Words were unnecessary.
I intentionally let his strike through to face the Sword Saint, and likewise, I didn’t interfere with his movement to the next kingdom.
Sre.
And the same went for the Sword Saint.
The spear twisted.
At the same time, the sword moved.
A roar erupted from the White Guardian, and a storm reminiscent of a dragon’s roar surged forward.
“Wow, damn…”
That storm was a total of 30.
Cursing and flustered, Uriel was blown away by the wind, along with all the knights and residents in the distance.
I had evacuated them in advance, but still, many were left within the range of attack.
As the storm swallowed the area, the Sword Saint painted a purplish line across the world.
Skrraaaak…!
The storm was sliced apart.
The severed storm exploded with a shockwave, but the Sword Saint’s purple eyes glowed, causing the shockwave to vanish.
‘Absorb?’
“Not bad.”
As the Sword Saint shifted his sword stance, the atmosphere changed.
I’m not just talking about a feeling here.
‘There’s something in that sword.’
He had a technique that applied debuffs to the area, just like Black’s Dark Field.
The difference? The Sword Saint’s debuffs far surpassed Black’s.
Whooosh!
A slow sword strike aimed for my neck.
Yet, it was fast enough to be lethal.
The swordsmanship that defied logic brushed against my neck.
Kaaan─!
“…!”
The pure white holy power shone, forcing the Sword Saint’s sword back.
The Sword Saint’s eyes trembled at the quivering sword.
Swieeek!
Even with thick layers of holy power surrounding me, my neck was lightly wounded.
Despite being in a mock siege war where abilities weren’t diminished at all, I got hurt.
Even piercing through the holy power.
Rumble…!!
‘Eye of the Spear.’
A storm of power created by the celestial angel, Rusalha.
Everything was being sucked into the spear.
Surrounding air, dust, objects, mana… everything was drawn into one place.
Even the purplish magical power enveloping the Sword Saint was no exception.
With a storm fiercer than the spear’s roar, the Sword Saint gripped his sword tightly.
In the current state, even wielding the sword felt arduous.
Even if he struggled to do so, the likelihood of being sucked into that storm was very high.
The Sword Saint sighed.
“What a sight.”
“…?”
“I’m not talking to you.”
The opponent is on par with the Eight Swords.
“Planning to fight without losing anything, huh?”
He mumbled that and focused on his sword, ignoring the storm.
The storm ramped up, as if mocking him, but he didn’t stop concentrating even while being swept by the aftermath.
His blood-soaked hands stained the sword, and his purple eyes emitted a different energy than before.
Tiddidik…
The sword began to crack.
At first glance, it looked like the sword was merely breaking.
Paddaduk…
But I sensed something was off and adjusted my spear.
‘…That’s…’
The sword, which had been cracking, was completely shattered.
“Verd. It’s liberation.”
Fuwahaaaak!!!
Dense ‘magic’ engulfed the castle of Ur.
■
“That’s it!”
“Is that the Sword Saint’s new ability? In an instant, the castle was covered in a purple night sky!”
Casters and commentators were trying their best to relay the chaotic situation.
Normally, at the start of a siege war, there would be several declarations of war and larger battles being relayed one by one.
But this siege war was different.
From the very beginning, the Empire declared war across the entire continent.
The Empire began targeting the castles using overwhelming forces.
Just this much was nonsensical, but the issue was that both Leo and the Sword Saint, who had never participated in a siege war, were involved.
The Sword Saint literally ‘split’ the Angel Guild’s castle in half, while Leo erased the Black Moon through Spirit Ascension, accepting not one but two attributes simultaneously.
As the situation unfolded rapidly, even the experienced and skilled commentators were flustered.
Their gaze caught a single screen.
‘Lily and the Sword Saint.’
The long-discussed battle between the two began to unfold.
[Whoa]
[What the?]
[Lily is so strong? LOL]
[What’s up with the Sword Saint getting wrecked?]
[What’s going on?]
[Sword Saint Awakening!]
[But why is Lily joining the Angel Guild?]
[Is this a battle from the heavens?]
[Lily is technically an angel]
[Lily! Lily! Lily! Lily!]
[As expected, the Sword Saint is on par with Lily, wow]
[Aisha looks like her eyes are trembling while watching, LOL]
“Currently, battles are taking place all over the continent. The fight between the Sword Saint and Lily has reached a brief lull.”
“Certainly, since these are battles between the two strongest users, it’s hard for us to grasp the situation through the screen. But so far, it seems like Lily has the upper hand…”
“No.”
Aisha gazed at the Sword Saint, enveloped in purple darkness on the screen.
