Dungeon.

The scene shifts.

Liens appeared in the suburbs, standing on a hillside, surrounded by trees and green grass forming a verdant world, with Alfred and his two companions in front of him.

This was the moment Liens had just arrived at the location of the premonition ritual, intercepting Alfred and his two companions.

Seeing Liens, Alfred was about to converse with him, but in the next instant, his expression immediately became extremely solemn.

"Be careful."

Alfred waved his hand, conjuring a stream of water to envelop Ralph and Grover, pushing them away from the area while transmitting a warning, and simultaneously drawing his sword to meet Liens's strike.

In an instant, the two swords clashed, and a roar exploded.

The powerful impact crushed everything around them, transforming the vibrant jungle into a desolate wasteland covered in yellow dust.

Balder and the others, who were rushing towards the area, stopped their advance upon seeing this scene, their gazes fixed on the center of the explosion with solemnity.

An unstoppable roar was erupting there.

"Should we still go in and support Liens?"

Cruz hesitantly asked Balder.

"First, observe the situation from the periphery. This level of power confrontation is beyond our ability to intervene."

Balder replied with a solemn expression.

The others nodded in agreement. From the commotion coming from that direction, it was clear that at this level of confrontation, let alone intervening, even getting close was not a simple matter.

A slight oversight could lead to serious injury or even death if caught in the middle.

"I never imagined the confrontation between such powerful individuals would be so terrifying; just the aftermath of the battle leveled the surrounding hills."

Donahue exclaimed, shocked by the power displayed by Liens and Alfred.

"Because they are fighting with their lives."

Lucrezia said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, the others looked at her, seeking an explanation for her words, but she did not answer, merely gazing at the center of the battlefield with a heavy expression.

"Pfft!"

With a swing of his sword, Liens couldn't help but spit out a large mouthful of blood before even striking his enemy.

And although Alfred on the opposite side did not vomit blood, his face appeared somewhat pale, seemingly having sustained some injuries as well.

"Can you tell me the reason that makes you so impulsive?"

After parrying another of Liens's sword strikes, Alfred transmitted a question to him.

Liens gave no response, merely striking at Alfred in silence, completely disregarding any damage this strike might inflict upon himself.

Seeing this, Alfred couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh in his heart.

He had no intention of fighting to the death, not because he feared death, but because he believed it was not yet time for their true decisive battle.

Having worked so hard, prepared so much, and finally found a suitable opponent, he truly did not wish to kill him when he had not yet accumulated enough.

But the current situation was no longer a battle he could end at will.

Even if he wanted to leave, it seemed the other party would not let him depart so easily.

"Do you know what you are doing?"

"You are currently just a Knight; your physical strength cannot withstand this immense power at all. If you continue like this, you will be torn apart by this power."

"By then, even the God of Absolute Fairness might not be able to save you."

Alfred transmitted a warning again.

"I know, so please be serious."

Liens transmitted his reply.

He naturally knew exactly what he was doing. His current state was almost equivalent to wielding his 'Sword Heart' as a weapon for attack.

The strike that repelled Alfred in reality earlier was precisely this, and similarly, Alfred was also employing a similar method.

Thanks to 'Heaven and Man as One,' he could almost perfectly control the power of 'Sword Heart,' but this did not mean he could use 'Sword Heart' as a weapon without any side effects.

To ensure the output of 'Sword Heart,' a large amount of energy would instantly transmit outwards through his body. At that moment, his body, spirit, and even his mind would be in an overloaded state.

It was similar to a pipe exceeding the volume of a blood vessel passing rapidly within the blood vessel; even with perfect control, it was impossible to avoid the pipe injuring the blood vessel.

Liens's current state was that the 'pipe' was getting larger and larger until it would eventually completely burst the 'blood vessel.'

By then, if he couldn't receive powerful treatment in time, he would at best suffer physical damage with extremely severe after-effects, or at worst, die on the spot, perhaps even exploding like fireworks.

However, since this was an Instance, Liens naturally wasn't worried about dying. He only cared about whether he could ascertain Alfred's upper limit of strength.

Shooting at a target.

He needed to confirm Alfred's true strength so that he could 'draw' the 'target' to defeat Alfred.

"Since you insist, let's see who gives out first."

As he spoke, Alfred raised the upper limit of his power output, intending to forcefully suppress Liens. In response, Liens was not to be outdone, also strengthening the power output of his 'Sword Heart.'

The two swords collided, and the resulting impact caused the earth to tremble. Balder and the others, who were observing the situation from the periphery, retreated further to avoid being affected by the aftermath of the battle.

In this collision, both remained evenly matched.

The only cost was Liens's body becoming engorged with blood, his skin cracking, his blood vessels beginning to burst, and blood gradually staining him red.

Seeing Liens in this state, Alfred frowned. He knew this meant Liens was nearing his limit, and if he continued, Liens would soon explode.

Thinking of this, Alfred quickly made a decision, and the bitter smile in his heart deepened.

He never imagined he would one day fight desperately to preserve his opponent's life. Remembering his old friend Holmes's prophecy before their departure, it might just be coming true at this moment.

Thoughts raced through his mind, and Alfred's expression turned serious. He held his left hand in a sword-finger gesture before him and whispered.

"Sword!"

At this moment, to save Liens, either he himself had to stop using the power formed by 'Ten Thousand People's Beliefs,' or he had to release all of that power.

Accompanied by the sound that echoed in his mind, the sky transformed into a clear lake, and a colossal azure-blue sword stood in the center of the lake.

Liens, now a man of blood, looked up at the giant sword, his calm eyes showing no trace of pain, as if the internal injuries were merely an illusion.

With a thought, Liens instantly retracted the rampant 'Sword Heart Power' within his body.

And losing the sustenance of this power, the longsword forged from mithril and black iron immediately shattered into fragments of varying sizes, falling from his hand.

It was like a metaphor, hinting at his ultimate fate.

Noticing Liens instantly controlling the rampant energy within him, Alfred was somewhat surprised, his evaluation of Liens rising by several points, and at the same time, he became even more unwilling for him to die like this.

Only an opponent like this could meet the requirements of the Legend ritual.

Liens paid no attention to the shattered longsword in his hand. His right hand, cut by the sword fragments, calmly formed a sword-finger gesture and held it before him.

The sword-finger was merely a sense of ritual; it wasn't that the move truly required a specific preparatory action. Before Liens even made the sword-finger gesture, the anomaly had already occurred.

Clouds rolled, and a colossal azure sword emerged from the layered cloud vortex, as if a divine being held a sword, cleaving through the clouds.

At this moment, 'Heaven and Man as One' and 'Sword Heart' resonated, and the Heaven and Earth Sword, representing the ultimate offensive power of 'momentum,' thus materialized.

"Sword!"

In the sky, two anomalies corresponded from afar, the rolling clouds intertwining with the lake surface, and azure and azure-blue erupted in an earth-shshattering roar.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.