Chapter 146 A Swift Victory...
[Ding! Congratulations on becoming an A-ranker!]
'Even the lifeless voice of the status panel's notification has turned lively now… strong individuals are indeed treated much better…' (Rio)
Rio shook his head at this thought. He didn't dare become too arrogant just because he had become an A-ranker; there were more than a million A-rankers in this world, and there was no point in thinking too highly of yourself.
While Rio contemplated in his mind, the dense mana surrounding him started to scatter, and the tornado disappeared into thin air after some time.
*Grooooarrr*
Now that the protection of mana was gone, the undead immediately rushed towards Rio, and its giant axe descended toward Rio's head.
'Hmm, my detection skill has improved a lot it seems...' (Rio)
Rio tilted his body to the left slightly and dodged the attack easily. The giant axe landed on the ground where Rio was originally standing; the impact of that attack caused the ground to crack, and a small valley was carved out in the ground.
'Is this undead recovering its former S-rank strength as time passes?' (Rio)
Since the start of the battle with the undead, Rio had noticed that the undead was slowly getting stronger as time passed; they started to use more and more techniques and fighting styles as the battle continued.
'I will need to finish this in one strong attack then…' (Rio)
Rio jumped back and created a small distance between them. He raised his sword over his shoulder, bent his knees, and took the stance for a powerful slash.
The undead seemed to have sensed something; it immediately put its axe in a defensive stance and covered itself with mana to defend against Rio's incoming attack.
'Its 'perception' has recovered too; this thing is getting more dangerous with each passing second… I need to deal with it fast…' (Rio)
[Sword Intent!]
[Concentration!]
[Body Strengthening!]
A massive amount of mana condensed on Rio's sword, and the air trembled around Rio just from the presence of that incredibly condensed 'Sword Intent'.
Rio's sword's length increased to several meters due to the condensation of mana and 'sword intent' on it.
'Rest in peace; you were a noble warrior, you defended your homeland in your death and after…' (Rio)
[Elemental Sword Arts: Descending lunar eclipse!]
[Soul Splitting!]
Rio's sword descended on the undead with an intimidating momentum. The air pressure from that attack was so strong that it split the clouds in the sky, and a new valley was created.
That one attack altered the geography of this ancient battlefield in an instant. Dust and rubble flew away like meteors. The cut on the ground was so deep and neat that magma could be seen with the naked eye.
Despite all of this, the undead stood still. The sword attack seems to have passed right through it, without doing any damage at all, but that was definitely not true.
In those last moments, the undead seemed to have gained some sanity back; it used telepathy and whispered in Rio's mind.
'Thy strength Extraordinary…'
With that said, the undead's body split into two halves vertically, and both of its halves fell down on the ground with a 'thud' sound.
While the attack had split the remnant 'soul' and 'will' residing in the undead and destroyed it instantly, on the other hand, 'sword intent' split its physical body into two pieces.
The armor and the axe which the undead used to defend itself were also sliced through neatly and fell on the ground.
Winds howled, and Rio's hair ruffled in the air as he stared at the fallen undead with his emotionless face.
'If not for this awakening… I would have been the one to fall and be forgotten from existence, just like this knight…' (Rio)
…
In the sky, Inside Raji's barrier.
'As I had expected, this little guy is indeed full of mysteries…. But well, everyone has their own secrets; I don't think it would be a good decision to press him and make him spit his secrets out…' (Raji)
Raji had easily seen through everything that Rio did in that attack. As an SS-ranker, she was all too familiar with the concept of soul, and she had gone to many dungeons where spirit beings resided.
'So that must be the 'Soul Splitting Technique' that made Kevin Flash as successful as an assassin…' (Raji)
When Kevin was in service, Raji was still just an academy student and didn't get to witness his unique technique in person. She only knew about it because she had heard Ashtel and Neo talk about it before.
Today she got to witness this technique with her own eyes.
(Yes, the sword and the technique that Ashtel and everyone else was talking about during the early chapters 'ch-34 and onwards' of the novel, was this sword 'Vinash' and the skill 'Soul Splitting'…)
Anyone who holds this sword and is A-rank or above can use the 'Soul Splitting' technique.
