Thymaleon’s eyes narrowed, his expression growing more serious. “You’ve got some skill.” “You’re not bad yourself,” Dustin replied.
His face remained calm, though surprise flickered inside. Since breaking through to the realm of terrestrial immortals, he’d never met an opponent who could withstand even a single exchange. He hadn’t expected to encounter someone at his level in Elysium Isle.
“Come again!” Thymaleon barked. White light gathered around him once more. The shattered whale phantom didn’t vanish. Instead, it split into thousands of silver-white fish. Their fins gleamed with sharp edges as they darted through the water, weaving an airtight net of light.
With a flick of his fingers, the net snapped shut. The fish shrieked in unison and rushed toward Dustin’s sword platform. Their passage tore thin cracks through the seawater.
Dustin’s gaze sharpened. He turned his wrist, and his sword carved three smooth arcs. The platform beneath him shot nearly 1,000 feet into the air.
From the water below, countless azure sword peaks erupted upward. Each was sharp as a blade, breaking through the net like spears thrust from the deep.
The light-fish slammed into the peaks and burst into fragments of white light. More followed without pause, hammering against the formation in a relentless storm. Metallic clinks rang out in rapid succession.
Thymaleon snorted coldly and formed a hand seal. “Whale Devour Annihilation!” he roared.
The scattered light converged above Dustin’s head, reforming into a massive illusory white whale that was several times larger than before. Its maw opened wide, revealing a pitch-black vortex that spun faster and unleashed a suction far stronger than earlier.
The sword platform under Dustin’s feet shook violently. Cracks split through the surrounding sword peaks. Even the corners of his robes whipped and snapped in the pull.
He took a deep breath. Sword aura surged around him, and his body blazed into a streak of azure light. He shot forward, plunging straight into the giant waves and flames.
“Sword Dance!” Dustin roared. His figure wove between fire and ice shards in constant motion. The sword aura from his blade formed an impenetrable barrier, shattering ice spears and splitting flames apart.
Every strike landed at the perfect moment, as he slipped past the deadliest attacks while striking at the whale’s vital points. Wherever his blade cut through, the white glow around the whale faded, leaving wounds that ran to the bone.
Back in the real world, the atmosphere at the lakeside camp had frozen to its breaking point.
Thymaleon floated in midair, his robes billowing without wind. The white light around him surged violently, sending ripples across the air.
Wherever the ripples spread, grass withered and stones cracked. His pale cheeks were flushed an unnatural red, and pale gold liquid seeped from the corner of his mouth. It was a clear sign of severe mental energy depletion.
Though Dustin sat with a deceptively still posture at the stone table, his body betrayed the turmoil within. His hands gripped tightly on his sword hilt until his knuckles turned white from the strain.
The air around him twisted and warped. The tea on the table had long since begun to boil. Water droplets broke free from gravity’s hold, hanging in the air as glittering beads that trembled with every wave of distortion.
“Ms. Linsor, look at their energy waves,” Judith said nervously. 1
She could clearly see that the space between the two men seemed stretched and warped. When sunlight passed through this area, it refracted into rainbow halos. Everything inside those halos was slowly changing.
The lake’s water level began dropping, and the soil gradually hardened like stone. Even the air carried bone-chilling cold.
“Their mental energy is already close to breaking its limit,” Grace said grimly. “If this continues, the whole lakeside will be flattened.”
The two surging waves of light slammed together again, and an invisible shockwave burst outward.
Ancient trees at the edge of the camp snapped in half. Splinters flew, and guards threw themselves to the ground, clutching their heads as if under crushing mental pressure.
At that moment, Thymaleon’s floating body jerked. The white ripples spread even wider. Cracks split across the ground to the lake’s edge, where the water boiled and poured out clouds of white mist.
The stone table under Dustin shattered. His white robes turned pure azure in the glow. The twisting air around him grew so intense that even light struggled to pass through.
The guards had already retreated miles away. From a distance, they stared at the dreamlike battlefield with faces full of fear and awe.
Grace’s frown deepened. She could feel that terrifying mental pressure climbing rapidly, as if it would explode at any moment.
Without warning, the churning ripples suddenly began to recede like a retreating tide. A moment later, two blinding rays of light burst from the men’s bodies.
As thunder cracked across the sky, Dustin and Thymaleon opened their eyes at the same time.
