Ch.1114Shattered Mirror

After Persiella’s desperate struggle, Invidius’s power that had been sealing Defying Fate was destroyed along with its source—his eye.

“Kuh, hnngh…”

As a result, she herself was in such a critical condition that she could no longer move.

‘…She can’t fight anymore either.’

The injuries Persiella had sustained were so severe that anyone would call it a miracle she hadn’t died instantly.

Though she was barely hanging on with the tenacious vitality typical of a Dragonborn hybrid, if she pushed herself any further, she’d be having dinner in the afterlife.

Therefore—

“Demian, cast a healing miracle on this woman and protect her. It might be a burden to look after both of them, but…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage somehow!”

I entrusted Persiella’s protection to Demian, in addition to Millia.

Using Demian, such a valuable combat asset, solely for protection was an incredible waste… but well, there was no other option.

The Holy Knights had retreated with their last airship, and Kudsedra had perished from a single blow.

The only way to protect Persiella, who couldn’t even support her own body, was to burden Demian with everything.

So, if I didn’t want to let Persiella die, this was the only choice left.

“—You’re going to face me alone? Your arrogance is astounding.”

…Even if it meant wasting a useful combat asset like Demian by relegating him to a support role where he couldn’t swing his sword even once.

“Now that you’ve regained your power, your confidence is overflowing? How shallow. Truly, laughably shallow.”

Invidius, whose strike had been blocked and deflected despite being delivered in stopped time, skidded across the melted desert for about ten meters before coming to a halt.

From there, he glared at me and spoke mockingly.

As if to say, after struggling so much until now, did I really think I could defeat him alone after effectively removing the holy sword’s owner from combat?

I couldn’t say he was wrong.

The lost combat power versus the regained Tale of Heros. Whether this was a gain or a loss, I couldn’t yet tell.

Not until I fought with everything I had.

“That’s rich coming from someone who tried to benefit by copying my abilities.”

So I put on a deliberately confident smile and responded with a scornful taunt.

Not to convince my enemy, but to bolster my own fighting spirit and resolve.

“…Tch.”

Well, even though that was my intention, my taunt must have been quite sharp, as Invidius clicked his tongue in obvious displeasure.

*KWAAANG!*

The next moment, he charged straight at me.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll personally teach you that your arrogance is nothing but a grand delusion!”

A fierce and destructive charge like a shell fired from a cannon.

On his skin, noticeably darker than mine, the black flame cross mark in front of his heart flickered darkly, burning more violently.

It was a sign that the power contained within was about to be released and burst forth.

“You talk too much for someone who lost his arms three times underestimating humans!”

I too charged toward him, drawing upon the power of the stars. Blue starlight blazed brilliantly, illuminating the world before me.

【【 Defying Fate 】】

And simultaneously, the Tale of Heros of time compression unfolded.

The world turned black for an instant, then brightened like lightning had struck, before the light subsided and everything turned gray.

*Gooooo…!*

A world losing its color.

Like an old black-and-white photograph from a bygone era, everything gradually slowed down until finally coming to a complete stop.

In that silence and stillness that followed,

Two unbreakable longswords clashed like two lightning bolts.

———!

A collision of pure power against power, without the ability of severance.

Forces capable of splitting mountains with a single strike canceled each other out, and the scattered shockwaves burrowed into the ground, tearing apart the earth beneath our feet.

Blood splattered upward, freezing in time, creating a red flower storm in midair.

—-

Defying Fate—the Tale of Heros that compresses the flow of time to the extreme, stopping it.

This was certainly one of the most powerful and high-dimensional abilities among the many Tales of Heros, but conversely, its drawbacks were also exceedingly clear.

It consumed an enormous amount of power compared to other Tales of Heros, yet contributed nothing to pure offensive power itself.

And even for me now, the duration of the time stop felt like mere seconds.

Because of these drawbacks, the time we—Invidius and I—could fight in stopped time was very brief.

“Kuk…! Was my reaction a bit slow…?”

“You’re half a beat behind. Has your stamina already begun to wane?”

