Y/N POV
"Critical... Surchargem... Overload."
Critical Overload was originally a means to help me escape any deadly situation by drastically enhancing my body by filling me with the 'anti-Od' that authorities utilize to inflict their abilities on this world, while also filling me with mana. Over time, I've learned to activate it on command, without the need for me to be in mortal danger to utilize the ability.
"I can't even feel my body anymore... is this what it means... to be at the peak? The true zenith?"
I looked down at my hand and my extensions. My entire body glowed with red, green, white, and black colours to it, and I saw a clear symbol of Valgren's dragon scales across my limbs, underneath the light. I pointed my palm at Reid, and a jet of black flame shot out faster than the speed of sound at the sword saint, akin to Valgren's own flames.
"Shit!" Reid rolled to the side as he looked, still flabbergasted at my transformation. Guess nobody has shown him an abomination like this before. "Ya think turnin' into some glowin' light will allow yaself to beat me? I've cut light down, I tell ya." He raised his sword and zoomed towards me before cutting my entire body in half, but I merely smiled.
"Hehe... gehahahahahaha!"
I could only laugh in this situation as I realized his powerlessness. After completely being fused into mana, there were no particles for Reid to destroy or harm, no flesh for him to cut. And my form reassembled itself faster than any regeneration technique, leaving him confused.
"What in the-"
"I'm pure mana now, Reid. And this world ain't have no stuff like Haki that allows you to cut intangible stuff and keep your opponents in pain. Even if you can cut me, you can never harm me while I'm in this form." Hehe. Time to show off a little.
Sheathing my swords and forming spheres of fire, wind, yang, and yin mana, I compressed them into one sphere before letting loose the laser beam of destruction. "Quartile: VIUL Radium."
Reid blocked it with difficulty before slashing it apart, but I was already on the move. "Quartile: VIUL Fulmen."
A third extension popped out of my back and enlarged itself before gathering mana onto its hand, forming a giant thunderbolt pulsing with all four kinds of mana. As Reid stared at it in contempt, I threw it down onto him, causing him to yell in pain and shock at the same time. Not giving him any time to react, I took out all five swords, and performed a sideways swing using a broom. "Gotoryu- Bulk Sweep."
Reid was sent flying into the wall of Electra before he could recover from the lightning shock. When he recovered and stepped out of the smoke and debris, my authorities have all recovered from his absolute severance. My Dominator's Domain was reactivated, placing me under less mental burden as it evolved into its final form.
"Dominator's Domain, Fourth Gear- Law Alteration."
The fourth alternation of Dominator's Domain allows me to reinstate the world's laws of physics, either allowing me to erase a law completely or adding a new law that affects anyone in this domain. The more laws you add, the time that the domain holds decreases exponentially.
"So, Reid Astrea, feeling like giving up now?" I taunted at the swordsman as my extensions rotated their swords to generate wind currents that lifted me up like a helicopter while I floated above the Sword Saint, sneering at him.
"You cocky brat... don't think ya can just play around like this. You don't even know how to cut. Even now, you can't hurt me with ya swords. A shame, isn't it? Maybe they're better off with me instead."
My Swords of Power, amazingly, gave a tug onto my own arms in annoyance at Reid's words, unwilling to leave my side. I smiled at this, but Reid continued.
"I must admit, you are pretty strong. But if ya think you could get past my test with just this... you're mistaken. Heavily mistaken." He took out an actual sword. Not the sword of selection he used before that was embedded into the floor, but a steel sword that looked older than many things I've ever seen. "It's been a long time since I've fought someone annoying like ya. The white haired girl liked to pull nonsense and tricks on me too, so it gave me bad flashbacks. But I'm just saying, I'm coming for ya, you bastard."
Reid leaped into the air and sent a sword slash at me through the air, which I dodged before he slammed his steel blade onto my five blades, forcing me down even though I already entered my most powerful state yet.
"Rage Pulse Stage 4 - Pinpoint Fury."
A red beam of electromagnetism erupted from my forehead, causing Reid to halt his onslaught while the beam demolished the ceiling of Electra, causing the tower to shake once more. Since my body is now pure mana, I don't have to worry about my brain exploding every time I use Rage Pulse. I shook my head and redirected the beam back at Reid, who hastily blocked it with his sword, before slicing it apart angrily as the duration ran out.
"Huah!" A torrent of light was sent at me again, but I can sense that it is much stronger than before. Crossing my fingers, an invisible barrier formed around my very being, encasing me in a ball.
"Prudence's Barrier, Fourth Shift- Complete Sphere."
