Chapter 219: Rhain VS Lyra - II
Chapter 219: Rhain VS Lyra - II
The blistering heat radiating from the arena floor instantly caused the temperature in the entire central plaza to skyrocket.
The hundred thousand spectators instinctively recoiled.
Those closest to the arena shielded their faces as a wave of searing heat rolled outward.
"What... what is that power?"
"Her hair is literally on fire! Is she going to self-destruct?"
"No, look! She isn’t burning! The flames are in her control!"
The ordinary disciples and wandering cultivators screamed in disbelief, unable to comprehend what they were witnessing.
But up on the grand stage, the true powerhouses didn’t share the crowd’s confusion.
They knew exactly what they were looking at.
"That flame... it is not ordinary essence-generated fire. That’s Heavenly Flame!" Patriarch Thorian breathed, his composure completely abandoning him.
The two words fell upon the grand stage like a pair of thunderbolts.
Heavenly Flames were legendary forces of nature, primal fires born from the convergence of heaven and earth.
They existed on a plane entirely separate from cultivator-generated flames.
A Heavenly Flame could incinerate materials that ordinary fire couldn’t even warm.
It could even reduce Domain Master Realm experts to ash if they were careless.
All eyes on the grand stage naturally turned toward a single person.
Matriarch Seraphine.
"You are correct, Patriarch Thorian," Seraphine spoke, her calm voice clearly heard by everyone on the stage "What my daughter wields is the innate fire of the Emberford bloodline, a power that has existed within our clan since our founding ancestor walked this earth one thousand years ago."
Her sharp eyes drifting toward her daughter’s blazing figure in the arena below.
"However," Seraphine continued, "what burns within Lyra is not the ordinary ancestral flame that every Emberford descendant inherits. Among all the descendants across a thousand years of our clan’s history, Lyra possesses the purest bloodline concentration ever recorded. Her bloodline density surpasses every ancestor in recorded history."
Seraphine’s eyes shined with a trace of pride.
"Because of this highest degree of purity, the innate flame she awakened at birth is not ordinary fire. It is a true Heavenly Flame."
Carmilla was genuinely impressed hearing that, "So that’s why you have been hiding her true depth. To possess a Heavenly Flame natively... she is truly a monster."
Patriarch Caelen let out a long exhale. "No wonder she has always been considered invincible among her peers. With a Heavenly Flame burning within her, even a genius two or three minor realms above her would be utterly helpless."
Down in the arena, Rhain looked at the majestic, roaring orange-crimson flames enveloping Lyra.
For the first time since the tournament began, a flicker of surprise crossed Rhain’s composed features.
He could feel the quality of the flame wrapping around Lyra’s body.
It was dense, pure, and carried a destructive potency that far exceeded anything a Spirit Manifestation cultivator should possess. Her overall combat aura, amplified by the Heavenly Flame, had skyrocketed past the boundaries of the Spirit Manifestation Realm entirely.
"So this is why she is considered the strongest prodigy in the history of Stormveil City," Rhain murmured.
She was, without a doubt, incredibly powerful.
Yet, Rhain’s expression quickly returned to its usual placid calm.
"You are indeed strong," Rhain stated dismissively, "But it is still not enough to defeat me."
Lyra’s flaming crimson eyes narrowed into furious slits.
"ARROGANT!"
Lyra shot forward. With her Heavenly Flame fully unleashed, her speed had multiplied to a terrifying degree.
"Epic-Grade Martial Art: Crimson Tempest Rend!"
She executed the exact same martial art as before, but this time, the power was fundamentally different.
The crimson arc that shot from her blade was no longer a mere wave of sword energy.
It was a literal tsunami of Heavenly Fire, expanding to cover the entire width of the arena as it roared toward Rhain.
The attack’s power had multiplied several fold.
It was an assault that could obliterate a mid-stage Core Formation expert’s defensive barrier in a single strike.
The defensive arrays around the arena blazed brighter than they had for the entire tournament, straining under the sheer heat that leaked from the attack.
Rhain watched the incoming inferno and simply raised his right fist again.
He simply pulled back his right fist, gathering a dense layer of dark essence around his knuckles, and punched forward.
BOOM—!!!
Rhain’s fist met the tsunami of Heavenly Fire head-on.
A blinding explosion of crimson and dark energy erupted from the point of contact, sending a shockwave rippling outward that made the golden defensive barriers shake fiercely.
In the center of the blast, two figures were repelled.
Lyra’s boots skidded backward, she was forced back three full steps before she managed to stabilize her footing.
But the truly shocking sight was on the other side.
Rhain had been pushed back.
One step.
The entire plaza inhaled a collective, sharp breath of cold air.
He stepped back!
For the very first time since the Inner Palace Contest began, someone had actually managed to force Rhain Voss to retreat!
The plaza erupted.
"RHAIN MOVED! HE TOOK A STEP BACK!"
"Even Zane’s full-power attack couldn’t do that! But Lyra’s Heavenly Flame actually forced him to retreat!"
"Lyra is incredible! That’s the power of a Heavenly Flame! Even Rhain can’t just shrug it off!"
But even as the pro-Lyra faction erupted into excited cheers, the more observant spectators couldn’t ignore the fundamental disparity of the exchange.
"Wait... she was pushed back three steps. He was pushed back one."
"Even with a Heavenly Flame burning at full power, she still couldn’t match him evenly?"
"How dangerous is this man?"
Up on the grand stage, the dignitaries processed the exchange with profound gravity.
If it were before, none of them would have even imagined that Lyra could be defeated by anyone in the same generation.
Seraphine, who had watched the match with absolute confidence in her daughter’s overwhelming superiority, revealed a look of genuine shock.
