Chapter 24: Enlightenment
In the dim night sky, the hazy light of the violet moon draped over the land like a thin veil. Above the volcanic cluster, Aliquin and Rilmonts stood in midair, weapons in hand, facing each other. Below, Linley and his two companions, along with the golden kitten, all looked up.
"Linley, who will win?" Delia asked softly.
Linley gazed at the two figures in the sky. "I'm not sure. I always feel that Aliquin seems a bit stronger. But no matter what, Rilmonts's attacks are truly astonishing." Linley didn't blink, afraid of missing a single detail.
The golden kitten, Pussro, hovered nearby, gently flicking its tail and tilting its little head as it watched.
"I, Rilmonts, have fought eighteen Six-Star Fiends over countless years and won every battle! This time, I challenge a Seven-Star Fiend for the first time." Rilmonts floated in midair, speaking loudly. Normally, Rilmonts was cold and indifferent to everything.
But now, Rilmonts's eyes were like lightning, his battle intent blazing.
Aliquin's fighting spirit was also stirred.
"Hmph, you've only defeated Six-Star Fiends. Today... I'll show you the gap between a Six-Star Fiend and a Seven-Star Fiend!" Aliquin's black robe fluttered noisily, and the black whip in his hand danced lightly like a spirit snake.
Seven-Star missions were the hardest in the Fiend Castle!
From one star to two, two to three, all the way up to five to six stars—the difficulty increase wasn't exaggerated. But the step into Seven-Star missions was the most arduous, which was why, over countless years in the Infernal Realm, Seven-Star Fiends remained exceedingly rare.
Even though Rilmonts had defeated eighteen Six-Star Fiends, he wasn't confident he could beat Aliquin. But precisely because he lacked confidence, the challenge was all the more thrilling!
"Haha!" Rilmonts laughed loudly.
"Crackle..." Terrifying grayish sword energy burst from Rilmonts's body. Then, a phantom giant sword, a hundred meters tall, appeared out of thin air, with Rilmonts himself at its core. The swirling sword energy already caused space to tremble.
"The Laws of Destruction, trained to a very high level indeed."
Aliquin praised calmly, but there was no concern on his face.
"Hum..." The hundred meters of space around Aliquin instantly turned pitch black, devoid of any light. At the same time, the entire space began to twist and spiral, even the moonlight being completely devoured. All was darkness within a hundred meters of Aliquin.
Only Aliquin himself remained clearly visible.
"Hmph, if you have any impressive moves, go ahead and use them. Otherwise, once you're dead, you won't have the chance." Aliquin said calmly.
Rilmonts sneered. "Then first, take my Thirteen Swords!"
In an instant, he drew his sword—
Sword shadows flickered. Suddenly, thirteen black sword shadows appeared, like thirteen flood dragons streaking across the sky. The sky revealed cracks wherever they passed. The thirteen sword shadows traced different arcs but ultimately struck Aliquin simultaneously.
The thirteen sword shadows were extremely fierce, like ravenous beasts, intent on shredding Aliquin to pieces.
"Hmph." Facing these thirteen fierce sword shadows, Aliquin merely snorted coldly and lightly swung the black whip in his hand. The whip, which had seemed very thin, transformed into a massive black python as it moved.
Moreover, this black python carried many black ribbon-like mist.
"Crackle..."
The black whip, now a black python, coiled around like a giant circular shield. The black ribbon mist it carried tenaciously wrapped around the thirteen fierce, rigid sword shadows that came attacking.
"Bang!" "Bang!" Many of the ribbon mists binding the sword shadows snapped, turning into black mist that then condensed again.
There were too many black ribbons, and those that broke reformed.
And the black python itself tenaciously withstood the invasion of the thirteen sword shadows. After a moment, the thirteen sword shadows dissipated.
Softness overcoming hardness—even the fiercest thirteen sword shadows were worn away.
"Is that all you've got?" Aliquin said calmly.
"Good!" Rilmonts's eyes lit up. "From this move alone, it contains at least three profound mysteries of the Laws of Darkness! Aliquin, of the six profound mysteries of the Laws of Darkness, how many have you fused?" Rilmonts was an expert himself and could judge the profound mysteries contained in his opponent's defensive move at a glance.
Aliquin sneered. "Why should I tell you? That was just the beginning. Your little attack isn't worthy of me using my ultimate move!"
Linley, silently watching, discerned the profound mysteries in Aliquin's move. "Hmm? Rilmonts said that move had three profound mysteries. Besides the Darkness Element and Evil profound mysteries, what else is there?" Linley had only noticed those two on the surface.
Linley suddenly smiled. "Right. Rilmonts's attack contains soul attacks. Since it was neutralized, it must also involve the Soul profound mystery."
A single simple move contained three profound mysteries, meaning Aliquin had fused at least three.
"I've only fused two. It seems I still have a long way to go." Linley thought to himself.
"Huh?" Linley's eyes suddenly widened.
In midair, Rilmonts roared with excitement: "Haha!" Amidst his laughter, Rilmonts began moving at extreme speed, turning into countless afterimages surrounding Aliquin. Each afterimage carried a sword shadow.
"Trying to match speed? How ridiculous." Aliquin wasn't afraid of that.
Aliquin's form flickered, and instantly hundreds of afterimages appeared around him—the Shadow Doppelganger Technique. Aliquin could appear at any of the hundreds of afterimages at will, incredibly elusive. Aliquin's laughter rang out: "Haha, you can't even touch me!"
