Meanwhile, outside of the castle, the other members of the rebel group were fighting the rat king's soldiers.
CLANG!
The man's sword clashed with a soldier's as he attempted to take his life, when suddenly Adonis punched the soldier, knocking him out on impact.
"Thank you, sir."
"No problem," he replied as he cracked his knuckles.
"Clad and his team should be inside the castle by now-"
BOOM!
A loud explosion could be heard, catching Adonis's attention. He looked up and saw something he didn't expect in the slightest.
!?
"Clad!?" Adonis said in shock.
He saw Clad in the air, flying out of the castle into another building, followed by a monster leaping to where he flew. Adonis wanted to help him, but he couldn't as they were currently occupied with their own battle.
"Here they are!" A soldier said as others came running in, prepared for combat and armed with multiple weapons.
"I hope he doesn't get killed!" Adonis thought as he stepped into the battlefield.
As Clad opened his eyes, he saw bones and statues around the place.
"A museum?" He thought to himself as he found himself on a lower floor, he looked up and saw a hole in the building's rooftop, which let out a faint light from outside. Clad quickly got up as he remembered that Marouce was coming, and he looked up again to see the monster fall a few meters in front of him, shaking the ground as he landed.
THUD!
The two didn't exchange a single word and immediately started running at each other. As Clad ran, he noticed his blade was between him and the rat and decided to take the risk, running towards the monsters with no weapon and, with luck, took the weapon while evading an incoming attack by sliding under the monster's legs. Marouce and Clad quickly turned around to each other as the monster leaped towards him and swung its immense left arm, armed with claws, at him, which Clad parried with his sword, but he didn't notice the other arm that was the attack meant to hit him.
!?!?
"A trap!?" Clad thought as he barely had time to react before the punch was already upon him. He managed to block it, though the sheer force still sent him flying backward into the skeleton of a long-dead monster, bones shattering on impact. Even so, he twisted mid-air and regained his footing as he landed, skidding across the ground.
The moment he looked up, he saw Marouce already descending toward him, his left arm drawn back and ready to deliver a final, merciless blow. With no time to think or escape, Clad relied purely on instinct, tightening his grip as he positioned his blade low before swinging it upward in a sudden, explosive arc, like a sunflower reaching toward the sun. The strike tore through the air with violent force, and in that single motion, Marouce's arm was cleanly severed.
[FLOWER SWORD ARTS: SUNFLOWER BURST]!