<Status>
[Name: Rio Flash]
[Title: Anomaly, Imperfect Supreme Weapon, Bender of Fate and Reality.]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Divinity: Imperfect Sword Heart (SSS+)]
[Rank: S-] [Max Rank Potential: No limit(X)]
[HP: 23500/23500] [MP: 15800/15800]
[STR: 107/250] [SPE: 121/250] [AGI: 109/ 250] [DEF: 110/250] [INT: 103/250]
[Talent: Limitless(X), Sword Aptitude(X), Imperfect Sword Body (SSS+)]
[Techniques: Master Swordsmanship (S-), Elemental Sword Art (S-), Enlightenment of The Sword Sage (S-)]
[Skills: Body Strengthening (S-), Lightening Sword (S-), Handling (S-), DarkWing Movement Art (S-), Reflect (C-), Void Travel]
[Passive Skills: True Immunity(X), Sword intent, Supreme Being's Aura, Enhanced Regeneration (S-)]
[Evaluation: An unstoppable anomaly in the fabric of reality, several laws of the world have noticed your growing presence and ambition!]
[Items: Unknown Fragments (???), Formless Weapon (bound to the soul), Lamont's Robe.]
…
['Imperfect' Sword Body:
Sword Body is a powerful physique that greatly improves the user's ability to master all skills and abilities related to swords.
This physique is so rare that only one person in a thousand years is born with it in the entire world.
Legend has it that the great being, Allen Von Reinhart, was born with dual supreme physiques. Not only did he have immense talent for martial arts, but he also had the 'Sword Body.'
This is also one of the reasons why he was able to wield the 'Sword of Promised Destinies' despite being a martial artist.]
[Effect 1: Greatly increases the damage-causing capability of sword-related attacks.]
[Effect 2: Increases affinity with the law of the 'Sword' tremendously!]
[Effect 3: Increases the chances of awakening the legendary skill 'Sword Intent' to 99%, and if already awakened, then increases its base power!]
[Effect 4: Locked due to the sword body being in 'Imperfect' state.]
…
[Reflect: The ability derived from Elemental Sword Art after it reached Rank 'S'.]
[Effect: Reflect the attack back to the opponent under certain conditions.]
…
[Void Travel:
The skill that is the real proof of a genuine S ranker is the ability that every S ranker awakens as they reach rank S.
This is the ability that all S rankers use to fly and walk freely in the air without needing any external support.]
[Effect: Grants user the ability to walk and travel in 'Void' without needing to expend any energy.]
…
The Spire of Ascension.
Floor 7, The Endless Ocean.
The raging storm of mana slowly started to calm down after a few minutes of violent rampage.
Alverto was caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of this massive mana storm; thus, he was neither able to move forward to attack Rio nor able to retreat out of its range.
It was as if the mana was consciously restricting him from moving.
Although he was restricted to one place, Alverto slowly calmed down and started to focus on his recovery.
Since the moment he started fighting Jin, he has been in constant trouble.
First Jin sealed his connection with the Spire of Ascension using his own potential and life span, and then Riya's constant healing magic severely damaged his body from the inside out.
Now seeing Rio ascend to Rank S, only one thought was ringing in his head again and again:
'I must establish my connection to the power of the Spire of Ascension once again; otherwise, I won't be able to stop this guy…'
Alverto could feel it in his bones; the aura of danger on Rio was slowly increasing every second. All his senses were telling him that the boy in front of him meant trouble.
'Staying here is pointless; the time for the final act is approaching. I was originally planning to end all these people fast, but they are too much trouble…'
The Spire of Ascension has the power to pull all the people that can influence the threads of fate that are related to its owner, Fate.
That's why Alverto pulled Rio and everyone else inside the Spire of Ascension; he wanted to deal with them all so that his plan could go on smoothly.
If he didn't pull them inside the Spire of Ascension and plan ahead to stop them, these people would have likely gotten in the way when he used the Spire of Ascension later on.
