Awakened: SSS Ranked Soul king

Staring down at Victoria from atop Ghost, Guilliman looked imposing, like a knight looking down at a peasant.

Of course, Victoria was no peasant.

She descended into a fighting position, her blade placed above her head and her eyes firmly focused on Guilliman.

'Hmm, counter cavalry tactics? How does a princess learn something like that?'

Guilliman couldn't help but chuckle.

Most nobles and high-ranking slayers had a plethora of fighting techniques and training; however, it was extremely rare to see them learning such tactics.

This was simply because of the uniqueness of their position. They didn't need to join full-scale skirmishes, and even if they did, they would do so on horseback or the likes.

Victoria being able to use counter cavalry tactics meant that there was a time when she had joined a losing or ill-equipped army and had served as a grunt soldier.

It was funny.

"Shame, this is not a horse," Guilliman smirked and pushed Ghost forward, causing him to launch at Victoria with furor.

Ghost swerved past her, allowing him to send his sword barreling towards her defensive stance. Naturally, she blocked the attack with ease, but before she even knew it,

Ghost's sharp teeth bit down at her from the side, causing her to guard with her left arm.

"Fuck!!" Victoria cursed; a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.

'Yeah, that's right, it's fundamentally a beast.'

She mused, watching as Ghost tried to bite into her flesh.

Thankfully, she still had other tricks up her sleeve. Sending out a surge of lightning, she shocked both Ghost and Guilliman.

Immediately, Ghost let go, allowing her to disengage and for Leon to pull back.

"Hm?" Guilliman used his left hand to rub his cheek and looked at it with a look of confusion.

Blood.

His eyes then panned to the side, where he noticed again a trace of blood gushing from his arm.

"Nasty aspect," Guilliman cursed.

All this while, as they had been fighting, he hadn't noticed that he had been wounded more than twice. The numbness that came with her lightning power was great.

It helped her wound her opponents without them ever noticing—at least until they saw it with their own eyes, which rarely happened during battles.

"Better safe than sorry," he shook his head, looking at the dangerous-looking woman below him. She seemed to be enjoying this very much.

With the wave of his hand, Guilliman was adorned with a green armour, a mix of shell and a tough fabric that's mixed in between.

[Echo: Tortie Shroud (Mutant ~ Knight)]

[Description: The Tortie is a beast with a powerful shell, protecting it from predators and prey alike. But be careful—green attracts greed.]

He had gotten this echo in Clawwood forest when fighting alongside Victoria, but he didn't use it again after seeing its effect.

In all honesty, he didn't want to use it right here in the middle of this forest, but since it was only the two of them… it seemed okay.

At least, he would suffer from Ghost injuries with this on.

"Again!!" he shouted, rushing Victoria once more whilst still on the back of Ghost.

Midway, however, he suddenly jumped up and slashed down at Victoria from the air, causing her to decide:

Stop the one from above, and get mauled by Ghost? Or attack Ghost and risk getting cleaved in half.

Pretty obvious choice—she just needed to retreat and dodge both.

However, she did not do that; instead, she jumped up and faced Guilliman's descending sword face to face.

—clang

—clang

—clang

The two kept fighting through the morning, sparks of light shone as their blades collided; Victoria was nastier in technique and skill, Guilliman was a master of on-the-spot improvisation.

The two of them were made for battle.

However, there could be only one winner.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be decided today.

"Roar!!!"

A frightened roar resounded all of a sudden during one of their clashes, causing both to frown and look at each other.

"Weakened, it's coming from that direction…" Victoria pulled back her blade and pointed in the direction from which she had heard the sound.

"It's being attacked by a group of 4… bold," Guilliman smirked and, with the side of his lips, looked over at Victoria.

"Want to steal the kill?" he asked, a mischievous look appearing on his face.

The rules were two-man teams attacking beasts they found for efficiency and speed. Victoria's main purpose was to make the majority of them strong enough to fight against the beast and survive.

But it seemed like the competition that came with it had gone to the head of Cyrus and his team. They had tracked down a grand beast and were now besieging it with two teams.

This was clearly cheating.

"Why not? It's a group effort, isn't it?" Victoria shared Guilliman's sentiments.

Since they had decided to 'work together'… then the presence of Guilliman and herself shouldn't be bothersome to them, right? She smirked.

Though she still wanted to keep fighting, she knew becoming stronger was more important. A few lessons along the way were also good.

…..

"Don't let it escape, flank it," Cyrus barked at two members of his cohort as they fought against a monstrous beast.

Victoria and her cohort had two grand echoes between their cohort; not only that, it seemed like everyone on that team was a monstrous talent.

They had to keep up one way or the other, or else they would just be swallowed by them and maybe even used as cannon fodder.

In retrospect, he was only doing what was best for him and the men of his cohort—it was truly a matter of survival for them. After all, they couldn't place their lives in the hands of others.

"Brother, I'm ready!!" Standing a few dozen meters away from the main battle, Quinn's voice resounded as he looked up at Cyrus.

Right now, all the black in his eyes was nonexistent, meaning he was using his aspect.

Of course, there was a certain part of his aspect no one knew about.

He had the ability to grant what he saw to others… at the risk of his mobility.

"Good!!" Cyrus, in that moment, lost the sight in his eyes, and the blade in his hand suddenly felt incredibly sharp!!