Chapter 638

A battle between two superhumans wielding power beyond human limits and possessing indestructible bodies. It was inevitable that the fight would take on the form of a prolonged war.

Whether Hersela’s body would collapse first from the accumulated blows piercing through her defenses, or Or-han’s feats would run out while maintaining his Indestructible Body—this was the question.

The Empire’s strongest versus the mightiest of the grasslands.

Even those who had reached the Realm of Heroes struggled to counter the techniques exchanged every second, clashing and being dismantled repeatedly. Yet, the essence of this battle was ultimately a simple endurance match.

—

“Sink into the pit of flames!”

The vortex of the Life Force Technique struck the lava rising up to her ankles, creating a wave of scorching heat.

A crimson tide that burned and melted everything it touched. Or-han severed one of the stone pillars supporting the underground cavern and hurled it toward the lava wave. A sticky spray of molten rock splashed in all directions.

“Not yet—!”

Hersela scattered the lava, kicked the incoming boulder into pieces, and charged at Or-han, covering herself in the shattered fragments. A blue-silver blade shot toward Or-han’s eyes.

“Meaningless!”

Or-han deflected Ai-mel-ra’s sword with the edge of his hand and drove his other fist toward Hersela’s abdomen. A punch powerful enough to pierce through stone. The cannon-like fist buried itself into Hersela’s lower abdomen.

“Like hell!”

No, it tried to.

– Whoosh!

A fist piercing through the void. Just before Or-han’s punch reached her stomach, Hersela used the tentacles of her Life Force Technique to grab a nearby boulder and yank herself toward it.

A technique of using solidified Life Force like a rope to fling herself toward terrain. A method of evasion she had shown during her battle with Isabella.

Hersela, flung toward the boulder, spun halfway in the air and landed on its surface—

– Crash!

Shattering the rock beneath her feet, she charged again. A meteor-like rush.

Or-han twisted his waist, attempting to kick Hersela as she flew toward him, but at that moment, a mass of crimson chains burst from the lava below, wrapping around his legs.

“Tch…!”

The chains of Life Force Technique created only a brief opening, but it was enough time for Hersela’s thrust to reach Or-han’s solar plexus.

– Clang!

With a sharp metallic sound, Or-han’s body was sent flying backward, crashing into the cavern wall. Half-melted rocks tumbled down, burying him.

“Tch…”

Hersela clicked her tongue as she landed on the lava. Despite landing a perfect hit, her expression was tinged with disappointment.

The metallic sound alone proved that she had failed to deal any real damage to Or-han.

‘As expected, I can’t break through the Indestructible Body…!’

Even with all her strength unleashed in that strike, breaking the Indestructible Body was impossible.

At best, she could push him back, but without dealing damage, it was only a temporary delay.

[No need to be disappointed. We prepared this strategy knowing we couldn’t break it. Just focus on defense, and victory is assured.]

Ha-shal-leur, the personality of “Holy Flame,” responded from the depths of her consciousness.

As she said, as long as they kept Or-han restrained, Hersela’s victory was guaranteed—as long as she didn’t die before Or-han’s feats ran out.

However, Hersela wasn’t entirely satisfied with such a victory. She had agreed to it only because there was no other way, but if possible, she wanted to pierce Or-han’s heart with her own blade.

Moreover…

‘We can’t be certain. Stuck down here, we can’t grasp the situation above. The possibility is low, but if the Imperial Army were to lose, the situation could change unpredictably.’

[…True.]

Ha-shal-leur reluctantly agreed.

If those supplying oil and air to the underground cavern were killed, maintaining the fiery trap would be impossible. Both fuel and oxygen would vanish.

The molten lava would remain, but the flames consuming the cavern’s oxygen would die out, forcing Hersela to choose between suffocation or escape.

Or, the warriors of Ka`har might dig through the barrier’s wreckage from above to rescue Or-han.

Though it was unlikely, given that thousands of troops had been crushed in the barrier’s collapse, the power of “what if” couldn’t be ignored.

‘Besides, I might collapse before depleting his energy. I can’t keep fighting like this forever.’

