*Rumble—!*
Along with a rumble inaudible to others, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping the area within dozens of meters.
Riezel was instantly swallowed by that pressure, his entire body feeling unbearably heavy.
No, it was not just his body that grew heavy.
If he had not sensed wrongly, his mind was also enduring an unimaginable burden.
If not for his ability to remain immune to mental interference, he would likely already have been suffering from abnormal mental phenomena—distorted senses, dizziness, dulled nerves, or even hallucinations.
Clearly, this was the phenomenon wrought by Lizbeth's spiritual power.
However, the spiritual power that surged from her body now was on an entirely different level compared to before, since her spiritual power had never been this strong, nor had it ever been this terrifying.
As the little princess burned her immense magical energy—enough to rival even a typical Strategic-Class Magician—converting it into overwhelming spiritual power, she pressed down upon Riezel while striding forward at astonishing speed, her fluent swordsmanship carving an overhead slash aimed straight at him.
Riezel's body responded only after several delayed seconds, forcing him to propel himself sideways in desperation.
However, Riezel was utterly shocked by how sluggish his body's reaction was, while Lizbeth's movement flowed so swiftly and precisely that it seemed as if she had predicted his motion, seamlessly turning Moslow's trajectory, which had been meant as a vertical slash, into a sudden, powerful horizontal one.
Faced with that slash, Riezel tried to evade—yet his body simply could not keep pace with his reflexes.
*Clang!*
At the last possible moment, Riezel drew Hermit in reverse, slashing sideways to narrowly deflect the incoming sweep of Moslow.
Sparks burst forth between the black sword and the still-sheathed golden sword, adding a volatile edge to the duel between master and attendant.
Using the rebound, Riezel leapt back, putting distance between them, but almost simultaneously, Lizbeth shot forward, unleashing a flurry of radiant sword light at him.
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
At once, the black sword and the still-sheathed golden sword collided again and again, each clash spraying sparks into the air.
Riezel and Lizbeth—one retreating, one advancing, one parrying, the other slashing ferociously—exchanged blow after blow, their weapons clashing in rapid succession, the metallic echoes ringing without end.
"HAAAHHH—!!!"
At some point, a transparent gleam flickered in Lizbeth's eyes as she pressed forward, and a matching gleam of resistance rose within Riezel's own.
In that instant, master and attendant simultaneously tapped into the Transparent World, reading each other's movements.
The trajectory of the sword...
The motion of the body...
The distance between them...
Breathing, footwork, gaze, line of sight, muscle movement, blood flow, personal habits—everything—in an instant, both understood all of it, and both responded in kind.
As a result, their battle intensified even further.
Lizbeth's spiritual power surged violently, while her burning magical energy grew even stronger.
Meanwhile, arcs of lightning erupted around Riezel's body, fueling his speed.
In the next moment, Lizbeth thrust with all her might, only to be stopped by Riezel's own piercing strike.
*DING!*
Hermit's tip collided with the still-sheathed Moslow's tip with perfect precision, the two scraping apart before rebounding.
However, the advantage belonged to Riezel this time—he only stepped back a little, but Lizbeth was flung far away, her small frame knocked back as if struck head-on.
*BOOM!*
Riezel immediately pressed his advantage, stomping the ground to pieces as his form turned into a bolt of lightning.
Cloaked in thunder, Hermit cleaved toward the retreating Lizbeth—but her magical energy spiked once more in response, erupting into a storm of spiritual power that blasted Riezel away.
*Whoosh!*
In the next moment, Lizbeth rode that storm forward, her figure flickering like twisted space itself, leaving afterimages swaying behind her.
Seeing this, Riezel knew without doubt that if not for his immunity to mental interference, he would now be perceiving countless Lizbeths rushing at him.
In the end, he could only continue to move as lightning, dodging the robe-like slashes that brought forth phantoms while countering with a searing, thunderous strike.
"Thunder Breathing - Fifth Form - Heat Lightning!"
Like tangible lightning, Riezel's strike streaked toward Lizbeth, who was already within reach, leaving her nowhere to escape.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
At the critical moment, Lizbeth's breathing changed.
