The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 263

Noah cloaked his sword in mana, imbuing it with the weight of a boulder, and circulated divine power through his body, drawing forth the force of a raging torrent.

Just as Mio and Rwen had pressed Noah by dividing their roles into offense and defense through the Twin Dragon Formation, Noah assigned the roles of attack and defense to his mana and divine power, respectively.

The divided mana and divine power, passing through his sword and armor, grew even larger, lending more force to Noah's attack.

Right now, Noah was literally mobilizing every means at his disposal to push his power to its absolute limit.

To Mio and Rwen, Noah's form was reminiscent of a great mountain of rock, formed by the continuous piling of massive boulders.

And Noah's sword, swung down from above with all his might, looked to their eyes like a mountain collapsing, a cascade of giant rocks falling all at once.

For beasts living with their feet on the ground, it was impossible to resist a massive landslide akin to a tidal wave.

They didn't know for sure, but it didn't seem like they could succeed with a simple method like just drawing out more power.

Seeing Noah's sword falling toward them, the two realized this and stopped their attempt to raise their Dragon Madness Transformation to the third stage.

In that instant, the thought of death surfaced in their minds, and at the same time, their lives flashed before their eyes.

And their talent and instincts found a new path in their past memories, one that could replace the path that had just closed.

A new path called technique.

As long as one stands upon the ground, nothing can be safe from the earth's fury.

But for one with wings to soar into the sky, even such fury was merely laughable.

Therefore, what Mio and Rwen needed now was a technique that would allow them to spread the wings on their backs and fly high into the sky.

The two prepared to take flight, moving one foot for the leap.

Seeing this, Noah felt an unidentifiable sense of unease and gritted his teeth.

So let me say it again here.

The decision not to drag the fight into a long one, in order to not give Mio and Rwen room to grow, was the correct one.

Furthermore, the judgment to draw them into a single-blow showdown, where they would clash with all their power, could also be called exceptionally accurate.

Noah's judgment was right.

However, if there was any misfortune for Noah, it was twofold.

Woooong-

One was that for Mio and Rwen to take flight, this single clash, as brief as a fleeting moment, was more than enough.

The other was.

-From now on, concentrate and listen well.

That the two of them still had a weapon left that they had not yet used.

-To use the combination technique, you two must perfectly merge your powers into one.

Experiencing the overwhelming premonition of death for the first time in their lives, the two felt their senses heighten to a level incomparable to usual.

'Are you saying we should attack at the same time?'

-If it were only that, I would not have bothered to teach you myself.

In that state, they retraced their memories and moved their bodies.

Grip-

They clasped each other's hands, and their hands were strongly linked.

-The key is not simply performing one movement together, but combining one movement into one.

In that state, Mio bent the fingers of her right hand like claws and stretched her arm far back, while Rwen took a comfortable stance, putting just enough power into her left foot so she could move it at any time.

-It doesn't end with just combining the forms. Only when the flow of each of your internal energies also merges into one with the form can you say you have truly used the combination technique.

Wooooong-

It wasn't for nothing that the two hadn't used this technique until now.

'This isn't it either?'

-No.

'How about this?'

-Wrong.

When they practiced with Irhegue, the two had failed to use the combination technique until the very last moment.

No matter how many times they tried, they couldn't get past the stage of simply combining the forms.

Therefore, it was more accurate to say they couldn't use it, rather than they didn't.

What the two were about to do now was attempt a technique they had repeatedly failed in practice, in a real life-or-death battle—a gamble with an extremely low success rate.

However, the two's brightly shining eyes were filled with the conviction that they would win this gamble.

Wooooong-

As if circulating their core methods, Mio and Rwen sent their transparent internal energy into each other's bodies through their clasped hands.

As if they had become one body, their internal energies connected into one.

The connected energy soon merged to the point where even the two of them could not distinguish it.

At that moment, Mio and Rwen caused [Flame] and [Lightning] to rise above their clasped hands.

Unlike the transparent internal energy from a moment ago, the [Flame] and [Lightning] clashed fiercely, unwilling to yield their territory to each other.

Grip-

At that, the two unconsciously tightened their grip on each other's hands.

From this point on, the two were unable to advance any further, as if they had hit a massive wall.

The [Flame] increases its size to make curves into straight lines, and the [Lightning] reduces its size and connects to make straight lines into curves.

They knew how to do it.

They had also heard that Lee Shin had solved this problem using his beyond-comprehension multitasking ability and control of internal energy.

However, the type of wall blocking them was different from the one that had blocked Lee Shin, so it was no help.

If Lee Shin's task was to draw a picture and write characters with both hands at the same time, Mio and Rwen's task was to draw a vortex and a counter-vortex that would perfectly interlock in their minds without seeing each other's.

The fact that there were two minds controlling the internal energy had belatedly become a problem.

-It seems it will be difficult to learn this in time.

Irhegue, seeing their problem, had concluded that time was the only medicine.

The plan was to have them repeat it over and over, engraving the set flow of internal energy into their bodies to make the technique succeed.

But now, the two had a small path, like a hole created by the impact next to them.

The reason the two couldn't merge [Flame] and [Lightning] was because they couldn't merge their minds.

If so, if they could share a single, intense image, wouldn't they be able to solve the problem?

