Chapter 221: Rhain VS Lyra - IV
Chapter 221: Rhain VS Lyra - IV
"Empyrean Purgatory Bloom. First Form."
The blood-red Heavenly Flame surged into his dark broadsword, transforming the weapon into a blazing brand of divine destruction.
From the blade’s edge, a massive, beautiful lotus of pure blood-red fire bloomed.
The fiery petals expanded in a fraction of a second, radiating an apocalyptic heat that clashed directly against Lyra’s incoming tsunami of crimson fire.
BOOM—!!!
A cataclysmic explosion of orange-crimson and blood-red fire erupted from the point of impact, sending shockwaves rippling throughout the sealed Domain.
But neither combatant retreated.
The instant the initial shockwave faded, both figures shot forward simultaneously.
CLANG!
Lyra’s rapier, blazing with the orange-crimson Heavenly Flame of her bloodline, met Rhain’s broadsword, coated in the blood-red fury of the Red Tribulations flame.
The impact sent a ripple of heat outward that made the golden defensive arrays surrounding the arena visibly fracture.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the runic barriers before the self-repair mechanisms kicked in, rapidly sealing the damage.
But neither of them cared.
Lyra spun her body into a fluid, beautiful arc as she delivered a diagonal slash aimed at Rhain’s neck.
Rhain tilted his head by an inch, the blazing rapier whistling past his ear, and countered with a devastating horizontal swing.
CLANG!
Lyra twisted her body at an impossible angle, catching the broadsword on the spine of her rapier, but the sheer physical force drove her sliding backward three feet before she dug her heels in.
She exploded forward again immediately, unwilling to give him a single breath of reprieve.
"Scarlet Cascade!"
Seven consecutive thrusts materialized in less than a single heartbeat, each one aimed at a vital point — throat, heart, temples, joints — striking from impossible angles with a lethal precision honed by a lifetime of elite training.
"Iron Mountain Cleave!"
TING! TING! TING! TING!
Two figures wreathed in fire, one blood-red and one orange-crimson, collided again and again within the roaring Domain.
Sparks of clashing Heavenly Flames scattered through the infernal Domain like dying stars.
CLANG! BOOM! CLANG! BANG!
Every collision produced a shockwave of dual-colored fire that crashed against the Domain’s boundaries, each impact more violent than the last.
The barriers broke and reformed in a continuous cycle, struggling to contain the devastating energies unleashed by two Heavenly Flame wielders fighting at full power within a Domain.
From the outside, the spectators could not clearly see the two figures battling within the blazing sphere.
For them, it looked like two beings of fire, one blood-red and one crimson-orange, clashing inside a sea of flames with the ferocity of warring gods.
They could hear the deafening thunder of impacts.
And also the golden arrays surrounding the arena fracturing and rebuilding in a rapid cycle.
"The defensive formations are breaking!" someone screamed, "This is madness!"
"This... this is not a battle between Spirit Manifestation disciples," a wandering Core Formation elder whispered from the stands, his weathered face pale. "This is a fight between monsters that shouldn’t exist in the mortal realm."
"I’ve watched hundreds of martial arts tournaments," another veteran muttered, his eyes glued to the flickering barriers. "But I have never, not once, seen anything remotely close to this."
The crowd was completely mesmerized.
The combat they were witnessing had surpassed all logical expectations.
Rhain and Lyra were no longer just at the level of prodigies; they were existences entirely incomparable to any other figure of the younger generation.
They were at a level of their own.
Up on the grand stage, the dignitaries were equally mesmerized.
"Unbelievable," Patriarch Thorian breathed. "I have never witnessed two Spirit Manifestation Realm cultivators fight at this level. This surpasses anything in the history of Stormveil City."
"They have both completely transcended the boundaries of the Spirit Manifestation Realm," Patriarch Caelan muttered, "What we are witnessing is combat at a level that should only exist between Core Formation experts."
High Preceptor Mordecai shook his head slowly. "No. Even many Core Formation experts couldn’t produce this level of devastation. These two are monsters that defy all logic."
Myrielle’s mouth hung slightly open, her sapphire eyes tracking the blur of red and orange within the Domain as her mind failed to reconcile what she was seeing with everything she had believed possible for cultivators below the Core Formation Realm.
Beside her, Carmilla also watched the battle with acute seriousness.
Far away, at the edge of the contestant area, Zane stood with a bitter, self-deprecating smile on his pale face.
Although he could not see clearly through the fiery walls of the Domain, he could feel the colossal shockwaves vibrating through the Domain.
And with every thunderous detonation, his face grew paler.
Each one of those shockwaves alone carried enough force to instantly kill him.
"So this is his true strength,’ Zane thought, shaking his head slowly. ’If he had used even a fraction of this power against me... I would have been turned to nothingness on the spot.’