The wave of light dispersed upon hitting my barrier, and I gave a laugh in response. "Not using absolute severance? You're getting rusty, Reid." Waving my hand as I materialized Valgren's heads stemming out of my shoulders, I dived towards Reid and performed a triple bite at his shoulder, only to be sliced apart.
I reformed immediately before sending a storm of fire at him, to which he also sliced apart with ease. The battle continued with me continuously throwing all kinds of spells at him, although he was never hurt thanks to his own sword skills.
"Let's see how you can handle this... Quartile: VIUL Malleus."
A giant hammer formed out of Minya crystals, surrounded by light, infused with fire, and coated with wind. I swung it down hard onto Reid, who managed to fight equally with the large hammer. Seems like he's using Absolute Severance sparingly. But I know he's holding back, because he's already achieved the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
"Quartile: VIUL Murus." A wall of quadra mana formed as it blocked another wave of light, but a slash came through as I leaped back in surprise. "You're finally using it? And here I thought I'm not going to have more fun."
"Shaddup, ya sonova bitch." Reid snickered as he walked towards me, sword in hand with a wicked smile. "Imma put ya in your goddamn place."
"I would like to see you try."
Unsheathing my five blades once again, my extensions began spinning them to gain momentum, lifting me off the ground and causing me to fly. "Al Akra. Al Nect. Al Anima. Al Murak."
"Yer too slow." Reid remarked before a cut appeared on my body, slicing through my form, and I felt that I was regenerating slower.
"Hah... he's learning, isn't he?" I muttered to my spirits and Valgren, who unconsciously agreed. "He's learning to slash my gate's connection to Od Laguna. That intuition of his is really terrifying. I have to finish this quickly.
"Vertical sword slash." In technicality, Reid didn't even utter those words. But I felt them. An attack beyond understanding; a true testament of the first Sword Saint.
"Prudence's Barrier!" The absolute severance met absolute defense, and I grimaced even though the attack didn't hit me. I realized something after the fight with Zarestia: although absolute severance and absolute defense cancel each other out by creating a universal paradox, it doesn't mean they don't take effect. For example, absolute defense still defends the user. Absolute severance, however, severs something other than the part that the user of absolute severance wished to sever. If Reid wanted to cut my body, he would fail, but he could inflict psychological fear onto me, or even nick off a tiny part of my astral body, my soul.
I can't keep going like this, or else I'll die right after Critical Surchargem Overload runs out. There's about 5 minutes left, and I can't afford to waste it.
"Gotoryu- Quintupled Sakura Fetters." My swords made quick work to deflect each and every one of Reid's consecutive attacks, backing him into a corner before he released another vertical sword strike, bisecting the floor before the tower tried to reform itself. Strangely enough, the tower doesn't seem to be affected much by our fight, and is constantly 'repairing' itself without our help.
"What are you waiting for, Y/N?" Zarestia's voice emerged as I shot another jet of flame out of my left palm, keeping Reid temporarily at bay.
"What do you mean, Zarestia?"
"You know that you can use it too, right?"
"Are you suggesting me to-"
"Not suggesting. I'm telling you you can use it. Come on, I'll guide you. Infuse my wind magic into your swords."
"Okay." I said before following her instructions as Reid advanced. I felt nervous, but also confident at the same time as I prepared to unleash the same devastating attack.
"Just slash what you want to slash. Put your effort into it. Concentrate your mana on the spot, into a single point. Use your sword as a thread. A thread the bisects space-time, bisects concepts, and anything in existence. And slash through to the end." Zarestia said before she pointed at Reid's sword. "Break that."
But I had a different idea as Reid unleashed another wave of light caused by absolute severance, soaring through the sky towards me. "Nah, I'm going to aim for something bigger if I'm going to perform that."
"Fura Max." I took a deep breath and faced the torrent of light, clutching all my five swords tightly. "Gotoryu- Zettai Danzetsu."
And to my surprise, my theory worked as Zarestia made a shocked pikachu face. "Absolute Severance really cuts everything. And since the goal of the attack was to cut everything, the sword wave made to cut everything was never made to defend against anything. So if I sever it..." I pointed towards the dissipating light. "...it also dies."
"To think that you used absolute severance to slice apart another absolute severance attack... you really are something else, huh, Y/N L/N?"
"I guess I am." I smiled at Zarestia before spinning my swords again. "Let's finish this."
Rushing towards Reid Astrea, I sliced at his neck, only to have by blades deflected away, but he was already in the range of my mana beam. "Quartile: VIUL Radium."
After being blasted away, he unleashed a vertical sword slash that sliced apart the beam, only to see the outline of my gigantified Extension holding a quadra-mana thunderbolt that was immediately unleashed on his very being, striking into his core and electrifying him. "Quartile: VIUL Fulmen."
