Chapter 417 - Desperate Measures (1/2)

As the faint light in the recesses of Aurus's mind continued to flicker, it moved throughout, wanting to know what had happened to it. Utilizing its control over the various senses, it eventually found out that something else was occupying the body it was supposed to control. However, it knew for a fact that it did not have enough strength to fight against it yet.

Continuing to watch what was unfolding on the other side, the faint light could not help but inwardly let out a sigh as it had finally remembered why it seemed to have gone into a slumber in the first place. ”Although I'm not certain as to how it did it, the awakening of that instinct in my body should have been the thing controlling my body as of now. Since it's currently fighting against a being that's incredibly strong, I shouldn't disturb it for now.”

”However, that doesn't mean I'm going to gather my strength back and take control over this body once more,” it muttered, slightly exerting force on the thing controlling Aurus's body, causing it to delay in its judgment as Aurus's body could only defend against the attack that was aiming for him at the very last second. Knowing very well that disturbing the thing currently controlling Aurus's body would jeopardize its survival as well, the faint light gradually dimmed down as it said, ”I'll wait for the right moment to strike back.”

”At that point, it would be the perfect time to take back what is mine.”

…

Slash! Slash! Slash!

As the fight continued on between Aurus and King Zeldrion, the ruler of the Seraph Kingdom, it seemed that one side was finally gaining an advantage after seemingly being in a stalemate for quite some time. Unfortunately for Aurus, the one that was gaining an advantage was the one he was fighting against.

”[Cutthroat Blade Arts].”

”Pierce!”

Crash!

With Zeldrion sending out another one of his ultimate moves to make Aurus admit defeat, Aurus quickly set up a few layers of defense against it, slightly being late in doing so due to a lapse in judgment. Naturally, such a lapse in judgment would place in a precarious situation, with Aurus's left limb and a part of his upper torso being carved from the sheer strength of the attack.

Seeing as to how the attack that would normally create a small hole form a big hole that would sever one's limbs, Zeldrion could not help but become more and more excited as he knew that he was familiarizing himself with the feeling of touching upon a Principle, a level of understanding that he had wanted to achieve so long ago.

At the very beginning of his breakthrough of understanding what a Principle meant, his power had greatly increased, but his control suffered because of it. With a strong foe in front of him, he had to quickly adapt to his newfound power and make it his own. At this point, he was certain that after this battle, he would have at least an 80% chance of transforming his Conjecture into a Principle, which would then allow him to enter the ranks of Transcendents.

But of course, as the ruler of a kingdom, he wanted to increase this chance to where he would be certain that he would eventually obtain a Principle with enough time. Although that was obviously the case from another standpoint, to King Zeldrion, the amount of time that he wanted to take to form his Principle was obviously hundreds to thousands of times less than what others think.

Nevertheless, with that in mind, he continued to fight against Aurus, sending blade after blade of attack towards a foe that seemed to be on its legs. Controlling the level of strength in his attacks that would be enough to delay the other side from retaliating, he continued to refine the control he had over his blade, as well as expand his comprehension regarding the Principle that he had touched.

…

While Zeldrion and Aurus were continuing to fight against one another, all of the bystanders that were watching the fight unfold were left astounded by the various techniques that had been shown by both sides. After all, to almost all of them, fights among those that have Rank 9 classes were few and far between. With the barrier containing the two of them being very sturdy, even children watched the fight, becoming inspired to be as strong as the two beings that were fighting in front of them.

As for those that had higher ranks, they instead comprehended something else from the fights, finding ways to improve upon their control or their strength just from looking at the fight. It was even more so for those that were inclined towards the Wind element, or those that were that were inclined towards the blade. For them, the fight was more or less an impromptu lesson on how to hone their control and mastery over those two things, allowing them to enter a state of enlightenment and epiphany. In fact, some had even entered the next rank of classes due to the fight.

And then…there was Dalton. As his friend was fighting for the safety of the kingdom, his eyes were clearly fixated on the fight. Of course, he knew for a fact that his friend wouldn't die from a fight like this. After all, he was there to save him at the very last moment if need be. However, after watching their fight for a while, even he wondered if he even had the ability to save him, given how Zeldrion's power had greatly increased throughout the fight.

”At the beginning, his combat power was equivalent to that of a Pseudo-Transcendent, which is around the same as my combat power,” Dalton muttered as he tried to make a sense of things. ”However, after he changed how he wielded his blade, his control over the blade, as well as his strength has vastly improved, giving me the feeling that I'm looking at someone far stronger than me…someone that is on another level of existence altogether.”

As he continued to ponder over it, everything finally clicked in Dalton's mind as he could not help but exclaim, ”Ah! That's it! Zeldrion has finally touched upon the level of a—”

Whoosh!

Just before he could finish his sentence, a barrier appeared around him, isolating him from those that were beside him a while ago. Looking at the expressions of the people that were previously beside him, it seemed like they haven't noticed the barrier beside them. Wondering as to who had conjured the barrier, the faint sounds of footsteps soon resounded throughout the barrier as a stern yet soft voice asked Dalton, ”You don't want others to be shocked now, do you…”