"I have decided, I will stake everything on this!" With that declaration, Kaskara decided to use his two secret techniques. One of them used the very same item he had used to conjure the golden flame river. It was a candle referred to as the [Sacrificial Candle].
The second technique was named [Hundred Night Sacrifice] and was used to raise the vigor of a peak Void Core warrior to possibly beyond the Lord Level. Kaskara knew that if he failed to defeat Kasi, these techniques would probably end his martial path for good. However, this was a risk he was more than willing to take on the road toward power.
Immediately after he activated these 2 techniques, a vast inhuman aura erupted from his body flowing across Sese all the way to the opposite end of the island. Even lake waters dozens of kilometers away were affected. It was like everything was boiling.
"A Human Divine Seal! So that was why the candle was emanating holy aura." Faced with this power, old man Kasi did not falter but he was still shocked by his opponent's means. His opponent always seemed to have a trump-card waiting to be revealed.
A Human Divine Seal was means that allowed humans to channel and use the power the gods. These seals were similar to the Devil Ancestor Seals utilized by the demon race. This process of invoking the power of gods and devils was referred to as Divine Invocation or Devil Invocation.
The Sacrificial Candle was an item used for Divine Invocation while the [Hundred Night Sacrifice] was a Demonic technique; the man who wielded the Demon Extermination Sword and once used to slay demons was now using their techniques! Kaskara was mixing the techniques passed down by the gods with those imparted by demons. Needless to say, both gods and devils would curse out such actions as it was the highest form of blasphemy.
The power of Divine Invocation was passed down by the gods in the earliest ages of the Zika world to allow their devotees to call upon the divine power of a particular god to descend onto them.
As for the Hundred Night Sacrifice, it was a demonic spirit technique that allowed users to absorb and seal numerous Remnant Souls into their body. This technique interfered with the cycle of life and death by trapping the souls of the dead in the world of the living. Therefore, this technique was considered a diabolical power. It was similar to the 'Butterfly Wings' of Soul Eater Demons that were formed purely of thousands of consumed souls.
"The spirits of my followers are forever with me." Indeed from his words, it was not that Kaskara had wantonly massacred people to master this demonic technique. Instead, he had incorporated the souls of his fallen followers into his body after they died during his rebellion in Toro.
Kaskara's rebellion had involved numerous people from all walks of life including the military and political arena. After-all, for him to even aim for the throne there had to be many people who supported his ambition. However, most of these followers had died during the coup attempt or after Kaskara's capture. Kaskara had collected all the salvageable remnant souls of his dead followers which amounted to over 10,000 remnant souls.
However, the [Hundred Night Sacrifice] demonic technique was not without drawbacks. Remnant souls were usually filled with resentment and an immense grudge accumulated in their core before their death. The negative emotions held by these spirits could attack the user's consciousness. The biggest danger was getting possessed but even if one had a strong will they were still at risk of being emotionally and mentally influenced by the spirits.
After using the 2 secret methods: the [Sacrificial Candle] and [Hundred Night Sacrifice], Kaskara's aura had far surpassed the Lord Level! The shocking inhuman aura that had exploded from his body returned to him and condensed around his body.
This golden-red aura twisted and compressed to form a special armor. Kaskara's royal robes disappeared as his body was now wreathed in fire. Then as if building blocks being laid on a foundation brick by brick, a black demonic armor appeared on his body plate by plate. This armor had dark purple flames on its shoulders and edges.
As for the golden flames on his body, they condensed into a long white cloak that was on fire and a golden crown. This was the figure of a King, albeit a False King. The fire emanating from him turned a large part of the lake waters at the shore into nothingness. The ground cracked as if a desert and the rain evaporated across the entire shore due to the heat which had torn apart the clouds.
These heat waves reached all the way to the spectators and the light emitted brought back the daylight situation once again only much greater than before. For the second time tonight, night turned into day.
However, the most shocking thing was that there were waves of kingly aura radiating from Kaskara's body. Although this aura was very vague, it was enough for old man Mwenda-Kasi and the other spectators to conclude that out of all the assassins tonight, this was the greatest display of power.
"Has he entered the King Rank through those secret techniques?!"
"No he should only be at the False King Rank."
Indeed after studying Kaskara's aura, old man Kasi was able to tell that the latter had surpassed the Lord Rank but had not yet stepped into the True King Rank. He could only be considered a False King. However, this still put Kaskara's power at a completely different dimension of strength from what he showcased before when he was only a Fusion Core Crystal Warrior.
As Kaskara and Kasi stood opposite each other, the atmosphere seemed to have solidified around them. In a radius of several dozen kilometers, nothing could move! Not even the spectators. The rain drops were frozen in the sky, the splashes of water, mud, dust, and uprooted trees were all strangely stuck in mid air. Whether it was due to the combatants' aura or the extreme speed, one could not tell. Even before they moved, the two men's perception was enhanced to the maximum and the length of a second seemed to last forever. This was a contest of speed.
The exchange that happened next was over in less than a microsecond!
There were no great changes or earth shattering movements after the clash. There was just an eerie calmness. The two opponents had only taken one step and had already passed by each other. By the time the spectators could perceive anything, the two men were already standing on the opposite ends with their backs to each other.
After a few seconds of silence, Kaskara opened his mouth and spoke, "So this was the true Invisible Sword! What a fast sword, it looks like my title as the Fastest Blade in the East was unearned."
After those words the rain that was previously blown away by the two fighter's aura suddenly soaked Kaskara as if someone poured a bucket of water on him.
'Ting!' The golden crown from his transformation hit the ground in 2 parts. It had been split cleanly in two halves. Following this, the spectators watched in shock as his body split in half with each side slowly curving and falling to the side like a peeled banana. It looked extremely eerie and horrifying.
The heavy rain that had just returned supplemented the reigning silence and only Kasi's heavy panting could be heard.
Kaskara the 'Fastest Sword in the East' had been taken down in one strike! This was the "Instant Sword" technique.
Kasi, whose name translated to 'fast', had also once held the title of [Swift Sword] over a hundred years ago. In his prime, his sword had been known to be so fast that it would turn invisible whenever he struck at an opponent. As time passed, other warriors labeled him the [Invisible Sword]. After-all, everyone could agree that the man had far surpassed the definition of 'swift'!
Notes:
Kaskara - The kaskara is a traditional Sudanese sword that is also seen in Chad and Eritrea. The kaskara blade was normally approximately a yard long, double-edged, and spatulate at the tip. The kaskara was worn across the back horizontally or between the upper arm and the thorax. For a picture representation of a kaskara, you can check out metmuseum org site in their art collection for image: 27262