The Sword and The Shadow

Test

"You only got it half right," Leguna lazily said, "I'm far more loving than you, but I'm far from forgiving."

"What do you mean?" Nidhogg asked.

"Well, look," he said, pointing at Innilis and Eirinn behind him, "I hate this world, perhaps even more than you do. But, I actually managed to start a harem and have more women than you. Therefore, I bear more responsibility than you. Even if Annie's death makes me unable to forgive this world, Eirinn and Innie are still living in it. I have to make sure they'll be able to live here happily, and their wish for now is to have me save this world I hate so much from you. That's why I'm standing here."

"Don't you want to avenge that girl?" Nidhogg asked.

"Of course I do. But if Annie were here, she would have me stop you too. Avenging her after stopping you isn't mutually exclusive. Also…" Leguna paused for a moment and glared at Nidhogg with the will to kill. "You're also part of that revenge. Everything I do is personal. It has nothing to do with lofty ideals like kindness or justice."

After a pause, Nidhogg said, "Looks like a battle between the two of us is inevitable. So be it. It's still within my predictions."

"Then, let's begin." Leguna dropped the two shadow swords in his hand. His eyes glowed a sinister red. He bent down and placed his hands on his waist as if he was trying to draw swords. But when he really made the draw, two blurry objects formed in his hands. They were simple and nondescript longswords. As he continued drawing them out, a three-meter-tall devilish silhouette spouted from his head and grew more opaque. It moved like he did and drew two gigantic black swords from its waist.

When the two swords were drawn, his aura completely changed. It wasn't like Kreighdon's beastly vibes as that was still considered mortal. Now, Leguna filled others with an awe of worship. It was the fundamental difference between lifeforms on different levels. Those looking at him felt like ants looking at humans. Humans had no other choice but to submit and worship before a deity.

"Darn it!" Alissanda felt thoughts of submission after feeling the terrifying aura Leguna let out. However, how could a proud emperor like him think that? He struggled to release his power to resist the scary influence. As the supreme leader of all humans, he wouldn't kneel in worship, even before a true god!

"Hehe…" Alissanda heard the laughter and turned back, only to notice the non-saint Eirinn, Innilis and the rest behind him weren't affected by the divine pressure at all. They were staying by the unconscious Lisana and relished at the sight of him suffering.

"Don't think of coming in here!" Innilis boasted while pointing at the divine shield Leguna put around her. She even mocked him with a funny face.

"Hmph!" Alissanda turned around and forced himself to resist.

Apart from those in the protective bubble, the warriors that remained on the battlefield all kneeled. They planted their faces onto the ground as if they couldn't control their own bodies before the dominating power. Everyone who saw them would understand that the divide between mortal and divine was not one that could be crossed.

However, one person seemed to defy all of that -- Nidhogg. The myth-realm magus seemed completely relaxed before that kind of pressure. He crossed his hands and mused with interest, "Njolvinr's divine power? You already absorbed it?"

"Why don't you give it a try?" Leguna swung his swords and the silhouette mimicked, sending two small slash waves to him.

However, the waves merely passed through Nidhogg as if he was an apparition. But before two seconds had even passed, Nidhogg grunted and blood flowed out of his mouth.

"Even with Host of Gust, I doubt that felt good to take," Leguna mocked. It wasn't that Nidhogg was prideful. He merely wanted to test whether he would be able to avoid the divine-power-infused attack by turning his body into gaseous form. It turned out that while he could mitigate some damage, it still damaged him. In other words, as long as Leguna could wield divine power, Nidhogg would be harmed even with physical attacks.

Despite the surprising results of his test, Nidhogg didn't seem to mind. He wiped his blood off and said, "It is indeed pure divine power. But based on how careful you are with your usage, I'm sure you haven't gained full control of the source of the power yet, right?"

"You're free to keep guessing!" He charged at him immediately.

Nidhogg's expression was calm as ever. His eyes glowed blue and countless magical lights glowed around his body. In an instant, he had cast all buff spells level five and below on himself. Then, thick lava flowed out of his flaming body. He had switched to Host of Flame and summoned a gigantic sword from his diatagi before roaring and charging at Leguna.

"Hold your ears-- what are you doing?!" Angelista wanted to remind them, but she was shocked when she turned around. Innilis didn't do as she said and chose to cover the unconscious Lisana's ears. Thankfully, Angelista reacted quickly enough and used her enthymema to seal Innilis's ears shut.

At that instant, two superhuman existences clashed, and the results were as Angelista had predicted. A sharp, piercing sound reverberated through Melindor Plaza. The surviving warriors collapsed after their eardrums burst and were sent flying by the shockwaves.

"Hey! Do you want to go deaf like Eirinn? What if Leguna blames me for this? I can't defeat him now!" she snapped.

"Lisana has helped me before," Innilis said.

Angelista looked at her without blaming her. After a while, she suddenly asked, "Actually, you didn't want to kill, did you?"

"If I don't kill, Leguna will. He'll turn more and more savage. I'd rather do it myself. I've been doing wrong my whole life, but I think it's worth it if I can bear a little more of his sins."

Are you some kind of masochist? No wonder you're able to accept Annie and Eirinn… she thought.

On the other hand, Leguna and Nidhogg had entered a short impasse after their clash. "Let's end the testing here," Leguna said, "A gentleman should be ashamed to keep ladies waiting."

"Your divine power is mostly used up, right?" Nidhogg smirked and nodded. "Oh well. I'm also itching to destroy Melindor myself."

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