Except when responding to Defying Fate used by the opponent, our battle took place in the correct timeline, not in stopped time, just as before.

“Haschal! Dodge to the side!”

*SHWAAAAK!*

That’s why Millia, carried on Demian’s back, could support me from afar by shooting arrows whenever she saw an opening.

“Ha, how annoying.”

Of course, if you ask whether that support had any meaning… well, not particularly.

“Don’t you understand yet? All of this is meaningless struggling!”

Unfortunately, Invidius’s power, copied from me, was a bit too strong for Millia’s support to achieve any effective results.

*KWADUDUDUD!*

A casual punch thrown without even looking in Millia’s direction. The fist strike that shook and shattered the sky churned up the earth as it spread out like a whirlpool.

The dragon-scale arrows that Millia had prepared for fighting against humans burst like water spray upon contact with that fist strike.

Without losing momentum, the whirlwind of the Heaven-Shaking Collapsing Fist continued forward like an unstoppable gale. It was a scene that starkly revealed the difference in power between us.

“Damn it…!”

The giant arrows Millia had fired like rain were blocked by Invidius’s casually thrown attack, dissipating meaninglessly before they could even reach him.

…No, even if they had hit directly, the result might not have been much different.

His own divinity and dark mana, plus the protection of the fire seal and dragon-scale armor he had copied from me. Invidius’s defensive capabilities, reinforced by four layers of protection, clearly surpassed mine.

Ah, but it seemed that the continuous rain of arrows, while unable to harm him, was at least irritating Invidius.

“Stop interfering and get lost!”

As if saying “stop being annoying and disappear,” he swung Durandal fiercely toward Millia.

“I can’t let you do that!”

I swung my sword, blocking his path.

Severance·Void Cutting.

My slash imbued with the power of spatial severance was canceled out by his vacuum slash similarly coated with spatial cutting ability, scattering apart.

*KAJIJIJIK!*

The torn space carved lightning-like wounds in the air, and the earth touched by the aftermath was destroyed along with space itself, vanishing as if erased.

“Is that all you’ve got? This is more manageable than I thought.”

“Perfectly identical powers. It’s only natural they cancel each other out when they clash… but indeed, how long can you keep this up?”

Invidius asked mockingly as he readjusted his stance.

Even if I continued to neutralize his attacks with identical techniques, how long could I possibly hold out like this?

“How long can I keep this up? Ha, you’re asking because you don’t know?”

He wasn’t wrong, actually.

All the cutting techniques of this body were deployed at the cost of consuming vast amounts of stamina.

Since there was a fundamental difference in our divine ranks, if a war of attrition unfolded where we continuously neutralized each other’s attacks, I would inevitably be at a disadvantage.

Durandal’s ability was continuously replenishing my consumed stamina, but that was ultimately just a stopgap measure.

It wasn’t enough to easily handle the endless drain of stamina flowing out like water through a bottomless pot from the continuous use of various cutting techniques.

…Of course, I couldn’t show weakness in front of the enemy.

“Until you’re dead!”

Forcing a grin that bared my canines to hide my growing fatigue, I charged toward him with a seemingly calm and confident attitude.

“What an absurd delusion!”

Invidius charged straight at me as well.

Our swords were raised above our heads, and two cross marks—one black, one white—blazed with light.

Like mirror images, identical in form.

Like inversions, opposite in color.

As the two lights collided, time stopped once more—

【【 Sky Slash 】】

Two scars were carved into the world.

———!!!

The sound of collision, no longer in the form of sound, burst out in all directions, sweeping across heaven and earth.

The clash of transcendent slashes that tore through clouds, split the sky, and severed the very world they touched.

From the point where the two extending lines met, everything that existed broke, tore, and twisted, bizarrely distorting the appearance of the world.

Like a maddened beast on a rampage, black and white lightning streaks violently whirled about, tearing the world apart.

A grotesque and surreal destruction beyond description.

Light shattered, sound whirled, and the entire field of vision broke and melted like glass fragments.

It was as if the present world itself was collapsing from this point.