With a soft breath, Raon took the stance of the Fangs of Insanity while narrowing his eyes to thin slits.
"So Briana isn't coming out right away."
The person holding the sword before him now wasn't Briana, but Brigitte. Rather than calling for her sister, she imbued her blade with a fierce intensity, showing her intent to face him herself.
"Don't you want to see how much I've changed?"
Brigitte curled her lips into a smile as she pointed her sword at Raon's chest.
"My sister wasn't the only one who earned the title of Queen of Swords!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she launched herself across the training ground with powerful footwork. With a twist of her fingers, Brigitte's sword shot out like lightning, curving toward Raon's neck with a piercing sound.
Raon deflected Brigitte's thrust using the Revolving Sky technique of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation with his Heavenly Drive. The powerful collision sent both their swords recoiling simultaneously.
"Weren't we not supposed to use aura?"
The Divine Sword Tournament was originally meant to be without aura, yet she was openly channeling it through both her sword and body.
"It's fine. Since this is the first time an outsider has participated in the Divine Sword Tournament, let's break this rule too."
Brigitte swung her sword again, saying it wouldn't be fun without aura. Her radical movements and fierce martial arts made the title of Queen of Swords suit her perfectly. Raon summoned the flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation above his Heavenly Drive to block Brigitte's strike.
The flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation summoned above the Heavenly Drive couldn't withstand Brigitte's aura and scattered away.
'Was Brigitte this strong?'
He had grown tremendously since meeting Brigitte. His aura quality had improved to just below the Five Kings level, so normally the flames on his sword wouldn't extinguish easily. Yet Brigitte erased his flames with overwhelming power and speed. Even though he wasn't fighting at full strength, her martial prowess exceeded his expectations. (E/N: His aura has been improving to 'just below five kings level' for 200 chapters now)
With a whoosh, Brigitte rose on her toes to take her stance again before bringing down her sword from left to right.
'Fast and powerful.'
Though her swordsmanship had become somewhat simpler than before, its power was not something to be taken lightly. Raon raised a Fire Wall to block Brigitte's heavily descending sword. The intense impact made his shoulders tremble.
"How about that? I've changed, haven't I?"
Brigitte grinned as she rested her sword on her shoulder.
"Yes. Though your swordsmanship hasn't changed much..."
Raon nodded calmly while looking at Brigitte.
"Your physical abilities and aura level have clearly improved."
Brigitte seemed to have focused solely on training her aura and body, as both had grown dramatically. She appeared to be using the strength and speed gained from those achievements to overwhelm his sword strikes.
"Thanks to you."
Brigitte smiled slightly as she moved to the right. Her sword scraped the ground as it rose toward Raon's waist.
"But I'm sorry..."
Raon stepped forward heavily and drew the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation - Crimson Slash with his Heavenly Drive. The sharply honed blade of flame cut through Brigitte's sword strike as easily as an adult twisting a child's hand.
"This... this is..."
Brigitte let out a breath in disbelief.
"You've certainly become stronger than before, Lady Brigitte. However..."
Raon closed and opened his eyes as he pressured Brigitte with his power, speed, and aura quality.
"I've grown even more than that."
While taking the Successor candidate test, his martial prowess had made tremendous improvements compared to before.
Even though the effectiveness diminished as stats increased, he had gained over 200 points, making the difference enormous.
Moreover, he hadn't skipped any personal training and practiced daily, so the gap could only widen, not narrow. When Raon concentrated his physical strength and aura, Brigitte's sword strike shattered like glass and her body was pushed back, swaying like paper in the wind.
"Hnngh!"
As if to say she wasn't done yet, Brigitte twisted her ankle and swung her sword horizontally. Her sword, wrapped in fierce aura as if intending to crush rather than cut, dropped sharply in front of his chest.
Raon drew the Frost Snap with his Heavenly Drive. Two lines of blue light carrying the Extreme Swift Sword Technique split through Brigitte's sword strike and violently repelled her body.
"Hah..."
Pushed back by the Frost Snap, Brigitte planted her hand on the ground and exhaled roughly in disbelief.
"What kind of monster are you?"
Her jaw trembled with incomprehension.
"I've trained my body every day and cultivated while taking elixirs in the Unyielding Blade, where the mana is the purest on the continent, yet your body is still stronger!"
