The pitch-black knight's longsword was gripped in her hand, and Roa didn't waste any more words; he directly summoned Est.
The scorching divine might surged, opening the door to the Astral Zero. A bridge was built between Roa and Est, and Roa began to inject a large amount of divine energy into Est.
The intense divine might overflowed, and the temperature around them rapidly increased, the heat waves distorting the air.
The silver-white sword was gripped in Roa's right hand, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Without further ado, Ashbell was enough to make Roa serious.
"Flame Dance."
Roa's breathing quickened, divine might began to spread with his heartbeat, and his magical power unconsciously stirred, boiling along with the dragon blood within him; the battle was about to begin.
Flames ignited around Roa, the crimson divine might enveloping his body. Suddenly, Roa transformed into an afterimage, the firelight disappearing from its original spot and reappearing from afar.
The Demon Slayer Holy Sword was entwined with flames; the flames did not harm the Demon Slayer Holy Sword. On the contrary, the flames felt like warm currents, bringing Est an extremely comforting sensation, as if bathing in a hot spring.
However, Roa's strike was blocked.
Flames surged, heat waves swept through, and the dazzling fire wrapped around the silver-white longsword. The firelight flickered, and the rising heat wave slashed down towards the girl.
The terrifying high temperature swept through, the silver-white longsword fell, and the crimson divine might pressed down towards the girl's position.
But the firelight couldn't engulf her; the pitch-black mist surged, and the scorching flames collided with the mist, both sides wearing each other down.
The silver-white longsword was blocked, and the knight's longsword slowly rose. Roa saw the girl's emotionless eyes.
Her brown eyes were filled with fatigue, the dark energy swirling around her. The knight's longsword she wielded easily blocked Roa's downward strike.
The opponent's strength was astonishing; even with Roa's dragon blood and magical power enhancements, he still couldn't overpower her. Even though Roa's physical condition hadn't fully recovered, just this amount of strength was enough for the girl to walk across this continent with ease.
And just as Roa was slightly distracted, a flash of black lightning shot past. Roa's pupils suddenly constricted, his muscles tensed, his right arm bulging, the veins in his hand gripping the Demon Slayer Holy Sword standing out, and a wild divine might surged upwards, the pitch-black divine might erupted, instantly drowning all the firelight.
The opponent's sword technique was, surprisingly, the Absolute Blade Arts: Purple Lightning.
And it was a perfected version of Purple Lightning, not just a prototype.
Sword lights intertwined, black lightning exploded. Even when Roa reacted, he was forcibly dragged back dozens of feet.
The ground was directly carved out by Roa, leaving a long trench.
Roa's expression turned calm; he hadn't expected the opponent to have grown this strong.
The pitch-black mist surged towards Roa, wrapping around him, trying to erode his consciousness.
Roa frowned slightly, the scorching divine might surged, burning the black mist.
Roa kicked out, delivering a powerful strike to the opponent's chest. This kick was forceful and precise, and the timing of the attack was ruthless. Ashbell was forced to turn the pitch-black longsword horizontally to block.
The powerful force swept through, and this kick sent Ashbell flying back dozens of feet, breaking several trees along the way before finally stopping.
Dust and debris filled the air, and Roa tightened his grip on the Demon Slayer Holy Sword, his gaze fixed on Ashbell's position.
According to the theory of no injury with smoke, the opponent was likely unharmed, and it was even difficult to determine if they had sustained any minor injuries.
As the dust settled, Ashbell's figure was revealed. She sat up from the ground, the dark energy swirling around her. A faint dark energy gathered in the front part of her chest, noticeably less than the dark energy surrounding her body.
Roa smirked, admiring Ashbell's cunning.
Just now, Ashbell had not merely blocked with her sword; at the critical moment, the surrounding dark energy had gathered in front of her, successfully dissipating most of the force from his kick.
She looked somewhat disheveled, but in reality, she had sustained no injuries.
Ashbell stood up, raising the knight's sword in her hand, taking a step forward.
Her movements still resembled the stance of Purple Lightning, but there were slight variations compared to what Greyworth had taught.
