pdf-ebookys Chapter 29 Transcendence
Chapter 29 Transcendence
Arthur looked down at the two swords in his hands.
Their power flows side by side in his dragon power river, from the tip of the sword to the hilt, through his body, never stopping.
This formed a complete cycle that belonged only to him.
"It's not entirely successful yet," he said. "The riverbed is still too shallow. If the power of the sword in the lake suddenly increases, the riverbed could be washed away."
"Then let's practice." Meryl turned and walked into the depths of the forest.
"The Avalon Illusionary Trial Grounds are just ahead. They were left behind by the Lady of the Lake a long time ago, specifically for training those 'idiots who possess multiple holy swords but don't know how to use them'."
"Of course, that training ground had never been used before you."
She turned her head to the side, a hint of cunning in her amethyst-like eyes.
"Because no one has ever possessed two holy swords at the same time, and no one has ever used the power of dragons to transform the loop into a river."
Throughout history, rulers have served as vessels, representing the "legitimate" power to contain the vast power of the planet.
And you, Arthur, you have turned yourself into a river.
So the enemies in the training grounds won't show you any mercy. If you die in there, I won't be collecting your body.
Arthur followed behind her, the holy swords in his hands each quietly shimmering with light, and the river of dragon power in his chest deepened with each breath.
"I will not die."
……
The training grounds are hidden in a circular clearing surrounded by ancient oak trees.
The ground is a flat, silvery-white stone slab with flowing, water-like patterns carved on its surface.
Seven stone pillars stood at the edge of the open space, each topped with a crystal the size of a fist.
The crystals were dark at the moment, but Arthur could sense an extremely pure magical power slumbering within them—the power of Avalon.
Mary walked to the edge of the open space and sat down with her back against a stone pillar.
Instead of taking out an apple as usual, she hugged her knees and stared quietly into the center of the open space with her amethyst-like eyes.
"Stand in the middle. The trial is simple. The illusion will simulate enemies, and you need to defeat them with your dual swords."
You can't use the sword in the stone against one enemy and the sword in the lake against another; you have to use both swords simultaneously against the same enemy.
"Let the dragon power you just forged stabilize in battle, making it your instinct."
She raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
The crystals atop the seven stone pillars lit up simultaneously, a dark red color that exuded an oppressive aura.
Light emanated from the crystal, seeping into the patterns on the stone slab, turning the entire circular open space a dark red.
Then, the patterns began to flow, as if something was awakening from the depths of the stone slab, slowly rising along those water-like engravings.
Three steps in front of Arthur, a dark red light surged from the stone slab and condensed into a human shape.
It was a knight, about the same height as him, covered in dark red magic armor, and holding a longsword also made of magic.
It had no face; only two crimson lights shone through the gaps in its helmet.
The Illusion Knight has made his move.
fast.
Arthur's pupils suddenly contracted as the speed of this sword strike was no less than the "holdback strike" that Scáthach used to train him.
He raised his right hand to parry with the lake sword, the golden blade colliding with the dark red magic sword, emitting a piercing metallic shriek.
At the same time, the sword in the stone in his left hand pierced the phantom knight's chest.
But just as the sword strike was halfway through, the newly forged dragon power channel on his chest suddenly trembled.
The impact of the battle disrupted the spread of the dragon's power.
When the sword in the lake clashed with the dark red magic sword, the golden light vibrated violently.
The shock traveled upstream along the Dragon Power River, colliding head-on with the blue and white starlight of the Stone Sword as it moved forward.
The riverbed itself was not cracked, but it was disturbed by the earthquake.
The power of the sword in the lake suddenly "expanded" at the moment of impact.
That was the Star Sword's instinctive reaction when it encountered resistance; its power instantly increased in scale, attempting to crush its opponent.
But the increased force also impacted the Dragon Force Riverbed that he had just laid out.
His left-hand sword strike was a beat too slow, and the Illusion Knight dodged to the side, his dark red magic sword slashing back at a tricky angle.
