Isaac activated Prison of Folds skill as planned.
Space twisted around the boss monster.
The Incarnation of Sword God’s body warped, folding in on itself before vanishing.
He had been teleported away, and trapped inside a sealed prison of distorted dimensions.
It wouldn’t last long, only a handful of seconds.
But it was enough.
Because the [Empress of Netherworld] was already raising her hand to summon.
Isaac’s boots dug into the ground as he moved.
He used another skill.
"Spatial Seal."
The air shimmered around her, locking down her backward dash teleportation and halting her retreat.
The skill caught her by surprise. Her summoning speed faltered, buying him two crucial seconds.
And Isaac pressed forward.
Dark lightning surged across his blade, crackling with violent energy.
Elemental Sword Aura!
The sound of thunder roared in the ruined Netherworld as his katana flashed free of its sheath.
He swung for her throat in a clean, merciless arc.
The [Empress of Netherworld] snarled and raised her arm.
But roots burst from the scorched ground, entangling her limbs.
They tightened instantly, holding her just long enough.
The blade struck her neck—
Clang!
The sound rang out like metal against metal.
Isaac gritted his teeth, pushing harder.
Her body was like steel.
He continued, not backing down. This was his only chance to cut her down before the Incarnation of Sword God escaped his prison.
"Lightning Rend!"
The katana’s second inherent skill flared.
Black lightning exploded outward in violent arcs.
The ground split under the force.
Isaac channeled Aura within himself. His muscles strained as he increased his physical stats beyond his limits, and channeled everything into the strike.
And the blade pushed through.
A flash of black lightning cut across the Netherworld’s false sky.
The [Empress of Netherworld] gasped soundlessly. Her head separated cleanly from her shoulders.
Her body toppled to the ground, and the jeweled crown slid off, rolling across the broken stone before coming to a stop.
Emily’s eyes widened.
Her breath was caught in her throat as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
Isaac didn’t waste time. He reached into the air and used Emily’s Phantom Parade skill.
The air shimmered, and countless motes of light formed into Ember spirits, burning with red-gold flames, and Zephyr spirits, dancing with green-silver winds.
Then he raised his hand and invoked the skill Emily awakened recently.
"Spirit Weave."
The spirits fused in groups, twisting and merging until new beings appeared.
Their bodies were like blazing whirlwinds, fire and wind bound together in a single shape.
He knew their names instinctively.
"Pyrestorms."
The Pyrestorm spirits roared. Their bodies crackled with volatile power.
"Attack," Isaac commanded.
The fused spirits obeyed.
From above, the air split apart, and burning rain poured down.
Each droplet was a spear of fire wrapped in wind, falling like bombardments onto the monsters still trapped inside the inferno of his Pillars of Damnation.
Explosions thundered across the battlefield.
The sea of corpses howled as their charred bodies fell apart.
’That should be enough to deal with the fodder,’ Isaac thought.
But he didn’t let his guard drop. He knew this was just the start.
He moved back quickly and returned to Emily.
She clutched her chest, trembling. "Isaac! Are you alright!?"
"Yes, I’m good." He gave her a grin and shrugged off the blood staining his clothes. "Didn’t I tell you I’m strong? I already took down the Empress of Netherworld—"
A cold notification cut across his words.
[Boss monster, Empress of Netherworld, has been slayed.]
[Boss monster, Incarnation of Sword God, will enter Phase Two.]
Isaac froze. His grin slipped. Emily followed his gaze to the far side of the battlefield.
The figure of the Incarnation of Sword God shimmered back into existence.
He stood tall. His aura was heavier than before, and his movements strangely unsteady.
His head tilted, and then, in a broken whisper, he muttered, "Di...ana? Where are you?"
Emily’s eyes widened. The monster could talk?
Her lips parted.
"Dad—"
Isaac reacted instantly.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her behind him. "Stay back."
The boss monster’s eyes scanned the wreckage, then lowered to the shattered crown that had once belonged to the Empress.
He bent down and picked it up with trembling hands.
For a moment, his body shook.
Tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
"Diana..." His voice cracked. Then his gaze snapped up, locking on Isaac. His expression twisted into fury. "You... You are the one who killed Diana!"
The crown dissolved into clusters of light and surged into his chest.
His aura exploded outward. The pressure cracked the ground beneath his feet.
Isaac’s instincts screamed at him.
His Sixth Sense skill roared like an alarm, telling him that the next strike would kill him if he didn’t do something.
