Kapitel 450: Akiol's Sword
Merin's sword stopped right at the edge of Akiol's neck. She sighed in disappointment, "In the end is that all?"
Akiol was unresponsive, even his hand was slowly loosening. Merin sheathed Peerless Edge, "I had hoped you would have seen what I was trying to convey. A shame, let us proceed to-"
She frowned and gripped Peerless Edge, "This is. . . ?"
Akiol's grip tightened, though his face remained blank. It was as if his body was moving on its own! Merin was slightly impressed, "Your will to fight remains! Here I had thought you given up, my apologies. Allow me to finish this properly."
{Origami Style: Folding A Thousand Cranes}!
Merin twisted Peerless Edge and deflected the blows. The thousands of slashes behind Akiol's attack weren't condensed and instead spread out onto the ground, only faint scratches appearing on the Arena surface. The Sword Saint raised an eyebrow, "Highly inefficient, what was supposed to be the plan?"
Aura spiked, with no signs of it being rationed carefully. Akiol failed to falter as he swung with deadly precision. With Stars being covered with Aura a silver streak followed its path.
{Origami Style: Perfect Fold}!
Twang~
Merin locked their blades together as she blocked the blow, "Strangely enough I can't deduce what you're trying to do-"
{Cataclysm Technique: Magnitude 9 Earthquake}!
At the tip of Stars a small black ball formed. Merin, after remembering what happened to Intel, released the blade lock and retreated to a safe distance. The ground trembled from the effect of the technique. Merin remained steady, "Interesting, let's see how you handle this now!"
[Horizontal Slash].
Space began to be cut as Merin swung her sword. This time—the somewhat unconscious—Akiol did not freeze at the sight of the peak of swordsmanship. Instead he faced it head on?!
{Cataclysm Technique: Hurricane}!
The two swords headed towards each other, a blackhole formed between them and the two entered a power struggle. Merin smiled faintly and retracted her swing, with a spin she swung from the opposite direction. Akiol flicked his sword and swung upwards towards it.
{Cataclysm Technique: Eruption}!
"Alright enough, you're just using whatever you can at this point."
Tr-clang-!
With a flick of her wrist she knocked Akiol's sword towards the ground, although the tip of Stars almost buried into the ground Akiol still managed to hold on! He stumbled for a second, but that was more than enough time for Merin to finish the fight! Her sword moved at an incredible speed and she beheaded Akiol with a single slash.
Akiol's body fizzled out, Merin looked upwards and spotted him in the air. Aura raising in intensity, Stars' Berserk Skill forming behind him. Noticing the spike in power Merin made an amused sound, "Truly spending everything now aren't you?"
'Breaker of Stars' Berserk ability is something you should keep an eye out for.' -Peerless Edge
"It's rare of you to compliment something, I'll keep your words in mind but I think it might just be unnecessary."
{Way of the Galaxy: Supernova}!
Akiol dashed forward at an extreme speed. With such a massive boost to his strength he should undoubtedly outmatch Merin! His speed should be something she couldn't match just yet! The pressure his Aura gave off was immense, and many skilled Warriors gulped at the thought of being on the receiving end of it!
Landing on the ground he paused for a fraction of a second before dashing directly towards Merin. Stars sheathed and his scabbard in his offhand. Merin watched in interest as he got closer.
Shiiiing~
TWANG~!
Stars was an inch out of his scabbard, Akiol pushed him back into it with a faint click. . .
BOOOOOM-!!
Aura exploded, a shockwave spreading across the Arena. A massive ball of Aura swirled about at Merin's location and remained for exactly. . . two seconds.
An even stronger blast rippled across the Arena and Akiol's Aura was scattered much like leaves in the wind. Merin, completely unharmed, gave words of praise, "That one was something of your own isn't it? So you have realized what I was talking about. But have you realized what the problem is?"
Akiol's Aura flickered out, he had spent the last of it on that single move. Yet Stars' Berserk Skill remained, meaning he wasn't out just yet! Pulling Stars out of his scabbard he charged towards Merin!
Stabbing forward he pressed on! Merin lifted her weapon and guided it across, sparks forming as the swords met. Merin pushed away his weapon and sliced towards his face. Akiol bounced off mana to dodge the blow and kicked towards her, but the next second his leg was cut off!
Gritting his teeth the leg rapidly formed back and Akiol kicked off mana to create a bit of distance. Merin didn't allow that to happen and closed the space in an instant! The two clashed, several blows being exchanged at a rapid fire pace!
The air began to tremble, mana began to swirl. Akiol swung horizontally fully preparing for a counterattack. As Merin swung back he blocked it and used the force to create more distance. As he landed he leaned forward, and the gravity seemed to increase twofold suddenly.
