The Ancient Swordsman’s indifferent tone momentarily shattered the sky as if it were a blade, and amidst the surging blood waves, a cold sword light pierced through the tempestuous waves. Oran’s drawn sword edge descended instantly.
Igere raised End, colliding with the substantial sword intent, and the ancient blade edge vibrated intensely. The black-haired youth’s pupils constricted, and he stepped back, the ground cracking with large fissures, as if the entire world were shaking.
Oran landed on the cracked earth, drawing his true sword with his right hand. The chaotic space was divided into countless fragments by the sword intent, and the converging cold light, like interlaced lines, cut through the raging waves of blood light, descending towards Igere, who barely raised his sword to block the attack!
Igere’s clothes were smoothly shaved open by the overflowing sword intent, and blood flowed from the wound. The sword blade held steadily in his right hand was raised to crush the traces of overlapping sword momentum, colliding with the Blood Sword.
End’s sword blade, for the first time, clashed with Oran’s “cutting” sword intent, and the erupting sharpness tore the surrounding blood-red light ripples into countless fine fragments before collapsing with a boom.
Like a breaking dam, torrents of blood-colored demonic power poured out from the two of them, engulfing the entire world like a sea of blood!
***
In the vastness, a blood-colored background was constructed on a flat plane. A cluster of soft gold-like moonlight touched the mirror surface, its glistening scales like splendor.
But it was not moonlight, but tranquil dawn light. Verafia sat serenely, a strand of silk-like hair, like dazzling sunlight, falling on her delicate knees by her skirt, but it did not disturb the tranquil atmosphere.
“Immortality… in the myths of the gods, reaching this state means no calamity can approach, and even time cannot erase it. Even after the Mythic Era was destroyed, they merely slept in the river of time.”
The young girl slightly raised her luminous eyes, her snowy cheeks perfectly painted, her delicate voice like jade chimes, “But above that, there are sacred existences like the God of Light and the Lord of Life.”
Oran nodded. Against the backdrop of golden flames, the blood-colored sky, which was more solemn and dignified, rippled with his thoughts as he spoke to the young girl.
“Indeed, when Lancaster’s Sacred Sword fell, I also sensed a ripple in that obscure realm. However, I was not able to glimpse it, and even the immortal beings could not see the complete picture.”
“Hm?” Verafia raised her golden eyes and looked at him.
“Shedding the corrupted, decaying body and achieving immortality with what remains… this is not entirely accurate. You should know this better than I.”
Oran lowered his voice. He looked at the Blood Sword Swordsman who was drawing his sword and fighting with Igere, “I think Lancaster has been able to take this step for a long time, but he has been refusing for a hundred years.”
Verafia’s eyelashes slightly lowered.
As Duke Oran had said, Lancaster’s pursuit was clearly of flawless perfection. With the Sacred Sword he wielded, and the Star God, and his betrayal of himself a century ago… perhaps what he sought was to outline that illusory and obscure painting.
“This is my experience with ‘immortality’. In fact, what I gained in the past fifty years is far less than the initial glimpse. And considering Lot’s past experiences, combined with his current state, I believe it would be of little help to you.”
Duke Oran waved his hand, erasing the “scene of immortality” he had depicted, and smiled at the young girl.
“However, apart from when I first taught you sword techniques, I haven’t been able to be your teacher for a long time. This time… I still hope to touch upon something for you.”
Just before, Verafia had been asking him for his insights and experiences on immortality, and Oran had been depicting his own insights with runes and lines.
“Teacher Oran, you have done so much for me,” Verafia said seriously.
“This is nothing. To me, here and now, all of this is nothing but useless waste.”
Duke Oran stood up and said, “It’s just that our divine sources don’t have many points of compatibility. And your damage and injuries are more serious than I thought. Even if you absorb it completely, you will only recover from Platinum to Crystal tier.”
Verafia nodded, her fingertips, as delicate as juvenile jade, lightly touched her skirt.
Verafia had estimated the same before arriving at Rubiel. If one added the overdraft on herself during the battle with the Royal Guard and the forced contact with divine power to unleash her true form, Duke Oran’s assessment was actually better than she had anticipated.
After all, based solely on the residual blood essence from the blood-patterned stone, Verafia had not expected Oran to have reached the realm of immortality. However, Verafia was not only thinking of recovering her full strength through this alone. She looked at her palm, where a prism-like crystal hovered above her white jade-like delicate and moistening youthful skin. Pure golden, thread-like divine power origin was lingering on the crystalline surface, and even without contact, one could feel the powerful strength contained within.
Verafia clenched her slender hand, pure divine power unceasingly seeping into her skin.
If the prediction was correct, being able to return to the Crystal tier, and if she were to encounter the Royal Guard of Star a month ago, she would not be as embarrassed as she was then, and would even have a slim chance of fighting back only when the other party was astonished. And with the strength of the Crystal tier, maintaining the magical power level in human form would be enough to reach the Platinum level, which was already sufficient for her. At least Verafia did not need to be forced to fight beyond her level using her understanding of “rules” as she had been for the past month.
Although Verafia did not mind revealing her Phoenix identity, being like this all the time was also suspicious, wasn’t it?
Seeing the young girl’s expression, Oran nodded and suddenly said, “However, to have caused you to fall from Star directly to your current state, and even to have almost permanently depleted your origin. Lott, whatever made you do this must be no small matter.”
“It’s really nothing.”
Verafia lightly smiled. The young girl seemed to have relaxed a lot, a beautiful curve appearing on her snowy cheeks. She raised her eyebrows towards Igere, who was drawing his sword and attacking the Blood Sword Swordsman below, and said, “I just saved this guy’s life. And I also reshaped End.”
The young girl did not forget to stick out her tongue at Oran, adding, “It’s not mine anyway.”
Duke Oran couldn’t help but chuckle. His gaze shifted back to the black-haired youth, but he suddenly understood. Oran had always been curious about why this little fellow named Igere carried such a strong aura of the young girl, and had made several guesses. However, being with Verafia, who was once both his student and friend, he never felt comfortable asking.
However, although this answer was not intensely dramatic, it was at least reasonable, Oran thought.
