'How long have we been fighting for?' The Martial Blade God had no idea.
The concept of time suddenly seemed meaningless in the clash between both him and a being that had transcended such shackles.
Only the sublime feeling of cutting through the Nether's body, and the evasion of fatal blows, filled his mind. And slowly, he began to experience another sensation he had forgotten.
"Haa… haa…"
He was running out of breath!
His swings became sluggish. His bones ached. His muscles hurt with each convulsion. His body was already showing signs of exhaustion.
'So this is how it feels! I had forgotten!'
The Nether now had the upper hand, pushing the Martial Blade God on the defensive. He had lost the advantage, and was now barely keeping up. He was in a very precarious position, drawing closer and closer to death.
Yet… the Martial Blade God was smiling—no, he was laughing.
Like a madman dancing in the presence of imminent destruction—he did not cease his cackles of insanity.
Even as his body began to receive hits from the Nether's blade, he kept up his cheerful state, he kept up his excitement. His body screamed in pain, but that did not prevent him from enjoying every moment of it.
The constant stream of Nether energy that corrupted his body was purified by the high concentration of Aether in his body, and his wounds kept healing. However, the rate of damage, and the intensity, made him more and more wretched the longer he fought.
His wounds healed slower than before, and his wounds kept getting more.
"Haaa…"
He had finally reached it—the limit of his strength.
The Nether, however, seemed to be getting stronger. It seemed the gap between them only widened the more he swung his blade.
Yet, what could he do except swing his blade?
His body was weary, yet he couldn't stop. Until—
>CLANG!<
The very blade he took pride in… shattered!
With his blade of light broken, and the Nether's next strike approaching him, the Martial Blade God realized this was the end.
His hair was ragged and his breathing was uneven. His body was mutilated. He was in a miserable state.
He could no longer move too.
'Is this… the limit…?' He thought to himself.
Could he not go even further than this?
He watched as the blade closed in on him, unable to do anything. His thoughts were in a calm still, and yet he pondered the futility of all this time.
Did it really not exist?
Now that he had stopped swinging his blade, he could feel it. He could see the answer that had been right in front of him this whole time.
'It does exist!'
Only when he stopped swinging his blade did his mind open up to a new reality—the realm he had sought for so long.
ENLIGHTENMENT!
He shed his old body that very moment, escaping the expired shell that kept him trapped for so long. The Nether Blade was only able to kill that body of his, but his soul was finally freed.
The soul achieved a new body—one that was incorruptible, undefiled and transcendent.
The Martial Blade God's hair was still white, but so was his entire body. His clothing took on the same mantle, and he was shrouded in energy that could not be defined by mere mortals.
"So this is… the Primordial Waters…" He muttered.
The calm, blue gaze of the Martial Blade God was no longer on the surprised Nether entity a distance from him. It was way beyond that.
His senses extended beyond the world and went far into the dark reaches outside of it.
The other planets, the cosmos—the Martial Blade God was now one with the universe.
'So this is what you see… the state of this realm's existence—and that of the others. These infinite strata… I see…"
What the Martial Blade God now understood to be the world was much more different from what he had expected. The realities he peeked through, the multiple life forms he saw, the vast reservoir of energy left untapped… so many things that would not have been comprehensible to him prior to this moment.
But now, he saw them all.
"Oh? This is surprising. You've broken through to the Primordial Stage" The Nether commented.
A dark gleam of both anticipation and caution was displayed by this malevolent entity, and he finally had to admit the truth standing in front of him.
'My current strength is no lesser than his. This is worrisome. It looks like I'll have to go all out."
He worried that his vessel would not be able to handle all of his power, but at least there had to be a certain threshold it could take.
Either way, he had to do it—else, elimination was a possibility.
"I will be going all-out now." The Nether proclaimed to the Martial Blade God.
"As will I."
>VWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<
The Nether's body suddenly released an immense surge of dark power, spreading past his body's reach. He slowly began to expand—both in size and power. His initial form paled in comparison to the new state he was reaching.
He grew to become at least a hundred meters, his form towering over the darkened clouds above. In this form, his dark majesty became far more pronounced.
"This is the limit, it seems…" The Nether smiled, looking at the little speck of the Martial Blade God.
'Now, my power has far exceeded his.'
The Nether's influence was already supreme. No one could stand beside or around him. Even Jared's allies had long fled and could only watch from a distance.
In this form, there was certainly no one who could go against him.
… Or so he thought.
"Martial Blade God Final Technique: Martial Peak."
>VWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<
Warbling and glowing like the very essence of the world, a massive burst of Aether peaked.
It cut through the heavens and dispersed all of the filth that encompassed the progenitor of said power. The Aether was simply too powerful, enough to reverse the corruption that had been done around it.
And then… from this brilliant burst of Aether emerged the Martial Blade God—or rather, his avatar.
Standing exactly a hundred meters tall, the being made of pure Aether manifested completely. It looked like a Martial Artist—like a more incorporeal form of the Martial Blade God himself.
This projection felt as incorporeal as the Mind Blade and yet as real as a tangible energy. It transcended explanation, and the pressure it exuded was impossible to resist.
This avatar had a blade that was strapped by his waist, and its kimono flowed, almost as if it was as soft as fabric. Light armour appeared here and there, and his face was left completely blank—save for the never-blinking eyes that kept a constant gaze on the Nether.
As for the Martial Blade God himself, he was at the chest portion of this being of pure energy. He stood in a casing-like chamber there, and lines of ultra-thin energy converged into his chamber—like nerves in the body, all connected to the main source.
This was his trump card—an invincible, perfected form of a warrior.
The Martial Peak!
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