*BOOM!*
A loud clap of thunder resounded.
As Riezel slowly closed his eyes and began adjusting his breathing, countless lightning bolts surged from his body, accompanied by that thunderous roar.
*Bzzz—!!!*
Like a massive serpent twisting in the air, the lightning bolts were exceptionally thick and incredibly dense, numbering in the thousands as they coiled around Riezel's body, making his entire clothes explode as if they had been struck by electricity.
Shot off in all directions, the lightning bolts left the ground either charred black in an instant or blasted apart, leaving deep scars behind.
Bathed in the raging lightning bolts, Riezel looked as if he had become a thunder god from myth, radiating an overwhelming pressure.
"Wh-What is that...?"
With stunned expressions, the onlookers' gazes locked onto Riezel, who was engulfed in violent lightning.
Naturally, Raven saw it as well.
With all the light in the training field absorbed, the entire place had turned pitch black, and only the lightning bolts rising from Riezel's body remained blindingly bright, piercing through the darkness and illuminating the area.
At this moment, Riezel had become the only source of light in the entire training field—the oppressive aura he emitted, along with the rampaging lightning, spread outward, making it impossible for anyone to ignore him.
As Raven took in this sight, an overwhelming sense of unease and dread gradually flooded his heart.
'What is he trying to do?'
Such a thought was the thought running through everyone's mind.
It couldn't be helped.
Riezel's current presence was too terrifying because the sheer pressure he exuded now was so overwhelming that some of the weaker knights rolled their eyes back and collapsed on the spot, losing consciousness.
Riezel paid no attention to any of this, keeping his eyes shut as he placed a hand on the sword at his waist, causing the lightning surging around him to shift.
Everyone soon noticed that the lightning wrapped around Riezel's body was changing color.
Yes, changing color.
Eventually, the previously blinding lightning bolts became even more dazzling, and soon, the once pale blue electricity was slowly turning golden.
At this moment, the lightning entwining Riezel's body transformed into a radiant gold, filling the entire training field with its brilliance and searing itself into everyone's vision.
"He's just putting on a show!"
Raven's sense of unease and dread only grew stronger, making him shout.
"So what if his lightning changed color?! No one can withstand my next strike!"
Raven had already pushed himself to his limit, so he refused to lose to Riezel, to the junior he had always looked down on. Even if it meant harming his own body, he was determined to unleash his ultimate attack.
Because the Dark Abyss Sword Style had no limit to the amount of external powers it could absorb, as long as the user didn't stop, it could keep taking in powers, refining them, and making the dark energy the user wielded stronger and stronger.
Even so, swordsmen weren't invincible.
If the power converted by the Dark Abyss Sword Style exceeded the user's control, it would become a double-edged sword—one that harmed not just their enemy but also themselves.
Raven had clearly already reached this reckless state since the powers he had absorbed and converted had grown too much, causing considerable strain on his body.
Regardless, he had no choice since he had to win this fight no matter what.
"You're saying I lost?"
"I, Raven Mavros, would lose?"
"WHAT A JOKE!"
Raven let out a loud shout, his face filled with determination.
"I AM MARQUIS MAVROS! IF I LOSE, IF I FALL, OUR KINGDOM'S ENEMY WILL INVADE THE LANDS BEHIND ME, BRINGING HARM TO THOSE I SWORE TO PROTECT!"
"I WON'T LOSE! I CAN'T LOSE!"
"VICTORY OR DEATH IS THE PATH I, RAVEN MAVROS, WALK! YOU REALLY THINK SOME HALF-BAKED SWORD SAINT LIKE YOU CAN BREAK MY RESOLVE?!!!"
As Raven shouted, the dark energy surging from his body grew even larger, making the surrounding air thin and oppressive.
Apparently, with Dark Abyss Sword Style, Raven absorbed the air around him to transform the dark energy into an even greater power.
Seeing this scene, the first to react wasn't anyone else but Nibald, the one closest in strength to both Riezel and Raven.
"This is bad!"
Feeling the two rapidly swelling forces in the training field, Nibald's complexion changed again and again before he finally couldn't sit still any longer and shouted urgently at Lizbeth and everyone else around.
"All of you! Get out of here! Now!"
At Nibald's warning, no one took it lightly since the danger was obvious to the naked eye.
Among the many knights present, some were especially sharp and highly skilled, able to clearly sense just how terrifying the two growing forces were. A deep, ominous premonition, like the shadow of death, had already taken root in their hearts, leaving their faces pale as paper.
Now that Nibald had sounded the alarm, every onlooker finally snapped out of it, scrambling to flee and get as far away from the area as possible.
"Hurry! Get beyond the barrier!"
