[Trantor - Kiteretsu]


    [Proofreader - Kyros]


    Chapter 42


    Violet, whose form had resembled an ice sculpture due to her spirit transformation, now radiated a pure, sacred light.


    The mana of light burst forth intensely.


    Ernstine had seen this power before.


    Angels.


    Beings who resided in the Celestial Realm and served as envoys of the Heavenly God.


    They were powerful enough to disrupt the bnce of the world, which is why they rarely descended to this ne. However, one notable exception was during the advent of a Demon King.


    Ernstine had encountered them multiple times during the campaign against the Demon King.


    That power—without a doubt—it was angelic.


    “An angel sealed within cia…”


    The angels Ernstine remembered were incredibly powerful.


    Among humans, only a Grand Swordmaster like Ernstine could even hope to approach their strength.


    Among the demons, only the highest-ranking ones could rival them inbat.


    And yet, a being of such immense power was sealed inside a mana suit…


    “I thought the S-rank mana suit’s power was excessive… Turns out something absurd was locked inside.”


    [“I will eradicate everyst seed of evil.”]


    A storm of frost raged.


    Unlike the restrained cold used during the Ice Prison, this mana was entirely destructive, designed to annihte its target.


    Touching it would make survival impossible.


    “Princess Violet… has the mana suit consumed her?”


    [“Demon. I will shatter you until not even dust remains.”]


    Violet’s eyes gleamed as she spoke.


    Her wings of light fluttered, giving her a divine appearance, but her actions were nothing short of madness.


    “This is… it makes even losing difficult.”


    Kaylen, who thought he might taste the bitterness of defeat for the first time in both this life and thest, found himself facing a situation that simply refused to let him lose.


    “Six Swords, activate.”


    Fire, water, earth, wind, light, and dark.


    Six des materialized behind Kaylen, manifesting fully.


    Where before they had merely supplemented his magic, now they marked his true unveiling as a Swordmaster.


    The raging frost lost its strength the moment it entered Kaylen’s domain.


    [“Filthy demon! What have you done?”]


    “A demon, you say.”


    Whoosh!


    A sword of me erupted from Kaylen’s empty right hand.


    At first, the fire burned red, but it gradually turned into a pure white me.


    Seeing this, cia’s expression shifted to one of rm.


    [“…Sacred me.”]


    “And you still think I’m a demon after seeing this?”


    [“Hrm...”]


    cia’s fierce aura momentarily faltered.


    The light of that sword was far too holy to have been conjured by a demon.


    In his past life as a Hero, Kaylen had naturally wielded the Sacred me with ease.


    However, the brief hesitation in cia’s demeanor didn’tst long.


    cia''s expression suddenly turned icy cold.


    [“...I almost let my guard down. I can feel the mana of darkness emanating from you.”]


    “All types of mana can exist within a human body.”


    [“This is more than that! There''s an overwhelming darkness radiating from you...”]


    Was it because of absorbing the dungeon core?


    cia, now sensing the mana of darkness from Kaylen, resumed her hostility.


    Her momentarily halted attacks began anew.


    As the frost gathered once again, Kaylen furrowed his brow.


    “Talking won''t work, I see.”


    Angels.


    Even during the campaign against the Demon King in his past life, they were all talk and no real action. Constantly going on about how they were “restricted” and ultimately contributing little.


    And now, in his current life, they remained just as frustratingly obstinate.


    For angels, then and now, brute force always came first.


    “I''ll subdue you.”


    [“Ha… Know your ce, mortal!”]


    cia scoffed at his words, and with good reason.


    Even if Kaylen performed some trick with his sword, the difference in mana between them was overwhelming.


    Moreover, cia’s control over her power was wless.


    Unlike Princess Violet, who scattered her energy wildly, cia held the frost mana firmly within her grasp.


    The momentary barrier Kaylen had raised against her cold had only dyed the inevitable.


    Like a dam with cracks rapidly spreading, his unseen shield would soon shatterpletely.


    [“Can’t you feel the sheer difference in power?”]


    Whoosh!


    Light shed, and the frost converged into a single point.


    But it wasn’t just frost.


    A sacred light descended simultaneously.


    Above his head was light, below his feet was frost.


    The two energies, though distinct and unmixed, bore down on Kaylen in unison.


    They pressed against his Swordmaster’s domain, his Sword Area, attempting to shake and shatter it with a relentless assault.


    The disparity in mana was so absolute that his domain seemed on the verge of copse.


