It was difficult for Sebastian to leave Edmund behind and let him fight the woman alone.

However, if Sebastian looked at it from Edmund’s perspective, it was the best choice.

Among them, only Sebastian possessed high agility and speed, while most of Edmund’s attributes were focused on strength and endurance.

For orders that required speed, Edmund prioritized sending Sebastian away.

He was confident that he could hold the woman off long enough until help arrived.

"Be careful, Lord Edmund."

Sebastian left and sprinted away from the field, leaving Edmund alone with the woman in the red dress.

"Oh... that’s very touching. You think you can defeat me?" the woman asked.

"I don’t know," Edmund replied. "But it’s worth trying."

With a rapid leap forward, Edmund swung his sword after moving like a flash of wind.

The woman was shocked by Edmund’s sudden increase in strength. It was not an enhancement skill from someone else, but purely his own ability.

[Sword Skill: Sylph Sword Awakening!]

Edmund’s body radiated a powerful white aura. The woman in the red dress narrowed her eyes as she continued blocking Edmund’s sword with her crimson scythe.

However, unlike the flying sword attack from earlier, Edmund’s current strike was much stronger and filled with surging mana energy.

"What kind of power are you using, damn you?!" the woman shouted.

Edmund forcefully pushed the woman back, sending her flying far away and injuring her.

The man remained standing firmly on the ground, his gaze locked onto her.

The woman fell and coughed up blood. That attack alone was more than enough to wound her body. But it still was not enough to kill her.

"You think you’re the only one with a trump card?!" she screamed.

She raised her hand wrapped in crimson energy and created a red energy sphere above her palm.

In an instant, she crushed the sphere and detonated it.

Crimson energy flowed across the ground, causing the entire area to turn red.

Edmund narrowed his eyes and slowly glanced around the surroundings.

The woman’s power spread widely in a circular pattern.

Once the radius was large enough, a red dome made of thread-like strings appeared and trapped Edmund inside.

[Demon Skill: Demon Blood Thread Dome!]

Drops of blood dripped from every thread forming the dome. Every time those drops touched Edmund’s body, he felt the effects of corruption.

His body was injured, his energy slowly drained away, and his mind and heart were disturbed.

Edmund had never fought against something like this before.

"Inside the Blood Thread Dome, no one has ever survived!" the woman declared, narrowing her eyes with a sinister grin.

She walked toward Edmund while dragging her crimson scythe along the ground, creating the harsh sound of metal scraping dirt, adding to the terrifying atmosphere.

Edmund needed to be careful. Acting recklessly would only drain his strength even faster.

"Well? Do you have any last words?" the woman asked.

"It’s a shame I have to kill you. I actually like handsome and strong men," she said.

Edmund remained silent, allowing his body to continue being soaked by the blood drops from the dome. But Edmund’s silence did not mean surrender.

He had a solution.

"Looks like you don’t," the woman said.

She raised her scythe and pointed it directly at Edmund’s face. Their eyes met.

"Die for me!"

"Do it now, Sylph!" Edmund shouted.

Right from Edmund’s chest, the Sylph fairy shot forward and extended her hand.

Two tornadoes attacked the woman’s body without warning, catching her completely off guard.

She tried to block Sylph’s power with her scythe, but because the fairy’s mana was far stronger, her body was pushed violently backward and slammed into a tree inside the forest.

The woman was injured once again, coughing blood while her body weakened.

Edmund narrowed his eyes, gripped his sword tightly, and leaped forward at full speed.

Both of his hands swung downward with the intention of killing and decapitating the woman.

She lifted her head, her attention snapping forward again before counterattacking Edmund.

The two fought fiercely, exchanging blows, defending against one another, screaming desperately in order to survive.

"Who exactly are you?!" the woman shouted angrily.

Edmund did not answer. He continued forcing his body to attack the woman, using every sword skill he had mastered to pressure her continuously.

"Destroy the dome, Sylph!" Edmund ordered firmly.

The fairy nodded silently, raised her head, and directed her tornado wind magic toward the top of the dome.

The tornado magic grew even stronger, causing Edmund’s power to drain rapidly.

Because Sylph was a contracted fairy projection connected to Edmund, every time he used her, the mana within his body was consumed drastically to manifest Sylph’s magical power.

The woman paused for a moment after realizing that the wind fairy was trying to destroy her Blood Thread Dome. She refused to allow it.

"I’ll kill you, you damn fairy!" the woman screamed angrily and exhaustedly.

Edmund reacted quickly, leaping high into the air and blocking the woman’s scythe attack.

The woman in the red dress became even more furious.

"Move aside, you damn human!" she shouted.

"I won’t let you kill her!" Edmund declared.

With a single punch from the Sylph fairy, the Blood Thread Dome shattered and collapsed, turning into bloody water that flooded the field before evaporating on its own.

At the same time, the Sylph Sword Awakening skill had reached its limit.

The wind fairy returned into Edmund’s body, and the white mana aura surrounding him disappeared.

"HAHAHA!" the woman screamed with loud laughter.

"In the end, you ran out of mana, you damn human!" she shouted.

The woman swung her scythe and slammed Edmund’s body violently downward, crashing through and toppling several trees.

Edmund’s strength was drained completely. His body was covered in wounds, many of his internal organs were injured, and several of his bones were broken.

That was the result of enduring the red-dressed woman’s scythe power without using a defensive skill.

COUGH!

The woman flew forward quickly and stood directly in front of Edmund.

She raised her scythe and pointed it toward Edmund’s chest, forcing the man’s head slightly upward.

Blood filled his mouth while his tired eyes stared weakly at the woman.

Am... I going to die?

"Now... there won’t be any more tricks!"

His hands and legs were difficult to move due to exhaustion and broken bones. He could not even reach the sword lying beside him.

"No one is coming to save you," she whispered.

Edmund coughed up blood again. His condition worsened, leaving him unable to do anything.

I... failed to hold her back long enough.

"Goodbye, handsome!"

STAB!

Edmund’s eyes shut tightly. He felt the spear-like blade at the end of the scythe stab into the left side of his chest.

The stab felt powerful and painful, making Edmund cough up blood once more.

However... the stab stopped before piercing his heart.

"Stop, Old Sister Morgan!"