*BOOM!*
Inside the throne room, shrouded in a faint glow, the sound of thunder transformed into a deafening roar that shook the air.
Within the entire throne room, lightning raged wildly, bolts streaking across the air as dazzling flashes burst forth like sunlight, suppressing the faint radiance from the Light of Heaven that had once enveloped the room.
Riezel stood there, his entire body bathed in thick, searing lightning—it was as if he had become the god of thunder itself—his eyes blazing like thunderbolts—as he sent every charging Shadow Knight flying in one fierce burst.
Feeling the growing pressure from Riezel's lightning-infused body and the frenzied warning signs blaring within his mind, Rohm's form seemed to be forced out from the darkness by the bolts themselves.
Unable to remain hidden any longer, he staggered into view midair.
"Quick! Assist me!"
Rohm's face twisted in alarm as he urgently shouted to those around him.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
At once, the Shadow Knights, who had been repelled by the outburst of Riezel's lightning, broke through the air one by one, gathering behind Rohm.
They raised their swords, channeling their swordsmanship and pouring torrents of magical energy into Rohm's body, causing the power within him to surge violently, erupting into a massive magical storm that swept through the entire room.
It was a secret technique that only those of the Shadow could perform, because the Hazy Strike Sword Style practiced by the Shadow Knights was a simplified form of Rohm's own Shadow Strike Sword Style.
In other words, since the swordsmanship of the Shadow Knights was a lower-tier form derived from Rohm's swordsmanship, they shared the same origin but stood on different levels.
Because of this shared origin, the Shadow Knights could synchronize their swordsmanship, channeling their combined strength directly into Rohm for him to wield.
Absorbing the power of the Shadow Knights, Rohm gathered all of their magical energy into the Shadow Sword he held.
*Buzz—*
In that instant, the pitch-black sword suspended in midair trembled violently, absorbing vast amounts of magical energy as it radiated a dark light that clashed against the lightning bolts.
"Black Sword - Shadow Slash!"
Rohm roared, and the Shadow Sword hovering beside him suddenly vanished without a trace.
A split second later, the Shadow Sword pierced through the void itself, reappearing at the center of the lightning storm and cleaving down toward Riezel, who stood bathed in endless lightning.
Having absorbed immense magical energy and converted it into pure destructive power, the Shadow Sword descended as if it could split the very earth apart—the instant it fell, the air itself trembled, and countless faces turned pale.
*THUD!*
Hendrick, unable to sit still any longer, struck the Sword of Authority hard, amplifying the power of the Light of Heaven and causing the faint radiance that filled the throne room to flare brighter and stronger.
If he didn't do this, he feared the throne room would be split open by Rohm's strike—and that he himself would be caught in the destruction.
"Really..."
Gripping the small wand hanging from his belt, Ferras frowned slightly before channeling a pulse of power to conjure a barrier around himself and Yuri for protection.
As for Florent, he fixed his gaze on the scene above—the pitch-black sword descending toward Riezel, who stood amid lightning—and magical energy finally began to surge within his body.
"Quick, move!"
"Get out of here!"
"Don't stay in this place!"
"Help those who can't move!"
All the knights and court magicians whom Riezel had struck down earlier—those writhing on the ground in pain—no longer dared to stay prone.
Like fragile humans caught in a great natural disaster, those who could still move ignored their pain and scrambled to their feet, desperate to escape, while those who couldn't move shouted for help, forcing others to drag them away as they fled together.
Facing such a world-shaking slash, Riezel, however, remained calm.
Now, the space around him was already warping—not only due to the magical turbulence caused by Rohm's Shadow Sword but also under the growing suppression of the intensified Light of Heaven.
He felt his body unbearably heavy, as if burdened by a mountain, making one wonder if he could even move at all as the Shadow Sword, cleaving through the void toward him, radiated a terrifying power that posed a tremendous threat.
In response, Riezel merely shifted his breathing—altering its rhythm.
In the next second, a wave of heat burst from his body, spreading through the countless lightning bolts around him, turning the raging lightning bolts crimson.
Crimson lightning!
At this moment, Riezel employed a Mixed Breathing Style, merging the power of Sun Breathing into Thunder Breathing.
Before long, crimson lightning flared around him, surging wildly before flowing one by one into the sheath at his waist, and then...
"Godspeed!"
