Looking Forward to Another World

Outside the throne room...

When the entire royal palace began to shake and deafening roars started echoing from the throne room, Lizbeth and Euryale had already withdrawn from inside.

It couldn’t be helped.

The aftershocks from the battle between Riezel and Redson were simply too terrifying. They were even more astonishing than the last time Riezel had caused chaos here, making it impossible for anyone to remain inside the throne room.

If not for the protection of Light of Heaven, the fierce clash between two Sword Saints whose strength surpassed Level 8 would have undoubtedly destroyed the entire royal palace.

To avoid being caught in the crossfire, Lizbeth and Euryale could only retreat first, which had also been Riezel’s instruction before the battle began.

However...

*Swish!**Swish!**Swish!**Swish!*

Just as Lizbeth exited the throne room, a series of faint sounds cutting through the air suddenly appeared.

In the next second, black-robed figures appeared like ghosts, surrounding Lizbeth, who was carrying Luna.

"Magic dolls!"

Lizbeth’s expression changed slightly when she saw these familiar figures.

"...Target confirmed."

"...Lizbeth Reinnail. Target identification successful."

"...Beginning mission execution."

"...Kill."

Within the faintly trembling air, the magic dolls completed their exchange and immediately rushed toward Lizbeth without the slightest hesitation.

Judging from their decisive actions, it was clear that this had been premeditated. More accurately, they had likely been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

It was difficult not to suspect that someone had carefully planned all of this from the shadows.

Taking advantage of the conflict between Riezel and Redson, striking when neither could spare attention elsewhere, and then attacking Lizbeth in secret, the timing was almost perfect. No one would believe that all of this had happened by coincidence.

Even Riezel would have had to praise the mastermind behind it.

After all, he had summoned thousands of little fairies and scattered them throughout the royal palace, having them monitor everyone’s movements.

Yet what happened?

They had reported absolutely no abnormalities.

Everyone in the royal palace had appeared completely normal before today, with nothing suspicious about them whatsoever. Yet today, the knights, servants, and even the noble civil officials had suddenly become violent and launched attacks.

All of these magic dolls had also been lurking in secret this entire time without revealing the slightest trace of their presence.

For the enemy to have remained hidden from Riezel until now, they had clearly begun making preparations long before he started making his own arrangements, which naturally explained why the little fairies had failed to notice anything unusual and report it to him in time.

Now, taking advantage of Redson’s return, the enemy had launched a fierce offensive against them, leaving them with virtually no room to react.

It was a remarkably formidable operation.

Unfortunately, they had misjudged the strength on Riezel’s side.

===

*BOOM!*

Within the thunderous roar, countless lightning-shaped slashes intertwined into a storm inside the throne room. One after another, they crashed toward Redson, causing his expression to change drastically as though he were a mortal facing heavenly punishment.

Confronted by such an overwhelming assault, the sense of danger within Redson, which had not been triggered for who knew how many years, surged upward.

Letting out a low roar, he pushed Time Sword Style to its limit as his figure accelerated continuously within the fluctuating flow of time, appearing as though countless avatars had split from his body while he desperately dodged the incoming slashes.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Riezel’s lightning-shaped slashes continuously missed their target, crashing into the ground, walls, and stone pillars, causing deafening explosions.

The scene resembled countless bolts of lightning descending from the heavens and bombarding the entire throne room indiscriminately, causing the ground to shatter continuously, the air to tremble violently, and the walls and stone pillars to crack without end as though a natural disaster had struck.

Riezel then leaped high into the air, his transparent eyes fixed upon Redson’s rapidly accelerating figure as he swiftly swung the black sword in his hand again and again, releasing bolt after bolt of lightning and continuously bombarding his opponent with lightning-shaped slashes.

What Riezel used was none other than Thunder Breathing’sFifth Form—Heat Lightning.

At this point, his mastery of Thunder Breathing had reached an unbelievable level. Even when he was not using Thunderclap and Flash, the sword form he had favored most in the past, he could still push Thunder Breathing’s greatest strengths—speed and explosive power—to their absolute limits.

With his current level, even Sun Breathing no longer provided a significant increase to his combat power and instead served mainly as a standard combat technique. Naturally, the increase provided by Thunder Breathing was also nearly negligible.

Yet he still preferred the swordsmanship of Thunder Breathing precisely because its high attack speed and explosive bursts perfectly matched his fighting style.

