Chapter 495 - 495: You Really Didn’t Let Me Down

"Prepare? No need."

The instant Luke finished speaking, Aatrox saw a ferocious blade of sword energy already bearing down on him. A razor-sharp gale swept toward him, and the sheer power of the sword intent behind it caused even Aatrox to lose focus for the briefest instant.

A dense shiver ran through his entire body.

It was not fear.

It was not dread.

It was excitement.

How long had it been?

How long since he had felt such fierce and overwhelming sword intent from a human?

How long had it been since the very first instant of a battle had thrilled him this much?

Luke's strike was so fast that even Naafiri failed to see him draw his sword before the attack had already arrived.

Yet in that instant, Aatrox raised his greatsword.

There was no conscious reaction or deliberate thought behind the movement. It was nothing more than a physical response born from countless battles, his body reacting instinctively to an overwhelming sense of danger.

Their weapons crashed violently together, unleashing an enormous shockwave.

At the same moment, both felt the tremendous strength of the other.

In the next instant, Luke unleashed several more slashes.

After acquiring Divine Aid, his Wind-Wielding Swordsmanship had improved enormously. He rode upon the wind at extraordinary speed. Within the raging gale, only razor-sharp sword energy could be seen descending alongside afterimages so fast that even Aatrox struggled to track his attacks.

Yet despite that, Aatrox calmly dealt with every strike, the excitement in his eyes growing more intense.

Watching from a distance, Naafiri was secretly astonished.

She could tell that despite only a short time having passed since their previous encounter, Luke had somehow become considerably stronger again.

More importantly, he was still fighting with only one sword.

Realizing this, Naafiri immediately shouted a warning.

"Aatrox, be careful! That human is at his strongest when he uses two swords, and he has magic too!"

She had already suffered from underestimating Luke once.

She could not allow Aatrox to make the same mistake.

Aatrox, however, found her interference annoying. His greatsword descended with tremendous sword intent.

"Shut your mouth and watch. The pleasure of battle lies in gradually discovering your opponent's strength for yourself!"

His battle lust surged even higher.

Every time that tremendous aura rose, his strength seemed to increase alongside it.

Luke could clearly sense everything.

Conveniently, he also needed an opponent powerful enough to test his current strength.

"Whatever hidden cards you possess, use them all. If you die too easily beneath my sword, this will become terribly boring."

The pressure emanating from Aatrox was itself a tremendously powerful sword intent, one that represented his supreme arrogance and contempt for everything before him.

His massive sword crashed downward and instantly split the earth.

Luke dodged beforehand, but a fissure hundreds of meters long tore through the ground behind him.

The power of that single strike was obvious.

Luke knew he could not afford to be careless in this battle.

With one hand, he drew the Void Riftblade.

With two swords in his hands, his sword intent abruptly doubled.

It met Aatrox's sword intent head-on, and the two were already clashing through sheer presence alone.

"Excellent! Come!"

Aatrox stepped forward, his massive body suddenly surging toward Luke with astonishing speed as his unstoppable greatsword smashed down.

Luke did not retreat.

He raised both swords and met the attack without the slightest fear.

The power unleashed by his twin blades collided head-on with Aatrox's massive sword.

Neither side gave way.

That clash gave Luke a profound understanding of just how monstrous Aatrox's physical strength truly was.

But in the next instant, Luke attacked even faster.

Wind-Wielding Swordsmanship.

Peerless Swordsmanship.

Wuju Style.

Three immensely powerful sword styles alternated seamlessly between every strike.

The completely unpredictable barrage gradually forced even Aatrox onto the defensive.

For the first time, even he felt a trace of surprise.

A mere human could possess strength like this?

Wonderful!

This body was practically born to become his vessel.

Aatrox immediately decided that he would claim Luke's body no matter what.

With a sharp clang, one of Luke's swords struck home.

It sounded as though he had cut directly into solid steel.

A sword wound appeared across Aatrox's right arm.

Immediately, Aatrox sensed a faint portion of his strength draining away and flowing into the weapon in Luke's hand.

"This sword…"

He pulled back slightly and stared at the snow-white blade Luke held.

"It truly resembles the handiwork of that damned Twilight Aspect. It can steal power, can it? Then try it! Let us see whether you can steal all of mine!"

The thought of that accursed Twilight Aspect caused the rage Aatrox had suppressed for so long to erupt uncontrollably.