Ashtel alone would have been enough to shatter the entire Spire of Ascension all by himself; Alverto had to find a way to at least temporarily stop him from doing so.
Aside from Ashtel and Jin, he wasn't even taking anyone else too seriously.
He just didn't expect Jin to make such huge sacrifices just to stop him from using the connection with the Spire of Ascension.
'I must buy myself some time; the preparations on floor 0 are nearly done… just a bit more…'
A look of extreme determination appeared on Alverto's face at this moment, and he immediately took action.
[Forbidden Demon Magic: Soul Type: Resentment of the Burning Soul!]
An extremely sinister aura started to radiate out of Alverto's body, his eyes lost focus for a moment, and he spit out a mouthful of blood.
Right when Rio's ascension came to an end, Alverto punched the air in front of him and forcefully broke a crack in the 'Floor 7' of the Spire of Ascension!
'Today, losing is not an option…. Today I can only 'Win' this bet and not lose; if I lose, everything will be gone…'
'I can't lose, or the hope of the entire demon race will be extinguished!'
Alverto has a much greater mission on his shoulders than fighting with Rio and wasting time here.
He burned his own 'Soul' to give himself a powerful boost and immediately left Floor 7 through the gap he had created.
Seeing him leave, Rio didn't waste a single millisecond and chased behind him by using 'Void Travel.'
As a genuine S ranker, now Rio can fly on his own without even needing the support of Sword Intent.
The expressionless look on his face changed, and a look of seriousness appeared for the first time as he saw Alverto run.
There was only one thought in Rio's mind at this moment.
'I must not let this guy leave, or something really bad is going to happen!'
And just like that, Rio entered that crack created by Alverto and chased right behind him.
[I have very bad feeling about this… This guy is not a coward he will never run from a fight…]
[Although I hate to admit it, Alverto is a very bold and courageous person; unless there's a really big reason, I can't imagine him running away from a duel…]
Shadow's urgent voice rang out in Rio's head, and he nodded his head in affirmation.
'Indeed… this matter is too fishy to ignore…'
'Now that I have the 'Imperfect Sword Body,' I can vaguely sense that Alverto's soul seems to be getting unstable…'
'He's likely burning his own soul to give himself a massive boost in power…'
Rio's eyes narrowed, and he increased his flying speed to the extreme instantly.
He didn't care where Link and the others were at this moment or what was going on with Alverto; the only thing he knew was that he must stop Alverto and kill him fast!
…
At the same time.
Floor 7.
After Rio and Alverto both left, a massive piece of the upper floor broke apart and fell down in the ocean.
A rotting skeleton covered in broken armor was lying on that piece of debris.
If Rio were here, he would have noticed that this skeleton was the one that he had defeated in the upper floor during the sword duel.
This was the skeleton that was using the 'Sky Splitting Sword Art' against Rio.
Although Rio heavily damaged it and split its skull in two horizontally, it seems that this monster is still hanging on to its last breath even now.
Many floors collapsed above, and this skeleton ended up falling down here along with all the debris.
Its broken body trembled all of a sudden, and the skeleton seemed to have come back to its senses all of a sudden.
It tilted its half-broken head and glanced at the crack from where Rio and Alverto left for a while.
As if it had sensed something, it raised its hand and tried to grab it, but it couldn't reach it.
The skeleton started to struggle; it just couldn't let go after sensing that familiar aura in the surroundings.
It crawled on the massive floating debris and struggled to stand up as its bones creaked continuously.
Just when it was struggling to move forward, Riko's unconscious body that was floating on the surface of the ocean was thrown on the massive broken piece of debris by the powerful ocean waves.
The skeleton glanced in Riko's direction and seemed to have made a decision in its corrupted and destroyed mind.
It struggled; it crawled and moved with immense difficulty, but it succeeded in reaching Riko due to sheer determination and willpower.
Even the waves of the ocean seemed to be on its side and didn't create any more disturbance for it.
The surface of the ocean suddenly calmed down for some reason.