CHAPTER 203

All of the lightning gathered in his sword, then shot up towards the sky. 

A giant pillar of divine light illuminated the dark savannah. 

Jin chose to execute the fourth form of Divine Onslaught.

Disintegration.

Jin pierced Sigmund into the ground, and the pillar of lightning dispersed into it. 

Vanessa began swinging her sword. She wanted to know what would happen when he had rendered his weapon useless for a split second. 

However, she was forced to back off.

Sparks flew everywhere from the ground and air, tasing her throat every time she breathed.

Blue sparks filled the air as lightning pillars spewed from the ground in a circle around Sigmund, creating an arena for the two.

Even Vanessa had to withdraw. 

It was possible for her to break through it, but within the 'Lightning Arena', she couldn't predict what would happen next.

She chose to keep her distance and not play into Jin's hands.

'This feels more like magic than a sword skill.'

Although the shocks in her throat weren't pleasant, Vanessa honestly expected some kind of Runcandel Decisive Killing Move with all of his effort poured into one ability. But she was met with the Bladeworks of those who ruled the world five thousand years ago. A sketchy spell like that…

'He mentioned a little more, so I guess I'll play along. If it continues like this, I'll be very disappointed…'

Vanessa immediately looked at the ground.

PZZZZZT!

The small sparks danced around her feet. She had been sure that she escaped the lightning domain. The sparks beneath her feet looked miniscule, so it felt irrelevant to the domain placed by Jin. 

However, her instincts told her to evade.

Vanessa immediately jumped away. Her instincts were never wrong.

KZZZZT!

At the spot with the dancing small sparks, a massive lightning bolt came crashing down, leaving behind a crater.

The ear-ripping thunder had left Vanessa startled.

'The earth shook from that?'

Right after the impact, an earthquake occurred. 

She identified the root of the quakes. The initial lightning bolt energized the earth, which then caused ruptures. Countless sparks arose from the ground, and if all of those sparks could summon a bolt from the sky…

Imagining the outcome brought goosebumps up her spine for the first time in a while.

'There's no way he can invoke such power. He'd be a God if he could cast such spells. If that were the case, I'd be the one challenging him, instead of him challenging me.'

On the other hand, Jin's mind was occupied with other thoughts.

'Punishment, Judgment, and Disintegration… They're nothing compared to what the Battle Goddess showed me.'

Disintegration cast by the Battle Goddess would match Vanessa's expectations. Lightning falling from the sky without pause, rendering anyone below 9-star unable to parry.

At the moment, Jin couldn't call down hundreds of lightning bolts, but he could at least call down dozens at a time. 

KZZZT, PZZZT!

Explosions aside, Vanessa by herself was a force to be reckoned with. 

Cyron didn't trust her for nothing.

Despite the infinite locations of a strike, she could easily react to the attacks with her instincts. 

Normal people would call it coordination, while warriors would call it foresight, which was realms beyond the average fighter in her case. 

All of the attacks were predicted somewhat effortlessly. 

'She's going to dodge them, so she probably concluded that parrying is dangerous.'

Jin had already finished the preparations for summoning Tess. In addition to the lightning domain, a blue-flame domain would add pressure to the battle. 

Tess's bright blue wings stretched open from the dimensional portal. Jin then pulled Sigmund out of the ground and charged towards Vanessa. 

He planned to strike while she was focused on dodging the lightning. Even a 10-star had to have an opening when their attention was diverted. 

However, when Jin approached her—

'Did you think I'd dodge?'

Although it was unspoken, Jin knew what she was thinking the moment he saw her face. Vanessa didn't have enough time to dodge the next lightning strike.

So, she was going to show him what a 10-star knight was capable of.

Krrrrr…! 

Jin's Heart of Light roared and burned brightly as Tess's Pressure swallowed Vanessa whole.

As if the sky were ripping apart, dozens of lightning bolts fell down onto Vanessa.

She could definitely get out safely. Evading all of the attacks would be impossible, but she could just parry a portion of them. 

However, instead of taking the most optimal course of action, she channeled her power into her sword.

'So you'll parry all of this?'

Jin gulped.

Within the blue lightning and flames, one crescent slash shone.

However, while only one could be seen, in reality, hundreds of individual slashes generated such an attack. Some pushed away the blue flames, some ripped the lightning bolt apart, and some prevented Jin from freely attacking.

This time, Jin felt a chill up his spine. He didn't even blink, since he charged in for an attack, so he knew what would happen.

'Madame Vanessa is going to perfectly evade all my attacks…!'

The lightning and fire would all disappear without Jin leaving even a scratch on her clothes. 

His calculations were incorrect, caused by him underestimating the one who made the world fear her. 

"Kahaha!"

Vanessa laughed, generating a shockwave around her. 

Jin's alternative attacks stopped, and Tess spewed blue flames to protect him, yet the crescent slashes pierced through and charged towards Jin. 

Tess couldn't help him at this point, and Jin had made zero progress.

However, there was no need to back off after one miscalculation.

'If this also fails, I will admit defeat.'

Fwoooooom…

Spiritual energy seeped out as Bradamante was unsheathed, enclosing the once bright-blue-energy-filled air in a dark fog.

Shadow Blade 1st Form—

Jin lowered his stance. 

—Soul Slash. The skill he tried to master even before he went to Lafrarosa.

As usual, Jin chanted to himself, 'Cut. Cut her sword. Cut that monster…' From his chants, the spiritual energy awoke from his blade, emitting a thicker dark smog.

"So this is the finale."

"Did you have fun so far?"

"Don't disappoint me now."

Vanessa's steel sword lost its sharpness. It did have the aura of a 10-star knight, but it was the limitations of the material.

'I should've brought a better sword. This is outrageous, phew.'

As such, Vanessa already admitted defeat. She couldn't take the final blow with a faulty weapon, hence this wasn't a duel, but a spar. Still, even without a sword, she could easily take Jin's life, but she already concluded that he passed the test. 

Jin didn't reach her or her clothes with his sword, but Vanessa already went way beyond her initial limits whilst dodging all of the ranged spells he had. 

Therefore, taking the final attack head-on would just be bonus points. An opportunity for Jin to earn a spot for his name in the Runcandel Mausoleum. 

Jin charged forward.

He couldn't attain 'slashing through the soul', but his swing was completely silent. 

The ghostly blade would slice through the opponent. If he believed enough, there was nothing in the world that he couldn't cut through.

All of his focus diverted into breaking her sword.

'Impressive.'

Bradamante barely swiped across Vanessa's cheek. Red droplets flew, and Jin celebrated his victory. 

As a knight, he felt a little disappointed that this was all for his evaluation. However, as Cyron's son, passing the test was an achievement.

Basically, he was deemed capable of surviving one blow from Cyron.

Clang…!

Vanessa's steel sword shattered, steel shards falling to the ground. 

To Jin, it was the greatest sound he had ever heard. 

"Jin Runcandel, I have one question."

"Ask away, Madame Vanessa."

She shrugged and looked at Jin.

"Do you think you can produce the same results if I used a little bit more of my power?"

To Vanessa, Jin was definitely capable of clashing swords with Cyron. Though, only once. As a knight who couldn't experiment further, she asked out of curiosity. 

Would twice be possible?

"…Hmmm, well, I had one more thing up my sleeve."

"What? There's one more?"

"Well, it isn't a sword skill or magic, so it's hard to describe it."

"Neither sword nor magic?"

Jin didn't clarify and smiled. 

He didn't want to spoil his secret. Vanessa could only shrug.

"I guess it's my loss today. Your father told me to punish you, but at this point, rewarding you is the only option."