The Amber Sword

“Destiny’s power, Reverse History.”

In the Great Hall, Ovina’s deep voice echoed in a low hum. A strange scene appeared in front of Brendel – time and space seemed to become a set of reverse montages, and the floor, which gradually fractured under the power of the white light beam, was being put back together. The colorful light formation came back, the broken stone panels, the rocks, and the layers of earth knitted back together and returned to order.

Dragon Strike was like a sheathed platinum sword, it reversed its course and flew from the bottom of the earth back to the Law Formation in a shocked Ciel’s palm. A cast spell had broken back down into its most basic magic elements and the entire spellcasting process reversed. This was a sight never seen before.

Anyone who even barely understood the principles of magic knew how much power this represented. The two first-class Mages, Tania and William, adopted identical looks of amazement and admiration. Time, space, and energy were the most fundamental laws of the world.That was a demonstration of the Power of Existence.

“You can’t fight this, leader!” Ciel shouted in a strangled voice.

“There is no way you can defeat me!” The lightning girl declared proudly. In an instant, thousands of electric arcs rose up from her body and spread throughout the Great Hall, accurately striking each and every one standing there. Among them, Brendel, who was being held hostage by Ovina, suffered the most damage and flew through the air due to the force of the strike.

The noncombatant females such as Dilferi, Amandina, and Romaine let out a shriek. The widening electric arcs formed a shining net in the Great Hall, securely casting everyone under its influence and tethering them against the wall on one side of the Great Hall.

A light flashed in William’s eyes. He raised his Draka, the Staff of the Sky, and a transparent half sphere of protection encircled him. Hundreds of golden arcs skimmed across the surface of the magical shield, only to explode into ions like fireworks against the night sky.

Brendel was the only other still standing. From the moment he climbed up he activated the Fool’s Talent and the Blood of God came to life within him. A barely visible barrier made of willpower enveloped his body and all the lightning dissipated before they got close to him.

“Hmm?” Ovina’s eyes showed a sign of curiosity upon seeing this. “This... feels like Odin’s aura. There are many strange things about you.”

“This kind of magic is useless against me!” Brendel unsheathed Halran Gaia. He lifted his head and stared at Ovina, who was standing in the center of the lightning, and slashed at her with the sword.

“What a fool, even Odin himself was no match against me.” The lightning girl snorted. All the lightning and thunder immediately disappeared from the underground hall. The only one that remained was the lightning staff in her hands. As if Ovina had already figured out Brendel’s plan of attack, the moment the ghost-like blade split through space and appeared in front of her, her lance blocked the broad side of the sword with a clang.

Lightning became solid in her hands. The ability to change the properties of energy was a lost art in this age.

“You even know some Dragon sword skills. Would you like for me to teach you a few more?” Ovina seemed to spare Brendel’s Flash Strike Sword Art no thought. She single handedly disarmed Brendel’s attack and took a single step back to maintain the distance between them.

Brendel really wanted to say “yes please”. Anything the Azure Knight taught him would probably shake even the players of the game in his past life. But unfortunately he didn’t get a chance to say anything, since Ovina’s lance was already thrusting at him like the tooth of a dragon.

He nearly died from fear right there and then. The lightning girl’s staff split into four, and every one of them was like shadows of the moon. This was the Star Knight’s most advanced lance attack: Silent Night. Such a fanciful name clearly indicated that this was the legacy of the Wind Elf royalty, and was in fact, also one of the principles of the Star Legacies.

But where did the prerequisite skill go? What about the channelling time for the attack? How come this woman didn’t do any of it? How is this not a bug?

The four lance shadows simultaneously struck Brendel’s body and sword. Silent Night’s defining feature is its endless darkness. The more the victim dodges, the more attacks would come. But once a hit lands, the rest of the attack disappears.

Though it was just four lance strikes, four strikes from someone of Ovina’s skill level was enough to make Brendel suffer. Even Ovina herself was sure Brendel would be defeated. She didn’t expect that the lightning staff would penetrate through an illusion —

Illusion? Something cold flashed across the lightning girl’s platinum eyes. She saw the illusion of Brendel still moving forward in midair and preparing for another strike against her.

“Eh? This wasn’t an illusion! It was a magical doppelganger!” Incredulity colored Ovina’s voice. She took another step back to avoid the hit and asked in surprise, “This is such a genius move. Did you come up with it yourself?”

Brendel didn’t answer. The Nine Luminaries Sword Art suddenly produced four or five more doppelgangers, and every doppelganger was an attack, almost as if Brendel’s sword skills created layers of shadows around the lightning girl.

“Tch, you think you’ll win by doing this?”

The lightning girl scoffed. She countered every attack and never once used her right hand. Then she held her lance horizontally and her figure wheeled through the air like a crescent.

“This stance... Iron Scale’s Dragon Tooth Severance!”

Brendel’s body reacted before his brain did. His knees hit the ground and he leaned his upper body backwards so that the lightning lance grazed his chin as it moved past.

Dragon Tooth Severance was known as the attack with the highest damage and with Ovina being the one to deploy it, its destruction was even greater. The lance moved through the air with a shrill sound, and even the space continuum looked like it was quivering. But Brendel knew very clearly that this attack had a fatal weakness in its attack range. Since he was very familiar with the attack himself, he instinctively reacted before Ovina even launched her attack.