In an instant, the ultimate form of Thunderclap and Flash, the fastest strike within Thunder Breathing, burst forth from Riezel's body.
*BOOOM!*
A crimson lightning bolt erupted, descending as though from the heavens themselves, flashing violently across the air.
The dark slash of the Shadow Sword was torn apart by the crimson lightning.
The warped space around them glowed and burned under the surge of crimson lightning.
The blazing, crimson lightning streaked across everyone's sight, mind, and soul, leaving behind a trail of searing heat as it hurtled straight toward Rohm.
No one could follow that crimson flash.
No one could react to that crimson flash.
Only Florent suddenly lifted his head.
In that instant, the crimson lightning bolt split through the space of the throne room, roaring toward Rohm with blinding heat and thunderous force.
Hermit, now wreathed in crimson lightning, swung directly at his neck.
"!!!"
Rohm's pupils shrank to needlepoints, his face frozen in horror.
He could feel it—death, closing in on him.
In less than a fraction of a second, his neck would be severed, his head hurled skyward, perhaps even vaporized by the heat—the vision of his own headless corpse falling from the air played vividly in his mind.
Yet Rohm could neither react nor move.
Riezel's current technique was clearly beyond anything from before—dozens of times stronger, and impossibly faster.
He couldn't dodge.
He couldn't evade.
He couldn't block.
He couldn't survive.
Despair swallowed Rohm whole—until a figure suddenly appeared before him.
*BOOOM!*
Exploding midair, the crimson lightning burst into a colossal wave of energy, causing flames and shockwaves to sweep outward in a violent storm like a nuclear blast.
Its force shook the entire throne room as the stone pillars, protected by the Light of Heaven, trembled one after another, as though on the verge of cracking and collapsing, like a high-magnitude earthquake had struck, heralding an imminent catastrophe.
In an instant, the shockwave ripped the carpet from the floor, blowing away the fleeing knights and court magicians one by one, tossing them around the throne room like broken kites, like worthless scraps in the wind.
Pitiful, truly pitiful.
Every one of these knights and magicians was a figure of high status within Jinas, many of them nobles or powerful officials, once admired and feared, yet were now reduced to helpless victims.
Even the expert Sword Masters among the knights, who unleashed their swordsmanship and activated their enchanted armor, and the court magicians who managed to maintain their composure long enough to cast defensive magic, all were, without exception, blown away by the overwhelming shockwave.
Only three people managed to withstand the shockwave.
One was Hendrick, gripping the Sword of Authority and forming a shield of magical energy before him with the power of the Light of Heaven to block the shockwave, while the other was Ferras, who raised his small wand to sustain a barrier, shielding both himself and Yuri.
"Rohm!"
Hendrick couldn't stay calm any longer and stood up abruptly.
*Kacha—*
A thin crack appeared along Ferras's wand, and his brows furrowed as a pained look crossed his face.
"Riezel!"
Yuri, unable to hold back, shouted his name.
Having no way of tracking the speed of Godspeed since her dynamic vision simply couldn't keep up, she had no idea who had prevailed in that clash. All she could see was the crimson lightning bolt suspended at the epicenter of the explosion, discharging lightning outward in all directions.
It looked as though it was pushing against something—forcing its way forward with all its might—and the sight alone made her heart tremble with fear.
No one knew how long this tense standoff lasted.
Eventually, as the power waned, the crimson lightning's fury began to fade, and the shockwave and the seething bolts of energy gradually subsided.
At last, the center of the explosion—the heart of the crimson lightning—was revealed before everyone's eyes.
In that instant, those still conscious, including Hendrick and Yuri, all widened their eyes in shock.
*Biri-Biri-Biri—*
Amid the flickering crimson lightning, two figures faced each other—one wielding a black sword glowing with fiery crimson patterns, while the other an elegant-looking black, long sword—their tips locked together, sparks dancing at the point of contact.
Rohm stood behind the black, long sword wielder, his face still frozen with horror and disbelief, clearly unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Riezel, his eyes rippling with emotion, slowly lifted his gaze toward the man who had stopped Godspeed.
Standing before him, Florent wore a grim expression, his eyes calm as he met Riezel's stare—the long sword in his hand pulsed faintly with concealed magical energy.
*BANG!*
With a muffled crash, both Riezel and Florent were blasted backward, retreating violently.
In an instant, the distance between them widened.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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