I tensed first, a storm knotted in my chest, then I moved. I slashed out arcs of Sword Aura in a flurry, trying to blunt their strike.

So strong—like floodlights scything the sky. Those two colossal beams needed more than a dozen Sword Auras just to barely hold.

I saw it then, clear as thunder on a ridge. Jixiu and Leixi weren’t even serious; those beams were only probes. Even so, the force hit like a Holy Peak blow. The law-forged power inside it brushed a half-step into the Divine Realm, like chains of order rattling in the void.

Against attacks steeped in the power of laws, common Sword Aura and basic sword arts are dead leaves in a gale. It’s like pitting an SSS-class archmage against a Sacred Realm mage; even the weakest Sacred Realm outclasses them. That’s why I had to swing again and again, shedding Sword Aura like sparks. Without that law-force, two arcs would’ve been enough.

“Not bad, not bad. Blocking our strike with Sword Aura that holds no laws? Again. Annihilating Thunderlight!”

“A Skyful of Thunder Blades!”

In a cloud-choked void, two titanic dragon silhouettes loomed and faded like mountains behind rain. Then it fell—countless blades of lightning, a blizzard of razors pouring from the heavens. With them came a beam, thicker than before, a lance of daybreak burning the sky. From the surge alone, both the sky-wide blades and that massive beam screamed half-step Divine.

My scalp prickled like frost. Couldn’t they hold back a little? The second trial hadn’t even hit five minutes. Twenty more to go—how was I supposed to live through that? Stronger guardians still waited beyond Jixiu and Leixi. Could I really clear the sixth floor?

I clenched the Shattered Light Sword till my knuckles ached, heart drumming like war. This wasn’t a probe; this was a landslide. I’d need my Sword Domain to parry it, but time had already slipped like sand.

No choice. Try the second path. I drew a breath cold as rain and drove my Sword Intent outward, gathering Sword Aura till it sang. I fused that Intent into the Aura riding the Shattered Light Sword, weaving will into edge. To meet half-step Divine magic forged with laws, only Sword Aura and arts infused with Sword Intent can bite back—at least for me, here and now.

Half a heartbeat. The attack dropped closer, its pressure freezing the air like winter glass. The cliff under my feet quivered like a frightened beast. No more stalling. The Aura had reached its brink; the Intent was almost set.

A Skyful of Thunder Blades and Annihilating Thunderlight—both were sweeping, storm-wide lightning spells. Their half-step Divine bite was obvious, like sawteeth on bone. The blades scared me more; their range was a black sea. What sword art covers that much sky? In my arsenal, wide-area arts are pitifully few. Damn it—no time left!

Wait—hold on. I do have one, broad as a storm front and vicious enough to bite back. It should block both the blades and the beam. But—forget it. No time to fret.

“Destruction: Sword Aura Burst!”

Sword Aura sheathing the Shattered Light Sword condensed at once, a golden orb the size of a face, bright as a newborn sun. I hurled it upward with everything I had, flinging it as high as a prayer. It swelled as it rose, light drinking the sky, and by the time it met the falling blades and the beam, it was mountain-big.

“Explode.”

Boom!!!

Blinding gold drowned the void like noon flooding a storm. And then more—the world-rending blast tore the air like paper, space cracking and shattering in rings. The aftershock spoke for itself; below, no ridge or forest remained whole. I bled my strength to cast defensive sword arts, throwing up shields to spare the cliff beneath my feet from being erased.

The worst of it hit the high-vaulted sky, where Jixiu and Leixi hung like thunderheads. They’d felt it coming; at the instant of detonation, both cast draconic defensive magic at half-step Divine, scales shining like wards. They came away with only light wounds, singed but standing.

After a while, the air settled, ash drifting like gray snow. I let out a breath I didn’t know I held. Blocked—barely. But the thought of the twenty minutes ahead dropped my heart into a well. If Jixiu and Leixi threw that kind of barrage two or three more times, I’d be finished.

Turtling up won’t save me. Full defense is a coffin with nicer walls. They say offense is the best defense; right now, that rings true as a temple bell. Whatever they throw, I have to meet it with my own edge and cancel it head-on. Beyond that, I see no path.

I could pour everything into a barrier or shield of condensed Sword Aura, a radiant screen to weather the storm. But that depends on the opponent. Against mid or high Sacred Realm, it’s fine. Against Holy Peak or half-step Divine, it’s suicide dressed as courage. At equal tiers, they can rain spell after spell; even an iron wall buckles. And I’m facing two Holy Peak dragons.

There is a way, if only in dreams. If I could rouse the power inside the Shattered Light Sword—even one percent—I wouldn’t fear Jixiu or Leixi at all.

But I don’t know how to wake it. I asked Xinuo once. She only said I wasn’t strong enough yet, and the matter vanished like mist.

Huh? Something’s off. Why aren’t they attacking? I’ve been thinking for minutes now; by my count, they should’ve moved already.

…

In truth, Yumigawa Sumeragi didn’t know this: Jixiu and Leixi weren’t in good shape either. Casting half-step Divine magic eats you from the core, and they’re Holy Peak, not half-step Divine. Even for the Dragon Kin, punching up like that costs a river of strength.

The explosion had felt like death brushing their scales, so they didn’t hesitate. They cast draconic defensive magic at half-step Divine, wards coiling like runes of thunder.

Only from that high vault could they see how terrible the blast truly was. A Skyful of Thunder Blades, Annihilating Thunderlight, and Destruction: Sword Aura Burst colliding made an explosion that pressed right up against the Divine Realm, like a hand on a sealed gate.

So, in one breath, they flung two half-step Divine spells, one of them draconic magic notorious for chewing mana and crushing peers. It isn’t exaggeration to say Jixiu and Leixi burned through nearly half their power. They can drink lightning from the air to refill, sure, but turning ambient thunder into their own mana takes time, and during that conversion they can’t move, bodies locked like statues. And who knows if Yumigawa Sumeragi will strike while they’re still stone?