In a single move—a series of consecutive attacks, like river waters flowing flawlessly between boulders—the Visage of the unknown girl cut down everyone behind Brandon.
The instant it passed Brandon, deceiving him with an afterimage conjured by skilled movement phasing, the Visage rushed in, cutting down Sylvie, Ellric, Liz, and Hannah.
Sylvie, though a gold-rank mage adventurer, fell prey to the blade of the Visage, which cut her enchanted staff in half and cleaved a deep wound into her chest.
Ellric, unable to see the Visage's movements or follow its speed, fell to his knees without a chance to brandish his weapon. In the split second it took, the Visage's blade cleaved through his silver armor as if it were ordinary cloth, leaving a wound large enough for his blood to stain the silver red.
It was the same for Liz, who collapsed unconscious from the shock of sustaining such a critical injury for the first time in her life.