His aura exploded once again.

The shockwave created merely by releasing that power generated a tremendous gale.

In the next instant, Aatrox lunged forward and rapidly closed the distance before bringing his greatsword down.

This time, despite facing what appeared to be the same attack as before, Luke immediately sensed danger.

Scarlet blood energy coated the enormous blade. The hilt pulsed violently like a beating heart, radiating a chilling presence.

Luke instantly teleported behind Aatrox.

Before he could bring his sword down, however, Aatrox's greatsword smashed into the ground.

The terrifying destructive force instantly shattered the nearby desert cliffs and stone walls, while the earth itself trembled violently.

A massive crater collapsed inward as countless cracks spread in every direction.

Aatrox immediately swung backward.

His blade collided with Luke's descending sword and blasted him away.

Flying through the air, Luke once again felt Aatrox's terrifying strength.

It might even surpass his own.

But Luke did not fall backward.

He immediately caught the wind and soared upward, then turned and shot toward Aatrox at tremendous speed.

In midair, Luke resembled an arrow released from a fully drawn bow, or a massive sword that had gathered power for an eternity.

He crashed into Aatrox's next attack.

At that moment, both finally began fighting with everything they had.

Neither held back as they unleashed their strength to its utmost against the other.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions continuously thundered across the desert.

An enormous area was swallowed by their battle, and everything visible around them was destroyed.

Worse still, the strength of both fighters continued climbing as the battle progressed, making the destruction increasingly terrifying.

Naafiri had already retreated even farther away.

Watching them, she could finally confirm her earlier suspicion.

This human had become much stronger!

Terrifying.

What exactly had happened to him?

Aatrox was a warrior whose strength even Naafiri acknowledged.

Not just her, nearly every Darkin respected his power.

That was because his combat strength was simply monstrous.

And yet this human was now fighting Aatrox on equal footing?

Several sword wounds had already appeared across Aatrox's body, with tiny portions of his power continuously being stolen.

Yet Aatrox was ecstatic.

His surging battle lust, the fury and excitement burning within him, and the hatred accumulated through countless dark years were all sources of strength.

As long as he fought, he could continue becoming stronger.

But now he discovered that the human before him was the same!

And it was not merely because of that weapon.

Luke himself grew stronger during battle.

Every posture, every motion, every sword strike was overwhelmingly powerful and worthy of respect.

A human.

He was merely human.

Aatrox had never encountered a human like this.

A creature he had once regarded as an insect actually possessed the strength to fight him as an equal.

"I acknowledge you, human! You truly have not disappointed me!"

Aatrox's voice boomed like thunder.

There was madness within it, yet also a faint trace of reason and clarity.

He stared at Luke with deep satisfaction.

"If your body became mine, I could undoubtedly regain the strength I possessed at my peak!"

Every vessel Aatrox had obtained along the way had been far too weak.

None could truly withstand the entirety of his strength.

If he released all his power at once, his current body would undoubtedly collapse with ease.

Luke's body, however, was different.

If Aatrox obtained it, he could unleash all of his power without restraint.

"Keep dreaming. I'll personally crush that fantasy of yours."

Luke hovered in midair, looking down at the Darkin Blade.

His presence did not lose to Aatrox's in the slightest.

Scarlet blood energy surged around Aatrox, burning like crimson flames.

"Now I will release as much power as this body can withstand. I wonder whether you can survive it. Be careful, human. Do not let me crush you too easily."

His eyes became even redder.

His power grew increasingly violent.

Blood magic, first seal, released!

The next instant, it was as though some restraint upon his power had suddenly been removed.

Power erupted from Aatrox in an overwhelming torrent.

His body immediately expanded, becoming more than twice as large as before.

Luke's expression grew more serious.

Naturally, he knew that what Aatrox had displayed until now was nowhere near his true strength.

Even this probably was not.

Aatrox had yet to unleash his ultimate form.

World Ender.

Among all the Darkin, Aatrox's mastery of blood magic was actually among the worst. Compared to someone like Xolaani, who had brought blood magic to an extraordinarily high level, there was no comparison at all.

The reason nearly every Darkin acknowledged Aatrox was much simpler.

His sheer strength.

Other Darkin had methods of using blood magic to continuously strengthen themselves.

Aatrox, however, became stronger through battle after battle, slaughter after slaughter.

