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CRASH!
Bing Xue intercepted the King's attack with her sword, the Yin and Yang Harmony Sword, an explosion of Aura erupted the moment both blades clashed against one another. The King's Aura was potent, resembling an endless wave of darkness and crimson fire, yet Bing Xue remained calm. Despite her body looking much more "delicate" than his, her grip was firm and unmovable.
Her body exuded waves—rivers of light—that made the King feel they were dangerous. This, coupled with his inability to push her down, quickly forced him to kick her stomach and then retreat into the skies, his sword blazing with black fire.
"My, that fighting style is quite rudimentary. Did your father teach you to kick the stomachs of your foes?" Bing Xue wondered. "Oh?"
"You're tough despite your appearance…" The King's entire body was engulfed in black flames, a manifestation of his Aura. "I shall showcase a fragment of my true power in return."
FLASH!
He rushed towards her, resembling a blur of black and red fire. His sword was swung vertically and horizontally within seconds, each attack generating an explosion of flames.
Bing Xue intercepted every attack with her sword; unlike the King, she moved gracefully and without rage in her intent; her sword was like a snake, sliding through the King's arms and defenses, piercing his armor several times while his sword could not even hit her once.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"W-What sort of swordsmanship is that?!"
The King grew frustrated, incapable of believing what his eyes were seeing! He had sparred with his siblings before, and although each one of them had their own specialties and unique techniques, he could always predict or see what they were going to do.
He had sparred with his wife, a master spirit swordswoman of her own world, and always was able to overcome her slightly sneaky attacks. He had fought countless swordsmen from all the towers and from many worlds.
Yet…
"Your movements are filled with hatred and anger; you can't overcome my techniques if you let your emotions take over," Bing Xue said. "Your grip is too tight, your muscles are tensed, and you charge like a wild boar without thinking about proper technique."
She was reprimanding him.
"Y-You dare…?!"
The King quickly became even more furious; it wasn't just because Bing Xue was acting "cocky." No, it was also because her teachings reminded him of his own father.
Yes, for the only time he ever sparred with his father, he was such an overwhelming wall to overcome; it felt like the difference in power was like heaven and earth!
Fighting her gave him the same feeling, and he couldn't believe this woman could ever compare to his almighty father.
"Technique?! I'll show you my family's techniques then!"
"{Golden Lion Swordsmanship Arts}: {Rampaging Blaze}!"
His sword suddenly grew twice as large, flames of crimson and black erupted, and his sword swung vertically as a gigantic slash of fire was unleashed from his sword, clashing against Bing Xue!
BOOOM!
The explosion of flames engulfed her body, yet...
SLASH!
Her sword swung through the explosion itself, splitting it not just once.
No…
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
But hundreds of times, until the explosion itself simply ceased to exist.
"As I said, even your techniques seem to rely on charging wildly. Is this the power of your Empire, of your father? Not impressive at all," Bing Xue said, looking at the reflection of her blade, showing the clearly concerned-looking face of the King. "If you never achieve Inner Peace and Harmony with the Elements, especially Yin and Yang, you will never be able to overcome the wall between the two."
"W-What nonsense…?! Hah, as if!" roared the King. "I won't fall for whatever tactics you're using, you monster! I will unmask you as the creature you are and not as the human you claim to be!"
The King didn't give up yet. Rushing towards Bing Xue, his sword flaring with his blazing Aura, his body's muscles started bulging, his long, black hair turned into black flames, and his eyes seemed... draconic.
"The Bloodline of the Golden Lion Empire has been tempered with many generations!" he roared. "We descend from the Red Dragons themselves; we might know no bounds! And we shall conquer it all, as it is our duty as the Empire!"
As he roared, draconic wings made of red fire surged from his back, pushing him forward. His attacks became faster and even more intense, and Bing Xue could see his techniques all relying on brute power and some sort of technique.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Vertical and horizontal slashes relying on brute force and firepower were what made up their techniques. This, combined with their flying ability and enormous bodies, made the Empire Swordsmanship an incredibly overwhelming Art.
Yet, to Bing Xue, it was as if she were playing with a child who had yet to truly comprehend the Law of the Blade at all.
CRASH!
"He's strong nonetheless," Bing Xue smiled, admitting how powerful the King was. It reminded her of the brute force of the Primal King, albeit not as wild, and she quickly decided to stop acting defensively and take a single step forward. "Not bad; I will now act offensively."
"Offensively?! You've not been doing that this entire time?!" The King gritted his teeth. "Don't talk nonsense to me, woman! I am the King of this continent! Do you think you can just start teaching me anything?! You're only insulting my great family! Pay for such a sin with your life!"
The King's body erupted with even more flames, the flames shaping themselves into scales around his body, melding his armor with his skin. A tail of black flames surged from his back.
FLASH!
He kicked the air and reached Bing Xue within a split second; his overwhelming presence seemed to be burning everything within his surroundings, and his gigantic sword swung down, like a guillotine ready to cut her head.
CLASH!
Yet Bing Xue moved forward, light converging with spiritual essence, the blade she wielded shining brightly, and light and darkness emanated from it, spiraling together, and then...
"{Yin and Yang Harmonious Blade Arts}: {Heaven's Spear}"
FLASH!
It was such a bright light that it almost made the King blind! He instinctively stepped back a second before her sword's aura turned into a spear of light and pierced his chest, shattering his armor instantly.
CRASH!
"You have good instincts; that would have killed you." Bing Xue smiled. "I am starting to get a bit pumped up; can you keep up?"
