Chapter 86.2: Neutral Nations Conference (7)

What was the reason for provoking her to reach this situation and bringing it to this point?

The only reason was so he could take her life legitimately through a duel.

But he couldn’t win quickly and show to everyone their overwhelming difference in skill, so he must be adjusting his level of attack in moderation.

Only by feigning such a fierce battle could he gain the justification that he inevitably killed his opponent during the duel.

But if she surrendered now, the General would have no choice but to end the duel.

A declaration of surrender obviously overshadowed the outcome of the duel, and he couldn’t do more tricks in front of everyone watching.

But she didn’t plan to do that.

Even if she had to die fighting right here, she didn’t want to.

She knew it’s not a rational choice at all, and it would be just a meaningless dog death.

The words of the General about her running away to save her life stuck deeply in her heart like a knife and erased her option to back down.

Asher gritted her teeth.

If her sword couldn’t reach his throat, then she would take at least one of his arm.

The pure white ring around Asher’s body emitted a stronger light.

A method of mana management that divided mana into three cores and amplified them through resonance between them.

Even in the history of the White Moon tribe, no one other than the founding father succeeded in fully mastering this skill, which was extremely imperfect.

Asher activated all three cores to the maximum without hesitation.

Her strength had now surpassed the limit. Even she herself didn’t know how big the price she had to pay for this.

Wow!

The area around the General’s eyes frowned slightly after he blocked the sword attack from the suddenly amplified energy.

He, too, energized his spear and parried Asher’s attack.

While running wild like a madman, she moved her eyes here and there to keep track of the spear’s path.

The physical ability beyond the limits, and the senses.

The chaotic lines drawn by his spear, which she couldn’t understand just a moment ago, were more clearly imprinted on her head.

Within seconds of the unsteadily rampaging mana, pain came to Asher’s body. But she didn’t care.

In a battle where even one’s life was lost, a sudden enlightenment came for a moment after she crossed her limit.

She hung on tenaciously to that elusive, faint enlightenment.

Just a bit more…

Despite Asher’s awakening, it was the General who still had the upper hand. He had never done his best in the first place.

The spear through Asher’s side with a shallow cut. Next were the legs and shoulders. Her blood spurted out and her sword still did not reach him.

The balance of her body was on the verge of collapsing because of rampant magic, and what held her consciousness was just a momentary superhuman concentration.

A window of ever-changing creativity. The realization that she came across accidentally while teaching Rigon, but couldn’t understand it fully.

It was only for a moment that the small pieces that had been playing separately in her head connected like a line.

Peit.

Blood spurted up the General’s face.

Asher stretched out her sword and realized what she had done a beat later. There were fine lines of blood on his cheeks.

…Ah.

In the end, she couldn’t reach it.

It was only a shallow graze.

Asher poured everything into that last attack. She staggered as she felt all the energy draining from her body.

“…!”

The General’s face twisted like a demon.

He hurled the spear blade straight at the collapsing Asher. It was so powerful that it could turn her body into a handful of blood in an instant.

Wow!

A spear that stopped mid-air.

The blade of the spear stood still, unable to move further, as if something invisible had blocked it.

The sudden appearance of a man in front of him startled the General, and he withdrew his spear and retreated. It was the Seventh Lord.

After accepting the collapsing Asher, he stared at her who had lost consciousness, then moved his gaze to the General and opened his mouth.

“The duel is over. It’s your victory.”

The General’s eyelids trembled at the fury that welled up inside him.

Victory, it was natural from the beginning.

He was feeling indescribable shame at the fact that even a little of his blood had been shed for such an obvious result.

“Seventh Lord… didn’t you swear you wouldn’t get involved in this duel?”

“And?”

The Seventh Lord said with arrogant eyes.

“What do you want to say?”

“…”

It was as if the other was asking what he would do if he didn’t keep his promise.

The General, lost for a moment, glared at the Seventh Lord. That was all he could do.