Brigitte shook her head in disbelief.
-That's a natural reaction.
Wrath let out a short breath, saying he understood Brigitte's reaction.
-This guy is a monster blessed by the world. Not just humans, but even Demons and Angels cannot reach his level.
He shook his head, saying there was no being like himself even if one searched all dimensions.
"I gained some enlightenment."
Raon smiled faintly, saying he had been lucky.
"Even if you gained enlightenment in swordsmanship, that's different from aura and physical abilities!"
Brigitte frowned, saying it made no sense.
"I knew you would have gotten stronger, but I didn't expect you to surpass even our highest estimates."
Her excitement seemingly subsided as she let out a hollow laugh.
"But as you know, this isn't all we've prepared."
Brigitte took a deep breath as she lowered her sword.
"I trained my body and aura, while my sister trained her swordsmanship in the mental world. We've been walking the path you showed us."
After telling him to look forward to it, she slowly closed her eyes. When Brigitte opened them again, she exuded a completely different aura. Briana, the once-in-a-generation genius who earned the title of Queen of Swords, had awakened. (E/N: ooh, one of the million of once-in-a generation genius every generation)
"You must have had fun tormenting my sister?"
Briana curled her lips as she looked at Raon. Though her smile resembled Brigitte's, the emotion behind it was completely different. Rather than showing her growth, it carried an intense fighting spirit determined to decisively defeat him.
"And you dare use aura in the sacred Divine Sword Assembly?"
She clenched her left fist, indicating this would be hard to forgive.
"It wasn't me, Lady Briana. Your sister started it first."
Raon shook his head, saying that Brigitte was also the one who first used aura.
"That's not the point. The problem is that it was used at all!"
Despite her scolding tone, Briana showed a refreshing smile.
"Since it's come to this, let's remove all restrictions and fight properly."
She extended her hand, suggesting they fight seriously. As Briana released her power, an enormous aura like an erupting volcano surged around her. The massive aura was strong enough to disperse the clouds surrounding the Unyielding Blade.
"To be honest, that's what I was hoping for too."
Flames and frost rose from beneath Raon's feet. The two energies formed massive pillars behind him, as if supporting his stance.
"Let's begin."
Briana vanished with a cold smile and appeared on the right. It was peerless footwork containing the principles of the Extreme Swift Sword Technique. Briana extended her sword, targeting Raon's shoulder. Her sharp strike advanced as if erasing sound itself - she too had reached a new level.
Raon licked his lips as he blocked Briana's sword, which seemed to blur time and sensation itself.
"You've reached an even higher level than before."
Briana had rapidly elevated her swordsmanship to a level that wouldn't lose to Brigitte's physical and aura training. If he hadn't grown stronger through his various experiences, blocking her previous strike wouldn't have been easy.
"With my sister supporting me with all her power, I'd be a poor excuse for an older sister if I couldn't manage this much."
Briana nodded, saying she could focus solely on wielding her sword thanks to Brigitte.
"Then it's my turn now."
Raon pushed off the training ground with his toes and charged straight at Briana. He extended his Heavenly Drive from its middle guard position and unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation technique. Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation - Heavenly Drive. Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques. He targeted all of Briana's vital points with this advanced technique that delivered thirty-six simultaneous Crimson Slash strikes.
"I've seen this technique before."
Briana said she already knew it all as she drew a circle with her sword, creating a form that could block all thirty-six Crimson Flash strikes simultaneously.
"It's a bit different from back then."
Just before the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques collided with Briana's sword, Raon slightly adjusted his Heavenly Drive. In that moment, different sword principles mixed into each of the thirty-six Crimson Flashes, creating a completely different rhythm as they shot toward Briana.
"You really are insane."
Briana let out a breath as she raised her sword. Her eyes showed not just confusion but also ecstasy. She lowered her circling sword and faced the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques that had approached right before her. With a twisted smile, she extended her sword so violently it seemed her wrist might break.
Briana's sword moved with elegant yet complex variations, completely erasing the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques with their various principles. It was like erasing a sketch from paper with an eraser.
"Insane..."
Raon let out a breath as he watched Briana nullify the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques.
'She countered each principle I added with the same principle, returning the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques to their original form.'
In an instant, Briana had grasped the flow of the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques and created a perfect counter. Even though he had added new variations to a technique she'd seen before, he hadn't expected her to block it so easily.
