Suddenly, a small ring appeared on the platform around Izroth. The next moment, the ground became wavy like the rippling waters of the sea.

'Ninth Sword Form: World Quelling Ripple.'

A piercing sword intent erupted from Izroth's location that spread out in every direction.

The raindrops in Izroth's vicinity were extinguished by the appearance of the Quelling Ripples and the newly formed ones were unable to enter the sphere of influence produced by the Izroth's ninth sword form.

'It's holding up well, but I doubt it will go on for the full twenty-second duration. Do I have no choice but to use that skill here?'

The Boundless Emperor Void Perfection—right now, it was still in its early stages, but its power was already equivalent to that of a low-tier S-ranked skill!

Izroth was thinking of using the Nullification Zone formed from the Boundless Nullifying Expanse to momentarily render the raindrops and blue flames that protected Tal'Nis powerless. However, even though the skill lasted for five minutes under normal circumstances, if someone's power exceeded Izroth's, they would be able to forcibly break free of the Nuffilication Zone and its restrictions.

For someone like Tal'Nis, Izroth believed that it would be a miracle if the Nuffilication Zone held on for one second, let alone the entire five minutes.

'No, I can't use it just yet. If I fail, there will be no second chance. That's why first—I have to properly set the stage.'

Tal'Nis employed the same method she used to disperse Izroth's Behemoth's Quake to counter the Quelling Ripple headed her way. And, since the blue flames that protected her were made of Essence and not magic or mana, it remained unaffected by the destabilizing effect of the Quelling Ripple.

"It has been many cycles since I have last seen a high-level sword technique from someone in the Mortal Realm and have been unable to discover or recognize its origins. Having a disruption effect generated by a constant wave of overlapping sword intent—admittedly, an exceptional approach. It is unfortunate that you have yet to fully master this sword technique." Tal'Nis stated calmly as she examined Izroth's ninth sword form.

She then continued, "Since you've shown me something good, I shall reward you."

〈System Alert: 30 seconds have been added to the active time! [Time Remaining: 2 minute(s) 15 second(s).〉

Bang!

Out of nowhere, Tal'Nis' blue flames formed a protective barrier at her back.

"How generous of you," Izroth's voice sounded from behind Tal'Nis as his Sword of The Storm collided with the blue flames.

'She's able to see through the underlying principles of the ninth sword form?'

Izroth sensed the extraordinary sword intent contained within each droplet of "rain"; therefore, he grasped early on that while the attack might seem like magic, it was, in fact, a profoundly intricate sword technique.

Naturally, this meant that Tal'Nis' understanding of the sword was not lacking. And, based on the sword intent Tal'Nis displayed, Izroth concluded that her sword technique well surpassed his Three Baneful Swords.

'The time limit for my Flickering Steps is almost up. Once the effects of the World Quelling Ripple ends, I will be placed at a disadvantage without it. As arrogant as her words sounded, she was right. Relying on my speed and the power behind my attacks alone are not enough to break past the combination of the raindrops and protective blue flames.'

Swoosh!

Immediately following the strike with his Sword of The Storm, Izroth thrust the spear in his left hand forward with strong momentum. The power behind the blow was not too impressive; however, the time in between attacks was nonexistent. It was to the point that the two separate attacks appeared to be a single strike. But, it did not stop there.

In the blink of an eye, Izroth launched nine more strikes, alternating between his sword and spear.

In total, Izroth attacked eleven times in a single moment!

This was one of the effects attached to his Dual Wielding, Linked. Based on Izroth's attack speed, he could instantly connect and chain his weapon attacks while ignoring the typical cooldown period in the middle of attacks.

All of a sudden, Izroth's Soul Sense went off, prompting him to swiftly withdraw!

'So, she's capable of using both simultaneously, after all.'

As Izroth retreated to a safe distance, he narrowed his eyes as he observed the circle of blades that materialized in a circular formation at Tal'Nis' back.

The blades emerged without warning and intercepted Izroth's Linked combination of attacks as they shielded Tal'Nis along with her blue flames.

The next moment, the blades scattered before hovering inclined above Tal'Nis, constantly circling above her.

In total, Tal'Nis called forth nine swords. This was more than twice the amount that she employed in the previous matches.

〈Battle Alert: The effects of the skill «Flickering Steps» has ended.〉

'Not the best timing.'

