Chapter 219: Silverleaf Academy (LXVII)

The moment Lilith dashed off into her own deadly dance with the Sword Duke, the pressure in the grand throne hall changed completely.

Crackle!

The gilded floor beneath Aestrea’s feet began to crack, lines forming like spiderwebs under the sheer pressure radiating from his body.

He took a single step forward.

CRUNCH.

The sound echoed through the hall, louder than it should’ve been. The Emperor, still seated on his golden throne, narrowed his eyes.

“…Aestrea.”

The boy didn’t answer.

He raised his right hand.

His breathing slowed, his muscles tensed, and his silver hair fluttered despite the stillness of the air, until…

FLASH.

His aura exploded.

‘…Maximum Output.’

It was practically his final battle, and now, he needed to use everything he had.

At once, Aestrea’s body pulsed with overflowing strength. His veins lit faintly beneath his skin, a pale silver glow coursing through him.

His muscles coiled like a live wire, every inch of his body radiating pressure that bent the air.

Then, he stretched his hand, a violet-aura sword forming on it.

And if that wasn’t enough…

SHHHHHHIIIIIINNNNNGGG!

The throne hall was filled with light.

Thousands of violet swords exploded out around him, forming a perfect sphere in every direction.

Floating like deadly petals, they rotated slowly, humming with lethal intent.

At that, Francis’s eyes narrowed as he finally stood up.

He raised one hand.

A golden staff appeared in it, taller than him, brimming with a strange golden flame. His robes shifted, and the throne behind him burned with the same flame.

“I won’t play around, kid,” the Emperor said coldly.

“Even if you’re the strongest genius in the whole wide world, you won’t be able to beat me.”

He lifted the staff.

『 Emperor’s Authority: Realm of Light – Seraphic Throne 』

A unique spell created by himself.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

A storm of golden light burst out from beneath his feet. The floor cracked, the pillars exploded, and the strong walls even turned into radiant crystal.

And within seconds, the entire throne hall had been replaced by a shining domain, bathed in golden flames and holy judgment.

The space bent.

Reality itself bent.

Francis vanished.

Then reappeared behind Aestrea in a blink, staff raised like a sword.

『 Divine Strike: Heaven’s Spiral 』

FWOOOOOSH!!

A golden spiral of heat and light shot toward Aestrea’s back. But—

KLANG!

Dozens of violet swords shot into place like a moving wall, spinning at high speed, blocking the strike with a devastating collision.

BOOOOOM!!!

The impact tore apart the ground, shaking the domain, but Aestrea had already vanished.

He reappeared on the Emperor’s left, eyes cold.

『 Ice Series: Ice Fang! (✦ 2nd-Level Spell ✦)』

CRACK!

A burst of ice shot from his blade, slicing through the divine barrier, and at the same time, he upturned the index finger of his left hand.

FWIP, FWIP, FWIP!

In that instant, a dozen violet swords cut in tandem with his swing, crashing into the Emperor from multiple angles.

Francis instantly raised his palm to defend against the attack.

『 Divine Armor: Sun-Wrought Plate 』

CLAAAANG!!!

All attacks stopped against the golden shield of light. Sparks and ice exploded, frost slamming against the golden flames.

“This familiar scent…” Francis suddenly frowned.

But as he noticed Aestrea’s mana color, he quickly shook his head. The person who had attacked him before had basically vanished from the spot in just a millisecond.

Aestrea couldn’t do something like that.

FWOOOOOM!

Hundreds of swords launched all at once, spiraling into the sky before descending like a violet storm.

The Emperor flew up, dodging, but Aestrea quickly raised his hand at his actions.

BOOOOOOM!!

The sky snapped like glass under Aestrea’s will.

The violet swords spun faster and faster above, their glowing edges shrieking as they warped the air, dragging space with them.

Aestrea’s hand lowered slowly, and at his command…

『 Ice Series: Frost Crash! (✦ 6th-level Spell ✦) 』

CRACK-KRAAASH!!

