Chapter 2473: Difference

Behemoths’ Front—

"Asteron, you’re walking a path of no return!" Arkail spoke in a deep, heavy voice, while the space surrounding him churned and distorted from the excessive use of the Law of Time, as though even after seeing Asteron’s decision with his own eyes, he still didn’t know exactly what he should do about the man standing before him.

"I protect my Sector, I protect the past, the present, and the future. This is my path, the path I’ve chosen to walk... I don’t care who’s on the good side and who’s on the evil side. It’s all nonsense." Asteron advanced slowly and steadily, holding his strange spear firmly with both hands, his eyes remaining closed and his voice remarkably calm despite the confrontation ahead. "You made a mistake when you sent the Shadow Swords into my Sector, and then you made another mistake when you thought I was an easy morsel you could simply swallow without consequences... I am Asteron, Arkail. Asteron!!"

The space surrounding Asteron began trembling and distorting as well as his power continued to rise, reaching a level roughly equal to the disturbances surrounding Arkail, who continued looking at him with a complicated gaze without immediately making another move.

The power of the Law of Relativity was well known, and anyone foolish enough to underestimate it would inevitably taste death sooner or later. As for Asteron himself, he was an extremely formidable man who had clawed his way toward the top with his own nails and remained firmly there since before the era of the Space Beast invasion until this very day. Throughout all that enormous span of time, he had never budged from his position, nor had anyone seriously thought of trying to dislodge him from it.

"Heh~" Arkail finally sighed after staring at him for a moment longer, the complicated expression in his eyes still present. "No one will blame me for demanding enormous compensation after today’s battle."

Then he raised a hand and signaled Kiryan to leave this battlefield and head elsewhere to continue fighting in another location rather than remain here with them.

Afterward, Arkail raised his scepter with both hands and firmly took hold of it, then tilted his head and cracked his neck to the right as he prepared himself. "Come show me who Asteron is. Show me exactly how relativity will move time!!"

--------------------

Slaaaash

Marlik brought his sword down on Renara from above with a direct downward strike.

"Hmph." With a confident smile still hanging on her face and without showing the slightest intention of avoiding the confrontation, Renara thrust her spear directly toward the descending sword’s edge.

With the enormous amount of force she had placed behind that spearhead, she could easily destroy entire solar systems... This wasn’t merely confidence without foundation either. She had already demonstrated her supernatural physical strength several times over the past three years through battles against a large number of the Council’s Dominators, proving exactly how terrifying her strength had become.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

The instant the sword and spear collided, their point of contact unleashed an enormous wave of energy that surged violently outward in every direction.

"What?!" Renara gritted her teeth tightly as her expression immediately changed. She could actually feel an overwhelming force pushing her backward!!

Krrrrrrrr Sparks began erupting wildly between the sword and spear as the two weapons continued pressing against one another, their opposing forces grinding together until—BANG!

The space caught between them finally exploded under the tremendous pressure, violently sending both Renara and Marlik flying backward in opposite directions!

Whoosh Renara quickly regained control of her body and managed to stop herself without any visible injuries appearing on her, but despite being physically unharmed, the astonishment clearly written across her face spoke volumes about what had just happened.

This was the first time she had ever been repelled since becoming Unbound... She had once faced thirty Dominators simultaneously and fought against them all at the same time, yet even their combined attacks hadn’t been capable of stopping her advance!!

And that wasn’t all that had caught her attention...

"No..." The first thing Renara’s eyes fell upon after stabilizing herself was the spearhead of the weapon she was still holding raised before her in a defensive position.

The spearhead itself was visibly dented at the tip.

This spear was a fourth-grade planetary artifact, yet after its tip had been broken and deformed like this, it was no longer capable of properly thrusting into an opponent. The most it could do now was be swung around with the hope of landing a lateral cut using the remaining edge... in other words, in its current condition, it could only be used as a polearm.

With a mixture of anger and genuine awe at what had just happened, Renara bared her fox fangs toward Marlik, while her eyes narrowed until they resembled those of a predator preparing to attack its prey, openly declaring her readiness for the next round and silently telling him that even what he had just displayed still wasn’t enough to truly threaten her...

But when she finally looked directly at Marlik, she calmed down slightly.

Marlik’s sword was glowing with an intense, brilliant crimson light, while a dense mist-like aura continuously flowed from the blade and spread around it. It had cleaved through the spearhead with frightening ease during their collision, yet there wasn’t so much as a single scratch visible anywhere on its surface. In fact, rather than appearing affected by the clash in any way, the sword was visibly vibrating in Marlik’s hand, almost as though it were eagerly awaiting the next strike.

As for Marlik himself, however, blood was slowly dripping from his nose.

"Well, well, well..." Renara revealed a small smile as she noticed that tiny but unmistakable sign, her gaze lingering on him for a moment. "What do we have here?"

