â
Agnes was touched. As a person with a unique ability to read the level of others, she could already tell that Ailette had surpassed expert supreme. She also had enough aura to break the boundaries of levels, which meant one sudden enlightenment and she'd be in a new state. Ailette's achievement was a given for Agnes.
After all, she's my pupil. This was a student she'd trained since she was a little girl, one who she raised to become a balanced dame through rigorous training across endurance, agility, dynamic visual acuity, speed, and insight.
Agnes was basking in the endless satisfaction she felt as a mentor, when a voice interrupted.
"Let's continue."
Ha. Would you look at that? Ailette didn't spend too long marveling at her new achievement. Passion blazed in her peridot eyes, and the two aura blades around her began to vibrate as they expanded the circumference they were circling like a reflection of her determination.
Agnes smirked and drew forth her power, but just as the battle was about to begin, Ailette stopped them.
"Oh, but wait."
"What?"
Ailette stuck her hand into her inventory and pulled out a bookâit was the skill book she had received after subjugating Anaxia.
â¬Â«Skill» [Blooming Sword (Passive)â
A passive skill for aura masters. Improves spatial perception and aura utilization, increasing the number of available aura blades during battle.â
The book crumbled away as it was absorbed into Ailette's body. Instantly, the number of blades circling the young woman increased by five. With this, she had seven aura blades, matching Agnes' level.
"I feel like that's cheating," Agnes said.
Ailette's levitating swords fanned out, and the three that rose up behind her head looked like a crown. "Here I come," she warned.
Ailette's aura blades hurtled toward Agnes, the spinning swords slicing through the air around the older woman until they collided with her swords and disappeared.
"Wow, it works."
The aura blades formed behind Ailette again, recovering the full set of seven before she launched her next attack. Each of the levitating swords stretched and drew large arches in all directions, then began destroying anything that came in their way. Agnes' swords protected her, blocking the attacks as quickly as they came.
"This works too," Ailette said.
She was repeating everything she'd seen Agnes do, but that wasn't all. The newly summoned aura blades swung parallel to the ground, pointing their sharp tip at Agnes. All Ailette needed to wield the blades was strong determination because there were no spells to channel one's aura.
Still, Ailette suddenly shouted, "Divine Retribution."
Zzzzap!
A powerful burst of electricity seeped into her seven aura blades, scattering blue sparks in all directions as the lightning-infused swords bolted toward Agnes. Agnes was defending just as fiercely as she was being attacked, which turned the battlefield into a hurricane of flying blades. With Tier 9 Divine Power added to the aura blades, Ailette's swords were strong enough to push Agnes' back.
Boom!
The explosion occurred near where Agnes stood, the distance a clear indication of who was winning.
Sparks like fireworks showered around Agnes as Ailette watched and remarked, "I can't believe this actually works."
She had succeeded in capturing the power of Divine Retribution in her aura blades. Her student looked surprised by her own actions, for she was not only controlling all seven blades, but was also creatively applying other skills to them.
Agnes scoffed.
Not talented, huh? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ailette drew forth her divine power and infused it into her aura blades again, but her manner this time was in stark contrast to how she looked when she first tested out the technique earlier.
Eagerly, Ailette said to Agnes, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to use all of my strength. I want to overpower you."
Letting her own aura surge, Agnes replied lightly, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
A blue glow emanated from Agnes' hand before taking the shape of a sword. She now held a real sword instead of using aura blades, which meant she was about to switch her battle form to close-contact.
Ailette and Agnes each pushed aura into their favorite swords and when their preparations were done, Agnes tore off one of the silver buttons on her sleeve and tossed it up.
Swoosh.
The silver button flew high enough in the air to look like it was a day-time star, then fell perfectly at the center between Ailette and Agnes. The moment the button landed on the exact spot Agnes intended without the slightest bit of miscalculation, a noise exploded out between them.
Boom!