A gigantic spike of ice burst up from beneath the Emperor, jagged and layered with freezing mist.

It speared into the golden light, smashing into the radiant throne’s domain like a frozen titan’s fist.

Francis clenched his staff, a golden shield forming instantly around him.

And that spell was finally a non-unique one.

『 Divine Wall: Absolute Sanctuary! (✦ 6th-Level Spell ✦)』

BAAAAAANG!!

The ice and shield slammed into each other with earth-rattling force, light and frost exploding in a spiral.

For a moment, the Seraphic Throne itself trembled, the radiance dimming under the pressure of sheer destructive force.

“Now…!”

Aestrea quickly took the opportunity, vanishing from sight.

SZZZSHHH!

He reappeared mid-air, directly above the Emperor.

『 Mixed Ice Series: Ice Lotus Explosion! (✦ 5th-level Spell ✦)』

FWOOOOM!

A massive lotus of ice bloomed from his palm. Its petals spun and burst open one by one, each unleashing a powerful wave of frost and piercing energy toward the golden domain.

The Emperor growled, thrusting his staff into the air.

『 Fire Series: Wings of the Flame Saint! (✯ 7th-Level Spell ✯)』

BOOM!

Six burning wings of holy light erupted from his back, shielding him just in time as the exploding lotus rained down with relentless force.

Every explosion shook the air.

Every shard of ice dug into the radiant wings, cracking them.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…!”

『 Second Move! (✦ Ice Lotus Barrage ✦) 』

Aestrea chained it mid-cast, hundreds of high-speed shards blasting in behind the lotus petals, overwhelming the Emperor’s defense.

“RRAAAGGHHH!!”

The Emperor thrust both hands forward, golden flames bursting out like a raging sun.

『 Divine Judgment: Solar Annihilation! (✯ 7th-Level Spell ✯)』

The flame swallowed the ice midair, causing a massive detonation.

BAAAAAAAAANG!!

Aestrea was thrown back from the pressure wave, but his swords caught him, hovering like a ring around his body, catching the recoil.

Blood trickled from his lip again, but he didn’t wipe it.

He was too focused.

Francis’s chest rose and fell sharply, steam rolling off his cracked armor.

For a moment, his glowing gaze wandered. not toward Aestrea, but across the fractured battlefield… toward Lilith.

“Huh…? Why is he looking at Lilith?” Aestrea frowned deeply.

His gaze was giving him a bad feeling…

“Haa… haaa… haaaaaaa…”

Francis’s breath suddenly started becoming unstable under his gaze, making Aestrea cautiously take a few steps back.

Something inside him… seemed to have snapped.

And suddenly, his eyes that were practically glaring at Aestrea before, dimmed, hollowing like twin pits of madness.

“Lilith…” he whispered, his voice cracked and strained.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A pillar of raw power erupted from his body, golden flames turning black at the edges. The sky above their battlefield split apart.

“Fuck…” Aestrea’s face darkened slightly.

『 Forbidden Miracle: Heaven’s Eighth Gate – Wrath of the Betrayed King! (✯ 8th-Level Spell ✯) 』

CRACK-KRAAAK!!

A crown of spears formed behind him, exactly eight spears of divine judgment. Each was longer than a warship, each humming with light meant to erase cities.

FWOOM!

FWOOM!!

FWOOM!!!

All eight launched at once, aiming directly for Aestrea, their heat cracking the walls of reality itself.

Aestrea’s eyes narrowed.

He raised his hand slowly, a violet sword forming on his hand as blood dripped from his fingertips, and slid one foot back.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

『 Reverse First Move! (✦ Ice Lotus Bloom ✦) 』

KRRRRRSHHH!

A giant, glowing lotus of ice formed instantly beneath his feet, blooming upward into a massive flower of spiraling petals and thick, reinforced barriers.

BAAANG!

The first spear crashed into it and shattered into light.

Then the second.

Then the third.

But by the fourth, the lotus was starting to crack.

CRRAACCK!

The fifth one shattered half the bloom entirely.