_____________
Inside the fiery domain, the intense battle continued.
Rhain effortlessly deflected another desperate thrust from Lyra’s rapier, sidestepping gracefully before bringing the flat of his broadsword crashing against her flank.
BANG!
Lyra was knocked sideways, only stopping after her figure was pushed ten feet away.
She was panting heavily, her chest heaving, and sweat evaporating from her skin the moment it formed.
On the other hand, Rhain stood tall and unbothered, his dark broadsword held at his side.
"Even with your Domain," Rhain said, his voice cutting through the inferno like a blade of ice, "you still cannot beat me."
"SHUT UP!" Lyra screamed, her crimson eyes blazing with fury and frustration.
But deep inside, beneath the rage and the pride, she knew that Rhain was right.
Even within the Domain of the Crimson Empress, where her strength was amplified by thirty percent, she was still fundamentally unable to overwhelm him.
The thirty percent suppression that should have crippled any Spirit Manifestation opponent was having zero effect on him.
Every strike she threw was either perfectly blocked or brutally countered.
His physical strength, his Heavenly Flame, and his combat instincts were simply at a monstrous level.
If she continued to fight like this, she would be defeated in minutes.
Lyra gritted her teeth, abruptly retreating backward and putting a vast distance between them.
She looked at Rhain with an unwilling gaze, but then a grim expression appeared on her beautiful face.
"You have left me with no choice," Lyra said, taking a deep breath.
Lyra closed her eyes.
Inside her dantian, the massive reservoir of essence she had been meticulously compressing and suppressing for over an entire year was suddenly unleashed.
CRACK!
The invisible bottleneck of the ninth level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm shattered instantly.
BOOM!
A terrifying pillar of orange-crimson light erupted from Lyra’s body, piercing straight through the roof of her Domain and shooting into the sky.
Her spiritual pressure instantly vaulted across the massive chasm separating the realms.
Level 1 Core Formation Realm!
Level 2 Core Formation Realm!
Her aura stabilized securely at the second level of the Core Formation Realm, having broken through directly in the middle of battle!
_____________
Outside the Domain, the pillar of fire that pierced through the burning sphere was visible to every single person in the plaza and across the city.
The hundred thousand spectators froze in utter incomprehension.
"She... she broke through?"
"Core Formation Realm! She reached the Core Formation Realm! During the battle!"
"Lyra Emberford has become the first person in the history of Stormveil City to reach the Core Formation Realm before the age of twenty!"
The revelation struck the plaza like a meteor.
Gasps, screams, and stunned exclamations erupted from every corner.
On the grand stage, the reactions were seismic.
"Core Formation Realm," Patriarch Caelan exclaimed, "She broke through to the second level directly. Her suppressed foundation was even deeper than I imagined."
Patriarch Thorian slammed his fist onto the armrest of his chair, "A nineteen-year-old Core Formation expert with a Domain and a Heavenly Flame. This generation is insane!"
Seraphine’s sharp eyes watched the blazing dome of fire, and a complex expression crossed her beautiful features.
She knew that Lyra had been hovering at the peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm for months, deliberately suppressing her breakthrough to wait for the optimal moment.
But the optimal moment was supposed to be in a controlled environment under Seraphine’s personal supervision.
Rhain had forced her hand.
By pushing her to the very brink of defeat, by making her feel the genuine threat of losing for the first time in her life, Lyra did not care about her perfect foundation.
_________
Inside the arena, the moment Lyra ascended to the Core Formation Realm, the Domain of the Crimson Empress underwent a qualitative transformation.
The walls of fire burned fiercer.
The suppressive force weighing upon Rhain multiplied several times over.
Rhain’s golden pupils flickered.
He could instantly feel that the Domain had become exponentially stronger.
The oppressive force pressing against his skin forced him to actively channel significantly more of his dark essence and Red Tribulation flames just to protect himself from being burned.
But despite the elevated danger, Rhain’s expression remained perfectly calm.
Lyra opened her eyes.
Her crimson hair floated around, and the Heavenly Flame coating her body had intensified.
The oppressive heat radiating from the Domain of the Crimson Empress had reached a catastrophic level.
Hovering in the air, Lyra Emberford looked down at Rhain.
Her aura, now firmly stabilized at the second level of the Core Formation Realm, merged seamlessly with the terrifying might of her Heavenly Flame.
"You forced me to break my foundation’s perfection," Lyra’s voice echoed like a goddess of fire, "But in exchange, you will be the first person to witness the ultimate power of the Emberford bloodline."
She raised her slender rapier high above her head.
The roaring orange-crimson Heavenly Flames blanketing the Domain violently converged toward her blade.
The fire compressed, swirled, and took shape, drawing upon every last drop of her newly awakened Core Formation essence.
"Ultimate Epic-Grade Martial Art: Crimson Emperor Behemoth!"
