### Chapter: 232
On the Battlefield with Charlotte and Sigrid
Charlotte’s sword began to sharpen more and more.
At the same time, her footwork started to take on an entirely different flair.
In her peculiar dance-like steps, Charlotte gracefully glided past the incoming shadow pillars.
However, the speed of her movements was light-years ahead of before.
She was definitely just switching up her steps, yet somehow she slid across the ground like she was gliding.
And her destination? None other than Zodiac.
Zodiac, seeing Charlotte catch up to him at a speed he didn’t expect, hurriedly erected more pillars.
But Charlotte smoothly dodged them all and closed in on him.
Zodiac’s eyes widened in shock at the sight.
Charlotte could pierce through the flow of Zodiac’s aura with her gaze.
The shadow pillars were ultimately moving according to his intentions.
Knowing this, Charlotte was completely aware of where the shadow pillars would rise next.
“What the…?”
Just as Zodiac was about to lose his mind, hastily trying to comprehend the absurdity of it all, Hyzen stepped in front of Charlotte.
Hyzen was keeping in sync with Charlotte, adopting the same rhythm in his steps.
In that moment, a blue aura burst forth from Charlotte’s sword.
The energy connected directly to Hyzen’s neck, and in an instant, the sword shone brightly before reaching out to him.
Almost immediately, blue energy spilled out from Hyzen’s sword as well.
It was a textbook replication of the special technique Charlotte used called ‘Wandering’ — almost as if he had a clone.
While he couldn’t harm Charlotte outright, he was able to block with equal force.
Using that advantage, Hyzen swung his sword right down at Charlotte.
And just as Hyzen’s sword was about to clash with Charlotte’s…
Bong!
For some reason, Charlotte’s sword was easily pushed back.
As confusion flickered in Hyzen’s eyes, he suddenly realized that Charlotte had loosened her grip on the hilt as he struck.
With the power from Hyzen’s sword, Charlotte’s weapon spun halfway around.
Charlotte then swung her elbow towards the grip of the sword.
In that instant, the sword, powered by her elbow, redirected the blade toward Hyzen’s ribs beneath his armpit.
It was practically a circus act.
But even that stunt was beyond Hyzen’s ability to follow when he was using ‘Exigo.’
After all, Exigo merely allowed him to mimic Charlotte’s ability, not fully track her unique movements.
Thus, as Hyzen struggled to keep up, he had to break off from Charlotte’s technique and yank his sword back.
Just in time, he barely managed to block Charlotte’s sword blade with the guard of his weapon.
But it was a bad trade.
Charlotte had already reclaimed the grip of her sword.
“Crazy.”
As Hyzen dropped the facade of bravado, his face turned bewildered.
Once more, blue light surged along Charlotte’s sword.
By the time Hyzen anticipated the energy within, it was too late.
Woom!
Charlotte’s sword twisted and sent Hyzen flying with incredible force.
Hyzen rocketed into the air, and Zodiac rushed to catch him with the shadow wall, but he crashed through it and tumbled to the ground.
Bang! Thud!
The crumpled sword rolled to a stop on the ground.
And beyond that shattered weapon lay Hyzen, revealing his broken left arm and ribs, eyes bulging in shock.
Charlotte’s blue hair danced in the aftermath.
“Ugh!”
Zodiac, without a moment to check on Hyzen, realized that Charlotte was now aiming for him.
Frantically, he slammed his scythe into the ground, causing shadows to ripple upward, shooting up to the ceiling of the shadow realm.
A massive shadow wall rapidly formed, ready to crush Charlotte.
“Zodiac, get out of the way!”
Just then, Zodiac froze at the voice of Sigrid calling from the side.
Out of nowhere, Sigrid had appeared, her white aura surging from the Sword of White Lines as she advanced.
“Lady Sigrid.”
The moment he called, a crack tore through the shadow pillars.
At that instant, Zodiac caught a glimpse of blue light shooting up.
Ka-boom!
With the shattered shadow wall, a slashing attack broke through Zodiac’s shadow space, slicing it in half.
Zodiac instinctively let out a scream as Sigrid’s sword followed his movements.
Boom!
The white slash and blue slash collided, sending shockwaves through the vicinity.
As Zodiac rolled on the ground with his scythe, Sigrid locked eyes with Charlotte through the smoke.
Sunlight streamed into the jagged shadow space.
She had cleaved through the shadow realm that was immune to physical attacks with a single precise slash focused through her sword’s aura.
‘What a monster.’
Sigrid realized the setup she had concocted with Hyzen and Zodiac to drain Charlotte’s stamina and buy time had quickly unraveled.
Seeing Hyzen defeated and Zodiac dazed, she realized their roles were over.
