Ch.87Blood Tower of Greatness (4)

“Actually, I don’t know anything about Eterna’s fighting style.

That was obvious.

The only person who has ever fought against Eterna is Ignius, and even he couldn’t establish anything that could be called a proper fight with her.

Not only did she instantly neutralize the magic he cast right before his eyes, but she also cast better magic and unleashed it upon him.

There was no way Ignius could give a proper answer if asked about how Eterna fights.

And if I were to ask whether there were any traces of her battles on the forums, the answer would be no.

She’s someone who hardly ever engages in combat in the first place, so no matter how good one’s information network might be, there can’t be information about something that doesn’t exist.

Besides, if anything like that had remained on the forums, there’s a good chance Eterna would have discovered and deleted it.

In any case, there was virtually no way for me to find information about Eterna.

In contrast, Eterna had numerous opportunities to analyze me.

To be honest, that’s just how it is.

I instantly launched Blood Spine toward Eterna.

My Blood Spine, which was flying with enough force to pierce through everything in its path, was blocked by the barrier shield Eterna deployed.

As if anticipating that a single layer would certainly be penetrated, she had efficiently used minimal magical power to create multiple layers of shields—just enough to prevent my Blood Spine from breaking through.

I chuckled and said, “If you wanted to see my skills, shouldn’t you have challenged me to a fair fight directly? Just like a typical mage.”

As I spoke sarcastically, Eterna also smiled faintly.

“You know well. Mages are creatures who prioritize efficiency above all else.”

“I know that. I know it very well.”

Sometimes they’re the kind of people who suffer losses because of that damn efficiency.

I kicked off the ground and shot forward like an arrow.

When I swung my blood at her after instantly closing the distance, the barrier that couldn’t withstand the impact from a different angle shattered, and my fist swung toward Eterna’s face.

Still, Eterna remained calm and…

“…?”

My attack doesn’t connect.

No, this is…

‘I can’t get close…?’

Something is blocking me, preventing me from approaching.

After I flew back and took my position, Eterna smiled smugly.

“Can’t get through?”

“You… you’ve put something around your body? I don’t know what it is, but it feels unpleasant.”

“As expected, you noticed? That’s right.”

“I’m guessing you won’t tell me what it is.”

Seeing Eterna smiling as if to say ‘why ask something so obvious?’, I smiled wryly.

“It’s one of two things. Either you’re pushing me away with powerful repulsive force, or you’ve surrounded your body with infinite space through spatial manipulation.”

The former is one thing, but the latter really smells familiar.

Like I’ve seen it somewhere before.

Judging by the fact that I can’t approach, it seems closer to the latter.

If she had simply made her body physically disappear or escaped to another dimension only when I attacked, my attack should have passed right through.

“You figured it out instantly. That’s unexpected.”

“You think this is the first time I’ve dealt with people like you?”

The Demon King’s subordinates had all sorts of abilities.

Among them, there were definitely those who could manipulate space.

In fact, when I first faced such an opponent, they were truly troublesome.

In a sense, until I figured out how to counter it, it was even more difficult than facing a Phase 1 Demon King.

That Demon King is a monster.

Compared to him, Eterna was nothing special.

Even for a fellow Transcendent.

“Today, the relationship between sisters will be reversed.”

“Hehe… that sounds exciting.”

I still remember.

When she appeared before me as I was struggling in poverty, trying desperately to build a better Blood Tower, and humiliated me.

When she demanded that I call her “older sister.”

“…I don’t think I went as far as to demand it.”

“Either way, it felt awful.”

That feeling hasn’t changed.

Since it’s come to this, I’ll definitely make her call me “older sister.”

That’s what I had resolved to do.

* * *

“What’s going on?”

“She seems to be fighting evenly with Lady Eterna?”

“That can’t be…”

Everyone was confused by the sight of them fighting well, bickering back and forth.

Of course they were.

