454,

Without a word, the battle erupted in an instant.

Resembling spikes yet also tentacles, the dark shadows continued to extend and assault Onigashima relentlessly.

In a matter of seconds, the area around them was left chaotic and disordered by the dark shadows.

But Onigashima alone remained intact, standing in their original position.

"..."

Alice and her master, transformed into monsters, were both shocked by the scene unfolding before them, as the fearsome warrior Onigashima effortlessly dodged all attacks even without unsheathing their famous sword, the Blood Hunter.

Such skill was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

"Six years... has the attack pattern changed?"

Facing Alice's aggressive assaults, Onigashima simply raised their question nonchalantly.

"What in the world is this?! Source of Darkness?!"

"Nana~ Maid sister?"

Upon hearing the maid sister's exclamation, Marcina showed a curious and innocent expression.

"That pervert you used to follow, wasn't he always toying with the Source of Darkness?"

"Nonsense! My master would never touch such filth!"

"Filth?"

Suddenly, Sophiel interjected, causing the maid sister to shudder.

Done with this conversation, Marcina turned her gaze back to Onigashima.

"Brother Monkey~ Need~ help~?"

"Did I ask for your help?"

"Hmph! What do you take us for?! Of course..."

Marcina intentionally paused.

"Not going to help~"

"Tch! I knew it!!"

Bantering with Marcina, dodging all around the place among the tall trees, Onigashima effortlessly evaded all of Alice's fierce attacks.

Seeing her attacks have no effect, Alice suddenly ceased all assaults, choosing to leap back onto the top of a carriage.

Opening its mouth wide, a dark maw swallowed the entire carriage whole.

The rough gulp caused some remains to fall off the carriage.

"What?!"

The maid took a step back. Among the fallen remains were rotting flesh, hands, feet, and even heads.

After devouring a large amount of decaying flesh, the shadows emanating from Alice became more numerous and destructive.

Finally, under a sudden fierce attack, Onigashima was forced to unsheathe the giant sword on their back to block it.

"Tsk! Quite troublesome..."

Leaping to a safe area, Onigashima wielded their sword, poised to strike.

"Let me solve you with one stroke!"

Eyes turning vacant, Onigashima shifted into a different stance in an instant.

Witnessing the killer intent released by Onigashima at that moment, the maid sister couldn't help but feel fear.

The berserker known as the murderer, what kind of destructive force would their first strike upon returning to the mainland unleash?

"Slash."

Seizing the opportunity, in a different manner from the berserker's madness, Onigashima coldly uttered, quietly swinging down the giant sword.

Unfortunately, just as their foot moved forward, they were tripped by a hard rock.

"..."

Everyone present was stunned, as Onigashima collapsed right where they stood.

Yet, the strike was still carried out.

Although slightly off-target and lacking the expected force, the swath of forest in front of them was completely destroyed by Onigashima's single slash.

Just a single slash, yet its destructive power even surpassed Sonja's defense in front of the maidservant on that day.

But a stumble was still a stumble, and this failure brought about Marcina's hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! This is hilarious! Hahaha!!!"

"……"

"Let me settle this with one sword strike! Slash! Bam! Hahaha!!!"

Marcina laughed heartily, not only mimicking the situation where Onigashima stumbled just now, but also vividly describing it in words.

"Hahaha! This is so hilarious! Slash! Bam! Hahaha!!!"

Repeating Onigashima's embarrassing moment, Marcina laughed until tears streamed down her face.

Sophiel on the side even chuckled, a rare sight.

On the other hand, the maidservant was the only one who was genuinely impressed by Onigashima's stumble.

"Can a stumble have such destructive power…"

The forest ahead was flattened by the powerful impact.

Onigashima, with a flushed face and ears burning, stood up with a dissatisfied expression.

Although the master and Alice were no longer in sight, Onigashima was confident that their strike just now had hit the mark.

"Hahaha! Come on, let's do it again! Slash! Bam! Hahaha, let's do it again~ This is too funny~"

"Shut up!! Are you ever going to stop?!"

Onigashima shouted back in anger, then refocused on the now-level ground ahead.

"Ugh…"

An impatient Onigashima gripped their bloodhound once more.

"Hey! Had enough fun yet? I don't know how you came back to life, but could you kindly just die now, please?"

***