Chapter 28 - Chapter 28 : Epiphany

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The air screamed.

Two blinding slashes—one of steel, one wreathed in roaring flame—collided, releasing a terrifying shockwave that didn't just rattle the arena, but pulverized the very earth surrounding them.

"Flash Thrust!!"

Arthur, the Sobeya Kingdom's champion swordsman, roared. He slammed his foot down, vanishing in a blur of speed, his blade a silver line aimed straight for his opponent, Qi Yan.

The air around Qi Yan ignited.

"Sun Breathing, Seventh Form: Scorching Rush!!"

Flames coiled around the obsidian blade as Qi Yan met the charge with a perfect, swift counter-thrust.

Clang—!

Light met fire. The tips of the two supreme swordsmen's blades clashed, not yielding an inch. A series of deafening, rapid explosions erupted beneath their feet, tearing the arena floor into fragments that scattered like shrapnel.

"Flash Sword!!!"

Arthur's sword moved with the erratic speed of light itself—a flickering, relentless assault.

Qi Yan became a vortex of defense, his blade a blur, blocking every single lightning-fast attack. He didn't just block; he prepared.

"Sun Breathing, Eighth Form: Solar Heat Haze!"

The tip of Qi Yan's blade seemed to shimmer, blurring like air above a roaring bonfire. Instinct screamed at Arthur. He immediately pulled back, attempting to dodge and create space for a counter-attack.

He thought he was safe.

Suddenly! Arthur's eyes widened in horror. The seemingly short blade in Qi Yan's hands appeared to stretch—lengthening like a mirage—and Arthur had zero time left to evade.

Pfft!

A crimson line blossomed across Arthur's side.

Grunting through the pain, Arthur violently swung his sword in a wide, horizontal sweep.

"Sun Breathing, Ninth Form: Setting Sun Twirl!"

Qi Yan's body moved in an unbelievable, airborne ballet. He leaped and spun, avoiding Arthur's counter-attack while simultaneously delivering a horizontal slash of his own.

The sheer unpredictability of the attack sent a bolt of cold dread through Arthur. He barely managed to duck, the long, fire-kissed blade slicing through the air just a whisper above his head, claiming a single wisp of his hair.

Before Arthur could even register the near miss, Qi Yan's finisher descended.

"Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Burning Bone Sun!!"

A swirling, crushing slash of Solar Flame connected directly with Arthur's torso.

"Ugh, ah ah ah!!"

Arthur shrieked, his entire body launched like a projectile across the arena.

Boom—!

He slammed into the massive inner wall, which instantly cracked and shattered under the force.

"Oh, oh, oh!! Arthur was just sent flying by Tsugikuni Yoriichi!! Is this the end of the match?!" the announcer's voice cracked with frantic excitement.

Arthur struggled, his body smoking, but pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Not yet!! Arthur is back up!"

A grim realization settled over Arthur as he faced the silent figure across the wreckage. "As expected of Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi. I wanted a true close-combat duel, but it seems I was overestimating myself."

He finally understood why his comrade, Clay, had been so terrified. Before every single move Qi Yan made, Arthur felt a brief, terrifying illusion of his own defeat. Only his formidable willpower allowed him to shake off the mental assault and even use those phantom defeats to predict Qi Yan's next strike.

But the last, decisive blow proved the cold, hard truth: the gap was a chasm.

Qi Yan stood motionless. Truthfully, the moment Arthur entered close range, he could have instantly ended the fight. But that felt disrespectful. Arthur was the strongest swordsman in the Sobeya Kingdom. Defeating him too easily would be an insult to their hosts.

He had decided to end it with a modest, finishing effort. Arthur's skill was strong, but his own was simply absolute.

"But I also want to see the true measure of the gap between us, Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi."

Arthur spoke with renewed, desperate resolve. He clasped his sword before his chest, and torrents of magic began to surge into the blade.

The sword's light shot skyward, coalescing into a giant, twenty-meter-tall golden broadsword, the same terrifying move he'd once used against Erza. This time, however, the gathered magic felt exponentially stronger.

Qi Yan sighed internally. A magic showdown. He truly disliked opponents who resorted to unleashing such overpowering magic. This was supposed to be a contest of sword skill, not raw magical might.

The opponent's wind-up was impossibly long; honestly, he had enough time to kill Arthur a dozen times over. He could easily dodge it.

But he couldn't. Interrupting the charge would be undignified, a sign of panic. He couldn't attack, and he couldn't dodge. The only path forward was head-on.

Qi Yan channeled his own magic into his blade.

But as the energy surged, a strange, profound sensation bloomed in his mind.

He looked at the magic flowing into his sword—seeing it not with his eyes, but through the Transparent World—and combined with the raw physical sensation of the power, it was like experiencing the very essence of magic for the first time.

His brain whirled into overdrive. Countless thoughts, insights, and unparalleled wisdom about magic flooded his consciousness.

Qi Yan didn't know what was happening, but he instinctively knew this was a momentous, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To miss it would be a regret that would haunt him forever.

He chose to forget the fight, forget the opponent, and plunge heart-first into the ocean of consciousness.

Arthur finished his charge. The giant golden energy sword, a legendary holy weapon materialized by pure magic, overshadowed the entire arena.

He saw Qi Yan standing there, motionless, seemingly dazed. Arthur had no idea what his opponent was doing. Why wasn't he preparing? A fighting stance, a move to dodge, anything?

But Arthur could not hesitate. His attack was fully charged. It had to be unleashed.

"Judgment of Light!!"

Roaring, he brought his sword down with both hands.

The divine, monstrous golden blade followed his movement, cleaving towards Qi Yan as if splitting the heavens and earth itself.

Qi Yan appeared to have no time to react—perhaps he had forgotten, perhaps he was lost in thought. He neither dodged nor defended, merely standing still.

Only when the monumental sword was milliseconds from striking did his body instinctively and slowly raise his blade to block.

How could a single, thin katana possibly stop that? When Arthur had used a lesser version of this attack against Erza, it had torn apart her magic barrier, shield, and armor. This version was clearly stronger.

The crowd held its breath, unable to watch Qi Yan be instantly split in half.

Clang—!

A sharp, crisp sound echoed through the deathly silent arena.

Then, a scene unfolded that shocked, stunned, and shattered the disbelief of every single person present.

The gigantic golden blade met Qi Yan's dark katana. The expected outcome—Qi Yan's blade being effortlessly shattered—did not happen.

Instead, Arthur's Judgment of Light broke.

It simply snapped, as if struck by something infinitely sharper, then dissolved into a shower of harmless golden motes.

The entire venue fell into stunned silence. Arthur stood frozen in the wreckage, his eyes vacant, holding only the hilt of a shattered, impossible dream.