Chapter 2186 One Outcome
The moment between the Dragon Prince and Princess had absolutely nothing to do with Sarriel. To her, that battle could have only ended one way.
And so too would this one.
Her sword angled downward, pointed forward toward Aurelia. She didn’t seem to care that she had just fought a battle, nor that Aurelia hadn’t used up any of her strength. As far as Sarriel was concerned, the World of Cultivation had never had anything close to that of fairness, and she had already been living in such a world of unfairness for her whole life.
She had made it this far, and this Martial God wouldn’t change a single thing.
Sarriel didn’t bother to speak a single word. She only looked at Aurelia for a single instant of time before her blade moved.
Afterimages filled the air and time seemed to bend and warp, reality forgetting what was true and what was false for a moment as her sword gracefully danced through the air.
For such a long blade, Sarriel wielded her katana as though it was a true extension of her arm. In just a simple swing, she carried a myriad of variations and changes that left the eyes of many spinning.
There was no doubt a majority on the sidelines right this moment that felt as though there was simply no way they could block such a strike. And then there were those even weaker than that who couldn’t fathom how anyone could possibly fall into such a trap to begin with.
That latter group had no right to be here.
Aurelia moved.
Silk fluttered and her blade danced across the skies.
The two attacks seemed to pass through one another, their illusions missing by a large margin. But then there was the slight sound of blade meeting blade before they separated.
The echo of the blade seemed to force their real bodies into existence, the afterimages dispersing to reveal two beautiful women crossing blades for the briefest of instances before their swords accelerated beyond what light could keep up with.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
Every blow was so light and delicate that it was impossible to tell that they were moving so fast to begin with. It was said that speed could translate directly to power, but something about the control these women were exhibiting made their blade tips as fast as lightning and yet their attacks as light as a feather.
They fluttered around one another, their hair, their robes, their swords dancing in the wind as though either one could be blown away at any time.
They were probing, poking at weaknesses, trying to find an opening the other could give. And every exchange only seemed to become faster and faster, more relentless.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
The silky ribbons began to multiply around Aurelia’s body. They wrapped around her delicate feet and the length of her arm, sometimes unraveling and spinning out in a drilling mass of destruction.
Sarriel dealt with them with the same practiced ease. The increase to the number of attacks didn’t change her flow in the slightest, her illusory blades multiplying with the speed of her katana.
Her stance shifted, and for the first time, she placed two hands on the hilt of her weapon. Her aura completely changed and a heart-shuddering sharpness radiated through the air.
Logically, her power should have increased while her agility plummeted. And yet, both seemed to increase.
The skies seemed to be seeing double, then triple. One Sarriel after another manifested, surrounding the Martial Goddess in a holy sort of dance.
Streaks of violet and blue filled the skies, sword qi howls beginning to grow more menacing and frequent.
It felt like they were watching two women battle on the edge of an abyss. Each exchange brought them closer and closer to that edge, their toes tiptoeing around the blade’s finer corner, gliding across the muse of death as their speeds accelerated.
Sarriel’s blade was suddenly intertwined with a spinning mass of silk ribbon. The numbers of the latter were also growing at an astonishing degree, and each slice was no less deadly than a sword.
The ribbon quickly flew down the length of the blade, unraveling and then tightly winding down on its body.
Sarriel’s forearm flexed and the sound of metal grating against metal echoed with a savage sort of momentum. It felt as though a gear had gotten caught in a gear, their teeth grinding against one another in a bid to loosen themselves. And then…
CHI. CHI. SHIIIIIIING!
The silky ribbons sliced apart, fluttering down like the petals of a blossom’s dance. However, in their midst, the point of a sword appeared.
Aurelia pierced forward, her blade tip, much shorter than Sarriel’s own, having appeared at the young Fey’s throat.
Sarriel swayed to the side, her afterimages layering onto one another in quick succession.
Blood spurted, a line following Aurelia’s blade as it curled through the skies.
A searing pain ripped through Sarriel’s throat, but there was a deathly sort of calmness in her eyes as she faced off against this danger. How many times had she tread on the line of life and death? Too many to count.
And every time, her reaction would be just the same.
Focus.
Her body finally shifted all the way to the side, waterfalling crimson falling down the length of her neck and soaking the collarbone of her dress through.
Her katana, finally free of the ribbons, sliced right for Aurelia’s sides. But the Martial Goddess was calm beyond compare as well.
A mass of silky ribbons had already appeared through the one angle that Sarriel could attack from.
That was why it was such a surprise when Aurelia’s pupils constricted as she felt a searing pain from the complete other side.
Both women explosively retreated before coming to a halt that somehow felt just as explosive.
Sarriel reached up to touch her neck as Aurelia looked down to the gash at her side. Both wounds seemed far too ghastly to appear on women so angelic. One had half their throat cut open, while the other had their inner organs struggling to remain within their bodies.
And yet, the instant they accessed their injuries, they burst forward again.
The dance of life and death began once more, and this time, they seemed even more vicious than they had been in the past. They didn’t know blood loss or pain, ribbons of silk and blades cutting across the air like a symphony of colors.
Neither had access to their full range of abilities, and yet their blades painted their own stories. It was the sort of beautiful story that one had to be there to experience, despite the gruesome nature of the exchange.
The wounds of the women only became worse and worse. Stabs through the chest, the severing of tendons, even slices around the face.
What once was their beauty was quickly being marred as they raced around the skies. Each one was silent, each one endlessly focused on the task at hand.
Emperor Sword.
They forgot everything but the blades in their hands, and to the shock of the crowd, they were quickly finding the weight of a true genius.
They should have been slowing down with their injuries, but somehow they were only accelerating. Their skills were becoming sharper, more refined. There was less thought before each one of their moves, and every time they acted, the Heavens seemed to radiate a light in praise of their efforts.
The Title Stele shook and the Emperor Sword Title grew brighter and brighter as it shook violently, eagerly awaiting the one that would take their Title.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
For the first time, the crossing of their blades wasn’t nearly so delicate. They smashed against one another, separating violently only to fly into one another once more.
Sarriel’s blade cut a wide arc, slicing a chunk out of Aurelia’s belly.
Aurelia’s silky strands danced, cutting a piece of Sarriel’s scalp away from her skull.
Flesh and blood oozed and the howls of the Title Stele only became more feverish.
To the side, Xalvador watched his wife’s battle with an eerie calmness. There was a tone hidden deep within his eyes that painted the picture of why quite well.
Confidence.
To him, there was only one way this battle could end, and that was with a Martial God’s victory. It wasn’t just about the type of women Aurelia was…
The Martial Gods didn’t lose.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The clash of the women seemed to reach their peak, space rippling, time warping. It was hard to tell whether their exchanges were happening in real time or if they were witnessing exchanges that happened several hours ago.
Reality warped and bent around them, the strength of their blades tearing into the void and ripping it open with the momentum of a heart-shuddering battle.
Ryu suddenly opened his eyes, a deathly sort of sharpness in them as the situation changed.
Aurelia’s sword pierced forward, silky ribbons winding around it as though to turn it into a lance.
The ribbons suddenly separated, parrying each one of Sarriel’s illusory blades away… including the very real one.
PUCHI!
The sword in the middle stayed true, piercing through Sarriel’s chest.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter