Birth of the Demonic Sword

Divine Architect had almost sounded arrogant, but King Elbas knew that her statement had carried pure confidence. Still, the situation wasn't in her favor, and King Elbas couldn't predict what would come next.

The mirror was still working as intended, but King Elbas could stop its power. Having access to unlimited energy was a significant advance, but Divine Architect couldn't benefit from it if that power didn't reach her.

King Elbas was more worried about Divine Architect's crystal body. He was almost sure that his previous attack had landed on that sturdy material, but the minor injury resulting from that clash hinted at the existence of serious problems.

'How sturdy is that body?' King Elbas wondered while calculations happened in his mind.

The fake quasi-rank 10 state had evident flaws. King Elbas could keep it active as long as his world remained relatively stable, and he could even stretch that limit with his creations. However, his time remained short.

Meanwhile, Divine Architect probably had countless items in store. Those armies alone wouldn't have been a problem for King Elbas, but the crystal body changed everything. He might not last long enough to kill Divine Architect if she managed to surprise him a few more times.

Of course, King Elbas had never expected the battle to be easy. He actually believed that he was the only one in his team who could defeat Divine Architect. Still, the situation was getting out of hand.

"Turning me into a corpse," King Elbas chuckled. "You lost your best items and your fake skin. I only need to get through that body of yours, and victory will be mine."

"Best items?" Divine Architect repeated. "You seem to have misunderstood me."

Divine Architect's body began to shine with a white radiance that unfolded her aura. Her domain filled the void, but no portals appeared. Instead, her energy condensed until an oval structure materialized around her.

The oval structure didn't carry any special features. It was nothing more than a huge white layer, but King Elbas felt unable to underestimate the power running inside it.

That energy didn't wholly belong to Divine Architect. King Elbas could sense multiple natures flowing through the white structure and clashing to give birth to new power.

"You should recognize this," Divine Architect announced. "One of your companions founded his world on a similar technique."

"I see," King Elbas commented. "It's a workshop."

"I never gave it a proper name," Divine Architect revealed. "My mind can execute the same functions without resorting to this tasteless show of power. I simply thought it was time to clarify the difference between you and me."

A tremor ran through the white structure, and the waves inside it crashed on each other according to specific trajectories. The impacts gave birth to natures that King Elbas recognized, and his face turned cold when he saw giant figures coming out of the workshop.

An avatar, a three-headed dog, a telescope, a cloud, and a castle left the white structure and took their position around Divine Architect. The items were identical to those destroyed by King Elbas during the previous exchange. They even carried the same amount of power.

"Don't think too much about it," Divine Architect stated. "I can do this with the mirror too. I might not have your final energy, but I can still alter my materials to turn them in what I need."

The white layer turned liquid, and Divine Architect absorbed it into her body. The fusion didn't lead to an increase in power. The privileged cultivator was merely showing how that technique had always been part of her.

"Who is the ant now?" King Elbas mocked while pointing his spear forward. "I've already destroyed those items. I'll only do it faster now."

"Go ahead," Divine Architect declared. "I won't stop you."

King Elbas snorted, and a pillar of golden light shot out of the spear. The attack engulfed Divine Architect and her items, and King Elbas used that chance to teleport in the middle of the mess.

"The avatar," Divine Architect sighed while enduring the golden attack with the sheer might of her body. "Of course."

King Elbas heard those words, but he ignored them. He teleported above the avatar and prepared himself to stab his spear in its head, but his survival instincts suddenly screamed.

The mirror had launched a tiny needle as soon as King Elbas activated his movement technique. The item had even predicted King Elbas' target. The expert found the small weapon right in front of his face by the time he lowered his spear.

The attack was impossible to dodge. The needle stabbed King Elbas' forehead and fused with his body before releasing a humming soundwave that expanded through the entirety of the higher plane.

The noise destabilized the golden energy, which started to lose power, but a tremor suddenly ran through it and brought new firmness to its structure. The same happened to King Elbas' body, which shone with even more might than before.

That outcome allowed King Elbas to complete his attack. The spear stabbed the avatar and unleashed a torrent of power that instantly burnt its entire structure.

King Elbas' offensive didn't end there. The torrent of energy flew deeper into the void before splitting into different currents that transformed and jumped into different paths.

One current transformed into an arrow that teleported before the telescope's large side. The attack pierced its lens and ravaged its insides before turning it into nothing more than fuming dust.

Another current morphed to take the shape of the giant nine-headed hydra. The creature reached the three-headed dog in an instant and absorbed it into its body to burn it.

A rain of spears reached the cloud, and a river enveloped the castle. The two items tried to adapt to the threat, but King Elbas turned out to be one step ahead of them. They couldn't do anything while the attacks turned them into dust.

The golden radiance dispersed at that point. King Elbas had cleared the area with a single attack, leaving Divine Architect in the open.

Divine Architect seemed about to say something, but King Elbas didn't give her the time to speak. The hydra's heads fused back into his robe, and his crown started to shine as he dived toward Divine Architect.

The void burnt as King Elbas focused the entirety of himself and his creations on a simple attack. The spear became the center of a drill-like structure that enveloped King Elbas while he dived toward Divine Architect.

Divine Architect's calculations were perfect, but King Elbas stood outside them. His current offensive was faster and stronger than anything shown before. Her mirror was ready, but she couldn't use it to interrupt that charge.

The spear landed at the center of Divine Architect's chest and unleashed the entirety of the accumulated power on that spot. White light gathered inside the targeted crystals, but the golden aura soon overwhelmed that radiance.

King Elbas didn't hold anything back. He unleashed everything, even including the power of his robe and crown. His level went back to the liquid stage during the process, and his spear shattered due to the massive torrent of energy flowing through it.

Divine Architect's body was truly incredible. King Elbas confirmed that during the clash. However, he had lived most of his life with the best hybrids in the world. His standards were incredibly high, and Divine Architect couldn't surpass them.

The crystals shattered and created structural instabilities that King Elbas didn't hesitate to exploit. Golden lines spread through the hole dug by the spear and expanded the damage inflicted on Divine Architect.

The energy carried by the attack was so vast that King Elbas had to remain still for a while. His presence was necessary to push everything toward the right target, and his body inevitably suffered.

Still, when the attack ended, Divine Architect had turned into a maimed version of her previous self. Her crystal body carried a giant hole that ran from her abdomen to her shoulders. It was actually lucky that her arms had remained attached to her.