    Yet, Kaylen’s eyes remained calm and unyielding.


    “You, too… it seems those wings of yours are purely decorative.”


    [“What…?”]


    “Giving a swordsman space to maneuver—how foolish.”


    The Sacred me flickering in Kaylen’s right hand was soon joined by the darkness.


    The Hellfire, a technique he had absorbed into his very being from the Demon King himself, now unfurled in its purest form.


    “Three swords will suffice.”


    Six-Sword Technique.


    Now reduced to Three-Sword Technique.


    Hellfire.


    ck and white mes surged to life.


    At a nce, it resembled the Hellfire he had conjured while wearing the mana suit.


    [“Ugh…!”]


    But cia, upon seeing the mes, suppressed her anger rather than acting on it.


    The ck-and-white mes of Hellfire came alive.


    At first nce, it appeared simr to before, but its sheer presence was on an entirely different level—and for good reason.


    Previously, Kaylen had unleashed the mes using unfamiliar magic.


    Now, however, it was thebination of Fire, Light, and Darkness, merged into an Aura Sword.


    The level ofpletion was beyondparison.


    Though it was Kaylen’s first time fully wielding the Three-Sword Technique with Hellfire, its power was transcendent.


    First Strike.


    The ck-and-white sword shed through the heavens.


    The air, previously brimming with light, was instantly shattered and dispersed.


    Second Strike.


    The tip of the sword pierced the ground.


    The frozen earth ignited, engulfed in the ck-and-white mes.


    Third Strike.


    The sword appeared to pierce Violet’s body, but instead, it left her untouched.


    It severed her three radiant wings in a single, fluid motion.


    Separated from her form, the wings disintegrated and vanished into thin air.


    As the seamless trio of strikes came to an end, there was a thud.


    cia copsed, her strength spent, falling to her knees.


    [“What... is this…?”]


    That sword.


    There had been no time to respond.


    The attack was far too swift and precise, directly targeting cia’s core.


    Despite the overwhelming disparity in mana between them, she couldn’t react—not even to attempt resistance.


    In the blink of an eye, the ck-and-white sword was at her throat.


    “Now, are you willing to talk, Angel?”


    [“...”]


    “If I were truly a servant of darkness, I would have destroyed that mana suit with a single strike. Don’t you agree?”


    But cia wasn’t listening.


    To her, this servant of darkness was simply too powerful.


    ‘For a dark servant to wield such an Aura Sword… if I don’t eliminate him here, no matter the cost… even if I must give everything I have… the Heavens will once again face a catastrophic enemy.’


    Her thoughts spiraled as her rational judgment eroded.


    “You might be the only one here who understands what’s going on. What’s happening to the world right now? Why is the moon like that? And why are you, an angel—”


    [“To the Celestial God, I offer my sacred spirit!”]


    Ignoring Kaylen’s words, cia erupted into a frenzy.


    sh! sh!


    The light from her five Mana Stones surged uncontrobly.


    Mana spilled forth chaotically, forcing Kaylen to grimace.


    “Angels… They really are impossible to reason with.”


    It was as though she couldn’t hear him at all. She simply did what she wanted, never listening.


    Kaylen observed her deteriorating state.


    ‘With Hellfire… the only way to subdue her is to kill her.’


    Violet Princess and cia were nowpletely merged, their beings intertwined into one.


    It was no longer possible to target cia alone. To stop this rampage, Kaylen would have to sever the princess''s life.


    ‘But that would make me a fugitive.’


    Killing a princess of a kingdom?


    No matter how much it might be justified as self-defense, the kingdom would surely sentence him to death.


    This was especially true for someone like Princess Violet, a key member of the royal family.


    Besides, Violet herself was, in a way, a victim in all of this.


    Kaylen had no desire to kill her to stop cia.


    ‘I have to subdue her some other way… but I’m running low on mana.’


    His gaze momentarily shifted to his shattered Mana Suit.


    If this had been a battle of rawbat instead of magic, the Mana Suit could have yed a much greater role.


    Now, its broken state was deeply frustrating.


    ‘No choice. I don’t have enough mana to wield another Three-Sword Technique… I’ll have to unleash Infinity.’


    To replenish his dwindling mana reserves and forge a new de, Kaylen made a choice.


    As he released Hellfire, the air around him changed. A storm began to brew.


    Six-Sword Technique .


    Three Swords .


    The Bottomless Abyss .


    The swirling winds formed a vortex, taking shape in front of Kaylen.


    It was less a sword and more a spiraling void of darkness.