"I'm not racing you!" Rilmonts's voice sounded, and at the same time, the afterimages from his movement all dissipated. Rilmonts himself flew back, but—
Countless sword shadows rose into the air.
"Crackle..."
During his rapid movement, Rilmonts had already slashed out hundreds of sword shadows, each slightly different. Regardless of time or place, Rilmonts executed them perfectly. When he slashed the final sword shadow—
Suddenly, the countless sword shadows in midair formed a shape—a blooming lotus.
At that moment, as the countless sword shadows surged, they caused this blooming lotus to begin closing, with Aliquin at its center.
"Huh?" Aliquin's expression changed.
This Sword Lotus had completely sealed the surrounding space. He had nowhere to escape and had to withstand it head-on.
"This Rilmonts is indeed formidable." Aliquin thought to himself. Then, he flipped his right palm. His withered, blackened right palm turned bright red like blood and swelled to the size of a winnowing fan. Aliquin snorted coldly.
His right palm thrust upward!
A massive amount of sword shadows pressed down from above.
"Bang!"
The sword shadows completely dissipated, but blood flowed from Aliquin's crimson palm. He was injured!
"My glove was broken. Otherwise, how could I have been hurt?" Aliquin felt a surge of anger.
During this expedition to seize the Boeuf family's wealth, Aliquin had already suffered a great loss. Now, being challenged by Rilmonts and getting injured on top of it—one setback after another truly enraged Aliquin. He stopped reacting to moves and instead launched an attack!
As the sword shadows above dissipated, Aliquin shot up through the gap like an eagle diving, charging straight at the distant Rilmonts. He roared through divine soul transmission: "Rilmonts, now take a move from me!"
Aliquin's black whip lashed out violently. The whip instantly turned crimson, transforming into a massive red serpent that coiled toward Rilmonts. At the same time, the serpent opened its mouth, revealing black fangs.
The red serpent tore through the air, causing space to tremble.
"Hum..."
"Good!" Rilmonts's eyes flashed like lightning. The sword in his hand suddenly thrust forward. This thrust seemed ordinary, but the moment the sword pierced out, it tore a black hole in space. The sword seemed to twist as it passed through the black hole, and wherever it went, space split apart.
"Star Point—Explode!"
Rilmonts's strongest attack—the same move that had defeated the green-robed elder in the desert ancient castle.
Seeing the power of this move, Aliquin was startled. Then, gritting his teeth with a ferocious expression, he shook the whip that had turned into a red serpent. The red serpent suddenly sprouted nine heads, each opening a gaping maw.
Rilmonts's unstoppable sword thrust straight in—
"Pfft!" It pierced directly through the throat of the central serpent head.
"Clang!"
The sword struck the whip inside the red nine-headed serpent. The entire red nine-headed serpent trembled violently, then exploded with a bang, reverting to the black whip. At the same time, the exploding serpent heads still charged at Rilmonts.
One after another, the red serpent heads shot forward at extreme speed, biting viciously at Rilmonts.
Sword shadows flashed!
Eight explosions rang out almost simultaneously. Rilmonts was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the surface of the volcano cluster below. After a moment, Rilmonts stood up again. His face was pale, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Impressive, impressive. Fusing four profound mysteries." Rilmonts had blood on his body as well. He looked carefully at Aliquin. "You actually managed to block that move. I lose."
Although Aliquin's face was paler than before, he wasn't as severely injured as Rilmonts.
Linley, his two companions, and the golden kitten were all somewhat surprised.
"Rilmonts lost?" Bebe muttered. "He's not dead yet, and he's admitting defeat?"
Linley, however, carefully observed the two combatants.
Aliquin looked at Rilmonts in shock. "You... you fused Destruction divine power with Fire divine power? You... are you a soul mutation?" After receiving that move, Aliquin barely sensed the true energy contained in Star Point—Explode.
It wasn't pure Destruction divine power, but a fusion of Destruction divine power and Fire Element divine power.
"Yes. But even so, I'm still no match for you." Rilmonts shook his head.
"Soul mutation—a rare sight." Aliquin marveled. "Usually, only such people can fuse different divine powers and use them together. I've only heard that fusing divine powers greatly increases their power. Today, I've seen it for myself. It's true."
Aliquin glanced at Rilmonts. "To be honest, your strength should be considered at the level of a Seven-Star Fiend. But you're still a bit inferior to me. So, prepare to die!" With that, Aliquin's form suddenly shifted, turning into hundreds of afterimages charging at the severely injured Rilmonts.
Laws of Darkness—Shadow Doppelganger Technique!
Linley, however, was in shock. "Fusing divine powers? Right, that's it. Back then, Olivia could also fuse Dark divine power and Light divine power and use them together. But Olivia's degree of fusion wasn't as deep as Rilmonts's."
Rilmonts's attacks couldn't be judged from the surface. Even when struck, Aliquin only barely sensed it.
The depth of divine power fusion was evident. "Fusing two divine powers increases their power by so much? How exactly are divine powers fused? From what Aliquin said, it seems fusing divine powers requires a soul mutation. Otherwise, it's impossible." Linley's train of thought suddenly stopped.
He looked toward the sky. "Rilmonts... he won't just die like that, will he?"