Roa was well aware of the speed of Purple Lightning; this sword technique had limited lethality against him when Greyworth used it. Even if it could hit Roa, it wouldn't necessarily cause much damage.
But this girl was different; the power she possessed far exceeded that of Greyworth.
Roa held the Demon Slayer Holy Sword at an angle in front of him, his brilliant eyes fixed on her. Almost simultaneously, both figures moved.
"Eleventh Form: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance."
Flames surged, instantly crossing dozens of feet from one end of the forest.
The scorching firelight transformed into a fire dragon, the silver-white sword enveloped in crimson divine might, the snow-white sword becoming the fiery dragon's head.
However, while Roa's speed was fast, Ashbell's speed was equally impressive.
Black lightning pierced through the forest, thunder roaring as the purple-black lightning clashed with the fire dragon, producing a tremendous booming sound.
The violent flames erupted, the divine might scattering recklessly around. The already precarious Spirit Forest was completely destroyed, and those trees that had narrowly escaped were engulfed in flames.
The fire didn't burn for long; the branches were once again wrapped in black divine might, turning to ashes and blowing away with the wind.
This time, Roa struck fiercely, the offensive and defensive positions reversed. The fiery dragon's head opened wide, swallowing the black lightning, and Roa, just as Ashbell had done to him earlier, dragged Ashbell's body away towards the distance.
To say he was dragging her was simply because his strength was greater than Ashbell's.
The firelight consumed the darkness; the dense darkness seemed no match for the firelight, and Ashbell was now being suppressed by Roa.
But at that moment, Ashbell spoke for the first time.
"Absolute Blade Arts, Second Form — Meteor."
Her cold voice was like a bone-chilling wind. Roa's pupils suddenly constricted as Ashbell erupted with powerful divine might once more. The divine might poured into the knight's sword as if it were free, and the fire dragon's momentum came to a halt. An incredibly fast slash, almost unbelievable, cleaved through the dragon's head, and the pitch-black divine might erupted from within the fire dragon, the black mist devouring the crimson scorching divine might. Roa's strike was completely blocked by Ashbell.
The block didn't surprise Roa; if the person before him could be dealt with so easily, he wouldn't have felt a sense of crisis.
"Absolute Blade Arts, Sixth Form, Crushing Fang."
A powerful divine might gathered at the knight's sword, an extremely shocking force coalescing on the knight's sword, its speed even surpassing that of Purple Lightning. This attack made Roa's heart skip a beat.
Ashbell's weapon was renowned as the "Sword that Pierces Reality," its quality rivaling that of the "Demon Slayer Holy Sword." Such immense power, even the Twelve Knights and similar spirit users, if their spirit magic armors collided with this sword, would likely shatter instantly.
This was a strike capable of crushing spirit magic armors.
"Damn witch, what does she want?"
No need to say more; the opponent's sword techniques were all Absolute Blade Arts, and where his own sword techniques came from was self-evident.
There are many types of Absolute Blade Arts; those created by Greyworth are highly diverse, with specialized sword techniques for various situations.
For example, there are techniques for damaging specific parts, group extermination, countering specific attributes, weapon destruction, counterattacks, and sword kills, among others.
While Purple Lightning is a prototype, it belongs to the type of localized destroyers.
The principle of the Purple Lightning is to gather divine power beneath one's feet and then unleash it in an instant, achieving a speed that leaves opponents unable to react.
"Sixth Form, Crushing Fang", is a sword technique focused on weapon destruction.
By converting divine energy into impact force in one breath and directly infusing it into the spirit magic armor, the armor will be stimulated by the substantial impact of the divine power during that moment, resulting in an explosive increase in destructive power.
Roa, having studied the Absolute Blade Arts, naturally understands the terror of this move.
Contrary to Ashbell's expectations, Roa's figure vanished like a bubble, disappearing from the spot.
"Breath of the Sun, Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow."
The pitch-black longsword pierced into the illusion, the attack missed, and Ashbell revealed a gap on her right side.
