Serati continued engaging the Angel of Radiant Wings. She baited it, drew it in, handed it off to Varos, then pulled back to a safe distance. To an outsider, it might’ve looked dishonorable. She was passing off the enemy onto an ally whenever things got dicey.

But to those who truly wielded blades, this was a virtue. How valuable was a comrade who could read the flow of battle and act in sync?

It’s easier now.

Thanks to Serati’s support, Varos could move more freely. He no longer had to worry about his allies and the angel at the same time. With those two now working in tandem, even Leven and Lapicel had space to breathe. Only then did they begin to notice Serati’s movements.

Ah...

So that’s it...

Experience could not be ignored. They may have possessed more powerful aura, but Serati was undeniably fighting better than them.

So that’s how it’s done!

As expected of Sister Serati!

Moved by honest admiration, both Leven and Lapicel began mimicking Serati’s movements.

Like this...?

Is this how it’s done?

It took them exactly three seconds. In just three seconds, they were executing the hit-and-retreat technique even better than Serati herself.

Ah.

It works.

How did they manage such daring evasions that looked like pure gambles? Because only Serati was gambling. Leven and Lapicel simply could dodge. At this point, one might feel it was unfair how easily geniuses breezed through life...

Man, tagging along with prodigies really makes life easier.

But Serati didn’t care one bit. Whether that was optimism or resignation was anyone’s guess. With Leven and Lapicel now moving efficiently, Varos was finally able to show his full strength.

He didn’t have the power to bring the angel down. Even if he did, he couldn’t kill it anyway.

So instead, I’ll do it like this!

Varos swept his longsword through the air. It was a bizarre motion more akin to stirring a cauldron with a ladle than any recognizable sword technique.

—Frozen Calamity!

A burst of pale frost bloomed and encircled the angel. The wings of light began to freeze, and its movements slowed.

Varos pointed his sword with a satisfied smile. Yeah, this is more my style.

Red-tier aura users transcended the physical limits of humanity, exhibiting phenomenal speed and power. Blue-tier users could extend and reshape their aura. At purple-tier, aura could be separated, fixed in midair, or fired like arrows. And once one reached the silver-tier, aura could even be imbued with elements, just like magic.

Frozen Calamity was a technique from Martial King Malican Thun. It excelled at suppressing enemy movement with chilling aura. As the former death knight lord, Varos was well-practiced in manipulating the cold. He could wield Malican’s technique without much difficulty.

Of course, the angel wasn’t held for long. It faltered for a moment, then flared its wings, shattering the ice into hundreds of glimmering shards.

Varos shrugged as he watched the pieces scatter. I didn’t expect that to hold anyway.

Delaying it for even a moment was enough. He’d bought the time to unleash another technique. Varos pulled his sword sideways, drawing it as though unsheathing, and swept it forward in a slash. A searing wave of flame roared out behind the arc.

—Ignis Effect!

It was a fire-based aura technique once used by Martial King Dreltein. Fiery fumes rode the outer rim of the lingering frost. Red flames and blue chill encroached from both sides of the Angel of Radiant Wings. And then, he followed up with an overhead slash, unleashing Leven Strauss’s own ultimate technique!

—Thunderclap of the War King!

Frost, flame, and lightning surged in harmony, forming a dazzling triad. The air flared in red, blue, and white brilliance.

Serati gasped in awe. "Unbelievable... I didn’t know aura attributes could be that versatile..."

Leven, by contrast, wasn’t especially surprised. He had watched his father, Martial King Gellard, use multiple elemental properties in his swordsmanship.

Sir Varos once rivaled the martial kings in the future. Is that why he’s able to do this in the silver-tier?

But while it looked impressive, the actual results were underwhelming. The Angel of Radiant Wings barely seemed scratched. Frost, fire, and lightning were scattered in all directions with each swing of its spear.

It didn’t matter if it was ice, flame, or electricity. Raw force dispersed them all the same. The fragmented auras whirled around the angel like loose particles, and Varos suddenly leaped into the air with a triumphant smile.

Good. Got you!

He raised his aura blade high above his head and focused his mind.

Draw it in...

Like an inverted waterfall, the scattered aura currents around the angel surged toward Varos in unison. And not just his own aura. Even the energy emanating from the Angel of Radiant Wings began to be drawn in!

Strike it down!

Varos’s aura blade, now a massive mass of radiant energy, cleaved through the Angel of Radiant Wings with flawless precision.

—Reversal Blade: Blade Against Heaven.

A blinding explosion engulfed the surroundings. For the first time, the angel let out not a song, but a scream.

Leven and Serati stood dazed, blinking in disbelief.

What did I just witness?

Was that even possible?

He had reabsorbed his own scattered aura with interest. He drew in even the angel’s energy and fused it all into one overwhelming strike. Even Leven, born the son of a martial king and raised alongside greatness, had never imagined such a thing was possible. He had to ask Varos.

—How did you do that? Even if my father were alive, I doubt he could’ve pulled that off.

Catching his breath, Varos offered a faint smile.

—He couldn’t have. It’s my original sword technique.

Of course, original didn’t mean Varos had created it from scratch.

I’m not skilled enough to come up with something like that myself.