Kaiser, realizing how dire the situation was, had his face turn slightly pale as he barked out orders, signaling for Axel and Diego to take the lead in clearing a path for the others.
Before long, everyone scattered like frightened birds, leaving only Lizbeth still standing in place, unwilling to retreat.
"Master!"
Lizbeth's entire heart was clearly only on Riezel and didn't bother with anything else.
Seeing the golden lightning raging around Riezel while Raven's aura grew more terrifying by the second, her delicate face, as flawless as jade, filled with anxiety and worry.
"Get back, Miss Lizbeth! The next clash is beyond anything we can interfere with!"
Nibald, with an urgent voice, quickly grabbed Lizbeth's shoulder and secretly pressed his hand against a jewel-like magic crystal behind his back.
It was a magic item he had personally crafted, a one-time-use item.
Once activated, it would suppress magical energy within a certain radius, preventing magicians from casting magic and swordsmen from using the special abilities tied to their swordsmanship—it was one of Nibald's trump cards.
Unfortunately, he only had this single piece, so even if he wanted to craft another, finding a high-quality magic crystal suitable for refinement would be near impossible, which was why he had always treated it like a treasure.
However, if an unavoidable and disastrous clash broke out between Riezel and Raven, then for their safety, he had no choice but to use it—no matter how much it pained him.
'Sir Raven is the one who guards Jinas's border from Reiburg, so the kingdom can't do without him. Sir Brynhart is a genius with limitless potential, destined for greatness in the future. If either of them were to suffer serious injuries or death, this fight would turn into a tragedy.'
Because of this thought, Nibald had made up his mind—if the situation turned dire, he would stop them at all costs.
"Let's go!"
Nibald gripped the magic item tightly as he urged Lizbeth who gritted her teeth but ultimately chose to step back.
*Buzz—*
In the next second, the training field's magic barrier instantly rose, completely sealing off the battlefield between Riezel and Raven from the outside world.
At the same moment, Riezel's voice rang out inside the magic barrier.
"So, you actually remember you have people to protect, huh?"
"If that's the case, then why'd you let your nephew run wild, bringing misfortune to every single person you claim to protect? You call that damn protection?"
"You got no right to even say those words!"
A surge of golden lightning tore through the darkness, shooting into the sky and illuminating Raven, whose entire body was shrouded in black light.
"If that's the path you've chosen, then today, I'm cutting it off!"
Saying this, Riezel opened his eyes, showing golden lightning crackling within them, completely obscuring his normally clear pupils, leaving only the whites of his eyes filled with violent, raging energy as he locked onto Raven, whose expression had drastically changed.
"Consider yourself lucky. You're the first to witness this move and the first to be defeated by it."
Riezel's words made the veins on Raven's forehead bulge.
"BRING IT ON, RIEZEL BRYNHART!"
Raven raised his greatsword high and charged toward Riezel, but in the next moment, Riezel vanished on the spot.
No, rather than vanish, the golden lightning enveloping Riezel's entire body had completely consumed him, transforming him into a thunderous dragon that roared toward Raven.
In that instant, the golden dragon erupted forward, moving at an incredible speed beyond the limits of the human eye, surging straight at Raven.
Lightning raged across the training field, unleashing a deafening roar as it clashed with the black light ahead.
"Thunder Breathing - Seventh Form..."
Riezel's voice spread out once again, turning into sound waves that echoed nonstop.
"Flaming Thunder God!"
Thunder Breathing's seventh sword form, which originally didn't exist, made its debut in this world for the first time as a roaring thunder dragon, carrying terrifying momentum, crashed heavily into Raven, who was swinging his greatsword down and roaring furiously.
*BOOOOOOM—!!!*
In an instant, an earth-shattering explosion erupted, turning the world inside the training field's magic barrier completely white.
*RUMBLE—!!!*
Amid the tremor, the ground of the training field shattered—not just a single corner, not just one section, but the entire ground broke apart as it got swept into the collapse, crumbling as it sank underground.
Fortunately, the world outside the training field's magic barrier remained unaffected, as, whether it was the shockwaves, the rampaging golden lightning, or the black-light storm, everything was blocked by the training field's tactical-class magic barrier.
Nonetheless, the magic barrier still trembled violently, as if it could shatter at any moment, making those outside watch in fear.
Ultimately, the ground beyond the magic barrier shook like crazy—though it didn't break apart, the tremors were so strong that they reached not just the nearby Mavros family's main residence but even the city itself.
"What's going on?"
"An earthquake?"
"Damn, what a strong tremor..."
Feeling the shaking, the citizens started to stir in confusion.
Tonight, Bessare was no longer peaceful.