Chapter 455: Ninety-Fifth Floor, Phantom of the Predecessor (2)

[Annihilate the Phantom of the Predecessor. Time remaining: 2 hours 54 minutes.]

Breathing was one of the most vital elements in battle. It could seem trivial, but the way one regulated it determined the strength they could unleash. After trading so many strikes in the span of moments, my breaths were coming out short, ragged, and without rhythm. Kalain was no different. Each time our weapons collided, our harsh breaths tangled chaotically in the air.

Our domains clashed in much the same way. The divinity we radiated slammed together, gold against black, mingling, colliding, and unraveling with each impact.

He is formidable.

From that first brief exchange alone, I realized that the ninety-fifth floor wouldn’t end quickly. Of course, I knew that the higher I climbed, the harder the trials became. Interestingly, Kalain’s phantom wasn’t as strong as Eternal Feast—who had even wielded causality—despite the restrictions placed upon him.

Despite that, Eternal Feast and I hadn’t had what I would call a “proper fight.”

In terms of raw strength, he clearly surpassed me, but he wasn’t as skilled.

Though he had pushed me back with every strike, I had exploited an opening and claimed his life. Kalain was different. His swordmanship rivaled my axemanship, and his strength was no less formidable. In truth, he was far more deadly than Eternal Feast. I couldn’t expect him to falter due to setbacks like Eternal Feast had. With capabilities akin to my own, I wasn’t even certain that the Heart Sword would prevail against him.

The edge of his blade brushed my nape as he thrust heavily. I slipped aside and ducked swiftly in anticipation of the follow-up strike.

As expected.

Kalain twisted his wrist, turning the thrust into a slash. The back of my bowed head prickled as a chill ran down my back. I raised my axe in a diagonal sweep. Though he had caught me off balance, the strike was too close for me to evade.

Seeing that his attack had failed, Kalain spun, flipping backward into a somersault. He lashed out his foot with lethal precision and grazed my chin. Tearing through the air, it swept past my face.

As the gap between us briefly widened, I lifted my arms.

This is what I trained for.

I intensified my focus in that instant. I hadn’t perfected the attack, but at this range, it was enough.

The Heart Sword.

With will alone, I cut at Kalain. Soulbound—stored within my chest—grew sharp as I fixed him in my gaze. I longed for this strike to leave a meaningful wound.

Ah, shit.

Soulbound never reached Kalain. He had reacted almost instantly, lifting his blade and severing my will with ease.

Clang!

The Heart Sword shattered with a piercing metallic cry. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but it was still within my expectations.

So he has also reached the Heart Sword realm.

He hadn’t blocked my strike by chance. After recognizing the technique as soon as I unleashed it, he had managed to defend against it. It was a stark contrast to Eternal Feast. Just as I had thought, his vigilance made him all the more difficult to face. A challenger on the ninety-fifth floor. By then, his senses had to have been honed to a razor’s edge, and he would be well-accustomed to wielding the Heart Sword himself.

Still... something feels ominous.

The shadowy aura flickering across his blade unsettled me. My instincts pulsed in warning. It was as black as his domain, and like my golden light, it seemed to be a unique ability. However, I couldn't discern what it was. Between my golden aura and his dark power, the mist shrouding the battlefield swirled into violent eddies.

Kalain’s crimson eyes flashed. The moment our gazes met, my muscles seized, and I froze. Unlike before, I felt as if an abyss had opened, swallowing me whole despite my domain. My consciousness sank into it, drowning.

I roused my divinity and regained my clarity. Control over my muscles returned in the span of a heartbeat.

So this is his ability?

Even as the thought formed, Kalain lifted his arm. The black longsword, void of reflection, pointed toward the sky. He didn’t do it quickly. No, he raised it with agonizing slowness, the motion so plain, so monotonous, that it felt unnatural. Yet I didn’t dare relax.

What is this?

I furrowed my brow and focused on his actions. I couldn’t guess what kind of trick he was pulling, so I braced myself to dodge while preparing my mana and divinity. Just in case, I readied my axe.

To my surprise, Kalain stamped the ground as he leapt forward.

A ritual?

Perhaps it was some religious gesture, like the clasped hands of a devotee. Even though I sensed nothing, I was still sure something had occurred. Deciding not to overthink what I couldn’t sense, I focused on my strengths. Acceleration was one such answer, and the more I accelerated, the more forceful my strikes would be. Though belated, I rushed toward him in response.

Thud!

We clashed equally on the first strike, but he soon forced me back.

That is unavoidable.

It was the difference between an axe and a sword. Even if our levels were comparable, I couldn’t match the rate at which he struck. An axe was destructive, yes, but utilizing that superiority against a skilled swordsman wasn’t easy. The same could be said of a sword, albeit in a different manner. It was no accident that, for all the sword’s prestige, soldiers through history had relied on the spear.

A weapon’s limitations weren’t easily overcome. It was like reach in boxing, or height in basketball.

Of course, I have overcome enemies despite such limitations. Many of them have wielded swords.

None of them was anywhere near as skilled as Kalain, though. My best chance would be to gamble and trade blow for blow. That wouldn’t be easy since Kalain pressed forward unceasingly despite receiving slight wounds. He was emotionless as he struck relentlessly, as if he cared nothing for his injuries.