***

It had taken place back in the days when the Monarch of Death Karnak ruled the world, and Death Knight Lord Varos stood as its second mightiest, The three martial kings, save for Lapicel, had all been turned into death knights under Varos’s command.

On a whim, Varos would often amuse himself by siphoning sword techniques from those very martial kings. And one day, a realization struck him.

Huh? These techniques have nothing to do with each other... so why do they all feel so much like the young master’s methods?

He was referring to Malican Thun’s Frozen Calamity, Dreltein’s Ignis Effect, and Leven Strauss’s Thunderclap of the War King. They were all aura techniques that relied on elemental transformations to unleash power.

But as Varos examined the flow of these skills, he noticed a similarity. There was almost a resonance between these techniques and Karnak’s necromantic arts. Of course, it was only a feeling. With his limited academic knowledge, Varos couldn’t understand the exact theory behind it.

But that didn’t matter. He had three smart underlings to do that kind of thinking for him. He summoned the three martial kings and handed them a vague assignment. "These all kind of feel similar. Mash them together and come up with something."

Expecting a fully realized technique from such a lazy order was, indeed, worthy of an evil, loyal servant to the Monarch of Death. The three martial kings spent a long time scratching their heads.

They had their orders, and they would follow them. But what exactly were they supposed to make? After nearly three years of wracking their brains together, they finally managed to forge a new technique. And it was worth it.

They created a transcendent skill, one that scattered aura across the battlefield, only to draw it back in, absorbing even the enemy’s energy, and then concentrated it all into a singular, destructive point. But the technique still had one major flaw.

"It’s not complete yet."

"We’ve confirmed that some of the enemy’s energy can be drawn in during the process..."

"But we still don’t know how to do it reliably."

Their speech was polite, but the subtext was clear: We haven’t been slacking. This is just a midterm report.

Varos didn’t mind. "Just hand it over."

Looking it over, Varos could tell where the sticking point was. However, he still couldn’t figure out the solution himself. His academic background was still too shallow. But again, that didn’t matter. He had one genius superior to do it for him.

"Young master. Young master."

"Huh? Varos? What is it?"

Varos casually handed the notes over to Karnak. "We got this far but hit a wall."

"What is this?"

Ever since he became Astra Shunaph, Karnak had been restless for a new challenge. Delighted, he dove into the project for fun. And so, one year later, they finally perfected the technique now known as the Reversal Blade: Blade Against Heaven.

***

And so, Varos had contributed not even a sliver to the creation of that technique. Or, to be precise, perhaps just a sliver, since he did help identify the initial spark of the idea.

Even so, it was undeniably his original skill. No one else could wield that sword technique but him. The three martial kings had handed over the partial theory without understanding the absorption mechanics, so they had no clue how the finished technique worked.

Karnak might have completed the technique, but he wasn’t a swordsman. He couldn’t use it either.

I didn’t lie. I really didn’t, Varos thought,.

Amid the drifting smoke, Lapicel murmured with a worried expression. "Is that really okay? Milia’s still inside..." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Varos gave a nonchalant shrug. "She’ll be fine. That’s ridiculously tough."

In truth, he had intended to accidentally lop off a leg during the chaos. But he had failed. From within the smoke, the angel’s radiance began to burn even brighter.

Serati, adjusting her grip on her sword, sighed. "This is exhausting."

Leven looked the same. "And we can’t even kill her."

If they could just go all in and aim for vital spots, it would’ve been over by now. But instead, they had to carefully chip away only at the power embedded in the armor. It was not an easy task. And if they did aim for the vitals, they might end up killing Milia.

Just then, the voice they had been waiting for finally rang out. "Everyone, step back!"

***

Karnak, his body brimming with magic, called out to them. The others swiftly retreated with relieved expressions.

"Lord Karnak!"

"Finally!"

"What took you so long?"

Thanks to their retreat, no one stood between Karnak and the angel. The angel locked onto Karnak and surged forward in a straight line.

Karnak didn’t flinch. He looked straight at the oncoming angel and raised both index fingers. One pointed toward the heavens, the other toward the earth.

He shouted, "Unravel the will of heaven through the order of the world! Let it be the righteous will of creation!"

A thunderous bolt crashed down on the angel, and then, the unexpected happened. The angel, who had effortlessly shrugged off all attacks so far, suddenly froze in place. The angel’s form began to transform within the light. The armor of light peeled away. Her wings were ripped apart.

Golden blood trickled down as her helmet split down the middle, revealing the face of a girl beneath it. The Angel of Radiant Wings was being forcibly peeled away from Milia.

Serati’s face brightened.

—You’ve succeeded in restoring a fallen soul!

It was as expected of Karnak. Even if his ideas were always unhinged, once he set his mind to something, the results were unquestionable. However, his response was disappointing.

—No, I failed.

—Excuse me?

—What’s impossible is still impossible.

Karnak had arrived at a new understanding. Once milk and tea were mixed, they could never be perfectly separated again. He shrugged.

—It’s not like the world just bends to willpower, right?

Leven turned his head, dazed. He could clearly see Milia’s human form. She was now more than halfway free of the angel’s form. He couldn’t help but ask.

—Then what is that?