Vryndall III

The clash of steel and labored breaths echoed down the hallway as Lucifer staggered to his knees. His lungs burned, each gulp of air coming in ragged gasps. His longsword, once a reliable extension of his strength, felt like a lead weight dragging his arms down, muscles straining just to hold it steady.

Through the haze, he fixed his verdant eyes on the astral blade before him. The blade shimmered with an otherworldly light, a slice of the cosmos itself made tangible. It was a weapon he couldn't hope to touch—not with all his power, nor with the combined efforts of Ian, Ren, and Jin beside him.

This was the brutal truth of the Wall, an impassable threshold dividing those who had surpassed it from those who hadn't. The gap wasn't merely a difference in strength; it was an unscalable chasm, a gulf that rendered all their efforts almost painfully futile.

But succumbing to despair now, while facing this insurmountable foe, would be a death sentence.

Ren seemed to share the thought. With fierce determination, he surged forward, his fist pulsing with the Intent he'd honed since reaching Integration-rank just before the Field Trip. His aura crackled around his arm as he unleashed the fourth movement of the Void Fist: Void Rupture—a strike that seemed to bend the air itself with sheer force.

Lucifer pushed himself up, shaking off his exhaustion. He tightened his grip on his longsword, channeling every ounce of power from his Yin-Yang Body. Six elements of enhanced aura converged along the blade, the glimmer of each pushing against the limits of his control. He steadied himself and raised his sword, preparing to execute the third movement of his Grade 6 art, Myth of the Northern Peak: Frozen Zenith.

With steely resolve, they launched forward, knowing that even if they couldn't bridge the chasm between them and their opponent, they would still fight—defiantly, relentlessly—to the very end.

The enemy sneered, swinging his blade down with casual menace. His weapon shimmered with a Grade 4 art, enhanced by the deep resonance of his Sword Heart, effortlessly meeting Lucifer's attack. The clash of metal echoed as Lucifer's assault was halted as though striking an unbreakable wall.

With a swift, dismissive gesture, the enemy threw out a fist encased in astral energy to meet Ren's punch head-on. Normally, Ren's strike, augmented with Void Rupture, would have shattered through anything in its path. But against the astral energy that cloaked the man's hand, it did little more than jar his wrist.

A burst of enhanced aura erupted from the enemy as he seized Ren's wrist, yanking him forward with brutal efficiency, positioning for a powerful kick to Ren's torso. But Ren's God's Eyes activated in a flash, their keen sight reading the movement as if scripted in slow motion. With precision, he raised his foot to intercept the kick, using it as leverage to propel himself back and cast a four-circle spell, vanishing in a shimmer of mana and reappearing a few steps away.

The moment of resistance had given him just enough time to evade the full brunt of the enemy's strike. It was a narrow escape, yet Ren's heart pounded with the realization: they were barely scratching the surface of this opponent's power.

An Ascendant-ranker was among the world's elite—a member of a rare echelon, with fewer than five thousand worldwide outside of the dark species, cults, and mana beasts. Include those, and the number might barely double. These were beings who had undergone a metamorphosis, transcending the limits of mortal flesh and reaching a realm where their power was untouchable to those beneath the Wall.

To underscore that point, the man before them swung his resonating blade through the air, as if at nothing. Instantly, waves of enhanced aura, laced with astral energy, rippled outward, slicing through the air with a force that seemed to fracture reality itself.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed, and he retaliated, wielding his blade in the second movement: Cocytus's Descent. The air around him turned frigid, a torrent of elemental energy swirling around as he drew upon all six elements, each manifested through his enhanced aura. The elements clashed against the Ascendant-ranker's Grade 4 art, each collision a detonation of light and force.

"Impressive," the man said with a glint of admiration, his sword pushing Lucifer back step by step. "To wield such power without even touching Sword Resonance… Quite the talent."

Lucifer gritted his teeth, fighting against the pressure, but the man's strength was undeniable, like a tidal wave surging ever forward.

Then Ian joined the fray, lunging forward with his spear ablaze. Fire magic, channeled from Tiamat's own fiery will, erupted around him, wreathing the air in a fierce glow. He struck, but his flames seemed almost swallowed in the vast, consuming clash between Lucifer's aura and the Ascendant's astral blade. Even Tiamat's will, powerful as it was, barely tipped the balance.

As Ren and Jin cast spells to aid them, Lucifer's mind drifted, haunted by images of his father. Over winter break, his father had trained him personally, a rare honor that brought both pride and pressure. And in the midst of that rigorous training, he had witnessed it: *Sword Resonance.*

Resonance—a synergy of sword and aura that transcended mere Intent, a flawless harmony that amplified every strike. His father had wielded it effortlessly, the blade vibrating with a power beyond Lucifer's reach. Despite months at Integration-rank, he was still leagues away from that mastery.

But he couldn't accept that.

He knew Arthur had already achieved resonance, even if by fluke or sheer desperation. Arthur had dethroned him, wresting away the Rank 1 position he'd held since the academy's inception. That fact gnawed at him, fueling a quiet storm of envy and frustration.

'I have to be special,' he told himself. 'I have to win.'

This was the thought that blazed in his mind as he faced down his opponent, focusing every ounce of his strength into his blade. But desire alone was never enough to shape reality.

The Ascendant-ranker sneered, his resonant sword crackling with energy, easily parrying Lucifer's assault. Each swing of Lucifer's blade was met with effortless deflection, his strikes scattering like embers against a storm. Ren and Jin's spells crackled through the air, but they, too, faltered under the weight of their foe's power.

The man's grin widened as he swung, a pulse of power scattering their combined defenses. With a final sweep, he sent them sprawling, his movements sharp and precise, like a predator toying with cornered prey. Lucifer crashed to his knees, gasping for breath, his sword slipping from his grip as he felt the heavy hand of despair press down.

But then, in that bleak moment, a flash of familiar light cut through the chaos.

Arthur's voice rang out, steady and calm amidst the tumult. "Back up," he ordered, his eyes blazing as he strode into the fray. He moved with a quiet intensity, blade in hand, exuding a focus that bordered on ferocity.

"Arthur…" Lucifer managed, but his words were cut short as Arthur stepped forward, locking eyes with the Ascendant-ranker.

Arthur's gaze was unflinching, his expression hard as he took in the man's resonant blade. With a fluid movement, he raised his own weapon, the faint hum of energy surrounding it as he drew upon every lesson, every trial he'd endured.

And then, without another word, he struck.