Yielya widened her eyes, "Why is he going this far? He can't use that just yet-!"
Merin lifted her sword warily, "What's this. . . ?"
{Sword of the Hero . . .}!
Merin suddenly was able to glance at it, the movements behind the technique, "Why. . . didn't you follow something like this from the beginning?"
~ ~ ~
Akiol gasped, lifting his head he looked about. All the signs of James' previous appearance were gone.
Standing up he reviewed the memory that returned to him. Frowning he noticed some part were beginning to fade. Looking towards the golden light he realized the light James had sacrificed himself for was beginning to reform, the memory was being locked away!
No matter how hard he tried he couldn't fully commit it to memory!
Akiol grit his teeth, "If that's the case then I'll have to use it now!"
He couldn't let James' sacrifice be in vain!
Now what was this memory? The story and technique of the Heavenly King. The story went as such:
Once there was an aspiring warrior. One who desired to dominate the world and heavens. But to do that he needed power. So he traveled across the world, studying several martial arts, magic, and fighting styles. Each one he practiced to perfection, and eventually he had mastered them all. Now having the strength he began to fulfill his dream. Challenging the world's strongest he soon gained fame and claimed the title of world's strongest. The world was underneath his thumb, and none wanted to challenge him.
But that was only half of his dream, he wished to conquer the world and the heavens. So naturally he extended his reach to the gods above. An act that was quickly deemed as heresy and earned their ire. Unafraid he challenged them too.
It was said he fought for a mere day before being knocked to the ground. It seemed that despite all of his efforts, the gods were on a different level. All of his techniques, it was things that they saw before. They saw through his every move.
He quickly realized that he needed something new. Something beyond anything he learned. So he spent day and night constantly creating his own moves. Training at every moment, ignoring his bodily needs.
After many long years he had almost completed it. Yet he was missing just a single step, a final piece to complete it all. No matter how hard he tried he could not find this final piece. So he locked himself away and spent a decade in isolation, reflecting upon himself.
He then realized the mistake he made. From all the techniques he learned. From every moment he spent perfecting them. It had worn down his body. Taken a theoretical space. Leaving none for his own creation.
He agonized over the thought. The path he had taken left him with failure. There was simply no way for him to fix this situation! The time he spent, was it wasted?!
In a pure emotional rage he had stumbled upon the answer. A method to fully destroy what he learned. With it he created a foundation to build his own technique. A foundation which challenged the Gods.
Upon completion he charged towards the heavens for a rematch. This time he battled for an entire month before being struck down. As he was killed it was said he had a triumphant smile upon his face.
Akiol was certain the story was never true. After all besides that story there wasn't any signs of the Heavenly King existing. Yet there was a technique. Amply named {Heavenly King's Foundation}.
The way it worked was complex, but could be explained simply. It would completely erase all of the body's memory of utilizing a technique. It would wipe it from your conscious and subconscious. The only thing that would remain is the knowledge of its existence.
In return it would provide a mysterious essence to rebuild a foundation. This essence could not properly be explained, but can most likely be compared to that of a forest's ash from a fire. Its existence would create something far greater.
There was a catch to this technique. It was only effective once, using it again would be a waste and would ruin your future opportunities as a fighter. Secondly it was only effective if it erased the existence of multiple techniques. Using it to erase one or two styles would net no benefits.
To Akiol, these were not a problem. In his entire path as a Hero, he learned from several people different fighting styles and moves. Never once following a single path.
Why? Because he never wanted to. From the very beginning he never had a choice in fighting. He was the prophesied Hero, destined to defeat the Demon Lord. He never desired to perfect his art with the sword, he only chose it because it was the most compatible with him.
Each and every technique he learned was to cover for a weakness of something. He expanded in several directions as much as possible in case something happened to a party member. To have different methods to defeat different enemies.
But now. . . after experiencing A World's Legacy he found a desire to improve his sword. There was no need, no life or death. What was originally for survival now turned into a passion.
If the {Heavenly King's Foundation} provided him with an opportunity. One that could lead him to higher heights. Shouldn't he take it? There had to be some reason why the Gods locked away the memory.
Also. . . he shouldn't let James sacrifice be for nothing.
As he reviewed his several techniques a sword materialized in his hand. With the process of the {Heavenly King's Foundation} still in his mind he began to execute it.
After completing the preparations he began swinging his sword. To properly erase the techniques he must perfectly execute them.
He wasn't sure how long he was going to be in this area, but it proved to be the most perfect place to prepare the {Heavenly King's Foundation}.
It remained unknown to him what had happened after he despaired in front of sheer technique. But he did not concern himself with such things. Instead he spent the time and focus towards the fading technique.
Soon, a foundation that could challenge the Gods would form.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein