Chapter 616: Battling Elias

Chapter 616: Battling Elias

“You!” Elias flared in fury at Max’s mocking tone, unable to bear the disdain in his eyes. Without hesitation, he surged forward, his sword cutting through the air like a raging tide, waves of energy crashing out from the blade.

The sheer pressure from his sword concept was enough to make the ground tremble, his movement sharp, aggressive, fueled by rage and the pride of a one-star genius.

But Max simply smiled, his Severing Sword Concept already fully released—sharp, efficient, and terrifying in its simplicity. When their swords met, it wasn’t just metal against metal—it was a clash of will. Sparks erupted wildly, flashing like tiny stars in the clearing, but while Elias poured all his energy into every strike, Max’s movements were effortless.

His feet moved like whispers across the ground, gliding and twisting in perfect flow. His swordplay was clean—no flashy techniques, no wasted motion—just brutal, precise cuts that disrupted Elias’ rhythm again and again.

Elias would spin and slash from above, only for Max to tilt slightly and deflect with the barest twist of his wrist. A sweep from below came, fast and violent, but Max sidestepped with a pivot so smooth it looked like he danced on wind.

Every time Elias increased his speed or strength, Max adjusted in stride, calm and unbothered. His sword seemed to cut through the momentum itself, each swing like the quiet breath before a storm.

The clang of their blades rang out repeatedly, but it soon became clear to the onlookers—Max wasn’t even trying hard. He was dismantling Elias’ furious assault piece by piece with the most unembellished sword style they had ever seen.

A single slash from Max forced Elias back, another disarmed a wild swing, and then, with a flick of his blade, Max sliced a shallow cut across Elias’ shoulder, causing him to stagger, eyes wide in disbelief.

The fight raged on for minutes, but Elias was already breathing heavily, sweat running down his face, while Max still looked composed, eyes sharp and blade steady.

“Again!” However, Elias refused to believe Max could defeat him as he attacked again.

Max’s blade shimmered as he twirled it once in his hand and slashed upward, deflecting another heavy blow from Elias.

Elias growled low, his frustration building—he had been on the offensive from the start, yet he couldn’t land a clean hit. Not once. Deciding to shift tactics, he suddenly leapt backward, his aura spiking.

“One Sword Slash the Sky!” Elias roared, raising his sword high. Green energy surged around him, forming a blade of pure light and concept energy that sliced downward like a cleaving waterfall. The air groaned under the pressure.

But Max didn’t move. He didn’t panic. Instead, he took a half step to the left and rotated his sword, drawing a smooth, horizontal line through the air.

Slash!

The moment Elias’s glowing attack struck down, Max’s sword split it clean in half—like slicing through silk. The pieces of Elias’s sword light scattered behind him, cutting through trees in the distance as Max stepped forward.

Elias barely had time to react before Max was in front of him again. His sword came from an awkward angle, quick and nearly impossible to see. Elias blocked just in time, but the shock reverberated up his arm.

Elias jumped back again, his chest heaving, and his eyes narrowed in deep frustration.

“Reverse Blade—Phase Step!” he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, his body flickered. One, two, three afterimages burst around Max, slashing from all directions.

Max’s eyes glowed faintly as he activated his Three Dimensional Body. Every motion around him slowed, every step of Elias’ footwork exposed. He spun on his heel, sword arcing in a clean, fluid crescent—clang! clang! clang! He blocked three strikes in one sweep, then twisted under the fourth and kicked off the ground, appearing behind Elias with barely a sound.

His sword stabbed forward—quick, precise.

Elias barely turned in time, raising his blade for another parry. Sparks exploded once again.

“You’re fast,” Elias spat, breath heavy.

Max’s lips curled into a smirk. “You’re too loud.”

Then he struck again. A flurry of fast, minimalistic slashes—not fancy, not flashy—but each one forced Elias to give ground. Elias retaliated with a wide arc, sending a blast of wind powered by his sword concept, but Max jumped into the air and landed behind him in a blink.

‘Flame Tyrant!’

Max activated a sliver of his flame inheritance, and a black pulse rippled from his sword as he brought it down. Elias had no choice but to activate his armor ability from the Xuan Family—a shimmering green barrier coated his body just in time.

The blow landed—BOOM!

Elias was sent sliding back several meters, boots dragging through the ground. His shoulder trembled, armor cracked slightly.

He gritted his teeth. “How can you be so strong?”

Max shrugged, blade casually lowered. “Don’t you know that already?”

Elias steadied himself, fists trembling slightly as the shock of Max’s strength continued to linger in his mind. But he calmed himself down completely. “Now I know for sure. You’re the one who killed Silus… and you’ll pay for that with your life.”

His aura surged violently as he roared, and a thick wave of green energy exploded from his body, rushing outward like a storm. Then, with a deep breath, he pulled it all inward. A glow surrounded him, brighter and deeper than before, as his skin started to gleam with an emerald hue. And then the green glow transformed into a tortoise shape armor covering his body.

“Black Tortoise Inheritance—Inverse Technique!” Elias bellowed.

Suddenly, his transformation took shape. A spectral shell of a black tortoise surrounded him, heavy and imposing, before condensing down into a dense, compact armor of glowing green plates that fused into his skin like a second layer.

Even his sword warped in appearance—thicker, jagged, and covered in green metallic scales. He was no longer just Elias. He had become a force of nature, armored and deadly, pulsing with unstoppable momentum.

And then he vanished.

Max blinked—Elias had disappeared completely from his field of vision. If not for his Three Dimensional Body, he wouldn’t have sensed it in time. A warning flared inside him and he instinctively spun, bringing his sword behind him just in time to block a devastating slash from Elias, who had reappeared at his back like a ghost.

Bang!

The impact rattled his bones, and Max was flung backward like a missile, his boots carving a deep trench through the ground as he skidded dozens of meters before finally catching himself.

Before he could even take a breath, a second attack came screaming toward him—a green glowing sword slash, fast and razor-sharp, cutting through the air like a flash of lightning.

Max’s pupils shrank, but he didn’t panic. His mind synced with his Three Dimensional Body, locking onto the blur of the incoming attack. With calm precision, he pivoted his body and swung his sword in a clean arc—slash!—cutting the green sword attack clean in half.

But it wasn’t over.

“ONE SWORD SLASH THE SKY!” Elias roared once more as he appeared right in front of Max again, his sword crashing down like a heavenly judgment.

Max’s eyes gleamed. He didn’t flinch. He took a small, controlled step back and swung.

“Severing Flow Sword Art!”

Their blades collided—one fueled by the wrath of a divine beast’s inheritance, the other powered by the pure cutting intent of a sword meant to sever all things.

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!