The lightning lance whisked by like a flash of light. At the same time, Brendel pushed himself off the ground with his left hand and his right hand swept out the Staff of Earth towards the lightning girl holding the lightning lance.

This was the most simple yet most effective counter against Dragon Tooth Severance.

Of course, this was also something that players have figured out after thousands of battles.

Every time Brendel used this attack, it had been effective.

But Ovina reached out with her right hand and, with a crunch, firmly grabbed the blade of Brendel’s sword. She pushed against the black ridge of the Staff of Earth with just three fingers and that was enough to make Brendel unable to move his blade as if it was stuck in iron.

The lightning girl smiled and said, “You have good reflexes. For someone your age, you also have impressive combat experience.”

As she finished her sentence, she lifted her lance and stabbed it towards Brendel. That single stab made Brendel’s world go black. Even though it looked like a straight forward jab, her stance was that of Earth Sword Saint’s Rock Resonance Attack. As expected, as Ovina struck out, the ground beneath the lightning lance shattered and pieces of rock jumped into the air and blasted outwards.

Ovina had only attacked three times, but every attack was the most powerful of its kind. She also made the attacks seem ordinary, and they sprung out of her as if they cost her nothing.

Now this was someone who had cheat codes! That was the only thought flashing through Brendel’s mind as he watched, frozen, as the lance jabbed through the air straight at his throat. Rock Resonance was the defining move of the Earth Sword Saint and it was defined by its ability to take advantage of the shocks to the space continuum and lock down the enemy’s evading range. In the game, this meant reducing the player’s dexterity. Ovina’s move straight up cut his dexterity down to zero.

Was this someone a human could do?

But just then, a boom sounded behind him and the earth underneath Brendel’s feet separated. He sunk downwards, which meant the lightning lance lost its original target and merely grazed his scalp as it whizzed past.

The lightning girl immediately whipped her head back and looked in the direction of the Great Mage William. She bit out, “Earthquake?”

William lowered the Staff of the Sky in his hands until the butt of it rested against the ground. He nodded politely at Ovina, “Yes, m’lady Azure Knight.”

“You want to team up against me? Not a problem!”

Ovina turned around so that she no longer faced Brendel. She snapped her fingers and declared, ““Destiny’s power, Miracle of Time!”

Something weird immediately started happening in the Great Hall. Seven colored lights pierced through the darkness as if going through a prism and turned into distinct layers of colors. It was enchanting, but Brendel, who was stuck between them, didn’t see their beauty. All he could feel was a headache forming.

Because those flowing layers of light were layers of time, which meant the flow of time in this Great Hall was being turned into chaos.

He realized that both himself and William were slowing down.

Brendel was frustrated. Even if the key feature of the Azure Knight was destiny, how could she control time and space so naturally? When did proficiency in destiny come with this ability?

As if Ovina understood his confusion, she answered with a low voice. “Those fractured times and experiences are part of the memory of history. The destiny of people form the backbone of this world, so there is nothing that rules cannot control.”

“Your understanding of Elemental Powers is still shallow.”

“Now it is my turn to attack.”

The lightning girl raised her lance and limitless space seemed to gather at the tips of her lance. In an instant, they formed into a singular point that mortal eyes could not look upon. That singular point had no color and lightning appeared to flash along the borders of that deep darkness. Though Brendel had never seen such an attack, he understood that this was nothing to sneeze at.

Because this was the first time he had ever seen Ovina take the time for channeling.

How did they ever meet someone this outrageously powerful? Brendel had no words to describe the bitterness he felt. He looked back towards William and believed their only shot at winning was to force Ovina out of this Great Hall. Going up against the Azure Knight would be like a joke. Clearly the Silver League’s Great Mage also realized this because he nodded at Brendel.

“I’ll keep her distracted!” Brendel shouted.

Though truth to be told, he had no idea if he would succeed. But fortunately he realized that all of Ovina’s previous attacks dealt no damage, which meant that according to the restrictions of some rule, the Elite Elf stationed here as a guardian could not kill any challenger.

As long as he didn’t die, Brendel could figure something out.

The gathering force has already created a twister in the middle of the hall. Brendel raised his eyes to look at Ovina in the center of the twister, picked up his Staff of Earth, and ‘slowly’ moved towards the twister.

It’s not that he wanted to move slowly but Ovina’s Miracle of Time was really too perverted. Not only did it create a slow down effect on everyone around the caster, but it also simultaneously sped up the caster’s movements. This was so much stronger than the Conjurer’s self-proclaimed strongest Twelve Ring spell “Prison of Time”.

But Brendel knew he still had a shot.

He still had the Flash Strike Sword Art, which ignored both time and space. If he could just get closer, he could strike. He raised his head and stared at Ovina’s every move, hoping that she would concentrate on her final strike, which would leave him the opportunity to attack.

Of course, he would never count on his single strike to do much damage. All he hoped for was a distraction.

As one of the Twelve Leaders of the Deroura Mages, William’s casting speed was impressive even when time had been slowed down.

Brendel silently calculated the distance