Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2476 Slaughter time!

"....Renaraaa!!" Marlik's voice exploded outward with such fury that it seemed to carry his rage across the battlefield, and the space near the buffer zone was dragged and distorted behind him from the sheer amount of energy he had unleashed beneath his foot to propel himself forward.

In an instant, he was within Renara's field of vision once again, charging straight toward her with tremendous force, furious beyond measure, the blood vessels filling his eyes nearly bursting from the sheer intensity of his rage, while the killing intent pouring from him made it obvious that he had no intention of letting the previous exchange end there.

Renara quickly brought out another weapon without wasting any time, a third-grade planetary gauntlet that immediately covered her hand. She raised it and prepared herself for the approaching collision... and smiled.

Behind that thick curtain of rage covering Marlik's face and movements, his actual condition was far from good. The minor internal injuries he had suffered earlier had multiplied after receiving the redirected energy, and there were even clear traces of blood coming from his ear now... That enormous energy wave was powerful enough to reduce entire fleets to something resembling powder, scattering what remained of them across space, yet even after taking it directly, it had still only caused Marlik injuries that were far from severe.

But for Renara, that was still better than nothing, especially when every injury she could accumulate on him was another result gained from their repeated collisions.

BAAAAAAM

Once again, Marlik simply struck with overwhelming force, relying on the same direct and violent approach, and once again—Baf—Renara's third-grade planetary gauntlet broke apart at the exact point of collision, its protection splitting open until one of her fingers was exposed, and once again—BAAANG—Renara redirected the entire force generated by that collision back toward Marlik without allowing the tremendous energy produced between them to go to waste.

"Ugh!!" Marlik's existing injuries worsened as the force struck him again, adding another layer of damage to what he had already accumulated, but this time he did not retreat even a single step. It was obvious from his stance and reaction that he had been fully prepared for what was going to happen after the collision and had chosen to endure it.

Then he shouted again with the same fury, "Again!!" and immediately struck once more without giving Renara time to distance herself.

He was ready to endure another shock exactly like the previous ones, ready to accept the redirected energy that would inevitably follow, and ready to shatter what remained of the gauntlet and sever Renara's hand with a single strike this time instead of merely breaking through her weapon.

But what happened next was not what he had prepared himself for. "Hmm?" Surprise flashed across Marlik's face for an instant before his expression twisted again and he shouted furiously, "You'll pay for underestimating me!!"

Renara had abandoned both her punch and her direct offensive stance at the last moment. Instead of trying to meet his sword with another strike, she simply opened her hand before the descending blade and, in an action strange enough to immediately draw Marlik's attention, decided to receive the sword directly on the palm of her hand.

Swoooosh

The sword descended at scorching speed without slowing in the slightest, slicing through the portion of the gauntlet covering Renara's palm and causing the broken protection to explode into pieces around her hand. The blade continued onward, cutting deeply through her flesh and even slicing through part of the bone beneath it before its descent finally came to a stop.

"...?!" Marlik was stunned by the simple fact that the sword had stopped at all after cutting into her hand, and the unexpected result nearly made him shout, "How?" before he could properly process what had happened, but—Bang—Renara had not forgotten to redirect the energy wave generated by their collision toward him this time as well.

Marlik held firm against the redirected force, refusing to release the sword from his hand and refusing to retreat despite the energy crashing into him, but remaining there and enduring it directly only caused the damage accumulating inside him to multiply further, while the blood gathering at the corner of his mouth increased rapidly enough to become impossible to ignore. "You fucking—!!?"

The strange sight unfolding directly before Marlik made the rest of his words disappear almost immediately, forcing his attention away from his anger and onto what was happening to the weapon between them...

The sword remained exactly where it was in Renara's bleeding palm, its blade still buried where it had cut through flesh and part of the bone, but what was happening around the weapon itself had become increasingly strange.

The glowing crimson misty aura surrounding the sword was no longer spreading around it in the same random and aggressive manner as usual, nor was it simply overflowing into the surrounding space. Instead, the crimson mist had begun curling around Renara's arm itself, wrapping around it in increasingly distinct circles like rings formed entirely from condensed power and light.

"What... is happening...?!" Marlik muttered with a genuinely shocked expression as he stared at his own sword and the strange behavior of the crimson mist surrounding Renara's arm.

"That misty aura... it's actually an enormous amount of stored energy, a tremendous reserve that the weapon uses to manifest its personality and strengthen its presence whenever it is wielded. It's a magnificent work of art unlike anything I've ever seen before..." Renara muttered while studying what was happening as though the deep cut running through her palm and into the bone beneath it did not even exist, then a smile gradually appeared on her face. "But no matter how unusual its form or purpose may be, it's still energy, and no one can handle energy better than me."

Bam Renara abruptly closed her wounded hand around the sword, tightened her grip, and forcefully yanked the weapon backward with enough strength to tear it directly from Marlik's grasp, then immediately darted away with the sword now in her possession.