Ailette's whip sword warped into a winding, serpentine shape and thrashed forward. Agnes jumped up high into the air and dodged the attack, which rendered the move useless. Having escaped the cloud of smoke, Agnes immediately started darting toward the right as her aura blades followed her in a singular line. She shot them toward Ailette, one by one, to which Ailette responded by dashing toward the right while deftly countering the aura blade attacks.
They ran counterclockwise as the attacks took place between them in the center. When seven explosions occurred in total, and both of their aura blades had been used, Ailette infused her legs with the Force of a Queen, the immense power allowing her to instantly change direction.
Bang!
Ailette swiftly charged forward as Serpens came down on Agnes diagonally.
Clang!
Two blades near the hilts clashed as two faces exchanged glances over their sword. Their heated stare dragged on, close enough to each other to count the other person's eyelashes. Both of their pupils were dilated with excitement from the battle, when something reflecting off of the blade of Ailette's sword caught her attention. Aura blades had appeared behind Agnes again, which was to be expected, since they were more advanced than the aura blades Ailette summoned using a skill.
Agnes' aura blades started to shine and vibrate, which was a harbinger to an upcoming explosion.
"..."
Ailette pondered for a split second on how she should react. There was the option of using Divine Inviolability to endure the attack, but she decided against this. Instead, she twisted her wrists, causing their swords to turn half a circle. Agnes' blade couldn't hold the locked position due to the loss of balance, which Ailette used as her chance to push Agnes away using the Force of a Queen.
Boom!
The aura blades Agnes had intended to drop were flung in awkward directions like grenades and exploded.
"This isn't working. I better get this over with quickly."
Ailette kicked off from the ground and charged toward Agnes, while their battalion of swords clashed against each other in the air. The levitating swords arced and slashed in sharp angles as they struck each other, creating a series of explosions, one after another, which produced massive gales that battered against their bodies. The women's hair fluttered around wildly as two whip swords gracefully changed their length and angles.
When in close contact, the swords became straight and sturdy, meeting each other with sharp slashing movements, only to shift and fly through the air in brilliant curves, thrashing about like a whip when at a distance. Their battle went on for so long and was so fierce that the mountain took enough damage to lower its height. Eventually, one side began to gain ground.
Ailette's aura blades that managed to survive surrounded Agnes, cutting off all escape routes as they cast a looming shadow over her head.
"Agnes!"
Ailette held Serpens upside down and thrust it toward Agnes, to which the other woman held her breath and raised her sword.
Boom!
The attack carried all of Ailette's strength and weight, blasting a large dent in the ground as debris flew into the air. Their bodies were thrown in opposite directions, so forcefully that their feet created long furrows in the dirt as they skidded to a stop.
When they finally came to a halt, they looked at each other through the rising clouds of dust that had been torn out from the surface of the mountain.
â
Time passed in silence as the dust settled and revealed a clean line of sight. Agnes had been flung away against a century-old tree that now lay as a log on the ground on the opposite end of the clearing, her back slouched into its trunk. Serpens was glimmering in the sunlight as I closed the distance between us and pointed its sharp end toward Agnes' throat. I felt like this wasn't enough, so I quickly summoned my aura blades to surround Agnes as well. With this, eight swords were drawn on Agnes.
I suppressed the urge to pant and remarked, "Admit your loss. I do not wish to harm you."
"Oh." Looking like she realized something, she replied, "You don't want to damage my spiritual body."
She had read my mind, for she was right. Those who were similar in strength couldn't suppress one another unless they were determined to killâthat was why I had used Tier 9 divine power to overpower her, even though it had still been extremely difficult.
This could be the first and last time I suppress Agnes without harming her badly, but she didn't give me an answer to my request. Instead, she merely looked up and stared at me calmly, which worsened my already frazzled nerves.
Left without a choice, I warned her, "I will use Divine Advent right now if you don't admit defeat. I'd rather be sick for a couple of days than be away from you for a long time."
I meant what I said, and Agnes knew it too because she finally ended the silence that was making me uneasy.
"Ugh, if only I died ten years older." After grumbling about her shortened life that denied her the opportunity to train more, she finally muttered, "I lose."
Clunk.
The sword dropped from Agnes' right hand.