Unknown to Or-han, just as his Indestructible Body had a time limit, Hersela also had a limit to how long she could fight.

Despite it being her original body, maintaining her consciousness at the forefront required constant consumption of Life Force energy.

The moment her Life Force ran out, Hersela’s consciousness would sleep again, and Ha-shal-leur’s personality would take over.

It wouldn’t affect the battle’s outcome, but it was an ending Hersela couldn’t accept. The memorial rite for her mother had to be carried out by her own hands to have meaning.

[…What can we do? If we can’t break the Indestructible Body, we’ll just have to go with this. There’s no other way, right?]

Of course, it didn’t matter to Ha-shal-leur. If Hersela failed, she could just take over.

[It seems to be working, though.]

As Ha-shal-leur said, the second battle with Or-han was slightly in their favor.

It wasn’t just due to the defensive power of the blessing.

Unlike the previous fight, where enduring and buying time required taking significant damage, the number of Or-han’s attacks they allowed had decreased.

[It’s not that we’ve gotten stronger, but Or-han seems a bit weaker.]

To Ha-shal-leur, Or-han’s attacks still carried devastating power, but every aspect aside from that had weakened slightly compared to before.

His reaction speed to Hersela’s attacks, the intent behind each strike…

Ha-shal-leur thought it was because the battlefield, covered in flames and lava, had unsettled Or-han’s mind, but that wasn’t the case.

Or-han’s attacks had dulled not because he felt the crisis of being trapped in a life-threatening situation, but because of Ha-shal-leur’s appearance as she charged at him.

When she was clothed and armored, he could attack freely, but facing her naked and aflame, even the mighty Or-han couldn’t help but react more slowly.

It was only natural. Though Or-han fought with the mindset that he didn’t mind dying, he couldn’t remain indifferent to the naked form of a girl.

Unintentionally, Hersela had employed an unethical beauty tactic.

Though Or-han was also fighting naked, neither Hersela nor Ha-shal-leur were fazed by his appearance.

A man’s naked body? To Ha-shal-leur, it was merely an unpleasant but familiar sight, and Hersela, having led her troops on plundering raids, was equally indifferent.

It was a joke of a situation, but the difference in mindset between facing a “daughter’s nakedness” and an “enemy’s nakedness” clearly influenced the flow of the battle.

—

“Phew…”

Or-han, buried under the rubble, let out a soft sigh as he rose.

In his entire life, there had never been a more troublesome fight—both physically and mentally.

Ha-shal-leur, employing a completely different fighting style. Each strike was lighter than before, but with the Life Force Technique, previously used only for flight, now fully utilized in combat, even he found it difficult to counter.

It felt like fighting both a warrior and a sorcerer who had transcended limits.

He had never met a sorcerer who had transcended limits, but if such a person existed, they might fight like this.

‘Impressive.’

Though it seemed she hadn’t gained the power to break the Indestructible Body, if they fought without their Conceptual Manifestations, he couldn’t be certain he could defeat Ha-shal-leur.

‘Impressive, but…’

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason the fight was difficult.

The basics of combat begin with facing the enemy and reading their movements, but facing her was not easy, making it hard to counter.

When he tried to whip his right leg like a whip to kick her head, he found himself instinctively avoiding her gaze. It was a near-instinctive reaction, leaving Or-han with no way to handle it.

If he were fighting a different warrior instead of Ha-shal-leur, he wouldn’t have cared. In a fight where he absolutely couldn’t lose, against an enemy, their appearance wouldn’t have registered.

If this were that kind of battle, Or-han would have rampaged without restraint, using any means necessary to escape. If needed, he would have blatantly targeted exposed weak points.

Continuing to fight here would only deepen his disadvantage, and breaking free with honest attacks alone was impossible for him.

However, such a way of fighting was impossible against a girl.

He wanted Ha-shal-leur to grow stronger than him, but he had no desire to shame her or take her life.

Hersela was anxious about the slim chance of losing to Or-han, but this battle was one Or-han could hardly win from the start.