Chapter 416 - Taking The Center Stage (2/2)

”Oi, oi, oi…you've got to be kidding me, right?” Eleanor could not help but rub her eyes a few times, wondering if what she was seeing was real. As for Felix, he could not stop scratching his head, wondering if they should even be involved in something like this. ”Your eyes aren't mistaking you, Eleanor. Although I also can't believe it, Aurus is fighting against the ruler of Seraph Kingdom.”

Hearing Felix's words, Argentum, Horell, and Herellia could not help but have grim expressions on their faces. After all, when someone was called the ruler of the kingdom, then it was no surprise that the person commanded a lot of power, may it be individually or as authority over a large group.

Hoping that the ruler of the kingdom would be lenient on Aurus, Argentum looked at Felix, who seemed to know more about the person Aurus was fighting, and asked, ”How strong is the ruler?”

”He's as strong as the one Aurus was fighting against a while ago,” Felix replied. ”In fact, if we got a closer view, I would've probably recognized who he was fighting against. Any being that wields a Rank 9 class and be at the peak of its power is certainly not some random person.”

”In any case, Aurus is currently fighting against King Zeldrion Seraph, also a Rank 9 class holder. He also has a few more monikers other than being the ruler of the kingdom, with the moniker 'Sole Sword Emperor' being his most famous one,” he continued.

”Oh. There you go. That's the reason why he's called the Sole Sword Emperor,” Felix said at the very moment King Zeldrion removed both of Aurus's arms from his body. Ignoring the fear Argentum and the others felt from such an attack, he could not help but let out a sigh as he said, ”At this moment, Aurus is seriously fighting at the level of a Pseudo-Transcendent. It won't be long until the two of them go beyond it and reach the—”

Just as Felix said that, the aura surrounding King Zeldrion changed as the attack he unleashed at that moment was far stronger than any Pseudo-Transcendent could unleash. With great surprise, he could not help but mutter out in shock, ”I can't believe it. He's actually grasped hints of a Principle?”

Although Argentum had no clue what a Principle was, or to be more exact, he did not bother searching up what a Principle was, from how Felix worded it, it seemed that things were going out of Aurus's favor. Clenching his fists from the sheer nervousness he felt as he watched the fight continue, Argentum looked up at the heavens once more, hoping for a miracle to happen.

…

Clang!

At this moment, both Aurus and King Zeldrion seemed to be in their greatest element, going all out in all of their attacks as sword and claw fought against each other. Of course, with the claw Aurus had control over being far larger than Zeldrion's blade, it was hard for the latter to find openings where he could land a hit. Nevertheless, it was apparent that Zeldrion's control over the blade, as well as his power was improving.

”[Cutthroat Blade Arts].”

”Bisect!”

Crash!

With great fervor, Zeldrion sent out another attack with the help of his ignited Valtyrisk, sending a large wave of blade light that seemed intent of removing everything in its way. In response, Aurus opened up the claw he controlled, wanting to squeeze and crush it at the very last minute. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to close the claw, he felt like he had lost control over it for a short while, allowing Zeldrion to cut the claw in two.

Not knowing what the reason behind his loss of control was, Aurus hastily conjured another claw, even going so far as to activate [Soul Transcendence] after realizing that he was now at a great disadvantage. With renewed drive, Aurus sent out a claw made out of a hundred thousand blades, wanting to turn his opponent's body into pulp.

But of course, King Zeldrion wasn't going to give Aurus any chance of doing so, passing his blade to his left hand, wanting to meet the claw with his blade head-on. After that, he extended the blade outward, waiting for the very moment the tip of the blade collided with the claw before using all of his strength and aura to circle it around the claw.

”[Cutthroat Blade Arts]!”

”Arc!”

Amidst the attack he had done to remove the threat that was the claw, Zeldrion seemed to have understood something as his blade circled around the large claw, giving him the feeling as if his previous ways of handling his blade was wrong. With that understanding, he then continued to let the blade circle around the claw as he applied his new understanding into action.

Crash!

Unsurprisingly, the claw was cut into two, with one part of it falling to the ground as it gradually dissipated into thin air. Looking at the difference brought about by the small change he had just done, King Zeldrion could not help but be left aghast, only to become excited as he muttered to himself, ”Could it be that…I'm finally transitioning from a Conjecture to a Principle?”

Slash!

Wanting to see if his doubts were not unfounded, Zeldrion hastily sent out another attack with a quick flick of his wrist, noticing that the blade light that resulted from it being sharper and more refined. Aurus, who noticed the attack, quickly set up a layer of defense around him with blades, but even with [Soul Transcendence] activated, it only lasted a few seconds before it crumpled down.

Seeing how a simple attack of his contained so much power, King Zeldrion could not help but be elated, only to suppress this feeling as he said to himself, ”Don't get too complacent, Zeldrion. You've only begun to comprehend your Principle. Use this chance to improve it even further!”

And with that, he continued on with his relentless attacks against Aurus.

While that was happening, in the recesses of Aurus's mind, seemingly corrupted by the primal instinct, a faint flicker of light emanated from it out of nowhere. Although it was just a faint flicker of light, it still sensed what was happening on the outside. With that, it asked itself.

”What…am I doing here?”