A massive rift had appeared out of nowhere across the devastated earth, as though the world itself had been split in two.
Only by approaching and examining it carefully could one notice the traces of mana clinging to both sides of the seemingly bottomless chasm.
This was clearly a man-made phenomenon.
"Reinhard" stared at the smoke-filled wasteland and frowned slightly.
There had been no sensation of his attack connecting.
During the earlier collision of mana, the endless energy gathered upon his Dragon Sword had overwhelmed Shiro's space-severing slash and even filled the dimensional fractures he had created.
That was only natural.
After all—This was a slash unleashed by "Reinhard" after absorbing the mana of the entire planet.
If Shiro alone had been capable of completely stopping it, that would have been the truly abnormal outcome.
Even so—During the clash, more than half of the mana had still been neutralized by Shiro's attack or swallowed into the spatial fractures he created.
Even the small portion that remained had been forcibly redirected at the final instant.
Instead of striking Shiro—It carved into the earth beside him.
That was what had created the sight now spread before "Reinhard."
He continued staring into the smoke.
Dragon Sword Reid was already poised in his hand.
Since he had committed to killing Shiro—He would not give his opponent even the slightest chance to recover.
The moment Shiro emerged from the smoke—He would be met by a furious attack from the strongest man in the world wielding the strongest sword in the world.
Of course, Shiro knew his opponent was waiting for him.
So naturally, he had no intention of simply walking out.
Likewise—
"Reinhard" would never surrender his current advantage by entering the smoke himself.
For a time—The battle fell into a stalemate.
But no matter how much dust the battle had kicked into the air—Eventually, it had to settle.
By the time the setting sun painted the distant mountains crimson, the haze hanging in the air finally began to disperse.
The ruined landscape slowly became visible once more.
However—At the exact center of "Reinhard's" vision...
There was only cratered ground.
Shiro had already vanished.
"!"
Trusting the instinct granted by his Divine Protections, "Reinhard" twisted his body violently and slashed toward the ground beneath his feet.
Clang—!
"What a shame."
Shiro's voice came from below.
"I didn't expect reacquiring a Divine Protection to reset its cooldown too."
He had lowered his body until he was almost lying flat against the ground.
His gaze settled on the Dragon Sword that had been stopped just short of him.
Earlier, Shiro had severed both the [Divine Protection of First Sight] and the [Divine Protection of Initiative] to create opportunities for surprise attacks later.
Unfortunately—That move had backfired.
When "Reinhard" reacquired the [Divine Protection of Initiative], even its condition of "the opponent's first attack" had apparently been reset.
In other words—
All of Shiro's earlier attacks had belonged to the version of the Divine Protection that had already been severed.
The one now residing within "Reinhard" was effectively brand-new.
It might as well have been called—
[New Divine Protection of Initiative].
So from the perspective of this newly acquired Divine Protection—
The attack Shiro was launching now really was his "first attack."
Naturally—It was blocked.
"But even Dragon Sword Reid, the so-called strongest steel in the world, shouldn't be able to withstand the damage caused by cutting three-dimensional space itself."
As if proving Shiro's words—
Crack... crack...
A faint fracturing sound emerged from the point where his Device met the Dragon Sword.
This was a Noble Art Shiro had comprehended on the spot after witnessing "Reinhard" seal the space around him.
Around 50 BCE, the Roman poet Lucretius once wrote—All independently existing nature consists of two things: bodies, and the void in which those bodies exist and move.
The measure of positional difference between objects—Was called "space."
When space itself was severed at a certain point—A spatial discontinuity appeared there.
Even light could no longer pass through that gap, because it no longer existed within three-dimensional space.
If a human or animal accidentally touched such a discontinuity—To outside observers, they might still appear perfectly intact.
There might not even be a single drop of blood.
But in reality—They would already be dying because blood could no longer flow across the severed section of space.
And once their body completely crossed that discontinuity—It would instantly split in two.
If the first fundamental concept of physics was space—Then this was the strongest slash on the physical level.
The Dimensional Slash.
Crack—!
Without mana protecting it—Even Dragon Sword Reid, hailed as the greatest of the Ten Swords of Power, could not withstand the strongest attack permitted by physics itself.
The clash had lasted less than a second—Yet a crack had already appeared across the legendary blade.
If this continued—Not even half a minute would be necessary.
The strongest steel in the world, named after the First Sword Saint Reid, would permanently disappear from this world.
"Reinhard" realized the same thing.
He immediately abandoned close-quarters combat and attempted to disengage, intending to rely on Divine Protections while fighting Shiro from a distance.
"Don't even think about running!"
After finally obtaining this opportunity—How could Shiro possibly allow him to create distance?
The surrounding mana had already been completely drained.
Until the environment naturally produced more—This was the weakest the individual known as Reinhard could possibly become.
Because of his constitution, Reinhard could not use magic.
That meant he could not even reinforce himself with mana to resist Shiro's most basic severing ability.
Let alone—The more advanced Dimensional Slash.
If Shiro wanted to defeat "Reinhard"—
There would never be a better opportunity.
Drawing on principles from Taijiquan, Shiro firmly "stuck" himself to "Reinhard's" side.
No matter how his opponent moved or attacked—
Shiro followed.
Where the opponent went—He went.
Crack, crack, crack—!
As their struggle continued, the Dragon Sword became increasingly unable to endure the strain.
Its blade began letting out a mournful sound, like the final cry of steel just before breaking.
"Surrender."
Shiro tried one final time to persuade him.
"If Reinhard matters to you this much, then you should understand exactly what Dragon Sword Reid means to him."
"If we keep fighting, you gain nothing except breaking his sword."
After all—The body his opponent was currently using belonged to Reinhard.
Even if Shiro killed that body, it probably would not inflict much lasting damage on the existence controlling it.
Rather than killing Reinhard here—It would be far more useful to extract as much information as possible from the one possessing him.
However—The response was completely outside Shiro's expectations.
"Heh..."
"Hahahahaha!"
A deep laugh escaped from "Reinhard's" throat.
Shiro immediately became wary.
"To think I would one day be underestimated to this extent by an outsider."
"Very well."
"Then I'll show you."
"The terror that comes from the world itself!"
The moment those words fell—The world began to tremble.
…