Clang! Clang!...

In the wide, empty cage, steel sang on steel, crisp notes echoing like frost tapping iron.

Since FrostyLily Dream dropped from the sky, minutes slipped by; our fight shifted to close-quarters swordplay, blades weaving silver arcs.

Boredom pressed first, then thought. Her swordcraft… barely improved since last time; a sliver of progress, thin as rime. If my blade weren’t suppressed by her Primordial Source Sword, I’d have ended this already. Pure swordplay feels dull.

I also noticed she favors techniques over the blade itself. Even in melee, every few exchanges she pops a sword art, fireworks over foundation. No wonder her swordcraft crawls.

I parried her strike and answered with a clean riposte, driving her back a few steps. I couldn’t hold it in. “Your swordsmanship’s still trash. You’re a Sword Spirit, and this is a slog.”

“…Compared to Sister, my swordcraft is indeed shameful.”

She admitted it, voice cool as snow. “If Sister isn’t enjoying this, I’ll end it with my strongest move.”

“Your strongest? Don’t tell me it’ll get cracked again by my World Sword and the Reversal Sword.”

“Of course not. These centuries, that’s my biggest leap. I won’t disappoint, Sister.”

Her tone stayed cold, but her aura surged like a blizzard front. Heat fled the plane; air itself frosted over in thick ice. I wondered if Yumigawa Senki and the others could endure. An eruption of ice-element Primordial Source mutates everything. A fresh Divine Realm like Yumigawa Senki would suffer, and even a God King wouldn’t be comfortable.

“Yumigawa Senki’s got the Sacred Life Sword. Hill, my younger sister, and Elyar are with her. They should manage.”

While I weighed that, her preparation neared its end. The ice-blue radiance of the Primordial Source flared blinding, and the Primordial Source Sword’s power fully awakened. A blizzard hammered the plane, fiercer by several folds.

I tried to read her trump with Sword Intent, but my Intent refused to travel. Suppression bit hard. So that’s it—she wasn’t bragging. She’s grown.

I shelved the Intent, poured a mass of Sword Aura to brace my blade. Anticipation rose like a storm tide.

Then, as if answering that hunger, FrostyLily Dream finally moved—

The instant her aura hit the brink, her figure vanished. In her place, a sword-glow, icy enough to bite bone.

“Ice Origin: Sever Thought.”

Sword-light flooded the sky around me. Danger prickled head to toe. Then hundreds of slashes detonated at once; sky and ground cracked wide under the pressure.

That force—at least twice last time. Staring at that avalanching storm of Origin Sword Qi slashes, I swung my blade with full strength.

“World Sword.”

Blade met Origin Sword Qi—no thunder this time, only graveyard quiet. No trace remained; the scene felt painted over, a lie erased.

“Whew. Your first sword’s blocked. Where’s sword two?”

Yes, there were countless slashes of ice-element Origin Sword Qi, but the core was the single cut she swung when she reappeared.

Her strongest technique—the Ice Origin series—holds three swords, the Ice Origin Three Swords. They correspond to swordsmanship, Sword Aura, and Sword Intent, the peak of her mastery in each.

“Rest easy. I won’t let Sister down.”

“We’ll see.”

I pushed my blade outward, opening space between us.

Trouble gnawed first, then the sight. My sword, after fending her first cut, was laced with cracks, long and short, ready to snap. I’d braced it with Sword Aura beforehand. It still loses to the Primordial Source.

I exhaled lightly and reinforced it again with Origin Sword Qi. Perfect. The blade returned to pristine, its texture a tier higher. I gave it a testing sweep.

Didn’t expect this fight to force me to shore up my weapon with Origin Sword Qi. Looks like she poured most of her time into the Ice Origin Three Swords.

“Ice Origin: Sever Heart.”

Back in the air, FrostyLily Dream gripped the Primordial Source Sword and swept a ring. Ice-element Origin Sword Qi flooded the entire sky—packed dense, no gap. Look closer: every strand had solidified.

So much Origin Sword Qi made solid… not a joke. Out in the world, that could erase half a realm.

Before her strike triggered, I gathered Origin Sword Qi again without hesitation.

“Sword merges with Heaven and Earth; all things are blades.”

“Fall.”

“Go.”

We spoke at once, and our sword qi streaked toward each other like light.

Boom!!!

As Origin Sword Qi crashed against Origin Sword Qi, the whole plane shuddered violently. Keep this up, and the plane will turn to dust.

Yumigawa Senki’s side was failing too. No wonder—the energy bleeding off this clash would flatten them. Even a God King or Dragon God who command rules would run.

No choice. I sent Yumigawa Senki and the others back, then shifted the fight to a broader, lifeless plane.

The remaining Origin Sword Qi immediately erupted one last time. In a blink, half the new plane lay in ruins, everything cracked and broken.

“…I didn’t expect Sister to wield Origin Sword Qi, and even change planes at the crucial moment. Should I be happy?”

“Mm. I admit you’ve grown a lot. Pure Sword Aura can’t deal with you anymore.”

“Really… thank you for the praise.”

Her face stayed cold, snow-flat, yet I could feel her joy under the ice.

“Then use your third sword to prove you deserve my praise.”

“As you command, Sister.”

…