"Tsk." Marlik wiped the blood from beneath his nose without showing much concern for it. "An allergy to the stench of foxes."

"Haha~" Renara laughed naturally at his answer, apparently finding the insult amusing rather than offensive. "Come to mama and she’ll give you the medicine, then."

This time, instead of waiting for Marlik to attack again, Renara was the one who charged forward, pushing her eyes and senses to their absolute limits as she approached him, not merely for attacking and detecting his movements as she normally would, but specifically to monitor every change occurring within Marlik’s body during their exchanges.

Bam Renara swung her damaged spear toward him with tremendous force, and when Marlik blocked the attack with apparent ease, she immediately continued the motion rather than stopping, bringing the spear down in a rotational movement before attacking him again from below, but once again, Marlik blocked her strike effortlessly.

The spear’s lateral blade was visibly weakening with every collision against that crimson sword, its condition deteriorating before their very eyes as small broken sections began appearing along the already damaged blade.

But Renara didn’t stop because of that and continued swinging the spear several more times at terrifying speed, launching one attack after another without giving him room to relax. Had an ordinary Dominator been standing somewhere nearby and attempting to follow their exchange, they wouldn’t even have been able to clearly see Renara’s movements... but Marlik saw everything she did, followed every attack, and blocked every single one.

Then, with those same sleepy-looking eyes that seemed strangely mismatched with the intensity of the battle, Marlik moved his misty crimson sword and struck a particular point on Renara’s weapon. "Pathetic!" The precise strike violently knocked Renara’s spear away from its previous path, forcing it aside and completely exposing her abdomen to a direct thrust.

And indeed, Marlik didn’t waste the opportunity he had just created for even an instant and immediately lunged forward, driving his sword toward Renara’s exposed abdomen.

But—

Clatter

A sudden sense of danger rang sharply inside Marlik’s head just as he was about to complete the attack, causing his eyes to shift upward.

Renara was gripping the lower end of the spear tightly, squeezing it with both hands with enough force to secure what remained of the damaged weapon, while preparing to bring the long shaft crashing directly down onto Marlik’s head.

If he continued with the thrust into her exposed abdomen and committed himself fully to the attack, he would inevitably receive a direct blow to the head from the spear shaft at almost the same moment.

Normally, Marlik would have ignored something like that completely and continued with his attack without hesitation... but not today.

"...!!" Without wasting another instant, Marlik quickly changed the direction of his movement and converted the thrust meant for Renara’s abdomen into an overhead blocking motion, raising his sword to receive the incoming strike instead.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Once again, the space caught between their weapons exploded violently under the tremendous force generated by their collision, and both Renara and Marlik were sent flying backward in different directions.

Crack Renara first felt her hand suddenly go numb from the impact, followed immediately by an unexpected sensation of lightness. The spear had finally snapped cleanly in half after its blade folded over like an old sheet of metal, so she didn’t hesitate to toss what remained of the weapon aside like a useless piece of scrap before quickly searching for Marlik with her eyes... and the moment she found him, a smile appeared on her face.

Marlik was wiping fresh blood from the corner of his mouth... He had suffered an internal injury from their latest exchange.

"Heh~" Renara straightened her body completely and looked down toward Marlik from where she had stopped, the confidence that had briefly wavered returning to her expression. "You made me doubt myself for a moment. You actually made me wonder how the strength that can easily knock down dozens of Dominators could fail against someone like you, how the power my Lord gave me could possibly be compared to what your worthless master gave you!"

"Ptooey..." Marlik cleaned the blood from his mouth and spat once again, his expression remaining hostile as he looked back at her. "That cheating master of yours who gave you your power will soon be thrown into the depths of the prisons, while that Robin Burton... I’ll turn his head into my personal urinal." Then he raised his sword and pointed its edge directly toward Renara. "And you... I’ll fuck your corpse tonight."

"....?!" Renara’s expression immediately changed, not because of the threat itself, but because she had clearly noticed the strange distinction Marlik had just made between the master who had given her power and Robin. "What are you talking about?!"

"You’ll see that I’ll carry out every word!" Marlik began advancing toward her again while brandishing his crimson sword, the surrounding space gradually filling with the glowing red mist constantly pouring from the weapon. "You boast that you’re stronger when it comes to taking attacks because you’re a full Unbound. Fine, you’re not the only one with external support... I want to see exactly how many fourth- and fifth-grade planetary artifacts you have with you. I’ll cut every last one of them apart tonight, and after they’re all gone, let me see you stop my sword with your bare hands... This battle will go to the one with the longest breath, the one who can keep going until the other has nothing left!"

Then Marlik raised his voice until his declaration rang across the surrounding space, his conviction seemingly unaffected by the blood that had already appeared on his face. "And I shall be the survivor! I’m always the survivor!!"

Whoosh