“It was only a ‘part’ I faced directly, but…”
Right now, that appearance.
It clearly matched the one that had overwhelmed me.
Moreover, now, I’m undeniably much stronger than back then.
“That state of the Sword Saint is invincible. There’s no way he can lose. No matter how strong Lady Lily is, it’d be hard for her to win.”
Certainty.
Aisha’s eyes, filled with assurance, were fixated on the screen.
Raquel and Kim Yong-woo couldn’t muster the courage to refute Aisha’s intensely serious gaze.
No, they couldn’t even argue back.
It’s true that Lily had a slight edge so far, but the Sword Saint was undeniably Deoen’s number one.
Since the ranking system was introduced, the Sword Saint had been in first place and still maintained that status.
Even if Lily was a new powerhouse, the existing champion’s dominance couldn’t be easily toppled.
[Isn’t this a bit biased?]
[Hahahahahaha]
[Aisha’s eyes have gone wild]
[Bias, no no]
[But it’s a fact that the Sword Saint is strong]
[Yeah, oh well]
[The Sword Saint must be quite lucky, lol]
[Is he really that strong?]
[Still, I think Lily will win]
“…But! Still, we should look forward to Lily’s performance! Based on the situation so far, she definitely has a chance.”
“That’s true. But in the end, it seems like the victory will belong to the Sword Saint…”
Aisha was about to say that.
Meanwhile, the crew filming the broadcast were about to tell Aisha to be a little more careful with her words.
No matter how much Aisha was brought in as a special commentator who knew the Sword Saint well, it wouldn’t be good to be so one-sided.
Boom!!!
But they couldn’t help but stop speaking.
[Wow, an angel]
[Is she really an angel?]
In the thick darkness.
Lily, with her wings of light fluttering, soared into the sky holding a pure white hammer.
■
Magic.
Like holy power, it’s one of the most terrible forms of power, characterized by its ability to infuse all magic with transcendent enhancements.
For example, let’s say you use a fireball.
A regular mage would summon a regular fireball.
A more skilled mage might summon a boulder-sized fireball.
A dragon’s magic could produce a hill-sized one, while holy power could summon a fireball that’s multiple times larger than that of a dragon.
So, what about magic?
‘It’s just a fireball.’
The fireball created by magic summoned a ‘meteor.’
It conjured up a massive fireball large enough to wipe out an entire kingdom.
That’s why I hated both the Celestial Race and the Demon Race just as much.
Like the Celestials, if demons appeared, the world would be in ruins.
‘So devastatingly that regeneration is impossible.’
“Magic…”
I frowned, feeling the thick magic that enveloped the area.
It’s definitely not a real demon race.
Of course, it’s also not the magic of an intermediate-level demon race.
I gazed at the shattered, translucent form of the purple sword.
‘That’s the sword.’
The Sword Saint is using a sword infused with the power of a “demon.”
There’s nothing strange about that.
In the past, when a demon revealed itself, it often scattered its magic around intentionally, and many races, including humans, picked it up for their own use.
The young lady known as the Bluebird did the same, as did many other “corrupted” beings.
However, they couldn’t use abilities beyond their limits.
If they did, they would either go berserk or be consumed by magic, losing their sanity and becoming demon beasts.
Sometimes their bodies and souls would entirely melt away.
But the current Sword Saint was using abilities beyond his limits without any issues.
“Hoo… the feeling is still strange.”
His mind seems perfectly fine.
‘The soul is also intact… this is way too excessive for a system’s protection.’
If Gabriel’s holiness is completely refined, providing a power entirely different from the existing holiness, then the Sword Saint’s magic is nothing less than magic itself.
An ordinary human’s soul could never accept such power.
Boom!
“…!”
I spread my Wings of Light and soared into the sky.
The thick magic that enveloped the castle constricted around me, but I didn’t care.
This amount of dispersed magic can’t hinder my holy expression with my wings spread.
Transforming the White Guardian from a spear into a hammer, I thought.
The Sword Saint is definitely human.
When I looked at his soul, there was no trace of demon blood or anything special about him.
So there’s only one thing left.
‘He received external help.’
Help from someone with enough understanding of magic to control it.
“… I guess I’ll find out if I check.”
The hammer wrapped in holiness struck down at the Sword Saint, landing directly on him.
Crack, crack, crack…!!
“Whoa…”
He blocked it.
Even though I put some effort into it.
The Sword Saint, engulfed in roaring magic, stomped his back foot hard against the earth and glared at me.
“Use your full power, Lily Elbrite.”
“Is that really what you want?”
Phew.
Kwadudududududek!!!
“Then you’ll die.”
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