Chapter 84: The Pinnacle of Battle

As his blade clashed against the sword’s edge, You’s gaze remained fixed elsewhere, never once meeting Wang’s eyes.

You had conducted intelligence gathering prior to the battle.

Through numerous fragmented details, he had vaguely surmised that the demon leader before him possessed the power to control others’ minds.

Such a power could not be underestimated. Had You not gathered this intelligence beforehand and recklessly met Wang’s gaze, he might very well have found himself involuntarily drawing his blade and slitting his own throat.

Since her opponent refused to take the bait, Wang simply abandoned other tactics, resolving to end everything with her sword alone.

As the two weapons locked in a fierce exchange, and You sensed himself gradually losing ground, his restless gaze suddenly made a discovery.

Before his eyes, burning like twin flames, was a flowing expanse of crimson—the undeniable color of fresh blood.

To date, the most severe injury Wang had sustained was when she had sacrificed herself to shield Little Eagle from a dragon’s claw attack.

Although Cai had provided basic emergency treatment for the profusely bleeding abdomen, it could only temporarily staunch the wound, not heal it.

Subsequently, Wang herself had spearheaded a brutal, intense war, annihilating over 400,000 undead.

During this relentless campaign, the wound, which had only just stopped bleeding, had burst open again due to her strenuous activity, causing a significant loss of blood.

This utterly defied You’s expectations.

Despite the wound growing ever longer, the demon leader’s movements showed no sign of slowing, as if she felt no pain whatsoever.

‘This cannot stand,’ You thought. ‘Whether monster or human, it’s illogical not to scream when injured.’

To rectify this ‘error,’ You freed one hand, clenched his fingers into a fist, and slammed it into that specific target.

Boom!

The powerful fist struck the wound with crushing force, his knuckles twisting and grinding against the flesh, as if intent on tearing the skin completely open.

“Ugh!”

Wang’s expression contorted dramatically. Her usually stern face became severely distorted, and a groan escaped from between her tightly clenched teeth.

“Yes, this is how you should react. Scream more, suffer more, let the agony drive you to death!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The vicious fists relentlessly pounded the same spot. Blood splattered in an instant, and her broken groans gradually strung together into a continuous cry.

You truly hated this!

He hated that despite employing numerous strategies and exhausting every method to weaken his opponent, he still couldn’t gain even a sliver of advantage in a direct confrontation.

Yet, thankfully, there were many ways to achieve victory.

For instance, what he was doing now, though utterly dishonorable, was enough if it secured the win, wasn’t it?

Once You gained an advantage, he intended to exploit it fully. However, Wang would not allow him to alter the situation so easily.

Moments later, You brought his fist down once more. This time, however, the blood-stained fist was met by a leg that shot up abruptly.

Wang maintained her sword-wielding stance, but her right leg suddenly rose, colliding fiercely with the incoming fist.

With a sharp *snap*, the rising whip-kick knocked the hand back, leaving You’s hand a bloody mess on the spot.

As Wang lowered her right leg, a heavy stomp followed, her shoe sole imprinting itself upon the head of a fallen skeleton.

After a *crunching* sound, the last skeleton was shattered. Wang and You lost their footing, simultaneously plummeting downwards.

The skeleton instinctively reacted, extending its bony claw to catch its master.

You avoided hitting the ground, then propelled himself forward with both legs, descending with his blade from above, aiming a powerful slash at his sole target.

On the other side, as Wang fell, she decisively hurled the longsword in her hand downwards.

A second later, she placed her foot exactly where she had mentally mapped the sword’s position, landing precisely on its hilt.

Stabilizing her balance, she pushed off with the tip of her single foot, controlling her body to spring upwards.

Simultaneously, Wang’s other foot swept vertically past the sword hilt, a kick and a hook, sending the sword flying back up with her foot.

As the sword ascended before her, Wang reached out to grasp the weapon. It was at this precise moment that You’s figure arrived before her.

The sword’s edge was vertical, the blade horizontal, overlapping to form an irregular cross shape, sparking countless fiery clashes.

During their second stalemate, You still harbored intentions of using underhanded tactics. Before long, he hooked one leg and swept it towards Wang’s waist and abdomen.

To use an effective move once could be called ‘clever.’

But to use it a second time, what other description remained besides ‘foolish’ to characterize such an action?

*Thwack!*

The sweeping foot could not advance further, for the calf that controlled its forward movement was now gripped within a large, blood-stained hand.

Wang remained silent, but her left arm, swinging in a rotation, flung You’s calf, along with his entire body, away.

The skeleton’s movements were not particularly swift. It could catch its master once, but not a second time, only watching helplessly as You crashed to the ground.

Given the distance of five or six meters, it was unlikely to inflict significant harm on a ‘Monarch-tier’ You.

However, You’s current state of mind was far from good.

Initially, he had no obvious external injuries, but now, both internally and externally, he had acquired several non-trivial wounds.

The ‘annihilation’ assault was far from over. You hadn’t even found a chance to scramble back to his feet when the longsword, enveloped in a cold gleam, plunged directly down.