Izroth's Flickering Steps finally came to an end as his agility took a massive hit. But, as if that was not enough, several raindrops were beginning to slip past the disruption effect of his Quelling Ripple as his ninth sword form became overwhelmed.

...

Meanwhile, outside of the platform...

"Hey, isn't that cheating?! I thought she couldn't use both skills at the same time!" Colorful Nimbus muttered.

Niflheim furrowed his brows with a grim expression on his face. And, he was not the only one.

The atmosphere outside the platform had become heavy and tense as Izroth's fight with Tal'Nis took place.

Izroth's movements were so fast that it was difficult to catch a glimpse of his shadow despite spectating from a distance. However, the more frightening part was that Tal'Nis seemed to keep up with him at every turn!

Initially, everyone was excited to the point they held their breath. Things were looking good for Izroth. Although he got hit once, he managed to gain thirty seconds, just like Niflheim. Also, somehow, the raindrops stopped falling near Izroth, which they suspected was likely to be the work of one of his skills.

But, when everyone saw the nine swords circling above Tal'Nis and the raindrops start to once again fall within the safe zone Izroth created, their excitement soon turned to worry.

"That was just our assumption... Though I have to admit, it is unexpected. The difficulty level just keeps increasing." Niflheim sighed as he shook his head.

Since Tal'Nis got rid of her swords after the appearance of the raindrops, everyone assumed that she could not utilize both simultaneously—a reasonable train of thought in most cases.

However, it was never that Tal'Nis was unable to use her swords and the raindrops at once. Rather, all this time, she merely felt that she had no need to!

"We've challenged the third stage too early in the game and invited disaster onto ourselves. But, if it's him, then... Will he be able to pull off another miracle?" Niflheim internalized.

...

〈System Alert: 1 minute remaining!〉

As the one-minute mark hit, Izroth had been unsuccessful in his attempts to break past Tal'Nis' layers of protection. During that time, he had also taken another hit due to the ruthless and nonstop combination of attacks from Tal'Nis.

As a result, Izroth was forced to further extend the range of his Energy Vision Sense to compensate for his lack of speed; however, it put a heavy strain on the amount of Essence being consumed with every passing second.

Zeeeut!

Izroth used a charge of his Primed Instantaneous Movement to evade the torrent of raindrops at his previous position.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

The moment Izroth reappeared a few meters away, he was met with five swords traveling towards him at high speeds from all sides, including above his head. There was nowhere for him to escape!

Izroth's body soon became encased in gorgeous crystals from the Crystallization skill attached to his armor.

BANG!

The swords crashed into the protective crystals encompassing Izroth as the defensive structure immediately developed cracks throughout its surface.

Crrrrack!

Soon after, the crystal was shattered into countless pieces as Izroth utilized his Eighth Sword Form: Formless Sway.

He then spun around as his sword swept out with two phantoms blades trailing behind his Sword of The Storm.

Clink!

Izroth used the skill Phantom Strike to parry three out of five blades. And, thanks to the active from his eighth sword form, each parry rendered incoming blows ineffective.

〈Battle Alert: You have reached 3 stacks of «Sway». You can now use the skill «Formless Reflection».〉

Without hesitation, Izroth initiated Formless Reflection as a thin film of what appeared to be water formed around him. At the same time, Izroth activated Warpath Blade: Gale Zone Guard to further augment his defenses.

Crash!

The remaining two blades slammed into Izroth!

〈Battle Alert: Your protective aura has absorbed a hit.〉

〈Battle Alert: Your protective aura has absorbed a hit.〉

In the blink of an eye, Izroth's Formless Reflection and Gale Zone Guard were obliterated. However, they accomplished their tasks and were able to fend off the last two blades.

'She doesn't seem to have any more surprises, but I can't afford to let my guard down. If I'm going to make my move, now is the time.'

Suddenly, just as Izroth was preparing for his final assault, he received an unexpected stream of system alerts.

'Hm? It's establishing on its own?'

〈System Alert: «Immortal Persona: Dragon Lord of the Abyss» is establishing an active link...〉

〈System Alert: Recognizing «Authority»...〉

〈System Alert: «Authority» recognized as Mid Level!〉

〈System Alert: Active link established!〉

(You're doing something interesting without this lord, human. Should this lord lend you a hand?)