Chapter 149: You Are Completely Irrelevant

(Author’s Note: Guys, I know most of you won’t like this Chapter... but don’t worry, this doesn’t change how the characters feel about each other.)

Cain—whose shadowy face had just endured a fierce barrage of direct punches, paralyzing his ability to gather a single coherent thought for seconds—sensed that terrifying, ultimate aura of the beam taking shape right before his eyes in the form of an intricate magical circle, poised to launch and eradicate him completely!

He couldn’t focus at all due to the severe dizziness; he had slacked off and softened his defenses out of courtesy to his wife, only to push himself into this fatal predicament! In that split second, the survival instinct of his human mind overruled everything else, rendering him utterly incapable of holding back or moderating his immense power!

SWOOOOOOSH!

The ultimate beam of destruction erupted from Lucy’s circle like a sweeping column of fire, detonating through the void as it surged directly toward Cain, who remained stunned and swaying from the impact of her previous blows...

"Hahaha!"

A blood-stained laugh escaped Lucy’s lips; in that moment, she was absolute in her confidence that the battle was settled and victory was hers!

Yet...

As she looked back toward Cain’s position, still drinking in her victory laugh, her remaining eye widened in sheer, utter disbelief. She watched her absolute, almighty beam being split literally in two by a blinding, scorching golden slash! The brilliant beam shattered into scattered light dust, while the golden slash cut straight through toward Lucy before she could even process what was happening!

The strike sliced through her intricate magical circle, utterly disintegrating its runes... and stopping just millimeters short of cleaving her smooth face in two!

In those miraculous fractions of a second, Cain regained his senses and absolute control. Driven by a surge of sheer panic, he altered the trajectory of the launched strike, trying to dampen its brutal force and deflect its path to the far right so as not to deal a lethal blow to Lucy!

However, time was not fully on his side given the mythical velocity of the strike. The sharp edge of the golden arc grazed Lucy’s right eye, carving a complete surgical laceration that extended from her upper forehead, through the socket of her right eye, and settling deep into her cheek!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Cain screamed with the full reach of his distorted vocal cords, feeling as though his spiritual heart had been torn into millions of tiny fragments as he witnessed the horrific sight! If his shadowy form possessed tangible facial expressions, it would have displayed pure, unbridled terror and limitless panic!

Lucy recoiled backward while bleeding profusely, clutching her shoulder and face where deep red blood poured from her injured eye...

"Ugh... Ah...!"

The pain stole her breath away... a searing agony for a entity of her stature who was unaccustomed to suffering wounds! That mighty blow was more than enough to leave a permanent scar on her enchanting face...

It seemed her destructive beam had managed to dampen the momentum of the golden slash, reducing what would have been a decapitation into a deep wound across her eye. But she had seen it with her remaining eye: the strike that was on the verge of cleaving the center of her face had been deliberately deflected to the side! She couldn’t believe for a second that this was a mere passing coincidence!

"LUCYYYYYYYYYY!"

The shadowy entity charged toward her with frantic speed, reaching out to her while his garbled voice screamed loudly into the vast space... It was crystal clear that he was calling her name with agonizing desperation and pleading!

Yet Lucy, amid the magical noise and interference, failed to register the tone of terror in his voice. Instead, she assumed he was threatening to end her life or preparing another finishing blow! Fueled by overwhelming rage and indignance, she had no intention of stopping or surrendering!

Lucy drew her legendary sword once more—the Dimension-Cleaving Sword—and launched herself with suicidal savagery toward the approaching shadow!

She screamed at his shadowy crown:

"DIE...!"

Seeing her suicidal charge and the bloodlust gleaming in her eye, Cain could only cry out in his heart with utter helplessness:

"You idiot...!"

He drew his own Chaos Sword, and fierce, violent collisions began to roar throughout the white dimension like a devastating storm!

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLAAAAASH!

The scene looked like two blazing trails of fiery purple and brilliant gold meeting every fraction of a second in midair, crashing into each other in a fierce, high-speed combat style that defied visual tracking! The sound of their mutual impacts echoed like the screeching friction of massive iron chains slamming together in wild fury!

Neither could keep count of the slashes and techniques hurled against the other...

Lucy delivered a cutting vertical slash that Cain evaded with forced, high-level mastery. Without giving him room to reset his stance, she unleashed an explosive sphere of purple energy directly toward him to crush him at point-blank range! But Cain moved his foot with lightning speed and kicked the sphere with immense force, driving it far outside his range to roll and detonate in the void. He then spun a full circle and drove the hilt base of his sword straight into Lucy’s blood-stained forehead!

DACKKKKKK!

Lucy’s balance collapsed, her upper torso reeling backward. Yet, displaying incredible combat instinct while falling back, she thrust her sword straight toward Cain’s chest! Cain blocked the thrust firmly with the edge of his blade!

Recovering her footing with her exhausted body, Lucy launched another swift strike using a phantom sword formed instantaneously from pure energy, aimed unexpectedly at Cain’s back! Had it not been for Cain’s enhanced senses and absolute perception technique, the sword would have run him through; he narrowly dodged it with a swift tilt, receiving only a minor graze on his shadowy flank!

Both retreated backward, putting distance between themselves as they panted heavily from immense fatigue...

Lucy had drained most of her mana and magical reserves in this crushing encounter, while Cain’s mind was utterly exhausted and his nerves frayed. Throughout the battle, he had strived not to land lethal or harmful blows on his wife while simultaneously dodging her suicidal strikes aimed directly at his soul’s execution!

Lucy straightened her blood-smeared body, her rapid breathing coming out in raspy gasps. She then spoke in a mocking tone, blood still dripping from her eye and face:

"You... aren’t trying to kill me at all..."

Cain heard her words clearly in the tense silence...

Lucy continued with a derisive smile filled with disdain and towering pride:

"All your strikes and techniques... you always try to direct them at non-vital points on my body! You aren’t taking this battle seriously whatsoever! Do you think your petty feelings or concern for me will shift anything in my stance?! Do you think whether you hurt me or not will sway my feelings or how I view you?! Hahaha... You truly are just a naive creature, just like those pathetic Earthlings!"