Forming three hydra heads from my back, I bent forwards and unleashed three jets of black flame at Reid, who slashed them apart but gave me enough time to prepare the next spell as he was afloat in the air.
"Quartile: VIUL Malleus." The quadra-mana hammer slammed into Reid and launched him into the wall, and he coughed out of pain. Finally... it's working. He's weakening.
"Quartile: VIUL Murus." I formed a wall of mana before pushing it towards Reid at high velocities. "Crash."
Although it collided, Reid managed to cut it apart easily. "I commend ya for coming this far. I'm sure that crappy knight and the old wolf man could never have pushed me this far. But this ends now."
Reid's sword started glowing white, a pure light brimming from it. It's not just resulting from the mana in the atmosphere, it's a combination of his will and his ability as a swordsman from the zenith. Which means that slash will kill me if it hits me now, with 1 minute left to spare.
"I don't even bother with attack names. In the realm of the sword, all the sword needs is your will to sever whatever you wish to." Reid said to me. "My swords play is unparalleled, and so is this ultimate strike."
"Bring it on." I summoned all five swords of power, and formed them into one large and long blade, reaching halfway to the ceiling of Electra and becoming three times as wide as myself.
"Quartile: Gathering the Clouds."
Mana in the atmosphere was being sucked away into my body, and Reid suddenly realized that my sword skills have gotten better. The "will" of the sword that I can develop has grown visibly stronger.
"How did ya..."
"Who said I was all neat tricks? My Authority of Deceit's fourth power still exists!" I smiled as my extensions formed a Suitoru vortex, and I smiled immensely. "Although your sword skills are indeed unparalleled, I've learned from the best too, as you declare yourself to be."
Yes. Throughout the battle, I've been absorbing his knowledge on sword skills and the 'will', to the point that I am beyond what my limits shackled me down to.
"And this will be your defeat, Reid Astrea."
I stomped into the floor, mana leaking out like radiation, flooding my presence over the entire floor. The Dominator's Domain temporarily expanded, coating everything in the room and my swords enlarged even more, its blade now sharper than ever as I infused the 'will' into it.
"Quartile: Blade of Sacanas do Céu."
I flipped my enormous sword and held it in a horizontal manner, causing the air to pulsate with mana. My spirits fused themselves into the sword, and Valgren's heads swirled up my arms to buff them up, giving me more strength as I held the sword, ready to unleash the final attack.
"Begone, you arrogant bastard."
"Same to ya, ya cheating prick."
Peak Swordplay X Vertical Sword Slash
Reid swung his sword down in perfect form and unleashed an attack that bisected space. Facing the ultimate technique that any swordsman could ever hope to unleash, I steeled my will and remembered Zarestia's words.
Just slash what you want to slash. Put your effort into it. Concentrate your mana on the spot, into a single point. Use your sword as a thread. A thread the bisects space-time, bisects concepts, and anything in existence. And slash through to the end.
Then I will slash through, and I will win.
As Y/N L/N, leader of the Liberator's Battalion.
Readying my stance, I faced the slash that approached me, and time seemed to slow down as I moved. Everything stopped and I felt everything move at the same time.
"Gotoryu - Mugen: Zenchūzan Isshin."
Unleashing my own technique, I swung my sword forwards at an upward angle, aiming to destroy the attack meant to destroy all. Right before I felt my attack connect with the intangible slash, all my powers started vibrating, as if temporarily gaining a will.
Absolute Zero-
Fujin Gale Storm-
Laputum Scorchlight-
Abyssal Devour-
Imperceptible Extensions Phase VI-
Prudence's Barrier Fifth Shift-
Rage Pulse Stage Fi-
Dominator's Domain Gear Fi-
CRITICAL SURCHARGEM OVERLOAD...
...^ 2
No sound was heard as the two attacks connected, and sliced through each other while demolish the latter. One moment of silence, and the battle's end was determined in an instant.
My soul hurt. It hurts. The immense pain overtook my entire being, but I managed to stand. Reid's attack didn't hit me head on, but any attack from that being is something to be reckoned with. I don't even know what happened at the moment of the slash, but seeing a large open wound on Reid's torso made me smile a little.
Just a little.
My spirit dive wore off as my body reassembled itself, returning to atoms and cells. My swords fell to the ground, now disconnected due to the mana shortage. I waved my hand as they were inserted into my Dimensional Storage before I glanced upon my opponent at the demolished wall. A wave of mental fatigue crushed down on me, but I had to stay standing, and I walked towards Reid's fallen body, who coughed up blood and glared at me as I approached.
One step.
One step after another.