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

You remained sprawled on his back on the ground, the tip of the sword, laden with astonishing killing intent, poised to strike half a foot from his eyes.

The blocking blade parried the sword. The wielder of the sword pressed force onto the weapon’s tip, while the wielder of the blade desperately resisted the opponent’s weapon from drawing closer.

Resistance, however, was never a lasting solution. Influenced by his current posture, You couldn’t exert his full strength.

Thanks to this, the plunging sword’s edge drew ever closer, shifting from being ‘half a foot away’ to now locking onto his heart, mere inches distant.

Ten more seconds—no, just five seconds—and You would lose the precious life he valued most!

At this critical juncture, it was the skeleton that once again altered the seemingly inevitable outcome.

The skeleton did not swat at its prey with its bony claws as it had before, knowing that such an action would inevitably engulf its master.

Since a direct attack was out of the question, it resorted to an indirect assault.

The skeleton craned its neck, bending it at an extremely high angle that threatened to snap, and furiously inhaled the swirling air around it.

Wang was not one to focus solely on a single task. While threatening You’s life with her sword, she had also kept a watchful eye on the skeleton’s position.

Seeing the skeleton’s restless movements, she knew she could no longer linger. She immediately withdrew her sword, her legs retreating to propel her body several meters backward.

Her judgment proved entirely correct. In less than a blink of an eye, a whistling sound, swirling into a vortex, swept down from above.

At a moment demanding quick thinking, the puppet-like undead creature displayed the significant flaw of insufficient intelligence.

The skeleton only considered that swinging its large claws might flatten its master along with the enemy, completely overlooking that howling sound waves could also easily trap people.

The sound wave, powerful enough to level a small forest, would not consciously differentiate between ‘enemy’ and ‘ally’ when it descended, nor could it curve.

You slammed his elbow into the ground, using his instantaneous reaction to quickly roll diagonally away, then flipped himself upright at a distance.

The sound wave struck the ground, blasting a deep crater in that area. You silently celebrated his quick thinking.

The series of battles had confirmed Wang’s recent assessment: as long as the skeleton existed, You could not be killed.

This raised a question:

Why, despite knowing that a direct counterattack would be ineffective, did Wang wield her sword with such desperate intensity?

There was only one answer:

Wang had deliberately acted this way, feigning an absolute determination to take You’s life, all to lure the skeleton into attacking!

For more than ten seconds after emitting the howling sound, the skeleton was unable to make agile limb movements, thereby exposing its most vulnerable aspect.

If You was a genius of schemes and stratagems, then Wang was a genius of battle and war, possessing an almost innate intuition for seizing opportunities.

During the time her opponent was busy dodging the sound wave, Wang did not waste a single moment. She raised her longsword with both hands, its blade aimed directly at the skeleton’s position.

Scorching fire elements melted the air along their path, whipping up a tremendous heat wave that, with a swing of her sword, blasted towards the massive skeleton.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

There was no need to shatter its entire body. The primary destructive force of the intense flames concentrated on its enormous skull, pulverizing it with the might of a hurricane sweeping away leaves.

The impossibly large skeleton, impossible to ignore, stood out starkly on the battlefield.

Its body remained perfectly upright, yet its head was gone.

Without the core of its entire being, the body’s upright stance could not be maintained for long.

After less than a minute, it toppled stiffly to the ground, disintegrating into a scattered pile of bone fragments.

The dead were truly dead, but the two living combatants continued their deadly struggle, until one of them, too, became among the fallen.

In the previous instant, You’s assessment of the current situation had been impeccably accurate, leading to the scene that unfolded next.

The blade, serving as a staff, plunged into the ground. Amidst You’s low incantations, countless skeletal remains, enough to blot out the sky, materialized in the heavens as a surging black tide.

This would be You’s ultimate killing move.

Infinite killing intent surged towards her. In response, Wang pressed her hand, trembling from pain, and commanded the elements one last time.

Illusory sword shadows emerged one by one, five in total, making six swords including the original. The few remaining elements on the battlefield were once again forcibly gathered, swirling around the tips of the six blades.

Water, fire, ice, wind, lightning, and earth—the six elements were wielded one final time by the strongest woman in the world.

They did not unleash their power sequentially but simultaneously transformed into a sky-shattering roar, merging into a single ‘Holy Power Torrent’ that surged boundlessly towards the zenith of the firmament.

Numerous undead formed a curse, sweeping down relentlessly, attempting to claim the life of the sole living being before them.

One sword horizontally twisted the cosmos, cleaving directly through the curse, as if intent on obliterating this darkening battlefield.

One fought with fervent desire, engaging in a desperate struggle for final victory.

Another, unburdened by attachments, wielded a sword to meet their ultimate destiny.

There was no hierarchy, no superior or inferior, merely a pure contest of strength.

Through their respective ultimate techniques, both individuals seemed to review their entire lives in an instant, reaching the pinnacle of decades of struggle.

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