Arthur stepped back, barely avoiding the sword's edge. The dark red blade grazed his breastplate, leaving a shallow mark.
Arthur stared at the Phantom Knight before him, the light of star trails beginning to flicker in his emerald green eyes.
He didn't look at the possibilities of the outside world, but instead looked at the Dragon Force River within his own body.
He saw it.
His dragon power was disrupted; the riverbed was too shallow to contain the surging water.
He needs to make the riverbed deeper.
The Phantom Knight pounced again, this time with even greater ferocity. Its crimson magic sword transformed into a continuous barrage of sword shadows, simultaneously enveloping Arthur from three directions.
Arthur did not retreat; he met the sword shadow head-on with the lake sword in his right hand.
With the sword in his left hand blocking the attack from the left, he turned his body to the side and used his shoulder armor to withstand the sword from the right. Dark red magic exploded on his shoulder armor, making his arm numb.
But this time he didn't let the riverbed be washed away.
At the moment when the sword in the lake clashed with the dark red magic sword and the golden light expanded again, he did not use the power of the dragon to counter the surging force.
He caused the dragon's power to sink downwards, from the inner wall of the circuit into the base of the circuit, from the base of the circuit into the flesh and blood, and from the flesh and blood into the bones.
At this moment, the "riverbed" of the Dragon Power River sank from the circulation level all the way into the skeletal level.
It is no longer a shallow layer attached to the inner wall of the tunnel, but a deep canyon that runs through flesh and bones.
The surging power of the sword in the lake rushed into the canyon, creating waves as high as city walls, but the canyon was too deep, so deep that no matter how high the waves were, they could not escape the mouth of the canyon.
Blue and white starlight and golden radiance flow side by side through the deep canyon, without interfering with each other.
Arthur raised the Sword in the Stone with his left hand, deflecting the Phantom Knight's sword strike, while his Sword in the Lake with his right hand slashed down, piercing the armor on its chest.
The dark red magic armor was as thin as paper under the golden sword light, and was pierced through in one strike.
The Phantom Knight's body froze, then began to disintegrate from his cleaved chest, turning into countless dark red particles of light that dissipated into the air.
The open space returned to silence.
Arthur stood still, holding a sword in each hand, his breathing steady.
His Dragon Power River sank from the shallow bottom of the loop into the deep valley of his bones, forming a deep and solid channel deep within his marrow.
The power of the two holy swords flowed side by side through the deep valley, and with each heartbeat, they were pumped into the body simultaneously.
"Continue," he said.
Mary rested her chin on her hands, her amethyst-like eyes fixed intently on the center of the open space.
"The next enemy will be even stronger."
She raised her hand and snapped her fingers again.
The crystals at the top of the seven stone pillars glowed a deeper, darker red.
Arthur stood in the center of the open space, holding his sword in both hands.
He didn't wait for the enemy to appear, but instead went to meet them.
At the edge of the open space, Meryl watched the blond boy wield his twin swords in a dark red illusion.
Blue and white starlight and golden radiance intertwined around him, forming a sword light she had never seen before.
No longer two separate beams of light, but stars of different colors in the same galaxy.
No longer blooming orderly in a wide loop, but surging freely in the deep valley of his own forged bones.
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
"Arthur," she whispered his name.
She rested her chin on her knees, her amethyst eyes reflecting the starlight and sword light.
"This is a path you trod out yourself, and it will never end."
In the center of the open space, Arthur's twin swords slashed down simultaneously, the blue, white and gold light intertwining to form a star-like trajectory, splitting the second illusion knight in two.
He didn't stop, because a third dark red light had already appeared in the stone slab.
Deep within his bones, the Dragon Force River was becoming even more profound with each impact of power.
With each expansion of the golden light from the sword in the lake, the river within his bones was washed even deeper.
That was the depth he himself had carved out in the Avalon training grounds, through each struggle of letting power flow through his body and each time he allowed the impact to deepen the riverbed.
It's getting deeper and deeper.
Until it becomes a bottomless river, never confined by a predetermined upper limit.