Still, until now, Luke had only been using the pure physical power he possessed after advancing into the Transcendent realm.

He had not used World Rune energy to further enhance himself.

Even now, Luke had no intention of doing so.

Instead, he raised Snowglance and released the Darkin power stored within it.

The sword's snow-white blade gradually turned red.

In mere moments, it became completely scarlet, releasing astonishing heat and a scorching presence.

The Darkin power within the sword flowed through its hilt and entered Luke's body.

Immediately, Luke felt a violent force surge into him.

It rampaged through his body like an uncontrollable flood, slamming into everything in its path and causing even Luke's body to ache.

At the same time, Luke felt the madness and obsession inherent to the Darkin.

But after only an instant, he suppressed those emotions and regained complete clarity.

Scarlet blood energy now surrounded his entire body, making it look as though he himself were using blood magic.

The hand gripping Snowglance no longer felt its scorching heat.

Instead, Luke could only feel the terrifying power emanating from the blade.

His aura rose at an astonishing rate.

He almost resembled a Darkin descending upon the world, and his presence drew noticeably closer to Aatrox's.

"Naafiri's power? Interesting."

Aatrox stared up at Luke.

His attention shifted toward Snowglance.

"Once I take your body, I will have to examine that weapon carefully. Fascinating. It can even allow you to wield our power?"

Watching from afar, Naafiri froze when she saw Luke using her strength.

Then she began grinding her teeth.

Damn it!

That was her power!

How could this damned human use it like that?

Humiliation.

She felt an overwhelming sense of humiliation.

"Come. Let me see what this power can do now."

Darkin power flowed throughout Luke's body.

Every muscle felt filled with explosive strength, while his desire for battle rose uncontrollably.

The instant his words fell, Luke shot forward and swung his sword violently toward Aatrox.

"COME! FIGHT ME!"

Aatrox roared and raised his own sword.

BOOM!

Their attacks collided.

An explosion-like blast erupted instantly, and a violent shockwave swept outward in every direction.

Within that direct clash of pure strength, both Aatrox and Luke were forced backward.

All around them, the earth split apart and cliffs collapsed as though a massive earthquake had struck.

In the next instant, Luke and Aatrox collided again.

Both were consumed by overwhelming battle lust.

They resembled two maddened Darkin tearing each other apart, and the mere shockwaves from their battle were enough to destroy everything nearby.

Naafiri watched from a safe distance and could not help feeling slightly smug.

After all, that human was using her power.

Even if he had stolen it, it was still her power.

The moment she thought about that, however, her smugness immediately disappeared.

Having her strength stolen by a human was nothing but humiliation.

Worse still, Aatrox now knew about it.

She had no idea how long he would mock her for this.

Watching the two continue fighting without any sign of deciding a winner anytime soon, Naafiri gradually began to worry.

A disturbance of this scale might attract the Aspects.

Aatrox, there is no time for you to indulge yourself.

End this battle already.

At that moment, Naafiri suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation in the air.

It felt as though some invisible force were being drawn toward something.

Something was about to happen.

Yet Luke and Aatrox, completely immersed in their battle, noticed nothing.

Naafiri was just about to shout a warning when a purple fissure suddenly appeared above the two combatants.

It expanded violently.

Like a black hole, it instantly surged toward Luke.

Luke suddenly felt as though he had become a magnet.

The Void Riftblade in his hand was forcibly pulled toward the fissure by some mysterious attraction.

Even with his strength, he could not resist it.

That single instant of restraint was enough.

The purple energy field swallowed Luke on the spot.

By the time he tried teleporting away, it was already too late.

Everything happened with incredible speed, in little more than an instant.

Even Aatrox failed to react in time.

He could only watch as Luke disappeared before his eyes.

For a brief moment, Aatrox stood frozen.

Then he gradually withdrew his power.

His aura, however, became incomparably violent.

He felt like a battle had reached its most exciting moment only for someone to suddenly interrupt it.

He was furious.

"Aatrox, unless I saw that wrong, what just happened was…"

Naafiri approached him, her gaze flickering slightly.

Aatrox planted his greatsword into the ground, his eyes filled with contempt and disgust.

"Those revolting insects. After all these years, they still refuse to give up?"

"The Void…"

Naafiri murmured softly.

Memories involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

Memories from an era when they had still been known as Ascended warriors.

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