"I should be asking that question instead," the King raged, his sword moving downwards and upwards, and then to the left and right as an x-shaped slash of flames surged.
"{Golden Lion Swordsmanship Arts}: {Blazing Cross}!"
Bing Xue smiled, swinging her sword against his gigantic attack, so big it could easily destroy the entirety of New York if it fell over it. "Let me show you then!"
"{Yin and Yang Harmonious Blade Arts}: {Harmonizing Wave}"
The harmonizing energies of Ying and Yang concentrated as she gracefully swung her blade horizontally. A wave of pure darkness and light constantly melding together was unleashed.
The skies were split in half as both powerful swordsmanship techniques clashed against one another. Flames, light, and darkness covered heaven.
BOOOM!
As the explosion erupted, the King rushed down, trying to take advantage of the smoke to sneakily attack Bing Xue from behind, something he had never considered before until he realized how much of a true monster she was.
Yet, as his blazing blade moved downward, Bing Xue's rainbow eyes had already noticed him long ago; her blade quickly moved as she spun her entire body towards him. Her sword shone with light, attacking him several times within a single second.
Each attack resembled a spear of light, descending towards the King and piercing, shattering, and destroying any armor he had left, even weakening his Aura itself.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"UGH?!"
Her attack interrupted his own technique, but she didn't stop, quickly leaping through the sky and using her sword again, this time imbued with pure darkness. The blade quickly pierced not his body but his soul, leaving behind the darkness that cursed his Aura and weakened it even further.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"AARGH!"
The King felt his Soul growing darker, the cursed darkness making his mighty aura smaller. It was such an enormous humiliation, and right in front of his entire army!
"T-This can't be…!" he groaned. "I am the King…! I am King Caesar Chrom III!"
With a furious and draconic roar, the King's Aura erupted one last time, creating a powerful pressure that made Bing Xue flinch for a second.
For that very second, she thought for a minute that the power of a Venerable had emerged from his body!
Time itself seemed to slow down, her senses sharpening as he saw the man in front of him, riddled with bloody scars and pain, quickly grow more scales around his body, covering the wounds.
His blade suddenly changed color; the black obsidian quickly turned deep red, as if the blade itself had been sleeping this entire time.
"Wake up from your slumber, Centurion!"
RUMBLE!
The sword unleashed its mighty Sword Aura, becoming a completely red blade, not as heavy as before as it discarded most of its mass, becoming longer, sharper, and lighter.
"I see, your sword is alive. Interesting!"
"SILENCE!"
The King moved towards Bing Xue; his blade, now much lighter than before, was swung in all directions at the same time, encompassing the King with a barrier of sword slashes, something Bing Xue had only seen in the mightiest practitioners of the Dao of the Blade.
"{Golden Lion Swordsmanship Arts}: {Absolute Sword Domain}!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"Oh?!"
Bing Xue was pushed back, her normal grip incapable of holding back the endless, unceasing barrage of slashing attacks that seemed to cut the wind itself!
"This is the almighty Domain I've practiced my whole life to learn!" roared the King. "Once I activate it, there is no foe that has survived! Your body shall be shredded into pieces and reduced to nothing but mincemeat."
"Incredible indeed."
Bing Xue smiled as her eyes flared with rainbow flames. Her blade suddenly moved forward with no apparent technique other than a faint rainbow essence encompassing it.
The King smiled, thinking of her as foolish. The moment she extended her blade and her arm into his Domain, they would both be torn to shreds!
Yet…
CLASH!
His sword was impacted by her blade, suddenly stopping the domain entirely as the King's eyes widened. A second later, Bing Xue's sword cut through space itself.
"{Yin and Yang Harmonious Blade Arts}: {Atom Splitting Slash}"
Space and time itself distorted around the King, his eyes widening in utter disbelief as his Domain was not only completely stopped with a mere swing of her blade, but...
"Ugh?! N-No…!"
SLAAASH!
The arm holding the blade was sliced and then shredded into countless tiny pieces, which were then cut even more, leaving nothing behind at all as they were cut down to the atoms that composed it.
"My arm is completely... gone?!"
The King still felt his powers surging; even as weakened as he was, he swiftly used his other arm, trying to reach his blade again.
And managing to!
"Centurion, unleash everything you've accumulated, NOW!"
RUMBLE!
The sword flared with an endless amount of red and black flames; the king moved downers; his blade was like a guillotine, ready to behead anything that touched it!
"{Golden Lion Swordsmanship Arts}: {Red Dragon Meteor}!"
His sword and his body became one, resembling a gigantic, blazing meteor that could destroy everything.
Bing Xue looked upwards in silence, her blade glowing with silver light.
"Magnificent!" she smiled. "Then, allow me to show you an ultimate technique!"
"{Yin and Yang Harmonious Blade Arts}: {Endless Cycle of Harmony}"
Yin and Yang converged as one; Bing Xue didn't even move her sword; her sword moved by itself, her very intent wielding it.
SLAAASH!
An arc of gold and black light erupted, piercing the King's body and shattering his sword. The skies above opened, the clouds dissipated, and space itself seemed to have shattered, leaving behind a small black hole.
"A-Ah… I… I lost?!"
The King saw the enormous hole in his chest and the shattered blade falling at the same time as he did, from the skies, all the way to the ground below.
"K-King!"
"Your majesty!"
"N-No…! NOOO!"
The knights saw in horror as their King fell.
And Bing Xue remained supreme.
"You fought well, King Caesar Chrom III," she said, her words full of respect. "But when you walk a path filled with hatred, you will end up tripping sooner or later."
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