That was exactly why she brought the two along: to stall for time.
The white energy streaming from her sword only intensified.
It had grown stronger since their previous clash as it absorbed all the energy from Charlotte’s attack.
This power was none other than the legacy and special technique of the former Sword King, the ‘Sword Light.’
A technique allowing the wielder to continuously gather the opponent’s power into their own blade.
The white aura pouring from her sword was a result of this ‘Sword Light,’ absorbing Charlotte’s strength.
‘I wanted to gather more…’
But this was enough.
She had pooled sufficient energy to smash Charlotte to pieces.
“Are you having fun too?”
As she approached Charlotte, her grin widened.
“I’m having a blast.”
Today was the day to dethrone the Sword King.
—
Hero of the Commoners, Felray.
The one who ceaselessly reaffirms his status as a hero.
There he stood, facing a certain individual before him.
Someone who, having gained accolades as a hero from every person in the world, even surpassing him in esteem.
Kraush Balheim.
The aura emanating from him was enough to leave Felray gasping for air.
Kraush was strong.
Felray had known that since the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament long ago.
Because of that, Felray kept improving through training while never letting himself become arrogant.
He constantly reminded himself that he was still far from Kraush’s level.
Now, at this current moment, Felray had become strong enough to comfortably place himself among the top tier at the Unnamed Academy.
Having originally been a diamond in the rough, through relentless efforts, he had polished his talents to perfection.
Yet still, Felray was never satisfied with his current standing.
Facing Kraush made him realize he still had far to go.
And that realization wasn’t entirely disheartening.
“Kraush.”
Felray called out his name, drawing his sword.
The aura spilling from him was properly shaped like a true swordsman, unlike before.
Proof that he had reached Mastery.
“I wonder when I’ll catch up to you.”
Upon hearing Felray’s question, Kraush let out a light chuckle.
“Just stick to following me for life, loser.”
His words were laced with playful banter that also made Felray smile.
He understood that Kraush saw him as just Felray, not based on status and renown.
It was traits like this that attracted people to him, irrespective of their ranks or social standings.
“Just try not to get caught up!”
Felray shot back.
In the very next moment, his silhouette broke apart.
He materialized right in Kraush’s face.
Kraush tilted his head just in time to narrowly evade the blade hurtling toward his chin.
Fast!
Felray had drastically improved his ‘Rain Thunder Prime’ techniques since the last time they crossed paths.
‘He’s completely unrecognizable from before.’
Kraush dodged again as Felray synced up his movements, the blade resembling water flowing behind it.
Felray’s attacks were lined with trailing afterimages that danced around Kraush’s eyes.
But these weren’t just illusions.
Clang!
Each of Felray’s afterimages felt real as Kraush’s sword collided with them, the weight of dozens of blades crashing down upon him.
The sensation was overwhelming — like being caught in a torrential downpour.
Felray’s attacks continued flowing like rain, not granting Kraush a moment’s respite.
It felt as if there were dozens of swords pressing against him.
“Looks like you’ve made my life difficult.”
Kraush couldn’t help but let out a laugh, realizing Felray had indeed been training tirelessly with the moves he learned during their spar.
Clang!
Once more, Felray’s sword met Kraush’s in a resonating clash.
But everyone knew — this alone wasn’t enough to defeat Kraush.
So, eager to press forward, Felray’s technique began to shift a little.
The afterimages he created started to remain in place instead of vanishing after a cut.
As Felray danced with his blade, the number of residual shadows continually increased.
Just as Kraush finally noticed the gathering afterimages…
Crash!
They shattered in unison.
And the shards burst forth towards Kraush.
Like snow and rain, the fragments exploded forth, threatening to cover him.
Kraush’s sword swung fiercely, severing through the shards.
In that instant, Felray took the opening to strike.
Shards and Felray’s afterimages both closed in on Kraush, as if he were wading through a torrential storm.
Clang!
The clang of blades echoed amidst the flurry of afterimages.
The shards swarmed around, tearing through nearby structures as they surged past.
Sliced, cut, and torn apart!
Kraush felt every sharp shard grazing against him.
‘Did he infuse aura into every piece?’
Kraush’s body held the weight ofDurandal’s ‘Dragon Breach’ technique, markedly enhanced.
Despite that, the afterimages managed to pierce through, leaving shallow cuts on him.
He was getting stronger.
Felray had grown to the point it was hard to even recognize him.
Realizing his level of power, smoke began to trail from Kraush’s mouth.
He had figured out that with the second level of Annihilation Erosion, he still couldn’t overwhelm Felray.
“Haha.”
Amidst it all, laughter escaped from Kraush’s lips.
He realized Felray was running hard just to keep up with him.
Kraush had to show him just how strong he had become.
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