Tang!
Dang!
Kang!
The frozen star was shaking as powerful punches crashed into its life field.
With every attack, the field grew weaker, racing towards its inevitable disappearance.
Prince Rudolph's heart thumped with joy as he foresaw the capture of the two women.
They harbored a great secret that could change his position not just in the kingdom but in the entire Alliance!
What did a three path ranker mean?
Rudolph knew the answer.
It's the way to Godhood! Not just any divine ranker, but a God!
He didn't know how they had three paths nor why. But he was determined to capture them and let them spill out all the secrets.
'…And they're so beautiful.'
He licked his lips before putting even more power into his punches.
Kacha! Cha! Kaacha!
The field cracked open like an egg shell. As if that was the cue, the entire field pusled violently and collapsed.
Rudolph's eyes scanned through the star in a blink and locked onto a single mountain range.
His body flashed forward and he landed in front of the mountain neatly.
Sarah and Isadora walked out, their faces cold and furious respectively.
"Oh ladies, are you he—"
Boom!
Rudolph bent his neck at an impossible angle and dodged an arrow of light.
Yet, a line of red appeared on his cheek and blood spluttered out.
"You've grown stro—"
The Prince jumped back and evaded flames of darkness that drowned his location.
Even though he was fast, they still managed to catch his left foot. Unlike last time, they were more stubborn, more painful and more dnagerous.
"You too have grown stronger." Rudolph looked at them with a dangerous smile. "But you are still weaker than me."
Boom!
Ba!
The entire star shook and a huge mountain range was levelled. Unlike the normal stars, these were all influenced by powerful rank 9s.
The destruction that occured was much terrible than it looked.
Sarah stood up, coughing out blood, a deep fist impression on her abdomen.
Isadora's figures blurred and she quickly exchanged dozens of moves with Rudolph.
One time, it was the Prince who got a long cut on his hand that burned with dark flames.
The other time, Isadora's bones cracked and her blood splashed over the white snow.
As the battle went on, Rudolph quickly gained advantage.
If they hadn't increased their strength, they'd have been hardpressed to take even a couple of blows, like back in the solar system.
With increased strength, Isadora could handle a short battle but that's it.
Sarah jumped in to help, slowing down Rudolph's movements and aiming a light of blade to sever his arm.
Isadora concentrated the flames of darkness on her sword and also prepared to strike him down.
It was a great strategy and should've worked.
But the Prince's aura surged and his natal treasure—the full body armor—appeared.
It solely focused on Sarah's time power and reduced its influence on him.
As a result, Rudolph easily escaped Sarah's light blade and barely managed to block Isadora's sword.
But once he stabilized himself with the armor, he began a counter attack.
Punches. Kicks. Throwing spears. Shooting arrows.
With every passing minute, a new injury appeared on the two women. The white ground was slowly painted with their red blood.
Rudolph kept going.
With each attack more brutal than the last, he aimed to completely crush them.
And they fought back. Despite against an overwhelmingly superior enemy, the two didn't show any fear or willingness to give up.
For Isadora, it was her pride. After facing so many battles, she refused to give up in front of a mere rank 7.
Even though she's not as powerful as she once was, it didn't change her attitude.
It was a much newer thing for Sarah. The reason for her behavior was Varian's influence.
Whether he was weaker than her or stronger than her, Varian was always the same.
He never gave up.
So, she too decided to learn from him.
'Even if it's one more minute…'
Sarah's focus shifted to the rising aura coming from the cave. Prince Rudolph had long identified it but he dimissed it with contempt.
They both found the same thing.
Aura of a peak rank 5, trying to cross the bottleneck.
Rudolph dismissed it. To him, rank 5 was nothing more than a bug. Even his maids were stronger than that. Heck, even his envoys were peak rank 6!
If he really had to lose focus for someone so weak in the middle of this match, then he'd slap himself.
On the other hand, Sarah was dumbfounded.
'H-He is crossing an entire rank?!'
Her surprise was understandable. This never happened. But neither did Varian ever get to dual cultivate someone who had been a peak rank 9.
Without Sarah's support, acting as the bridge to the more complex insights, this wouldn't have been possible.
Yet, be it Sarah or Isadora, both felt whatever was happening was unbelievable.
Who in the Alliance and the Jai Empire ever jumped from rank to rank 6 in not one but seven fucking paths?!
Varian's aura was like the drug that gave them strength even when their bodies started giving up on them.
The two women began to push beyond their limits, breaking bones, ripping flesh and bleeding rivers.
As the fight continued, the two were quickly being pushed to the point of death.
But they fought back even more fiercely. Even giving up their defenses, they began to attack him, trying to inflict more and more injuries on him.
"You crazy bitches! Why don't you give up? You can't win!" Rudolph slammed his fists together.
The shockwave which they should've been able to deal with in the beginning now blasted them away.
The two women crashed into a mountain and slid down. As they did, two red lines appeared on the snow. The scent of their blood filled the air.
That was it.
They pushed well beyond their limits. Went above and beyond.
But their bodies gave up, their consciousness began to falter and their aura depleted.
Rudolph walked up to them and looked down at the two women. His chest filled with pride and ecstacy.
As he reached out his arms to grab them, the aura from the cave surged.
Shuaa!
The hands that should've grabbed those pretty faces fell on the ground, sliced clean.