That's how I was able to reach where I am now.
My eyes relayed that message to Reid, and he let out a long sigh in response.
"Fine."
I managed to pull off a smirk before wiping it off my face quicker than it appeared.
Raising my left fist high into the air, and looking straight into the sky blue eyes of the First Sword Saint, I declared,
"I win."
3rd Person POV
Y/N flopped down onto the floor immediately, bleeding and battered. Reid Astrea, who was severely wounded himself, sat in the rubble, gazing down at the boy who just declared his victory.
He really is something else.
Reid couldn't help but admit it. That boy, even if it's for only a second, reached the pinnacle of the sword. Same as him.
It was only for a single moment, but the boy did it. Reid has not seen anyone do that except this boy in his lifetime.
He had two choices: eliminate this boy right here and now, so that he could remain the sole person who achieved the peak. Or... he could train the boy to become just like him.
He chose neither.
He stepped towards the boy as he got up with great difficulty, and picked up his broken sword. The sword that was bisected by the boy's attack. He couldn't even remember the last time his weapon was broken.
Stabbing the broken blade into the ground next to the boy, he sat cross-legged right next to him, and started scrutinizing the boy all over. He was curious. Just what allowed this boy to perform such a feat? And why does he seem average all across the charts?
His moment was abruptly ended by a white beam of light that coursed right over his head as he dodged, before the ground beneath the boy folded and transported him all the way to the entrance, where a girl with pink hair stood.
"Oi, midget." Reid said to the girl. "You're this twerp's accomplice, aren't ya?"
"..."
"Take him away. I don't want to see him anymore."
"Oho? But I believe an apology should be in order, should it not?"
"Watch what you say, midget. Or else-" Reid halted his speech as he saw the girl's hair turn white, and a familiar yet menacing presence entered the atmosphere.
"YOU?!"
Reid exploded as he tried to stand up, but was forced down by a simple El Vita. Omega wasted no time before teleporting him further from herself.
"Yes, me. Glad to know that you're still alive, after rotting in this place for 400 years."
"Says you. You probably rotted off way worse than I am in some plebeian's shack." Reid scoffed. "And what's your deal with the twerp?"
"I deserve an apology from you. For hurting my contractor. If he breaks like this, how am I going to satisfy my greed without the most crucial ingredient?"
"Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Reid's laughter exploded. "Even I feel a little bad for him now. Anyone that ends up with you is destined to be doomed. Everyone knows that."
"To think you still have that impression of me... pitiful...a shame."
"Am I wrong? They're all just tools to you, disposable when they become useless. Cunning women like you will never get laid in a million years, and never with him especially."
"Are you defending him, Reid?"
"No. But I'm willing to stand with him for a temporary truce against you."
"Hahaha... I didn't come here to fight." Omega said as she stomped her meteor staff. (A copy of the meteor was given to Felt after Priestella) "Just keep your mouth shut, and I won't get in your way. Don't think I don't know what you were planning, bastard."
"Say what you like. Skedaddle already."
Omega lifted Y/N by his right arm, and dragged him out of Electra while Zarestia appeared and supported his other side, and the trio walked down with the victor in the center.
?
"You made the right choice, onii-san."
"... ■■・■■... ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■・■ ・■■■・■■..."
"Don't worry. We'll take great care of you and your possessions."
"Now... go embrace your new self."
? POV
Huh?
Where... am I?
The white light blinded my eyes as I woke up on some kind of bed, and my body hurts all over.
Am I in the hospital? Did someone find me passed out on the floor in my room? Gosh, that must be so embarassing...
I looked at my surroundings. It didn't look like a hospital. Trees and bookshelves with extremely weird designs filled the place, and a door was to my left for exiting the room. Is this some children's section in the hospital, perhaps?
Footsteps sounded outside my door, and I immediately arranged my clothes before sitting upright, expecting a nurse.
But the person who came through wasn't a nurse.
It was a short girl with pink hair... and elf ears? Who does cosplay like this?
"You're awake, Y/N."
"Yes... I suppose. And you are?"
"My name is Omega."
"After the Greek letter? Your parents have interesting taste." I gazed at the girl who seemed unamused, and I immediately waved my hands in denial. "No no no, I didn't mean to offend you, Greek letters are cool so I didn't expect someone to actually use it as a name..."
"Same as ever... huh..."
"Huh-"
"Well then, let me be frank with you." Omega said to me as I braced myself for the news. Is she going to say that I died or something? Nah... maybe the Stellarlune got into financial trouble? Maybe-
"Welcome to the world of Re: Zero, Y/N L/N."
.
..
...
Heh?
The words entered my mind and my brain started short circuiting.
HEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH?!