Chapter 1042
Episode 249: The First Sortie of the Pluto Clan (9)
No sooner had Ban finished speaking than Luke closed the distance between them in an instant.
A massive, cobalt-blue greatsword, saturated with lightning energy, slowly descended toward Ban’s head. This was no ordinary blade—it was a blunt weapon that transcended sensation and perception, slicing through the very space between Ban and Luke.
There was no dodging into that distorted space. The moment one touched it, the sword energy filling that warped void would tear their entire body to shreds.
Yet Ban stepped lightly into the distorted space as if it were nothing, moving with effortless footwork.
This was something Luke had never encountered before. None of his previous opponents—even gods—had ever dared to enter a collapsed space head-on like Ban did.
During the rescue mission for Airan, Jin had been the same. Jin countered the blunt sword’s collapsing space by offsetting it with his own blade.
“Trying to act all mighty… it’s laughable,” Luke sneered.
Crack!
As Ban moved, the distorted spaces retreated in sync with her speed, unable to resist the repulsive force she emitted.
In other words, Ban was simply overpowering Luke’s blunt sword and the collapsing space with pure strength. It was a countermeasure Luke had never even considered.
“I’ll warn you just once. Luke, today is the last day you’ll be able to fight. Don’t rely on these petty tricks—face me with your whole body, your full strength. I want to see if even one ounce of your will can break through me.”
The collapsing space gathered in front of Luke. His expression darkened as the broken voids swirled around him.
He struck again, this time not with a blunt sword but with an extremely fast and destructive blow.
The collapsing spaces regained their original form under that strike.
Luke barely concealed his shock. He had expected Ban to be stronger than him, but only by a narrow margin.
She was severely injured during the aftermath of the Laprarosa Liberation War, and she even captured Nirgan before coming here… yet she’s unbelievably strong. It reminds me of the moment the Kinzello fragment manifested.
Back when he was a young man, the fierce fighting spirit that had once burned within him at the sight of a formidable enemy now stirred again. That same spirit that had turned countless impossibilities into possibilities.
But to Ban’s eyes, even that seemed trivial.
“Ah, was that spell too difficult for a rotten wraith like you?”
Sigmund sliced through the air.
From left to right, the lightning energy trailing the blade drew a sharp blue line across the center of the battlefield, followed by a gust of wind that shook the entire sanctuary.
Luke spread his sword energy in kind and closed the distance with Ban once more. But the more he tried to break through, the more fiercely Ban’s lightning blade constricted him, and the gap refused to close.
It felt like chasing an illusion. Though only sword and lightning energy existed between them, it was as if they were lost in a maze full of deception.
“It must feel strange to struggle so hard to achieve something, Luke. That’s because you’ve abandoned true struggle. Borrowing the power of a great being is fundamentally a very easy thing.”
Swish!
A streak of light escaped from the clashing lightning energies and grazed Ban’s cheek.
“If borrowing power were all it took, then yes, it would be easy. But I’ve been fighting to resurrect him. For a long time, never once forgetting that dream.”
“A dream…”
Ban wiped the blood trickling down her face and shook her head.
“Dreams are only allowed for the living. You, who should have long since died and rotted away, keep babbling about dreams and such nonsense. That’s why the world is more chaotic now than it was a thousand years ago.”
“Isn’t that your story as well? Ban the Duelist, you and your brothers should have disappeared half a millennium ago.”
“My brothers and I will leave when our allotted time ends. No need to worry.”
Luke’s sword touching Ban first meant little. In fact, the moment his blade sliced her cheek, he realized even more clearly the vast gulf between them.
They were not “equals” in any sense. Just moments ago, Luke had forced the fight into chaos, hoping to blur the gap.
He thought that the more chaotic the battle, the less obvious the difference in strength would be. But Ban simply blocked his ploy with a mere shallow cut to her cheek.
The fight was clearly becoming orderly.
Their swords were always where they should be, their footwork always aimed at the expected space, and their clashes only happened at predetermined moments.
That was how Ban wanted to fight.
No matter how corrupted Luke was, he was still a Duelist. For Ban, suppressing variables and fighting efficiently was the best approach.
So she forced Luke’s movements when necessary, even allowing small wounds to be inflicted.
That was how Ban was handling Luke. Beyond the Duelist realm, it was a method only someone who had achieved a far higher mastery of martial arts could employ.