Roa's figure disappeared and reappeared above Ashbell's right side, the Demon Slayer Holy Sword raised high, then swiftly descended.
"Breath of the Sun, Ninth Form: Setting Sun Transformation."
Flames enveloped the longsword, directly slashing towards the opponent's neck.
This time, Roa did not hold back; an enemy of this level was indeed troublesome for him now.
The crimson blade pressed against Ashbell's neck. This time, Ashbell did not swing her sword to block, nor did she need to.
A black wave surged like a tide, almost instantly submerging the position where Roa stood. The thick, ominous aura nearly swallowed Roa whole, but it was all resisted by Roa's crimson divine power.
The dissipating divine power could not completely withstand the ominous aura, and Roa was compelled to mobilize his divine power to actively resist the external erosion.
At the same time, Roa felt quite astonished; this level of power had already pulled this world's spirit users a significant distance away.
Even the Demon King Solomon could not be compared to the girl before him.
"Infinite Darkness, slaughter our enemies - Declare Death Dark Thunder."
The battle did not pause due to Roa's astonishment; Ashbell spoke again.
The opponent could still cast spirit magic.
Roa retreated rapidly, once again using Fake Rainbow.
Just as Roa had just retreated, a terrifying pitch-black thunder erupted, directly blasting through the position where Roa had been, along with the bare rocks behind him, annihilating everything in its path, turning hundreds of feet into dust and leaving only a deep void.
Roa looked at the forest obliterated by the dark thunder, his mouth twitching.
Such a level of attack could also be unleashed by Roa, perhaps even more terrifying than Ashbell's.
But the problem was, even if Roa unleashed such an attack, the divine power consumed would be substantial. What exactly was this being before him? Was it really appropriate for such a level of divine power to exist within a human?
Roa's ability to cheat was due to his pure body and the unconditional conversion of his magical power, but what did the other party possess?
As if sensing Roa's puzzled expression, the previously silent Restia spoke up: "Surprised, aren't you? This is the power of the 'Demon King's Successor.'"
"The power of the 'Demon King's Successor'?" Roa was confused, looking at the figure standing not far away, wrapped in pitch-black demonic energy, lost in thought.
After unleashing her ultimate move, Ashbell fell into a brief moment of rigidity, while the girl stood still, not attacking directly.
It was this brief moment that provided an opportunity for the two to communicate.
"Now is not the time to talk. Use the Demon Slayer Holy Sword to absorb some of her demonic energy, and then we can talk. I will explain everything to you," Restia's voice echoed in the desolate area, which had been completely flattened; even the soil on the surface had not escaped unscathed.
Roa frowned, watching Restia warily, contemplating whether to deal with her directly.
Seeing that Roa was slow to act, Restia had to speak again: "I can give you greater power."
Roa raised an eyebrow, looking at the motionless Restia, and said lightly: "Are you suggesting I become like her?"
Restia choked, then coldly replied: "Ren was just an accident; she shouldn't be like this."
Roa scoffed, but inwardly felt a stir of curiosity.
After pondering for a moment, Roa finally said to Restia: "What should I do?"
This indicated that Roa was willing to listen to what the other party had to say. Of course, if Restia did not provide enough value, Roa would not hesitate to use the Sword of Light to send her to find the next successor.
Hearing this, Restia sighed in relief and said to Roa: "Defeat Ren and pierce her with the Demon Slayer Holy Sword, just as Est once did."
Roa nodded, indicating that he understood, while in his mind, he asked Est if it was possible to absorb the other party's demonic energy.
Est hesitated for a moment before responding with concern: "Master, it is possible to absorb it, but this clearly belongs to the curse category. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Est was worried about a situation similar to that of the previous master. Roa thought for a moment and felt that the problem should not be too big.
"Just absorbing a part of her power shouldn't be a major issue; don't worry."
Since Roa said so, Est could only nod in agreement.
Restia spoke: "Then, let's begin."
As she finished speaking, the rolling black mist roared, and the black mist surrounding the black longsword grew denser, the knight's longsword entwined with ominous energy.