"Did you forget that I've been thinking about how to defeat you in the mental world? Even the Ten Thousand Swords isn't invincible."
Briana raised her clenched fist, telling him to prepare himself.
"This is interesting, isn't it?"
Raon smiled as he raised his Heavenly Drive.
"From now on, I'll properly defeat you too."
Unlike their smiles, the fighting spirit overflowing from their swords boiled like lava.
***
Raon and Briana clashed repeatedly. Their swordsmanship had reached such heights that their distinct styles painted the sky of the Unyielding Blade like starlight.
"Hah..."
Martha clenched her fist as she took in the sight before her.
'Making even the Grandmaster level seem meaningless...'
She couldn't see properly. Raon and Briana seemed to be fighting at full power, their swordsmanship barely visible even to her eyes. She could only roughly grasp their sword principles and paths through the faint traces they left behind.
'I still have so far to go.'
Martha bit her lip as she watched Raon pressure Briana.
'I've been too complacent since getting revenge on the Leader of the White Blood Religion and finding my mother.'
Her greatest goal had been to kill the Leader of the White Blood Religion and save her mother. While she spent time with her mother after achieving that goal, Raon had endlessly trained himself to reach even greater heights.
Realizing that Raon, who was already far stronger than her, had been working even harder, her heart ached with disappointment and embarrassment in herself.
'Father wouldn't want to see me like this either.'
Denier would surely have scolded her if he saw her current state.
'I have to help Raon.'
Just as Raon had risked his life to help her, now it was time for her to dedicate her life to helping him. She placed her hand on her sword, determined to swing it until she collapsed from exhaustion like before.
'If necessary...'
Martha nodded as she looked at Dorian, who was gaping with drool running down his chin.
'Even if I have to borrow a demon king's power like him.'
***
Briana was deflected by Raon's sword and crashed into the ground of the Unyielding Blade.
"Kuh!"
She bit her dry lips as she raised her dust-covered body.
"That monster..."
Briana ground her teeth as she looked at Raon standing calmly.
'How could he become this strong?'
She had trained with her sword without sleep in the mental world where time moved slowly, while her sister had endured mind-numbing boredom to train only her body and aura. Despite two people with the highest talent training together, it was ridiculous how Raon's achievements had risen to a completely different level.
"That's impressive."
Raon nodded as he looked at the slight cuts on the back of his hand and shoulder.
"You've improved far more than before. I didn't expect you to become this strong."
"Is that so?"
Hearing such words from someone who had been unremarkable before made her blood boil.
"I was planning to use this after perfecting it..."
Briana glanced at the Thespian Emperor before lowering her sword.
"If I don't defeat you now, I'll never have another chance."
She extended her sword forward and called forth her sister's soul from deep within her body. Briana and Brigitte's souls rose simultaneously from the single body, causing her eyes to shine with different lights.
"That's..."
Raon swallowed hard as he felt Briana's realm of the soul rapidly strengthening.
"It's a technique Ariel created for me. Though only for a moment, it can maximize our martial prowess by combining my soul with Brigitte's."
Declaring she would defeat Raon here today, Briana fully unleashed her accumulated swordsmanship, realm of the soul, and aura. Her martial spirit extended with magnificent light, sweeping across the entire Unyielding Blade.
"That's magnificent."
Raon nodded with genuine admiration.
"I'll go all out as well."
As he revealed a solemn gaze and swung down his brilliantly shining Heavenly Drive, Briana's vision turned white as the grand martial arts she had displayed with her sister dissolved into white fog as if they had never existed.
When the sword strike subsided, Raon stood before her, his hand extended to the right as if he had made just a single strike.
"What... what is this..."
Briana let out a breath, unable to believe what her eyes had seen and her skin had felt.
"You... just how far have you risen..."
She trembled, saying she couldn't even imagine it anymore.
"I've realized something after seeing both of your full power."
Raon showed a faint smile, saying he had felt something through the battle with Briana.
"Then, now..."
Briana swallowed dryly as she raised her eyes.
"No. I'm still below the Five Kings. However, thanks to you both..."
Raon smiled as he lowered his hand holding the Heavenly Drive. He nodded with confident eyes.
"I think it won't be long now." (E/N: That's what you said 200 chapters ago. Or around 170 more precisely)