"Master, please… let me handle him," Cloudia whispered softly into Reon's ear.
Reon, who had just begun channeling Sword Aura into his blade to deflect the ambush, halted at her words.
"…Alright," he said calmly.
Still hugging Reon, Cloudia extended her slender right hand with effortless grace.
The dagger—coated in Pinnacle-Stage Green Dagger Aura—was just inches from Reon's neck… when it suddenly froze mid-air, suspended before Cloudia's delicate fingers.
"…What?!"
The man cloaked in dark robes stared, eyes wide in disbelief.
"H-How is this possible?!"
No matter how much force he exerted, the dagger refused to move past her hand.
His expression twisted.
"Urgh!"
A soft push from Cloudia sent him flying backward—
BOOM!
He crashed into a thick tree trunk with bone-jarring force, shattering it clean in half.
Even Reon, calm as he was, looked on in slight shock.
"…Cloudia, what did you just do? How did you stop such a strong attack so effortlessly?"