(Others can use this sword, but the efficiency and damage would not be so high compared to what Rio is doing; that is because Rio had been recognized by this sword, unlike others…)
This 'Soul splitting' technique is only as effective as now when used by someone recognized by the sword itself.
Kevin Flash tried his whole life, but he was never able to get the sword to recognize him and had no choice but to put it in the inheritance card that he prepared for Rio.
This sword causes mental and emotional corruption to those who are not worthy to use it; thus, Kevin rarely ever used this sword and had to part with it early, otherwise, he couldn't have kept his sanity intact.
Kevin was barely able to keep 'Vinash' with him for only two years, and it already cost him to lose the love and care he had for his family and friends. It preyed on his emotions and altered his personality a lot.
If not for the fact that Kevin understood the seriousness of this matter on time and decided to put this sword away, he would have become a mindless creature attacking and destroying everything that came into his sight.
He was expecting his son to have better talent than him; thus, he put that sword for Rio to find. If he had known that the original Rio was barely even a C-ranker, he would have not put Rio in harm's way.
(Rio was ten years old when Kevin died, and thus Kevin never saw Rio become an awakener; all the inheritance preparation he did was based on the thought that his son would very likely awaken the max potential of S-rank at least.)
(This is the reason why that inheritance card was such a dangerous place; it was designed as a test for a supposed future S-ranker.)
In the first place, the original Rio would have never received that inheritance card as he would have no way to get acquainted with an S-ranker like James.
The original Rio was supposed to get expelled from the academy by the end of the first year. He would have then become a veteran dungeon raider. He would have raided many C-rank or below-ranked dungeons by the time he would have retired from this fighting life.
He would have then married a fellow awakener from his raiding party, and they would have lived happily ever after.
But that one 'Anomaly', the transmigration has changed the 'Fate' itself. As they say, all the threads of fate are connected like a spider's web, and changing one of them changes the whole world itself.
…
After a while, Rio stopped staring at the undead.
A portal appeared nearby, and all of the party members walked out of the portal one by one.
Lia immediately jumped on him with slight tears in her eyes.
"Thankfully, you are okay!" (Lia)
Rio patted Lia's head and comforted her with a slight smile on his face.
"Yeah, I am fine, what about you? Where have you guys been?" (Rio)
Rio didn't know that they were watching him from afar, and thus he was confused as to why Lia suddenly hugged him; he thought she was the one who had suffered and wanted to get comforted.
Link pointed his index finger towards him and said in an excited tone:
"Don't think you have won! I will reach A-rank in no time too!" (Link)
"Yeah, yeah…" (Rio)
"Tch!" (Link)
Link became annoyed by looking at Rio's mocking face and stopped talking. (Rio didn't mock him, but in his eyes, Rio looks like he is mocking him…. Link's way of thinking is quite complicated…)
"Congratulations on your advancement, Student Rio… you have already fulfilled the graduation criteria now.... it's indeed a great achievement" (Raji)
Even Raji, who always had a cold look on her face, complimented Rio for his amazing feat and gave him a slight pat on the shoulder to show her appreciation.
She nodded her head at Rio and then glared at Link with fierce eyes.
"Link, you should also start working harder from now on… it is very likely that Rio will leave you behind in the dust from now on…" (Raji)
Link was embarrassed at Raji's statement; he puffed up his chest and said in a confident tone.
"Humph, I will also reach rank A in no time, just you wait, Rio!" (Link)
Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere eased a lot. The previous tension and awkwardness seem to have disappeared by now.
(All of them seem to have forgotten about the existence of Fade, Kira, and Damian altogether…)
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! Finally, we know why Kevin was such a deadbeat father; it was not that he wanted to kill Rio, it's just that the original Rio was too weak for his considerations…
Question of the day.
Would you also like to defend your homeland like the undead knight who fought Rio even after his death?
1. Yes (The urge to do a last stand against a whole army and go crazy….)
2. Not (I am a little cutie patootie so I will pass…)
3. Others (Tell me in the comments)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.
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