Therefore, despite having nearly abandoned the other Breathing Styles, he still frequently used Thunder Breathing.

In the end, if he had not truly favored Thunder Breathing, he would never have devoted so much effort to developing it further, creating sword forms such as Godspeed and God of Fire Thunder.

It was also for that reason that Riezel’s understanding of Thunder Breathing deepened continuously, while his compatibility with it steadily increased.

At this point, Riezel only fought using Sun Breathing, Moon Breathing, and Thunder Breathing.

Sun Breathing possessed immense power and could purify evil.

Moon Breathing had a wide attack range and excelled at fighting multiple enemies.

Thunder Breathing was incredibly fast and possessed astonishing explosive power, making it ideal for one-on-one duels.

After abandoning the other Breathing Styles and focusing solely on those three, Sun Breathing and Moon Breathing aside, Riezel’s compatibility with Thunder Breathing had changed dramatically through constant refinement and development.

Previously, his compatibility with Sun Breathing had been 100, his compatibility with Moon Breathing had been 95, and his compatibility with Thunder Breathing had only been 88.

Now, his compatibility with Thunder Breathing had to be at least 95. It was no weaker than Moon Breathing, which had directly evolved from Sun Breathing, and it might have even surpassed it.

Under such circumstances, Riezel became increasingly proficient when using Thunder Breathing. A single Heat Lightning had been elevated into a phenomenon resembling ten thousand bolts of lightning descending from the heavens, making even Redson, who had mastered time-based swordsmanship, struggle considerably.

However, Redson was no ordinary opponent.

"HAAAHHH—!!!"

Just as he was about to be swallowed by countless lightning-shaped slashes, Redson erupted. He raised the ancient sword high above his head and brought it down decisively against the countless lightning-shaped slashes descending from the sky.

*BOOOM!*

Accompanied by a deafening explosion, Redson’s strike unleashed a violent torrent of magical energy that surged outward like a raging storm, colliding head-on with the countless lightning-shaped slashes and canceling them out.

’That sword...’

Riezel narrowed his eyes and looked toward the ancient sword in Redson’s hand.

At first glance, just like Redson himself, the sword appeared completely unremarkable. Yet it seemed to be an extraordinarily powerful mystical artifact with astonishing capabilities, as it absorbed Redson’s slash and amplified it several times over, perhaps even dozens of times.

*Whoosh!*

After neutralizing Riezel’s attack, Redson once again entered a state of accelerated time. Bursting through the fluctuating flow of time, he arrived before Riezel in the blink of an eye.

"Take one of my attacks too!"

A crazed gleam flashed within Redson’s eyes as he swung his sword so fast that it seemed capable of breaking through the limits of space itself, transforming into a beam of light.

Evidently, that was the result of applying time acceleration directly to the slash.

Time Sword Style possessed only one effect—accelerating time.

Yet besides accelerating his own time, he could also accelerate his slashes.

Because of that, his attacks were not only unimaginably fast, but within that fleeting instant, what appeared to be a single strike was actually countless strikes unleashed simultaneously.

As a result, when Riezel’s vision became filled with the slash that had transformed into light, additional slashes appeared around and behind him as well, surging toward him together like an endless storm of blades.

Had it been anyone else, they would have been completely unable to defend against such an assault.

One should know that the astonishing effects of Time Sword Style had once allowed Redson to kill a Sword Saint while he himself had not yet attained that rank, and that alone proved that, under the right conditions, the threat he posed far exceeded his current level.

From Riezel’s perspective, Redson’s DEX and AGI both surpassed Level 8. In those two basic abilities alone, he possessed power that crossed levels.

Against someone like him, even if the newly advanced Level 8 Ottar were present, his Absolute Defense might not be fast enough to keep up, and he could ultimately fall beneath Redson’s blade.

But in this regard, Riezel was naturally second to none.

After all, it was not merely one or two basic abilities that had surpassed his current level—his entire combat power had already risen beyond the limits of what his level should have been capable of.

"Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy!"

Riezel’s breathing rhythm changed abruptly, and in the next instant, the black sword in his hand, crackling with lightning, suddenly unleashed countless crescent moon blades. As he spun his body, he released a massive vortex-like storm of crescent blades that forcibly deflected the countless incoming slashes.

"Beneficent Radiance!"

After blocking Redson’s attack, Riezel’s breathing turned scorching hot, and in the next instant, the crescent blades vanished from his black sword, replaced by blazing flames that surged along the blade as he unleashed a powerful strike at Redson.