Even Ignius, the supposedly strongest Red Tower Master, couldn’t properly cast a spell in front of her and was literally “destroyed.”

So when the Red Tower Master managed to establish a proper fight against the Blood Tower Master, everyone naturally concluded that it would be impossible for the Blood Tower Master to defeat Eterna.

At least, that’s what they thought until then.

Most people expected that as soon as the battle began, she would be overwhelmed by Eterna without even being able to use proper magic.

Even if she managed to establish something resembling a fight, they thought it would unfold as Eterna teaching Midir a lesson.

But that wasn’t the case.

Eterna and Midir were continuing their fight seriously.

And on equal terms.

“What’s going on…? I heard the Red Tower Master couldn’t even cast magic properly?”

“That’s what I heard too…”

“But she’s casting magic just fine now?”

It was clearly strange.

Unlike before when she immediately dismantled magic, now she was methodically blocking all the magic being cast.

“You fools. If she dismantled all the magic from the start, what would be the point of watching? Lady Eterna must be going easy on her.”

That’s what everyone thought at first.

That Eterna was going easy on her.

After all, this was an exhibition match, and if it ended instantly with one side unable to even use magic properly, what would be the point of having an exhibition match?

The story with Ignius was different because he had blatantly invaded the Aether Tower and challenged her to a fight, so there was no need to hold back.

Lady Eterna is not such a cold-hearted person.

That’s what people were saying.

“Huh?”

“What…”

Fwoosh!

The moment Midir’s blood slash cut off Eterna’s arm.

The audience fell silent.

.

.

.

The battle continued in a monotonous fashion.

I would charge in, Eterna would meticulously block and counterattack.

Then I would block her counterattack and strike back again.

But for someone with my level of experience, the fighting style was extremely diverse.

These guys with invincible defense techniques are all alike—they’re so confident they don’t even think about dodging.

Some could easily dodge if they wanted to, but they judge that staying still is more efficient than dodging.

Others stay still simply to show off their power, to boast about how solid they are.

Either way, once they decide to stay still, they become laughably easy opponents for me.

I’m someone who has put in tremendous effort to break through such cosmic defense techniques.

A technique that delivers slashes with maximum sharpness and speed.

Theoretically, there’s nothing this technique cannot cut through, and I’ve devoted immense effort to developing it.

Each leisurely flying magic spell would be a catastrophic attack to anyone else, but they meant nothing to me.

Even if flames hotter than Ignius’s scorched me.

Even if my body was frozen to the point of immobility.

Even if I was torn to shreds.

Even if space was compressed to annihilate me.

I would never die.

Even Purple Tower magic attacks modified to affect the soul had no effect on me.

‘She really tries everything.’

The reason was simple.

Because I am a Transcendent.

The Transcendent of all life, the first vampire True Ancestor.

Even the concept of death bows before such a being.

“At this rate, it seems we’ll just continue this war of attrition,” Eterna said, as if bored.

That’s right.

If we continue like this, it will just be a war of attrition.

And that’s probably not very appealing to Eterna.

As a Transcendent, her magical power might be infinite outside, but that’s not necessarily the case inside this arena she created herself.

So perhaps to end this quickly…

‘I’ve seen that before.’

Eterna was preparing a spell to banish me to another dimension.

Since nothing else was working, is she trying to use one of the most difficult but definitive spells?

If I get sent to another dimension, that would be the end.

Even that so-called perfect being had no choice when sent into the eternal void of space.

The same applies to me.

But…

‘Who said you could?’

Who said you could cast a long-casting spell right in front of me?

Even though it only took about 1 second, which is a short time.

The moment she finished casting and was about to send me away.

Swoosh!

A slash that could cut through the world severed Eterna’s arm.

“…?!”

Eterna’s expression froze as her arm was cut off.

And the casting stopped.

“This is who I am.”

Such crude defense techniques meant nothing to me.

Because I’ve already experienced them all.