"No!!" Marlik shouted the instant he saw his sword leaving his hand in such an absurd manner, his shock rapidly turning back into fury as he watched the weapon being taken away from him. "Come back here!!"

The sword began trembling noticeably in Renara's grip, vibrating against her wounded hand as though trying to decide what to do, but despite that reaction, it did not attack her or display any particularly intense hostility toward its new holder... and after only a few seconds of mild resistance, the trembling gradually weakened until it stopped resisting her altogether.

"Haha!!" Renara extended her other hand and firmly grabbed the sword's long hilt with both hands, leaving the wound across her palm to visibly heal on its own while she focused entirely on the weapon now in her possession. "What a feeling of confidence and power!!"

The crimson aura was still enveloping Renara's arm and spreading through the space immediately around her as though it had taken a liking to its new place and had no desire to leave. That strange misty aura gave Renara the distinct feeling that she had somehow become stronger merely by having it around her... perhaps it was not actual strength in the direct sense, and perhaps her physical power had not truly increased, but she could clearly feel her aggression, killing intent, and the other emotions that aided her during battle growing noticeably stronger under its influence.

Swoosh This time, instead of waiting for Marlik to attack again, Renara was the one who surged forward toward him, dragging the heavy crimson sword behind her as its mist continued curling around her arm.

"Damn it!" Marlik quickly drew his other sword from its sheath without hesitation, revealing another sword surrounded by a glowing yellow misty aura, then immediately brought it forward to block Renara's incoming strike—Bang.

This time, nothing shattered at the point of collision, and Renara herself did not retreat from the tremendous impact either. Instead, Marlik was the one being forced backward under the pressure while Renara continued pressing against him with the crimson sword she had just taken from his own hand!

"Haha, this is your limit!" Renara shouted joyfully as she continued pressing forward, clearly delighted by the sudden reversal between them. "This battle is over!"

Poof As had happened repeatedly throughout their exchanges, Marlik took the full force of the shock generated by their collision after Renara redirected it toward him once again. "You... bitch!! If it weren't for the help you received from that bastard Transcendent, you wouldn't have even dared to stand in my way!"

"Transcendent?" Renara raised one eyebrow upon hearing the unfamiliar title used in that manner. "That title suits him!" Then she laughed, seemingly finding the description rather appropriate. "Didn't you also receive a Law from your master and those swords of yours as support? We're the same in that regard, cheaters just like each other... and judging from how things are going right now, it looks like I'm the bigger cheater between us. I'm going to win today, hehe."

Without giving Marlik any chance to recover from the exchange, Renara extended her free hand toward him and directly grabbed the long hilt of the yellow sword that was still firmly held in Marlik's hand.

"What the hell are you doing, you damned bitch?!" Marlik shouted when he saw her grab his second weapon so brazenly.

But instead of answering with concern, Renara's smile only grew wider as she tightened her grip around the yellow sword's hilt. "Give this to its new master!"

The yellow mist surrounding the sword immediately began changing its behavior, curling away from Marlik and wrapping itself around Renara's other arm instead, abandoning Marlik with startling speed as more and more of that mist gathered around her.

"Nooooooo!!" Marlik tried with all his strength to maintain his grip and keep the sword in his possession, but despite everything he did, the weapon continued slipping from his hand little by little, seemingly preferring to move toward Renara rather than remain with him. "Don't do this to me!!"

Huuuuum

The two swords began trembling gently and intermittently in Renara's hands, their vibrations coming and going almost as though the two weapons were lamenting Marlik's miserable state after abandoning him in this manner, before the trembling finally faded away and both swords fell silent.

"Haha!" With the crimson sword held firmly in her right hand and the yellow sword in her left, while the misty rings belonging to both weapons curled around her arms and body in an epic display, Renara looked more imposing than before. The two weapons were undeniably heavy and stubborn, and handling them was hardly effortless, but at the very least they had stopped resisting her—and far more importantly, they had completely stopped helping her opponent... With that advantage firmly in her hands, Renara raised her leg and struck Marlik squarely in the chest with the sole of her foot.

Swoosh

Marlik was sent shooting backward through space from the force of the kick, and immediately behind him came Renara, dragging the two heavy swords along with their crimson and yellow mist in her wake in a legendary sight. She wanted to build up as much momentum as possible during her pursuit and then use the weight of both swords to sever Marlik's head in one decisive attack. "Butcher, it's time for the slaughter!"

"....."

At that exact moment, however, the panic and alarm that had covered Marlik's face throughout the loss of his two swords suddenly disappeared, his entire expression changing from apparent horror to an unnaturally complete calm.

"Indeed."

"...?!" Renara's brows immediately furrowed sharply when she saw that abrupt change in his expression and heard the unexpected calmness in his reply.

Then, before she could complete what she intended to do, she suddenly felt an intense pain erupt through both of her arms at once, a pain powerful enough to interrupt her movement without warning.

Clutch

"Aaaaaah!!"