It was a spiraling slash descending from above.

Flames as hot as the sun coiled around it, causing Redson’s expression to change repeatedly.

*Swish!*

Following the warning instinct screaming within him, Redson immediately entered a state of time acceleration and rapidly retreated.

Yet Riezel pursued relentlessly.

*BOOM!*

Flames exploded beneath his feet as his figure transformed into a streak of fire. Like a crimson meteor crossing through space, he actually caught up to Redson despite the latter being under time acceleration.

"Dancing Flash!"

Blazing flames erupted as an instantaneously fast slash resembling a fleeting spark of fire bloomed from Riezel’s hand.

*CLANG!*

Even under time acceleration, Redson managed to defend in time as the ancient sword crossed before him and blocked the flaming slash, producing a violent collision that shook the entire throne room.

Amid the exploding flames, he was blasted away by the tremendous force of the attack. He shot backward at incredible speed, crashing through two massive stone pillars and causing them to collapse.

*Cough!*

After smashing through the two enormous stone pillars, Redson could not help coughing up blood as crimson stained the corner of his mouth.

’Strong...’

Now, the way Redson looked at Riezel became exceptionally serious, while his heart was filled with shock.

He still found it difficult to believe that a young swordsman who had become a Sword Saint only this year and had not even reached the age of twenty possessed such terrifying strength.

’Your Majesty... just what kind of monster did you provoke?’

A bitter feeling rose within Redson’s heart, yet he forced himself to regain focus and raised his sword once more with iron determination.

As a swordsman who had fought for a century, he was no stranger to opponents stronger than himself. To say nothing else, a Sword Saint of Reiburg, whom he had once killed despite the difference in strength, had been stronger than him at the time, yet he had still emerged victorious.

Time Sword Style had certainly contributed, but Redson’s unyielding will had also been an indispensable factor.

’He’s strong, but that doesn’t mean I have no chance of winning.’

’At the very least, I’m not slower than him. Otherwise, I would’ve lost already.’

’What I need to do is endure his attacks and find his weaknesses.’

’Just like me, he has mastered no fewer than two Special Swordsmanships, and every one of them is extremely powerful.’

’Swordsmanship with that much power definitely consumes a lot, so there’s a good chance he can’t sustain it for long.’

’Unlike him, I’ve learned the swordsmanship I found in those ancient ruins. My endurance in prolonged battles far surpasses that of ordinary Sword Saints.’

’On top of that, I can recover from injuries quickly. If this fight drags on, the winner will be me.’

With those thoughts in mind, Redson formed a plan.

’Keep forcing him to use powerful swordsmanship and accelerate his exhaustion until I can turn the tables.’

After deciding on his strategy, Redson stopped launching reckless attacks and instead began engaging Riezel in a battle of attrition.

*Swish!**Swish!**Swish!*

Redson’s figure flickered constantly within accelerated time, appearing to Riezel’s left one moment, behind him the next, then above him, then beneath him, making his movements impossible to predict.

Meanwhile, Riezel alternated between the three Breathing Styles.

Sometimes it was Sun Breathing, with blazing flames surging everywhere.

Sometimes it was Moon Breathing, unleashing waves of blade storms.

Other times it was Thunder Breathing, with lightning bolts and arcs of lightning continuously flashing across the battlefield.

Soon enough, Redson made a horrifying discovery.

No matter how recklessly Riezel used those powerful swordsmanship techniques, there was not the slightest sign of exhaustion.

He was like a perpetual motion machine.

His stamina seemed endless.

His magical energy seemed inexhaustible.

No matter how Redson looked at it, there was no indication whatsoever that Riezel was being worn down.

’How is this possible?’

Redson could hardly believe his eyes.

What he did not know was—

"An attrition battle?"

"You picked the wrong plan."

"Attrition battles are exactly what I fear the least."

With the highest-rank development ability, Healing Power, Riezel had never experienced true exhaustion except when using Rhongomyniad.

"What a shame. It’s time to end this."

As those words fell from Riezel’s mouth, unprecedentedly violent bolts of lightning erupted around his body. He then returned the black sword to its sheath, drawing in enormous amounts of lightning.

"Godspeed!"

Riezel was prepared to unleash the decisive strike that would secure victory, but...

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, an astonishing pressure descended upon his body.

"..."

At that instant, both Riezel’s and Redson’s expressions changed.

===

[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones]

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