howls and roars that came out of their mouths as they were murdered, no, massacred by the combination of the two, each slash, each cleave, and each punch taking another life from their midst until they are eventually reduced to nothing.

"Huuhh~~ how very refreshing~~" as she swung her blade one more time to rid it of the blood still sticking in its sharp edge, Medea remarked with a smile on her face before taking out a cleaning cloth as she proceeded to wipe the blade clean of anything else.

"You’re the only one who can say that after killing a lot of beasts, Senior Medea." meanwhile, smiling wryly as he listens to the Sword Princess beginning to hum in what he can only assume is genuine satisfaction and joy, Novus pointed out, his remarks appearing like it just went past her being as she shrugs her shoulders to him.

"Not like you’re any different, Junior Novus~~" she replies as she points to her lips, showing the faint smile on her face as if she’s trying to tell him something.

"Haven’t you noticed, you’re smiling the whole time too~~" she continued, thinking of his smile that clearly shows how much he enjoys this kind of thing, to the point that it is on par, if not even on a higher level than how much she enjoys hunting activities like this.

"I know." The young man replies with the clear awareness of how much he is smiling whenever the battle calls for actual combat skills, not only spells and brute force.

"I don’t think I will change it though." He added, as if he was even proud of such an odd habit, his words making the lady giggle for a bit as she nodded to him in approval.

"Neither will I, Junior Novus~~" she added with a faint tone of amazement mixed along with her amused voice, her eyes forming a gentle crescent as she revealed a genuine smile that even she herself didn’t quite expect.

While they continue to talk, they both decided to take a short rest for mow before they proceed to hunt portion of that large, organized group once more, the reason being the fact that the beasts might still be on their high alert with the disappearance of a significant amount of their group, and just appearing now might just garner greater attention, negative one, at the two of them.

Some several minutes later, the hunt finally continues, with Novus acting as the bait once more, pulling several beasts towards their planned pincer spot, all while trying to take down as much as he can, before teaming up with Medea and eventually felling every single beast that follows him through the woods.

In this manner, they eventually thinned down the number of beasts quite a lot to the point they feel confident to face them head on, the two charging towards the remains of the once threateningly dangerous group with confidence that they will be the ones that will come out on top of these beasts’ corpses.

Mixed along with the slashes, thrusts, and cuts are occasional punches that render anyone it hits completely immobile, if not dead, as the two rampages amidst the beasts gradually build fear towards their figure, each move from them becoming looser as time goes by, showing how much they are hesitating to confront the duo right now.

"We’ll gather a whole lot of points at this rate, Junior Novus~!" Medea excitedly said as another one of her attacks claimed yet another life, an Ironhide Bear revealing its entrails as the slash completely opened its stomach before falling to the ground.

Novus would’ve nodded at her words as well; however, before he could even open his lips, his instincts flared up again, a shouting warning in his mind as he felt something completely off, something that he had only felt when he was hunting within the Evolution Domain.

Danger.

What is even more confusing is the fact that none of the D Tier beasts has yet to act, meaning that right now, there’s not a single existence that can stand on equal grounds and threaten him, the thoughts causing him to pay less attention to the battle and more to his own surroundings.

And that’s when he noticed it.

Above them, the skies gradually darkened as something covered the sun, something that was neither huge dark clouds nor a humongous beast or monster capable enough of doing so.

Something man-made covered the skies of the infested island in a dome-like structure.

’A Magic Barrier...’

He has yet to know the effects of this barrier, but his instincts are already telling him that it is anything but good news, hence why he decided to move up a little bit quicker than before in order to clean up this group faster than they initially predicted.

Mana surges towards his arms as he begins focusing his entire talent on regenerating the two, no longer relying on tedious punching the opponents one by one as he fully utilizes Mana Blade, stepping into the battlefield not as a skilled combatant anymore, but rather as an incarnation of slaughter that destroys anything in his path.

One beast approach, slashed into two different halves.

Another one pounced, and its head was then severed away from its body by a clean, decapitating strike.

Another even more courageous one attacks, only for its head to be cracked open with a swift, downward vertical slash.

Each motion is precise and accurate, as if he turned into a machine whose sole purpose is to eliminate the threats around them right now, his focus razor sharp as he utilizes Sensory Expansion to his utmost to see the fastest path to their victory.

Meanwhile, as she continues playing around, Medea couldn’t help but feel that immense pressure coming out from the young man, making her feel surprised as he reveals a whole lot with this single fight alone, the strength he is showing being something that he had never shown before during their friendly spars.

’I can’t get outdone by my junior now, can I~?’ she thought to herself as she took a deep, calming breath, placing the blade in front of her as her gaze turned sharp, her eyes glowing in competitive light as the beasts capable of threatening any student turned into nothing but a way of measuring points competing against the young man fighting alongside her.

One step, one slash, one kill.

Despite being a mage that should’ve focused on long range, artillery type of combat instead, Medea reveals an extreme mastery of the blade that screams of how much time she had put into it ever since she was young, the sharp edge of the blade moving with gentle, refined finesse as if it is not a weapon of brutal war, but rather a paintbrush, a tool of art in her hands.

With the combat prowess the two are showing, it is only a matter of time before they completely eliminate the entirety of the E and F Tier within this group of beasts, leaving them with only the D Tiers remaining.

From the shadows of the woods, however, stood a figure with their eyes looming over the battlefield, a faint smirk on their face as they watched the two spending their stamina fighting the E and F-tier beasts.

’Maris Medea Heavenblade... a major target, looks like luck is on my side today~’ the figure laughs to themselves as they continue watching the fight, bidding the perfect time for them to enter.