Dimensional Descent

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The rumble of Leonel's poem seemed to resonate with the world, dimming the depth of Amery's night and the brightness of his day. His defenses became airtight, his spearmanship taking another leap forward.

The raging battle intent in his eyes seemed to become as calm as a chilly lake, but it was precisely this controlled battle intent that made one's heart grow cold.

He took a step to the side, parrying Amery's assault.

"One spear to connect the earth and skies."

Leonel's voice rumbled again and his spear tip met the perfect crossing of Amery's two blades, thrusting through the two of them at precisely the same time and disrupting the flow of his attack. A streak of spear light shot through the vast darkness above, becoming a dividing sign between Amery's Natural Light Realm and the rest of the world.

Amery's swords flew to the side and he was forced to take a step back, the strength of Leonel's spearmanship throwing him off balance. But even so, his gaze only gained a fiercer depth to them. His Natural Light Realm changed once again.

If before Leonel's "One spear to connect the earth and skies" had been the dividing line, at this moment, Amery himself was the dividing line. It was as though he became the center of the world, his Dark Force sword holding the night and the Gaia Force holding the day.

The fierceness of the glow of his Innate Nodes continued to grow, each becoming the center of their own world.

Amery's horns sparked, sharp, howling Sword Qi spiraling around each one of them. His Gaia Force sword rose and the world seemed to fall into silence. The echo of Leonel's poetic words dimmed and faded entirely, the strength of his spear dimming considerably at that moment.

To Leonel's astonishment, Amery hadn't actually learned the Complete Universal Force. Universal Force was difficult enough to learn normally, but to learn the True version, like Leonel had, and apply Universal Force to all aspects of his ability, was even more difficult.

Leonel didn't believe for a second that Amery didn't have the strength to learn True Universal Force, or more accurately, the talent. But, Amery had made the conscious choice to only learn Universal Force for his Sword Force.

At first, Leonel didn't understand why this was, but now he had.

Amery dedicated his life to the sword in a way that Leonel had never done for the spear, or even the bow. And his Universal Force...

Reflected exactly that.

BOOM!

Amery's sword streak carried the profundities of the day. The Gaia Force swallowed up everything in its path, swallowing up more Universal Force than Leonel had ever seen in a single instance. He was taking advantage of the strength of his devoted focus toward the sword to manipulate the Universal Force in a fashion that Leonel had simply never seen before.

He traded versatility for complete mastery, and now, this singular strike felt as though it couldn't be blocked. In fact, even as he swung this strike, Leonel felt that Amery was making small changes to his stance even as he moved.

He was improving in real time.

Leonel suddenly grinned. Facing this tide of Sword Force that couldn't seem to be blocked, the savageness of his expression only grew and the pulsing crimson light within the depth of his pale violet irises only grew fiercer and fiercer.

The black spear in Leonel's hand trembled and Leonel's Absolute Spear Domain suddenly roared to life. However, the moment this cyclone of golden Spear Force appeared, it began to be corrupted by a deep, black fog. It grew deeper and deeper until the point it had swallowed the entire cyclone and an enormous sphere of Dark Force enveloped Leonel and Amery before anyone could react.

The strength of Amery's strike fell by half instantly.

Leonel roared, piercing out with his spear. He seemed to draw a line through the darkness, but as quickly as he split it into two, was just as quick as it swallowed itself back up, suturing up its own wound.

Leonel seemed to have been attacking himself, but Amery's pupils constricted. He felt the Dark Force Innate Node within his hand tremble.

At that moment, Amery had a shocking thought. 'Shadow Sovereign!'

The strength of Amery's Dark Force sword plunged and the balance of his Natural Light Realm was thrown off entirely. The strength of Universal Force comprehension came from the concept of Cycles, and Cycles found their strength in repetition, balance and consistency. With one of the cycles being thrown off, the balance plummeted considerably.

How could the Dark Force maintain its proper strength beneath the might of a Shadow Sovereign?

With this spear in hand, and its Domain deployed, the strength of Leonel's Dark Force skyrocketed while Amery's became all but useless.

"Shadowless."

Leonel spoke lightly and without much effort, but his words rumbled through the darkness, echoing into infinity and multiplying over themselves. It sounded as though not just one Leonel had spoken, but a countless number of them. It layered atop his comprehension, resonating and increasing the strength of his spear.

AT the same time, his gaze glowed with a blinding violet radiance. He had activated [Emperor's Edict], fusing its capabilities with his Shadow World and increasing its strength to control the world.

After speaking such a word, his spear seemed to be both nowhere and everywhere at once. Amery didn't know how to begin to defend because there didn't seem to be anything to defend against.

PCHU!

The world fell into silence. Even in the darkness, the capabilities of Ancestor Hito were unmatched in this regard. Everyone could see the scene exceptionally clearly...

Amery's head had been pierced through.

Leonel stood proudly in the skies, his spear blade having split Amery's forehead in two.

Their gazes met and the raging battle intent hadn't faded even in the slightest.

Many held their breaths. Even at this moment, they couldn't believe what they were seeing... Leonel had truly done it?