Chapter 637 - 53: Break Through to Golden Core

"I have mastered the Time Domain."

He raised his hand, pointing out the window at the frozen night, at the motionless lights, at the bird stalled in mid-air.

"Do you see? This is the power of time. I can make it stop, make it reverse, and make it accelerate. You thought you killed me? You only killed my past self."

The corners of his mouth tilted up into a knowing smile.

"And as long as time continues to flow, I will be reborn in the future. As long as the balance is being broken, the Balance Keeper will never disappear."

Murphy fell silent.

He stared at the Ironspine Duke, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice calm yet filled with an unmistakable resolve:

"I don't believe you."

The Ironspine Duke's smile didn't change. "It makes no difference if you don't believe me."

The instant his words fell—

He made his move.

There was no warning, no Energy Fluctuations, not even any movement.

But Murphy felt it.

That power, that pressure capable of crushing the void, that destructive intent—more terrifying and purer than ten years ago—surged toward him like a tsunami.

Murphy didn't hesitate.

With a mere thought, he shattered the shackles of frozen time. A flash of Crimson sword-light erupted from within him, instantly enveloping both him and the Ironspine Duke.

In the next instant, the sword-light shot skyward, tearing through the frozen time, ripping open the solidified void, and sweeping the two of them high above Taymer Palace!

Eleanor remained where she was, frozen in her father's embrace, completely oblivious to everything that had just happened.

...

「High in the heavens.」

There were no clouds, no wind, only the endless void and stars.

Murphy and the Ironspine Duke faced each other in a standoff, a hundred meters apart.

Murphy said nothing more.

He simply raised his right hand, a Crimson Longsword solidifying in his palm—the blade forged from his will, his Path, his very being.

The blade flashed, a streak of light cutting across the vast sky.

The next second, countless flashes of Crimson light surged from all directions, like a torrential downpour, like a monstrous tidal wave, crashing down furiously upon the Ironspine Duke!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The explosions were so dense they blended into a single, deafening roar.

The sword-light struck the Ironspine Duke's body, and each impact unleashed a terrifying burst of Energy powerful enough to rip the void asunder.

That Energy radiated madly through the upper atmosphere, turning the entire night sky to day.

If time were flowing normally, anyone in Taymer Palace who looked up would witness an unprecedented, brilliant yet terrifying "fireworks" display.

But this was no fireworks display.

It was the kind of destruction that could wipe an entire city off the map.

And the Ironspine Duke stood at the very center of this destruction.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, perfectly still.

He let the sword-light, any single flash of which could kill a Wizard, assail his body, yet he remained motionless, a faint smile on his face.

"Useless. It's useless."

His voice cut through the dense roar of explosions, reaching Murphy's ears with perfect clarity.

"It's all useless."

Murphy did not let up his assault.

The flashes of light continued to rain down, each one sharper and more ferocious than the one before.

His Dao Transformation Level spun wildly, his will blazed, and he pushed his control over this pocket of reality to its absolute limit.

'I have to kill this man. No matter what he says about time or rebirth, I have to wipe him from existence completely.'

But the Ironspine Duke remained where he was.

The flashes of sword-light struck him and vanished without a trace, like snowflakes falling into a furnace, not leaving so much as a scratch.

He let Murphy attack, allowing the world-destroying sword-light to strike him again and again. Through it all, the faint smile on his face never wavered.

Finally, he spoke.

"Murphy," he said, his voice calm as if stating a simple fact, "you can't possibly believe that just because you got lucky and shattered one of my shells ten years ago, you can do it a second time today, can you?"

Murphy's assault faltered for a moment.

The Ironspine Duke continued:

"That time, it was because you poured forth all of your power, all of your will, your entire self. You allowed yourself to undergo Dao Transformation, heedless of the consequences, holding nothing back. You succeeded."

"But do you know what that means?"

He took a small step forward—a single step that traversed the hundred-meter distance, bringing him within arm's reach of Murphy.

"It means you've already used up that one stroke of luck. It means that before me, you have no secrets left."

He looked at Murphy and said, word by word:

"If you want to truly kill me, it's very simple."

"Break through to the Golden Core."