"Emily, move!" Isaac shouted, shoving her away with all his strength.
The Incarnation of Sword God vanished from sight.
A heartbeat later, he reappeared in front of Isaac, his sword already swinging in a clean, brutal arc.
Isaac crossed his arms and invoked, "Bastion Gate! Phantom Ward!"
Layers of protective barriers surged around him.
The blade cut through all of them as if they were paper.
"—!"
Isaac’s body was thrown across the battlefield like a rag doll. If not for his Extreme Formlock Title, he would’ve been cut down.
He slammed through broken stone and dirt before he managed to twist midair.
Before he could land, the Sword God was already there, sword raised again.
Isaac snarled and ripped a wreckage chunk out of the ground with Telekinesis skill.
He used it as a foothold, spun, and swung his katana to meet the descending blade.
The clash sent shockwaves tearing through the ruins. Both were thrown backward from the sheer force.
’This is bad,’ Isaac thought, his breath ragged. ’I can’t keep fighting while holding back.’
He decided to try the idea he had.
"System, I want to rank up to Adept rank right now."
[Error! Cannot rank up during the current Trial.]
"Tsk." He grit his teeth. He had expected as much, but the confirmation still burned.
That meant he had no choice.
He would have to go all out with what he had.
Isaac roared, activating two of his strongest skills at once.
"Solar Dominion! Daybreak Incarnate!"
Golden flames erupted from his body.
Scales shimmered along his neck and arms, burning with divine light. His strength, speed, and Aura shot upward like a rocket.
The Incarnation of Sword God charged.
The sheer killing intent flooding the battlefield triggered Isaac’s Sixth Sense skill again.
His mind sharpened. His instincts screamed in rhythm with every swing aimed his way.
Their blades met. Once. Twice. A hundred times in seconds.
Steel rang against steel. Sparks flashed as they tore across the ruins. Every clash carved trenches in the ground.
Isaac’s muscles strained as he pushed back, his katana clashing again and again.
His Extreme Mind Echo title pulsed, feeding him analysis of the Sword God’s moves.
Counter here. Step left. Deflect upward.
But every time he adapted, the boss’ attack pattern changed.
The Incarnation of Sword God never repeated himself.
Every strike was unique. Every form it used was a new variation. It was as if an endless library of swordsmanship lived inside him.
Isaac’s teeth clenched.
’This... So this is what it means to be a Sword God.’
Isaac needed to retreat, and switch weapons, maybe unleash his longer-ranged abilities. Fighting a Sword God with sword was putting him in disadvantage.
But the moment he tried to shift back, his body was locked.
It wasn’t a physical restraint.
It was as if invisible chains held him in place.
’A skill?’ Isaac realized, eyes narrowing. ’He’s forcing me to duel him. It’s most likely a binding ability. Something that doesn’t let the opponent retreat.’
That explained it. He wasn’t being allowed to run. The fight would only end when one of them fell.
His heart hammered in his chest, but instead of despair, a fire lit in his eyes.
"If I can’t retreat, then fine," Isaac said. "I’ll move forward!"
The Incarnation of Sword God came at him again.
Isaac’s Perfect Resonance title kicked in, syncing with his every movement.
Suggestions flowed into his mind about when to pivot, when to feint, when to strike.
His blade flashed faster, moving like lightning.
The boss’s sword answered every cut with another.
The battlefield became a blur of gold and black.
Emily watched from inside her barrier, clutching her chest.
Her breath was shallow. She wanted to scream, to help, but her voice wouldn’t come out.
The very thought of harming a monster that looked like her father filled her with guilt and locked her body.
She could only watch as Isaac faced her father’s incarnation in a duel that no one else could survive.
And Isaac... Isaac was smiling despite the pressure crushing him.
Despite the pressure, he looked happy.
Happy that he could finally fight with his all.
Isaac’s Flow Stat skill, unlocked along his Physique, suddenly surged to life.
Blue and red lines filled his vision, weaving across the battlefield. They connected him to the Incarnation of the Sword God like threads of fate.
’What is this?’
His mind slowed. Every second stretched to its limit for him.
Then instinct kicked in. He understood without needing an explanation.
’It’s the effect of Flow State skill.’
The skill only activated when his concentration reached its peak.
Right now, the battlefield was covered in countless paths.
Blue lines marked the openings where his sword could strike.
Red lines showed the incoming arcs of the Sword God’s blade.