Journey to Become the Zenith

The Sword Empress’s Last Resort

’There’s no point.’

Her fingers tightened around the sword.

’If he wants a great fight, I’ll give him one.’

Evelyne lowered her center of gravity.

Her breathing became slower.

Her mind became quiet.

Victor noticed the change immediately.

The playful atmosphere around him disappeared.

Not completely.

His smile remained.

But there was something sharper behind it now.

Evelyne shifted her stance.

Then she began gathering her Ki.

The energy flowed from her body into her sword.

The blade trembled.

A faint pressure spread throughout the cavern.

The torches flickered.

Several nearby soldiers instinctively stepped backward.

Victor’s golden eyes brightened.

’Now that’s more like it.’

Evelyne raised her sword.

Ki began to gather around her body.

Then it materialized.

One sword.

Then another.

Then another.

Within moments, several enormous spectral swords floated around her.

They hung motionless in the air, their edges pointed toward Victor.

The sheer amount of power contained within them made the atmosphere feel heavy.

Victor’s smile slowly became more vicious.

Evelyne stared at him.

Neither spoke.

Then she moved her sword.

A single piercing motion.

The floating swords responded.

They shot forward simultaneously.

The cavern erupted.

The enormous blades tore through the air at blinding speed, heading directly toward Victor.

It was a technique far too large for an enclosed place like this.

Anyone else would have hesitated to use it.

A fortress hidden within a cave was not exactly the ideal battlefield for something capable of causing such destruction.

Yet something strange happened.

The surrounding walls barely suffered any damage.

The devastation remained concentrated entirely around Victor.

Stone shattered beneath his feet.

Dust erupted into the air.

The roaring pressure of the technique filled the cavern.

For a moment, Victor disappeared behind the storm of blades.

Evelyne’s eyes remained fixed on the destruction.

But then—

A voice came from behind her.

"That’s a pretty cool technique, but you didn’t scream the name of your technique, meaning you’re not the type that would call this world a game."

Evelyne was surprised to hear Victor’s voice behind her.

The words were almost casual.

Almost playful.

Yet the meaning behind them made her heart tighten.

She had just unleashed a technique powerful enough to fill the cavern with flying blades, and somehow this man had slipped through it as effortlessly as someone walking through falling rain.

By reflex, Evelyne twisted her body and slashed her Long sword behind her.

The blade flashed beneath the torchlight.

Victor’s golden eyes caught the movement instantly.

He shifted only slightly.

The sword passed within inches of his body, cutting through empty air.

His black hair fluttered from the pressure of the passing blade, but his expression never changed.

That relaxed smile remained on his handsome face.

Evelyne’s eyes became colder.

’He’s reading my movements.’

There was no other explanation.

She had fought enough battles to understand when an opponent was merely fast and when an opponent was actually seeing through her.

Victor was doing the latter.

He wasn’t panicking.

He wasn’t even breathing heavily.

He looked as though he were enjoying himself.

That irritated her.

Evelyne immediately changed her approach.

The enormous swords floating around her began to shrink.

One after another, the gigantic blades compressed until they became much smaller and more manageable.

The transformation was accompanied by a low metallic hum.

Soon, several swords hovered around her like a flock of deadly birds.

Evelyne tightened her grip around the Long sword in her hand.

Then she attacked.

Her own blade moved first.

At almost the same instant, the floating swords followed.

One came from the left.

Another descended from above.

Two more attacked from opposite directions.

Evelyne’s sword struck from the front while the floating blades sealed off the spaces Victor could use to escape.

It was no longer a simple sword technique.

It was a coordinated sword dance.

Every blade moved according to her will.

Every attack was connected.

There was no wasted motion.

The stone floor beneath them began to crack from the pressure of the battle.

Yet Victor continued to evade them.

He turned sideways.

A blade passed across his chest.

He lowered his head.

Another sword swept over him.

He stepped backward.

A third blade pierced the space where his abdomen had been moments before.

Then he suddenly disappeared from Evelyne’s immediate range.

The floating swords chased after him.

Victor moved between them with astonishing precision.

His black clothes shifted with every movement, the golden jacket catching flashes of torchlight as he passed through the storm of blades.

Diana stood farther away, watching silently.

Unlike the soldiers surrounding the battlefield, she wasn’t frightened.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on her face.

She knew that expression on Victor.

He was having fun.

And after what had happened with Isabella, she finally understood just how badly Victor had wanted a satisfying fight.

Seeing him finally enjoy himself made Diana’s eyes soften.

’So this is what he was missing.’

Evelyne didn’t share her amusement.

She gritted her teeth.

The more she attacked, the more ridiculous the situation became.

Victor kept dodging.

Every attack that should have forced him into a corner somehow failed.

She accelerated.

The floating swords accelerated with her.

The sound of steel tearing through the air became almost continuous.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Stone fragments flew from the walls as several attacks missed their target.

Victor’s feet barely touched the ground.

He moved like a shadow.

Evelyne’s breathing gradually became heavier.

’Impossible.’

If this had been her prime, things would have been different.

Back then, she could summon far more swords.

A thousand blades.

That was the level she had once reached.

If she possessed that strength now, she wouldn’t merely be attacking Victor from several directions.

She would bury the entire battlefield beneath a sea of swords.

But this body couldn’t support that level of power.

Her current condition was too restrictive.

The thought frustrated her.

’If this was back in my prime, I would’ve been able to summon a thousand blades.’

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