Chapter 743 Four Pillars: A Swift Conclusion
Unlike the previous two opponents he had fought against earlier, Mariella did not waste any time in starting the fight.
Charging towards Valyr at great speeds, the young woman swung her sword as a faint purple sheen flashed on its surface.
Though Valyr was slightly caught off guard that Mariella was incredibly straight to the point, that still did not stop the man from responding in return.
Whoosh!
With one swift movement, Valyr unsheathed the spear on his back before meeting against the girl’s blade mid-collision.
Bang!
Seeing the sword’s trajectory being cut short by his spear, a faint smile appeared on his face as he thought about blocking her attack seemed to be quite effortless.
However, such thoughts did not last for long as the young girl’s purple eyes began to glisten a dark purple, causing the force behind the sword to increase by tenfold.
“?!”
Thud!
Not expecting the girl’s sword to suddenly undergone such an increase in strength, Valyr made a wise decision to retract his spear and distance himself from the young woman.
On the other hand, Mariella’s blade continued on its intended trajectory before landing on the ground, briefly causing the ground to rumble in response.
‘This is probably going to be a difficult fight,’ inwardly muttered Valyr to himself as he thought about using the pistol.
With there being no limitations in place, thoughts of ending the fight quickly appeared in the young man’s mind as all of his opponents so far had pitifully low health in contrast to their strength.
Though, just as his thoughts had reached a crossroads at which method would be better, Mariella had decided to strike once more.
Whoosh!
With a solemn expression on her face, a faint purple sheen appeared on her blade’s surface once more.
However, unlike before, this sheen had taken on the hints of dark purple that briefly appeared on her eyes.
Moving at the greatest speed she could muster, it did not take long for her to arrive in front of Valyr as she swung her blade down yet again.
Though, now knowing that there was something going on with the young woman’s blade, the young man undoubtedly that the best course of action was to dodge.
But just as he was about to distance himself from her, Valyr noticed faint traces of silver light flashing in the young woman’s eyes.action
Only for him to feel like the world had been put on his shoulders not long after.
Thud!
Before he could even react, Valyr felt as if his body had gained over ten times his own body weight in an instant, making it difficult for him to do even simple movements.
Yet, with the appearance of his body not being affected at all, the young man looked back at the young woman before her.
Only to notice that a faint smirk now traced the edges of her lips.
Of course, such a smirk did not last for long.
“[Arcane Shadow Warp].”
Whoosh!
Just as Mariella thought that her blade would finally land on her opponent, Valyr turned into a blur of Shadow Energy and mana at the very last moment, barely dodging the insidious attack she had prepared.
Clicking her tongue at how her opponent had avoided her attacks twice in a row, Mariella took in a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
Not long after, she refocused her attention on Valyr.
Only this time, her eyes now seemed to be glowing a pure silver.
“[Fuerza Sword Style: First Stance].”
Seeing as the young man was just staring at her whilst he stayed where he stood, Mariella inwardly smiled as she caused her blade to radiate the same silver light her eyes did.
Then, without much fanfare, she disappeared before the young man’s vision.
Unsurprisingly, Valyr’s eyebrows widened at her sudden disappearance, looking around his surroundings to see where she went.
“[Bisecting the Mountains].”
Just as the young man was still wondering where Mariella went, the latter appeared above Valyr all of a sudden, making the man feel like his body had gotten heavier once again.
Striking down with all of the strength her body could muster, Mariella was certain that this attack would surely end the fight between them.
However, even though the blade was coming down on him, Valyr was not afraid.
In fact, he even looked at Mariella with a faint smirk.
“[Arcane Shadow Serpent Magic Style].”
“[Consummatum Est].”
Whoosh!
Just like how the skill had operated during the fight with Amauris, the concept of time around the two became frozen, causing the young woman to look at the young man in disbelief.
Not long after, the force pushing down on Valyr, as well as the moment Mariella built up had thoroughly disappeared, effectively removing the lethality of her attack.
With that, the young woman thought that she should be able to inflict a light wound on Valyr at the very least when time returned.
However, rather than those thoughts happening, Mariella was instead plunged into a world of darkness as their entire surroundings took on a muted color.