Instantly, Aestrea raised his sword once again.

『 Second Move! (✦ Ice Lotus Barrage ✦) 』

His swords howled along the countless ice lotuses spreading through the air.

Hundreds of violet swords shot forward in a wave, cutting through the air like thunder, ripping toward the remaining three spears.

CLAAAANG!

SHIIIING!

BOOOOM!!!

The sixth spear was destroyed in midair, consumed by the barrage.

The seventh got deflected just enough to miss him by a meter, crashing through the floor into the earth below.

But the eighth was different.

It pulsed strongly, creating shockwaves in the air, and it changed direction in midair, like a cursed soul tracking its killer.

Aestrea’s face hardened.

He clenched his sword once again.

『 Third Move! (✦ Moonlight’s One Flash ✦) 』

Everything stopped for a split second.

Aestrea blurred.

ZHHHOOOM!

He appeared directly in front of the incoming divine spear, sword held low.

Then he swung.

Swing!

And everything turned silver.

KRAAAK!!

One single slash.

One perfect line across the sky.

And the eighth spear was split in half.

It howled as it died, its pieces falling and evaporating before hitting the ground.

But the Emperor… didn’t stop.

He was descending like a meteor, the golden staff in his hands spinning, his body being completely wrapped in golden flames.

『 Forbidden Miracle: Heaven’s Seventh Gate – Sun’s Tyranny! (✯ 8th-Level Spell ✯) 』

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A beam of light wide enough to incinerate a forest shot down.

But strangely enough, Aestrea didn’t move.

Instead, the mixture of his mana and aura shot out.

『 Fourth Move! (✦ Lunar Collapse ✦) 』

He raised his sword above his head and stabbed it downward into the ground.

SLAM!

The moment the blade struck, a field of glowing lotuses burst outward in a ring. Every lotus twisted, bent, and then imploded, dragging space itself inward.

The golden beam hit the imploding lotus field and vanished.

The Emperor gasped.

“What…?!”

Then he heard Aestrea’s words.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

The moment he uttered those words, no matter how many explosions were happening in the sky, or how many times it had changed color…

The sky turned violet.

『 Fifth Move! (✦ Thousand-Lotus Guillotine ✦) 』

Aestrea’s body vanished from sight.

Not through teleportation.

He simply moved so fast that even the world couldn’t keep up.

Swing!

FSSSSSHHH!

In less than a breath, the air tore apart, and Aestrea realized a thousand slashes in a single instant.

Each one sharper than the last.

Each one was so precise, so devastatingly fast, that the very fabric of space cracked with every swing.

Crack.

Crack!

Crack!!!

CRACK—!!!

Thin, jagged lines opened all around the Emperor, glowing violet, zig-zagging through the golden domain like a spiderweb of destruction.

The space around him, his throne, his shields, his magic… all of it was cut.

Not broken or destroyed.

Cut.

The Emperor’s divine barrier didn’t even shatter with sound. It just split, cleanly, like silk beneath a blade.

Every movement Aestrea made blurred into another.

He was above, then behind, then beside the Emperor, every strike carving through not only divine armor, but reality itself.

ZRRRRAAAKK!

SHHRK!

CRACKK-KROOMM!!

For the first time, Francis looked like he was… in complete fear.

His staff was raised, cut in half.

His robes were enchanted with golden flames, were now split open at the seams.

A thousand phantom lotuses bloomed in the air around him, each one blooming with a sharp, whispering slash.

And then…

BOOOOOOM!!!

All of them detonated with complete silence.

A silence so deep, so final, it swallowed the light itself.

The Seraphic Throne cracked.

The radiant domain dimmed.

A rain of severed holy symbols and shattered golden shards fell around the Emperor like dying embers.

And Aestrea… stood behind him.

Sword lowered.

Violet swords slowly rotating around him like cold stars, their edges singing with the echo of a thousand cuts.

Then, slowly, his lips curled up devilishly, forming some kind of evil grin.

“…It’s nice to see that face again.”

His red eyes glowed intensely.

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