Lilith stood against her two opponents, her labored breathing signaled the increasing disadvantageous position she found herself in. She had just revealed her trump card, and its failure only served to reinforce their guards.

  “All we need to do is not get hit by that weird purple wave, and we’ll be good,” One of the super soldiers said. “It’s fast as hell though.”

  “Enough talking! Let’s kill her!” The other said as the two immediately split up, dashing on opposite sides of the forest. With their actions made clear, Lilith wasted no time and moved as well.

  Huff…I can’t afford to drag out this fight for too long. I can feel myself starting to get a bit tired…my splintering skill takes a decent toll on my stamina. Lilith pondered as she ran. They may not hit as hard as Charles, but they’ll win if I can’t fight due to fatigue…

  In a few seconds, Lilith ran a few dozen kilometers through the forest to avoid being struck down easily. The soldiers never lost track of her though, hopping from tree to tree and using their infrared goggles to cut off Lilith’s path.

  As the two soldiers closed in on her, Lilith immediately hopped into the air. The soldiers watched in surprise as Lilith landed atop a tree before lunging tens of meters in the air.

  “Heh, what do you think she’s doing?” A soldier questioned as Lilith ascended.

  Lilith had leaped high enough to receive a wide scope of the forest she resided in from above, and she was still ascending.

  Alright, there they are! I have a good shot on them now! Lilith pondered as she and the soldiers locked eyes from up above and down below. She sheathed her katana and her scabbard radiated a purple light.

  She witnessed the soldiers also hopping on trees of their own, ready to leap at their opponent.

  They’re going to follow me, good! That will give me a better aim–

  The soldiers both jumped in the air, but not towards her. They converged to one another and in perfect synchronicity, the shorter super soldier grabbed the leg of his taller ally, before spinning him like a beyblade.

  What!? Lilith internally questioned with widened as she prepared to draw her sword.

  CRUNCH!

  Her actions were just a bit too late as the super soldier was thrown by his ally, rocketing towards Lilith and slamming his fist into her side. The added momentum to their punch had accumulated enough force to break Lilith’s ribs, blasting her several kilometers away in a flash.

  “Ooh! That one definitely connected!” The super soldier said after landing. “I heard a nice cracking sound!”

  “Heh, that’s great. It looks like whatever she was planning just massively backfired on her!” His ally replied.

  Lilith crashed violently into a tree, ‘breaking’ her fall. With audible groans and clutching her side, Lilith slowly mustered the strength.

  “U-Urgh…Ouch, it…hurts. I think…he broke my ribs…ouch,” Lilith muttered. “Who would even…think of throwing their ally at the enemy like that…they are mad.”

  Those words echoed in Lilith’s head, as if mocking her.

  Mad, huh? Is that what…I’m lacking? The developer wanted me to get stronger by any means necessary…is this what he meant? Lilith pondered as she picked her katana up, still clutching her side with her other hand. I thought that I had to train my behind off to get stronger…but I see that’s not enough.

  The bleeding and broken Lilith walked over to the tree nearest to her.

  “Taking risks…huh?” Lilith muttered as she gazed upwards. “The moonlight is shining more so around here…it’s a bit easier to see.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  I never checked the limits of what I could do with the splintering skill, as I only worked on being able to throw out more than one without passing out from fatigue, so this may be a risk. Lilith pondered. I’ll be taking a pretty big risk, but if I don’t try I’ll just die…and there will be no one to protect Nathan.

  With resolved eyes, Lilith sliced cleanly through the tree. It wasn’t just a single tree – three, four, five…Lilith felled as many trees as she could in a short amount of time.

  The super soldiers’ attention was attracted to these trees as they closed in on Lilith’s location.

  “Heh, she even made a mess all the way here,” One of them mocked.

  “Hmm, don't these trees look a bit clean to just be collateral damage?” The other soldier speculated as the two continued running. “Like…they’ve been cut or something.”

  “Hmm, you’re right…you don’t think she’s up to something?”

  “...I would have said no, if it weren’t for that,” The soldier responded as he pointed to a large mound of trees that were cut down and clumped together.

  Taking immediate caution, the soldiers gazed intently at the mound of logs before them. In the center of the blues and purples of the logs came a bright orange silhouette pulsing through their goggles. The figure was crouching, as if laywaiting something.

  “Heh, so her next plan was to wait for us by hiding behind those logs she cut?” With a smirk, the super soldier remarked. “She must be dumber than I thought if she somehow hasn't realized we have infrared goggles.”

  “I bet she’s planning to do that weird purple wave on us again,” His ally said. “We’ll rush her from opposite directions as usual…she won’t know what to do!”

  “Ready when you are.”

  The air was cold and the moonlight shone above Lilith. Every breath she breathed as she waited to draw her katana was as though she puffed white clouds, drifting away as the cold winds snatched them.

  Amid her waiting, it suddenly happened – like wolves launching a tactical attack on its prey, Lilith’s duo of enemies charged at her, both rushing at opposite sides of the log collection she made.

  NOW! With her reaction spiking at the sight of the two soldiers, Lilith wasted no time and sheathed her katana that was now covered in a purple haze with a loud hiss. Improvised move…Sword Art - Splintering: Ricochet!

  She launched yet another arc from her sword, but the soldiers watched with surprise as it simply flew past them.

  Huh? What the hell was that aim–

  The soldier never got a chance to process Lilith’s ‘terrible’ aim, as the two experienced a sharp sensation penetrating their bodies. The sword slash had missed the two, but instead crashed into the logs with an even greater speed.

  Like the shrapnels from a grenade, the arc shattered into many smaller fragments. They scattered all over at equally high speeds, with many piercing the torso, right arm and left leg of one of them. His ally received slightly less injuries, with only his right foot getting shredded by the shards.

  It could be due to the sheer force of the arc erupting into shards, or also the fragments, but the logs that it struck had large chunks and wood splinters blown everywhere.

  “Tsk, what the hell!?” The soldier whose leg was destroyed by the fragments cursed as he stumbled to the knee of his undamaged leg.

  “Ugh, the bitch…had a damn plan!” As he received the blunt of the fragments, the other super soldier yelled as he fell to the ground, blood quickly pooling from his own body. “Shit!!!”

  It worked! Now is my chance! Still clutching her side, Lilith mustered her strength and charged at her opponents. I should get rid of the less injured one first!

  As the super soldier stayed on his knee, he watched with shock as Lilith went straight for him. She seemed full of intent as she swung the katana at his neck, but like an invisible force holding her back, Lilith stopped mid way.

  “G-Get away!” Giving the super soldier time to react, he swung his arm in retaliation, slamming his fist into her face and knocking Lilith away as he yelled.

  “Ugh!” Lilith groaned as she bounced off the ground with her head, before landing on her feet. W-Why did I stop my blade…?

  With the memory of her previous encounter with the female super soldier rushing in her mind, Lilith’s own question was answered.

  D-Do I still not have it in me…to take a life!? Lilith questioned with frustration on her face. E-Even though…I killed before?

  “Tsk…you’re bleeding alot,” The super soldier muttered as he looked at his ally. “Shit…what should we do?”

  Seeing that her opponents clearly were unable to fight anymore, Lilith made the sensible decision – to leave.

  “G-Get back here!” Although bloody and filled with holes on the ground, the super soldier yelled as he witnessed Lilith run.

  I-I still couldn’t do it. After all I said about protecting my Nathan… Lilith pondered with a face of sadness as she ran through the forest. Why am I…still so weak?