The Smiling Death

Golden light and violet lightning collided relentlessly across the battlefield. Every clash shook the surrounding forest.

BANG!

BANG!

The deafening explosions echoed through the mountains as holy light and crackling lightning tore through the night sky.

Alaric’s expression grew increasingly serious.

He swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc.

Purple lightning erupted from the blade.

Crack!

One slash. Then another. Within an instant, ten crescent-shaped blades of lightning shot toward Seraphina from different angles, each moving with terrifying speed.

The attacks sealed off nearly every possible escape route.

Seraphina’s golden eyes shone brilliantly. The world around her seemed to slow. In the span of a heartbeat, she analyzed every trajectory.

’I have to kill him before I reach my limit.’ She thought.

Instead of meeting the attacks head-on, she moved. Her figure became a streak of golden light.

She twisted her body with flawless precision, slipping through the narrow gaps between the incoming lightning blades.

One passed inches from her shoulder.

Another grazed her flowing hair.

A third tore through the space where her head had been only a fraction of a second earlier. She didn’t block. She didn’t counter. She simply flowed through the storm of lightning as though she had already foreseen every attack.

Alaric clicked his tongue.

"Tch..."

The moment she cleared the final lightning slash, Seraphina planted one foot firmly on the ground. Her sword pointed downward. She swung upward in one smooth motion.

Golden light erupted from the blade.

Five enormous arcs burst forward, resembling the claws of a divine lion. The attacks ripped through the earth, carving deep trenches as they surged toward Alaric.

The pressure alone shattered nearby rocks.

Alaric laughed. "So you’ve gained a little more power..."

He slammed his foot onto the ground.

BOOM!

A massive barrier of condensed purple mana rose before him. The translucent shield crackled with countless bolts of lightning dancing across its surface.

An instant later.

BOOOOOOM!!

The golden claw strikes crashed into the barrier. The collision unleashed a blinding explosion.

Golden light and violet lightning erupted in every direction, sending violent shockwaves through the forest.

For several moments. The battlefield disappeared beneath smoke and dust. When the explosion settled. The barrier still stood.

Cracks spread across its surface, but it had not shattered. Seraphina narrowed her eyes. Without hesitation, she bent her knees.

BOOM!

The ground beneath her feet exploded. She launched herself into the sky like a golden comet.

Her body pierced through the smoke before diving straight toward Alaric. She resembled a falling star descending from the heavens. Her divine sword glowed brighter with every passing moment.

Alaric’s smile slowly disappeared.

"So... you’re serious."

He lowered his center of gravity. Both knees bent. An overwhelming torrent of mana erupted from his body.

CRAAAAACK!!

The earth beneath him shattered. Deep fractures spread across the battlefield for dozens of meters. Purple lightning poured endlessly from his sword.

The electricity gathered behind him, twisting and expanding until it took the shape of a colossal dragon.

The creature was over ten meters long.

Its body was formed entirely from crackling lightning, its glowing eyes fixed upon the descending Seraphina.

It opened its enormous jaws.

ROOOOAR!!

The dragon’s roar echoed across the mountains like rolling thunder. The surrounding sky trembled beneath its overwhelming presence.

Alaric slowly raised his sword. His violet eyes blazed with terrifying power. Lightning coursed wildly across his body.

At that moment he looked less like a swordsman. And more like a god who commanded thunder itself.

Watching the terrifying technique Alaric was preparing, Seraphina’s expression remained perfectly calm.

’This has to end now...’

Golden light surged through every vein in her body.

Her golden aura intensified. Her speed in air slowed down as if she was floating in air. Her hairs wave and float, defying the gravity.

The space high above the battlefield suddenly distorted.

CRACK!!

The sky itself fractured.

A gigantic crack spread across the heavens as though reality had been sliced apart.

Both Alaric and Amon instinctively looked upward.

"What...?"

From within the shattered space.

A colossal sword slowly descended. It was forged entirely from condensed golden light.

Its blade was hundreds of times larger than Seraphina’s own sword, radiating an overwhelming holy aura that illuminated the entire mountain range.

Golden runes drifted around the divine weapon like falling stars.

Its mere presence caused the surrounding mana to tremble.

Even Alaric’s confident expression changed.

"What the hell is that? This kid... she trully is monster like her grandfather!!"

The enormous sword hovered directly above Seraphina. She raised her own blade.

The colossal sword mirrored her movement.

At that moment Both swords pointed toward Alaric.

Without hesitation Seraphina shot downward like a golden meteor.

The gigantic divine sword followed behind her, descending from the heavens with enough force to split the earth itself.

The surrounding air screamed.

The pressure alone flattened the nearby forest.

Alaric’s eyes blazed with battle intent.

"So this is your trump card..."

A savage grin spread across his face.

"Then let me show you mine!"

Purple lightning exploded violently from his body.

With a furious roar, he swung his sword upward.

"RAAAAGH!!"

The enormous lightning dragon behind him came alive.

Its gigantic body twisted through the air before charging upward with terrifying speed.

Its roar shook the mountains.

ROOOOOAR!!

The dragon opened its massive jaws and collided head-on with the descending divine sword.

At the very same instant.

Seraphina reached Alaric.

CLANG!!

Their swords collided.

The impact froze time itself for a brief moment.

Neither blade moved. Neither combatant yielded.

Golden light and violet lightning.

Exploded from the point of contact.

The divine sword and the lightning dragon collided completely.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

A blinding explosion swallowed the battlefield.

The collision of holy mana and lightning mana created a gigantic sphere of golden and violet energy.

Countless bolts of electricity danced wildly across its surface while streams of radiant light burst outward in every direction.

The unstable sphere continued expanding.

Until it reached dozens of metres across.

Amon’s eyes widened in horror.

"This is bad!"

He immediately turned and sprinted away with everything he had left.

His battered body screamed in pain, but survival instinct pushed him forward.

Behind him, Marcus, Aisha, and Eliana had also stopped fighting.

Even Soren narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the expanding sphere of destruction.

Without exchanging a single word, all four students instinctively retreated.

Even Soren leapt backward, unwilling to remain within the blast radius.

The sphere reached its limit. For one brief second. Everything became silent.

Then

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

The sphere detonated.

A cataclysmic explosion erupted across the mountains.

A wall of golden light and violet lightning burst outward, devouring everything in its path.

The earth was torn apart.

Towering trees were uprooted before being vaporised into splinters.

Massive boulders shattered like glass.

The shockwave raced through the forest for hundreds of metres, flattening everything it touched.

The mountains trembled violently.

Countless birds fled into the night sky in panic.

Even the clouds above were blown apart by the sheer force of the explosion.

For a brief moment.

The entire battlefield disappeared beneath an ocean of blinding golden light and crackling violet lightning.

No one could tell who had won the clash.