ROAAAR—!!!
A deafening roar tore through the blazing domain.
Behind Lyra, the orange-crimson fire materialized into a colossal, four-winged beast resembling a Kirin made entirely of highly compressed Heavenly Flame.
Its burning eyes locked onto Rhain, radiating an aura that would instantly reduce any Spirit Manifestation cultivator to ash with just a single glance.
Down below, Rhain looked up at the beast.
His dark grey eyes remained perfectly serene.
He slowly raised his heavy dark broadsword, the blood-red fire of the Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame surging into the blade.
"Empyrean Purgatory Bloom. Second Form."
Hiss...
A sharp sound emanated from his blade.
The Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame that coated the blade suddenly writhed and separated, splitting into dozens of individual streams.
Hiss...Hiss...Hiss...
Massive, blood-red serpents of concentrated Heavenly Flame materialized along the length of the weapon, their translucent bodies coiling and writhing around the dark steel like living creatures.
Lyra watched the hissing snakes coiling around Rhain’s broadsword, and a bad premonition rose in her heart.
She could not waste the time anymore.
"Go!" Lyra screamed, thrusting her rapier downward with every last drop of her newly acquired Core Formation essence.
The colossal orange-crimson Kirin dove from the sky, opening its massive jaws to swallow Rhain whole.
Rhain simply gripped his broadsword with both hands, drawing it back behind his shoulder.
Then, Rhain swung the broadsword upward in a devastating arc.
The moment the blade tore through the air, the blood-red snakes coiled around the metal detached.
In a fraction of a microsecond, they exponentially expanded.
What had been dozens of small flame serpents suddenly transformed into massive, roaring Flame Pythons, each one easily fifty feet long, their bodies thick as ancient trees, their jaws wide enough to swallow a carriage whole.
Dozens of blood-red Flame Pythons surged upward, their combined mass forming a rising tidal wave of fire that crashed directly into the descending beast.
BOOM—!!!
The colossal orange-crimson Kirin and the blood-red pythons collided in mid-air.
For a split second, there was only a blinding sphere of red and orange light expanding rapidly outward.
Blood-red pythons coiled and constricted around the Vermillion Kirin’s blazing body, sinking their fangs into its neck, its limbs, its torso.
The Kirin thrashed and roared, its sacred flames erupting outward in desperate bursts, incinerating python after python.
But for every python that was destroyed, two more surged forward to take its place, an endless tide of blood-red fire that slowly, inexorably overwhelmed the divine beast.
The shockwave from their clash radiated outward with a force that transcended anything the arena had withstood all day.
The Domain itself couldn’t contain the impact.
SHATTER!
The walls of the Crimson Empress Domain cracked.
Then they broke.
The blazing domain that had engulfed the arena for the duration of their battle suddenly collapsed inward, dissolving into millions of dissipating orange-crimson embers that scattered across the sky like falling stars.
And simultaneously, the golden defensive arrays surrounding the arena, formations that had withstood every clash throughout the entire tournament, finally reached their limit.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK—SHATTER!!!
The golden barriers exploded, the reinforcement arrays unable to rebuild fast enough to contain the released energy.
A massive wave of dual-colored fire, blood-red and orange-crimson intertwined, erupted outward from the arena.
"EVERYONE GET BACK!" Octavius roared.
His Domain Master Realm aura erupted without restraint.
He thrust both palms forward, and a massive wall of transparent force materialized between the shattered arena and the spectators, catching the devastating shockwave mere feet before it reached the front rows.
BOOM!
The impact slammed against Octavius’s barrier, forcing the mighty Domain Master to slide back two full steps before the wave dissipated.
For a brief instant, the entire central plaza was bathed in the golden afterglow of the collision.
Then, silence.
Every single person in the plaza held their breath, their eyes desperately straining through the dissipating light to see the result.
When the light finally faded, and the dust settled...
The arena floor was cracked and scorched.
Two figures were visible in the center of the devastation.
One was kneeling.
Lyra Emberford was down on one knee, gasping for breath.
Her crimson robes were torn in dozens of places, revealing several bleeding wounds across her arms, shoulders, and legs.
Her rapier lay several feet away, knocked clean from her grip.
Her Heavenly Flame had been entirely extinguished, and her once-immaculate crimson hair hung in disheveled strands across her face.
Standing directly before her, utterly motionless, was Rhain.
The tip of his dark broadsword rested gently against the soft skin of her exposed throat.
His dark robes were scorched and torn, yet his body beneath was unmarred.
Only a thin trickle of blood traced a line from a shallow cut on his cheek, the only visible wound on his body.
His blood-red Heavenly Flame had dissipated, and his dark grey eyes stared down at the kneeling prodigy with the same calm, indifferent gaze he had maintained since the very beginning.
"You lose."