Behind Luke, blue blades rose like wings—the Pluto Sword Duelist Technique, the Thunder God Sword.
The First Temple of the Solar God still avoided being engulfed in flames, protected by Luke’s domain. The battlefield had shrunk since the fight began, and now only the Solar God’s statue at the sanctuary’s center and its immediate surroundings remained intact.
Luke’s face was resolute, determined to protect that at all costs. But Ban had no intention of allowing it.
“Luke, the Duelist who established the Thunder God Sword. But none of us use that sword anymore. It’s outdated.”
The blades of the Thunder God Sword surged wildly toward Ban.
To those unable to keep up with their speed, it would look like dozens of streaks of light flashing and vanishing repeatedly.
But Ban understood the Thunder God Sword perfectly. She easily dodged it with just a step or two.
“So your claim that you never forgot your dream is a lie. If it were true, your sword now would look different from the one you mastered studying your achievements in your youth. Like stagnant water that inevitably rots, so too has your sword.”
Sigmund stabbed into the air.
But that empty space was the core of the Thunder God Sword, and Luke’s greatsword instantly lost its way.
Of course, that didn’t mean Luke’s skill had diminished, but his ultimate technique had been undone by a simple thrust.
And Luke had no idea how Ban had destroyed the Thunder God Sword—not in life, nor now as the High Priest of the Solar God.
“The sword that removes all the fatal weaknesses of your ultimate technique—that is the Pluto Sovereign Sword. You must have experienced it once through Jin.”
Ban’s eyes began to blaze with blue fire.
Pluto Sword Duelist Technique, Tenth Sword:
Pluto Sovereign Sword – Kai
“I’ll show you again. Consider it an honor.”
The wind grew heavy.
A blue gale infused with lightning energy suddenly engulfed the sanctuary and the entire First Temple burning outside.
Is this… the evolved form of the Thunder God Sword?
It was similar.
The Pluto Sovereign Sword that had just appeared before Luke clearly resembled the Thunder God Sword. The way the lightning energy unfolded, the sword’s movement, even how the wielder dominated the space—all of it.
When he faced Jin in the underworld, Luke hadn’t felt this. Jin’s Pluto Sovereign Sword bore no resemblance to the Thunder God Sword.
Yet the swords Ban and Jin wielded were the same. That inexplicable sensation briefly clouded Luke’s mind.
“Even if you’re a Duelist, a sword is ultimately wielded by a person, and swordsmanship is just a way to kill your opponent. You were resurrected by the Solar God’s power, yet you never advanced your technique. You were trapped by the illusion of being a Duelist and clinging to your fighting spirit.”
After all that time, you couldn’t even improve a single sword technique, and you want to complete the world?
A sneer curled Ban’s lips as she continued.
“Putting all that aside, if you manage to defeat me, then your words will be true. Try to break this sword.”
Luke roared and charged at Ban.
By now, he had formed a new Thunder God Sword, wrapping his entire body in blue blades like armor. His greatsword shone pure white, as if a single strike could cleave the sky—just as all Duelists who reach that realm can do.
But once again, he couldn’t close the distance as he wished.
Though his legs kept moving forward, Ban remained distant, and the sword energy shot ahead vanished somewhere before reaching her.
The Pluto Sovereign Sword had no weaknesses.
At least, that was Luke’s perception. Even as he frantically searched for a flaw to exploit, he found none.
“Where are your brothers who once ran the world alongside you, Luke?”
Those words stabbed Luke’s heart like a blade.
Crack, crackle!
A bolt of lightning struck the statue. The once flawless statue shattered into pieces, and Luke couldn’t bear to look back.
Ban had already closed the distance.
Luke tried to move calmly, but Ban’s blade was already piercing his shoulder.
A chunk of flesh fell to the ground. Had he been a moment slower, fragments of his heart would have spilled instead.
Luke swung his greatsword calmly, but Ban was no longer there.
Sigmund slashed across Luke’s chest again. Within the blue mist of the Pluto Sovereign Sword, Ban appeared and vanished like a shadow. Luke could neither keep up with her speed nor predict her movements.
“If they had been here, this sword wouldn’t look so flawless to you right now. You were at your strongest when they were by your side. You weren’t the Sun God… you should have chosen them.”
The dark aura of the Lord of the Underworld’s sword flared brighter and brighter, while Luke’s vision grew steadily darker.