She knew better than anyone just how devastating Lyra’s Heavenly Flame was. When her daughter used her bloodline power, even middle-stage Core Formation Realm experts could not defeat her.
Yet, this dark-robed youth, whose cultivation was visibly at the fifth level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm, had met it head-on with a bare fist and only taken a single step back!
Down in the arena, Rhain lowered his right hand.
He looked down at his knuckles, his dark grey eyes narrowing slightly.
The skin on his fist was slightly scorched, and a faint wisp of orange flame clung stubbornly to his flesh, attempting to burn through his meridians.
However, in the blink of an eye, the pitch-black essence of the Abyssal Sovereign Physique surged forward, devouring the foreign flame and instantly healing the minor burn without leaving a single scar.
It was impossible for any ordinary flame to even singe his skin.
’Interesting,’ Rhain muttered inwardly. ’Her flame is extremely powerful. It might actually be as strong as my own Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame.’
Rhain slowly raised his head.
A faint smile touched the corner of Rhain’s lips.
"It seems," Rhain said. "Now I actually have to use some strength."
With a flash of spatial light, a massive, pitch-black heavy broadsword materialized in Rhain’s grasp—an Epic-Grade weapon he had pulled randomly from his vast inventory.
"Let’s see how much you can take."
Rhain’s figure shot forward, a trace of lightning sparkling under his boots.
He materialized directly above Lyra, bringing the heavy broadsword crashing down with the force of a collapsing mountain.
Lyra gritted her teeth and raised her rapier to block.
CLANG!
The impact drove Lyra’s knees to drop slightly.
Before she could recover, Rhain swung the heavy broadsword again with a swift and fluid motion.
What followed was a brutal, one-sided suppression.
Rhain fought like a descending God of War.
With every swing of his broadsword, the oppressive weight of his physical might and boundless essence multiplied.
CLANG! BANG! CLANG!
Lyra utilized every Epic-Grade martial art of her family.
Sparks of dark void energy and crimson flame scattered across the arena like shooting stars, each collision releasing shockwaves that pounded against the golden defensive arrays.
"Storm Breaker Descent!"
Rhain’s dark broadsword arced downward in a devastating overhead strike.
BANG!
The blow smashed through Lyra’s rapier guard, the raw kinetic force driving her backward five feet.
Lyra recovered instantly, her Heavenly Flame surging as she launched a counterattack.
But it was utterly useless.
Rhain’s attacks were a relentless, overwhelming, and aggressive, chaining one Epic-Grade martial art seamlessly into the next without a single gap or hesitation.
"Serpent’s Fang!"
"Iron Mountain Cleave!"
The undisputed queen of Stormveil City was being completely overwhelmed by Rhain’s endless tricks, and techniques.
Finally, after a devastating combination that left her guard completely shattered, a final strike of Rhain’s dark broadsword crashed against her rapier with such overwhelming force that Lyra’s entire body was launched backward.
Her feet skidded across the stone until they reached the very edge of the arena boundary.
One more step and she would be out.
The hundred thousand spectators watched in stunned silence.
"Lyra is at the edge!"
"She’s going to lose! Even with the Heavenly Flame, she’s going to lose!"
"This is impossible! Lyra Emberford is actually being pushed to the brink of defeat?"
Up on the grand stage, the dignitaries were on the edges of their seats.
Patriarch Thorian had leaned so far forward in his seat that he was practically standing. "Unbelievable," he breathed. "She is actually losing."
Myrielle sat in stunned silence, her sapphire eyes wide.
The boy she had once dismissed as a mere Essence Condensation nobody was now on the verge of dethroning the undisputed queen of the younger generation.
Beside her, Seris watched with her hands clasped gently in her lap, with a usual, serene smile.
"Well, well," Carmilla chuckled playfully, "It looks like the strongest prodigy of this generation might actually belong to our Academy after all."
Beside her, Seraphine’s eyes were narrowed.
She had never believed, not for a single second, that anyone in the younger generation could push Lyra to this extent. The Heavenly Flame was supposed to be an absolute trump card, an invincible power that placed Lyra in a dimension entirely separate from her peers.
But despite the shock carved deeply into her features, Seraphine’s lips slowly curved into a confident smile.
"Rhain is indeed incredibly strong," Seraphine acknowledged openly, her voice reaching Carmilla and the other dignitaries. "I freely admit that I gravely underestimated him. To push Lyra this far at such a young age is a feat that should be impossible."
She paused, her sharp eyes gleaming.
"But my daughter still has one final trump card remaining."
Carmilla’s playful grin faltered slightly, her bright eyes widening a fraction. "She’s still hiding strength?"
Seraphine simply smiled. "Watch."
Down in the arena, Lyra stood at the very edge of the boundary, her Heavenly Flame still roaring defiantly around her battered body.
She watched Rhain walking toward her, his dark broadsword resting across his shoulder, his dark grey eyes staring at her with that same, infuriatingly dismissive calm.
One more exchange and she would be pushed out.
But Lyra Emberford did not know the meaning of surrender.
She slowly straightened her spine, wiping the blood from her chin with the back of her hand.
"I never thought," Lyra breathed heavily, "that there would ever be a person in my generation who could force me to use this."
She looked at Rhain, her blazing crimson eyes meeting his dark grey ones.
"You should feel honored, Rhain Voss," Lyra declared, her voice rising with a fierce pride. "You are the first and only person of my age who has ever pushed me this far."
Rhain paused his advance, his dark grey eyes narrowing slightly as he sensed an enormous shift beginning to build within Lyra’s aura.
The Heavenly Flame surrounding Lyra’s body suddenly condensed inward, compressing against her skin until it seemed to sink into her very flesh.
Then her eyes began to glow brighter with the colours of her flames.
"Domain of the Crimson Empress!"