No longer surging forward with storm-like spiritual power, she darted about like a civet, weaving back and forth to narrowly evade the thunderous slash.
"Love Breathing - Third Form - Catlove Shower!"
With a feline-like leap, Moslow traced arcs of sword light, slashing from all directions toward Riezel—the unrelenting storm of slashes momentarily halted even his lightning form, trapping him in a net of blades, engulfed in a tide of sword light.
Riezel had to admit—unless he used magic, there was no way he could block this attack with Thunder Breathing alone.
However, the purpose of this duel was to test Lizbeth's transformation, so using magic would defeat that purpose.
Knowing this, Riezel shifted his breathing style without hesitation.
"Moon Breathing - Fifth Form - Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy!"
It was a defensive sword form that required no unsheathing.
Riezel spun suddenly, a massive vortex of slicing winds erupting around him, unleashing countless crescent blades.
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
Lizbeth's endless sword light was all deflected, scattering in every direction, carving deep scars into the ground like blades of steel.
*BOOM!*
Finally, when she closed in, Lizbeth's civet-like form was blasted away by the vortex, and with a dull impact, she slid backward across the ground as though struck by a heavy blow.
"HAAAHHH—!!!"
Yet Lizbeth did not yield and, as though to prove herself, she let out a sharp cry and charged forward once more.
*Clang!* *Cling!* *Clang!* *Cling!*
In the Frenzel residence's wide courtyard, the fierce clash of swords rang out once more, inevitably drawing the attention of many within the residence.
Here, Riezel and Lizbeth fought intensely—their figures intertwining, swords flashing, lightning bolts, moonlight, and storms of spiritual power bursting forth again and again.
Undaunted by the stronger foe, Lizbeth's attacks grew more ferocious—her transparent gaze shone brighter, her magical energy swelled further as she entered a trance-like state, and her onslaught became relentless.
Riezel could clearly feel the pressure she exerted on him.
Gripping Hermit tightly, he deflected a frontal slash—only to have another sword swing toward his neck immediately after, forcing him to counter again. Even after parrying that sword swing, just a fraction of a second later, another sword swing came at his side.
He had no choice but to block ceaselessly as his throat, shoulder, wrist, thigh, chest—slashes came from every angle, and each time he deflected one, another came instantly for his throat.
Faced with such ferocity and sharpness, even Riezel could not help but grow serious.
Even though he refrained from using Sun Breathing, mixed breathing styles, or magic, he unconsciously pushed Thunder Breathing and Moon Breathing to their very limits.
It truly astonished him.
'Lizbeth… has she really become this strong now?'
By this point, Riezel had formed a preliminary understanding of Lizbeth's changes.
Overall, Lizbeth's raw strength hadn't changed much, since in terms of power or speed, she was no different from before.
In the terminology of the world of Danmachi, Lizbeth's status hadn't increased—her STR, END, DEX, and AGI all remained the same.
However, while her status hadn't grown, her other qualities had skyrocketed explosively.
For example, her reflexes—Lizbeth now seemed to possess the same Fast Attack development ability as Riezel, becoming far sharper than before. In addition, her combat instinct, intuition, and awareness had all undergone a qualitative leap.
Moreover, her magical energy—greater even than that of a typical Strategic-Class Magician—empowered her swordsmanship to unprecedented heights.
It was well known that on the Akasha Continent, swordsmanship not only trained the body and strengthened it through magical energy, but certain Special Swordsmanships could also trigger extraordinary abilities akin to magic.
Lizbeth's War King Sword Style was a prime example, able to manifest spiritual power and inflict mental interference or pressure upon her opponent.
Now, she squandered her vast magical energy, amplifying her spiritual power tens or even hundreds of times. Even Riezel was suppressed by it, his body so heavy it hardly felt like his own—unable to keep up with his reflexes, unable to unleash even half of his strength.
And that was with his immunity to mental interference—without it, he would already be hallucinating, toyed with in her grasp.
At present, Lizbeth seemed like an entirely different person—or rather, as though she had been given a new body altogether.
Every aspect of her potential and refinement had increased more than tenfold.
'Is this what the bloodline of Reinnail is truly meant to be?'
As this thought crossed his mind, Riezel's gaze upon Lizbeth completely changed.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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