    A fusion of wind, earth, and dark mana, The Bottomless Abyss began devouring every trace of mana that cia had unleashed in her rampage.


    A bottomless pit.


    Yet, the abyss Kaylen had summoned was not truly infinite.


    Its endpoint was Infinity, the power Kaylen had just unleashed.


    As Infinity expanded and consumed everything, it swallowed cia''s rampaging mana whole.


    However…


    ‘The disparity in mana is overwhelming.’


    Kaylen''s body, though fortified by a Mana Body and countless advancements, could not fully withstand the sheer torrent of an angel’s rampaging mana.


    Light and water mana rapidly umted, disrupting the delicate bnce of the Six-Sword Technique.


    Only the swords of Light and Water grew, swelling uncontrobly, while the other four swords faded into near nonexistence.


    If this imbnce continued, maintaining The Bottomless Abyss would be impossible.


    At that moment—


    [“...Huh?”]


    cia, who had been mindlessly expelling mana, noticed something strange.


    Her mana was being devoured, bit by bit. rmed, she searched for the source of the problem and froze in shock when her eyesnded on Kaylen’s de.


    It was a sword she recognized well.


    [“The Bottomless Abyss…?”]


    The Aura Sword, favored by humanity''s first Grand Swordmaster, Ernstine, the Dragon de Deity.


    A weapon from legend, now wielded before her.


    The Infinity Technique, capable of absorbing and returning an enemy''s power, had once left even angels in awe.


    cia vividly remembered those times—it was, after all, one of the brightest periods in her life.


    During that golden age, the forces of darkness were swept away like leaves in the wind. Angels only needed to follow in the footsteps of the Dragon de Deity to reap effortless glory.


    Her achievements back then had even earned her a rank promotion among the angels.


    Initially, cia assumed the wielder of the hellfire-infused sword was just a particrly strong demon.


    But someone wielding The Bottomless Abyss, a sword technique synonymous with the Dragon de Deity, could not possibly be a mere servant of darkness.


    He was, after all, a mortal enemy of the Demon Lords.


    ["You—what is your connection to the Dragon de Deity?"]


    cia urgently questioned Kaylen, but he had no strength to reply.


    With the Swords of Earth, Wind, and Shadow fading fast, maintaining The Bottomless Abyss required every ounce of his focus.


    ‘These angels, always demanding answers at the worst times…’


    Suppressing his irritation, Kaylen concentrated on stabilizing the technique.


    ["You can''t answer, can you? Then you must not be a servant of darkness after all. Someone capable of wielding The Bottomless Abyss cannot be of demonic lineage."]


    Gradually, cia''s raging energy subsided. The uncontroble torrent of mana was drawn back into her being, concealed once more behind her angelic mask.


    ["I have much to say, but it seems I''ve overexerted myself..."]


    ["When I regain my strength, I wille to find you. Until then, remember this one thing: conceal the Dragon de Deity''s power as much as you can…"]


    As cia''s energy withdrew, Kaylen no longer needed to sustain The Bottomless Abyss. He dismantled the aura sword and posed a single question.


    "Why?"


    ["Because demons wille for you. The power of darkness already dominates the mortal realm..."]


    With those parting words, cia''s voice faded. The radiant glow in Violet''s eyes dimmed, and the process of de-assimtion began.


    cia had chosen to seal herself away once again.


    As no further words came from the angel, Kaylen copsed to the ground.


    ‘...I’m at my limit.’


    The light and water mana absorbed by The Bottomless Abyss wreaked havoc inside his body.


    The bnce of the Six Swords had already been shattered, leaving only the swords of Water and Light to grow unchecked.


    Every ounce of his remaining strength was now dedicated to stabilizing himself.


    "Wait… has my assimtion been undone?"


    Violet opened her eyes.


    She clearly remembered attempting to stop cia’s rampage with Ice Prison.


    After losing consciousness briefly, she woke to find the world around her transformed into an icy wastnd.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kayleny copsed before her.


    ‘...What in the world happened?’


    Her memory was nk.


    The only facts apparent to her were that she stood while Kaylen had fallen.


    Time passed.


    The frozen world began to thaw, and onlookers gradually approached.


    "Truly amazing, Your Highness."


    "Such incredible power..."


    "Congrattions on your victory."


    Without knowing how or why, Violet was dered the winner.


    The Superior Mage Tournament had ended with Violet as the champion.


    [Trantor - Kiteretsu]


    [Proofreader - Kyros]