At the same time, Valyr moved away from the vicinity with a quick [Arcane Shadow Warp], watching the skill unfold once more.
It did not take long for the darkness under Mariella to grow to a massive size, bursting with great force as a cocoon of dark energy swiftly enveloped her body.
Then, a few seconds later, this cocoon of energy broke with great force, inundating the young girl’s body with Shadow Energy.
‘-4,613’
“It seems she also has those kinds of defensive skills similar to Amauris,” muttered the young man, shrugging his shoulders as he used [Superior Analysis] on the stunned girl.
Ding!
————
[Mariella Fuerza] (Memory Image)
Class: Heavenly Blademaster of Gravity (Rank 1 — Ancient)
Subclass: True Blademaster of Stellar Force (Mythic)
Species: Human (1st Unsealing)
Level: 25
Power Level: 12,100 (A)
————
HP: 11,020/15,633
MP: 7,564/10,419
————
Attack: 4,860 – 4,860
Defense: 2,413 – 2,413
Stats: 965 VIT, 1944 STR, 1064 AGI, 1440 DEX, 755 INT, 1722 WIS, 925 PER, 116 LUK
Skills: [Fuerza Sword Style], [Supreme Arts of Force Nullification], [Supreme Arts of Gravity Nullification], [Intermediate Gravity Manipulation], and 84 other skills.
Remarks: Though weakened by the rules of the Gates of Awakening, this memory image still greatly resembles the true Mariella Fuerza, the blademaster who has said to have harnessed the foundational concepts of gravity and force to its very peak.
————
“So that’s why her attacks were like that.”
Having read through both Sven and Amauris’ resplendent status screens, Mariella’s status screen only roused a bit of interest from the young man.
After all, both her class and subclass had something to do with the blade, which was something Valyr remembered only a select few players had ended up doing.
However, what truly caught his interest was not the fact that both her class and subclass was inclined towards combat.
But the fact that her skills had something to do with both force and gravity.
‘With how smoothly she’s manipulated gravity and force so far, there’s no doubt that she’s probably comprehended the full Intent related to it,’ thought the young man, staring at the young woman for a brief moment.
Then, without hesitation, he took out the matchlock pistol from his spatial bracelet, as well as the resources needed to fire it.
Keeping an eye on Mariella to see if she would break through her stunned state earlier like Amauris, the young man began to arm the pistol for firing.
‘I guess I should think that I’m fortunate to be facing her in this state,’ thought Valyr to himself. ‘After all, I could be facing her at the strength of a Rank 5 class holder.’
‘Or worse, the strength of a Myth with a comprehended Intent.’
Inwardly letting out a sigh of relief as the young woman remained still all throughout his preparations, the young man then took in a deep breath as he aimed the pistol towards her.
Unsurprisingly, Mariella went wide-eyed towards the gesture, a faint feeling of fear creeping up within her as she got an ominous feeling from the weapon Valyr was holding.
Yet, even though she wanted to escape, her body continued to remain affixed in place.
“Just for safe measure…” Saying these words to himself, Valyr began to activate a series of skills on himself.
“Intent Seed of Shadow Energy.”
“[Refined Offense Aura].”
“[Intermediate Fire Magic Style: Blazing Vigor].”
“[Limit Break: Second Verse].”
“[First Encore].”
“And lastly…”
“[Rage of the True Wyvern].”
Whoosh!
lightsΝοvel Within seconds, Valyr’s aura underwent through a great transformation, causing the feeling of fear Mariella to worsen with every activation.
However, the feeling of fear eventually disappeared at the moment Valyr had infused mana into his firearm.
Instead, she began to feel a sense of peace.
“[Reckless Shot].”
Bang!
Pressing down on the trigger as he infused the pistol with mana, a faint blue bullet swiftly left the barrel as it whirred through the air.
Whoosh!
Then, without any obstacle in the way, the bullet pierced through the young woman’s forehead.
‘-69,368!!!’
Normally, such an attack would make for such a gruesome sight, especially with how the primitive humanoids were killed during the first trial.
However, with Mariella being a memory image, she instead turned into a series of golden fragments, gradually dissipating into thin air.
And with that…
The third fight was over.