Woooong-

As if to prove that thought, Mio and Rwen looked with desperate eyes at Noah's sword, which was slowly falling from above them.

The all-too-vivid image of death was driven into their minds like an awl.

It became a single standard, guiding their movements.

Through their clasped hands, [Flame] and [Lightning] began to mix.

Once the gears clicked into place, the rest was created in an instant.

The flame devours the lightning, and the lightning sucks in the flame.

In this way, [Flame] and [Lightning] merged into one and appeared in their hands.

Grin-

At that moment, the two smiled, a smile full of the elation of having overcome the wall.

Ignoring Noah's falling sword, they stretched their feet, which had been gathered in the middle, straight forward.

In that instant, their bodies scattered like flames, disappearing from Noah's sight.

They moved as fast as lightning and reappeared right in front of Noah.

From their feet, two footwork techniques, the Flame Leaf Circling Steps and the Lightning Wood Flash Steps, unfolded simultaneously.

Noah wore a look of astonishment as he watched the two who had broken through his sword's momentum and entered as if it were nothing.

Facing Noah's expression, the two moved the [Flame-Lightning] that had gathered in their clasped hands.

From their respective fingertips and toes, the [Flame-Lightning] seeped in.

Noah, feeling a dizzying sense of unease, hastily tried to retreat.

But Rwen's foot swung faster than Noah's could move.

KWAGAGAGAK--!!!

The foot Rwen swung became a dragon's claw, lashing out at Noah.

The armor Noah was wearing could not withstand the impact and was torn away along with his skin.

Noah's chest, hidden behind the armor, was revealed, cloaked in viscous blood.

Seeing this, Mio swung her hand.

Mio's hand became a dragon's talon and, as if piercing empty air, smoothly dug into Noah's chest.

And crushed the heart within.

◎ ◎ ◎

Cough-!

Noah coughed involuntarily.

And belatedly, he realized that Mio's hand had pierced his body, and with the surging pain, he realized that his heart had now burst.

A confirmed death smiled at Noah's side.

Recovery of the body using divine power?

Impossible.

The divine power Noah possessed could not regenerate a wound of this magnitude.

The destruction of his heart, a wound that should have meant instant death, but his body, filled with divine power, allowed him to linger in this world for a little longer.

And Noah decided to use the small amount of time granted to him.

"These bastards!"

To kill Mio and Rwen.

Noah threw away the bothersome sword and reached out to break the necks of the two nearby and kill them.

Noah's action now was not born from the noble sentiment of killing the two for the sake of his comrades or subordinates.

It was born from the obsession of not leaving the two who killed him as they were, and the personal fixation of erasing from the world the beings who had given him such humiliation.

Due to his confirmed death, Noah's strength had greatly diminished.

'This cockroach-like thing...!'

'No...!'

However, he still had enough strength to kill the two, whose Dragon Madness Transformation had worn off and were now suffering its side effects.

Seeing the two hands reaching for them, Mio and Rwen, just like Noah a moment ago, sensed their own deaths.

Noah too was excited, certain that this time he could finally kill the two.

---!

That is why he did not notice the existence of the arrow shot by the hunter who had been holding her breath and continuously watching for an opening.

From Bodra's hand, a special arrow made by Tafra flew.

Three arrows cut through the wind.

Pook-!

Two arrows each struck the arms that were aiming for Mio and Rwen.

The two hands could not withstand the force of the arrows and were torn off, and Noah's expression contorted from elation to despair.

And in that moment.

Pook-!

The last arrow accurately embedded itself in Noah's forehead.

Thud-

Noah, with that ugly expression on his face, died and fell to the floor.

"Haa... Haa..."

"Heuaa..."

And Mio and Rwen also collapsed to the floor with Noah, gasping for breath.

Just then, Bodra approached them, sweeping her bangs back.

Like the two, Bodra also seemed about to collapse at any moment, having pushed her aura beyond its limits in the final moment.

But Bodra, with superhuman concentration, moved her body, looked down at them, and said.

"...My arrow pierced his head."

At that, Mio also composed her rough voice and said.

"...We crushed his heart first."

The two quietly acknowledged each other's words.

The first to burst Noah's heart was Mio.

But the one who had definitively killed Noah was Bodra.

Therefore, after glaring at each other for a long time, the two said, as if displeased.

""It's a draw.""

It was not out of consideration for the other.

Their own pride had ordered them to do so.

"What now?"

"We have to keep going until there's a winner."

"How?"

"Well, how about whoever catches more holy knights this time wins?"

"I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from that."

The one who answered Mio's playful words was not Bodra.

A thick, firm voice. At the appearance of a third party, the three forced their relaxing bodies to move and looked toward the source of the sound.

There, a large man in ocher-colored armor was looking at them.

He had his arms crossed and was not even in a fighting stance.

But they couldn't move an inch.

Part of the reason was that they were exhausted, but that was trivial.

There was only one reason they couldn't move.

"Because I don't want to lose the church's precious manpower in vain."

The difference in class between the man and them was too great.

Gulp-

LV. 7, the realm of the absolute.

A continental powerhouse who had received the name Sword of the Earth upon reaching that realm.

The Sword of the Earth had revealed himself before them.

(End of Chapter)