He isn’t just ignoring his injuries; he really doesn’t care.

From the familiarity of his movements and the ragged state of his armor and cloak, he clearly always fought like this.

Reckless. Unrelenting. Sharp. Never looking back.

To be honest, I could fight the same way if pressed. However, without grasping the full extent of his abilities, it was a risk I couldn't afford.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

That black light flickering across his blade worries me.

If it contained some hidden ability, the battle would only grow more complicated. Beyond that, our fighting styles were fundamentally different. I fought calculatingly and with cold precision, while Kalain drove in with brute force, relying on sheer aggression.

Based on what I knew of his past, it didn’t surprise me. He had climbed the tower alone, enduring death after death of those closest to him. No wonder he had grown ruthless.

Out of nowhere, a chill shot down my spine. In the same instant, I sensed a thrust descending from above.

Damn it.

It was Kalain’s Heart Sword. Raising his blade skyward earlier had been its prelude. I moved in an effort to escape, but Kalain didn’t relent. He pursued with dogged determination and refused to let me escape.

Time to stack Flash Strike.

I swept aside the black blade surging toward me and forced a gap to open between us. However, there was no avoiding the Heart Sword. The descending strike twisted as it locked onto me. Just as I had aimed to cut Kalain with my will, so too did he target me with his.

This is the first time I have faced the Heart Sword directly.

Kalain closed in at a terrifying pace, and his will was already upon me. There was nowhere to run. I would have to block them both.

I drew in a sharp, shallow breath as the black sword came sweeping in from the side. I split my concentration—part of me fixed on his corporeal self, while the other contested his will. I struck aside the black blade while deflecting the Heart Sword.

In theory, it was perfect.

Unfortunately, without my equipment, my movements lagged behind my mind. They were just slightly misaligned.

Slice!

Kalain’s Heart Sword grazed my shoulder. Still, I had twisted at the last moment and mostly avoided it.

Wait, what?

Darkness had drowned my vision. My sense of sound faded away, and a suffocating pressure filled my ears. For a fleeting moment, fragments of someone else’s memories burst into my mind like a fractured panorama.

They belonged to Kalain.

The emotions pulsing from these memories were so vivid they made me nauseous. His broken thoughts stabbed into me one after another. On the thirteenth floor, Kalain screamed in anguish as he lost his lover. That raw despair flooded my mind completely.

Fuck!

I roused my divinity, forcing the memories and emotions away. When my eyes snapped open, the black sword was already before me. I gasped sharply and twisted my wrist.

In my haste, I failed to put up a proper defense.

Thud!

Pain shot through my wrist.

Resisting the recoil was pointless, so I let the force hurl me back. Thankfully, it allowed me to separate myself from Kalain, and I kept my gaze locked on Kalain as I braced for the next strike.

He didn’t advance. He only stood there, his head tilted forty-five degrees as his crimson eyes fixed on me. It didn’t suit the moment, but I couldn’t help but admit that he looked striking. Of course, I refused to take it as it was.

Fucking asshole. Putting on airs.

My bitterness was deliberate, partially spurred by the memories I had just endured. I welcomed this pause, however. Straigtheartening, I laid a hand on my shoulder and whispered a healing spell. All the while, I replayed his attack. Though it had wounded me, it revealed something I could use.

So the Heart Sword doesn’t have to be instantaneous.

That was a usage I had never considered.

Because the enemy could perceive it approaching them, it would force them to maintain some amount of focus on it. From that, I gleaned something more of Kalain’s power. Perhaps it lay in the transmission of emotions and mentally dominating them.

For a moment, I shared his despair, his shadowed memories.

If I hadn’t recovered swiftly, he would have consumed my consciousness. I withstood it because it was me. Most other climbers couldn’t have done that. Despite that, I was certain there was more. Something alien, layered beyond that power.

I recalled Kalain’s divine name.

Sky of the Nine Heavens. I wonder if he is connected to the Mana-Accumulating Gauntlet of the Underworld.

After meeting him and looking at the gauntlet’s name, I had wondered if it hailed from Kalain’s world. Now that I was fighting him directly, I was convinced. There wasn’t much evidence, only intuition born of experience.

The Underworld was where the souls of the dead returned.

The Mana-Accumulating Gauntlet of the Underworld grants power through death.

On the fifty-second floor, it felt like Kalain had steeped himself in the powers of the dead. Enough that he wielded them as an ability itself. When his sword grazed me, I felt it. He still remembered and mourned the fallen. His blade moved on their behalf.

No doubt he gained enlightenment regarding the lives lost within the tower on the ninety-fourth floor. Through it, he earned the divine name Sky of the Nine Heavens.

The sky where the dead dwell.

The thought came unbidden. It suited him far too well. Regardless, that was inconsequential now. I adjusted my grip on Soulbound. Applying what I learned in the moment had always been my strength.

Can I mimic what Kalain just did?

I believed I could.

Slowly, I raised Soulbound toward the heavens. Lightning leapt skyward, though it was nothing more than a ruse, whether he fell for it or not. At the same time, I used the Heart Sword. I aimed for Kalain seven seconds into the future.

Rumble— Boom!

The black sky split apart as brilliant blue-gold light rippled through it.