Nameless King

Liang explained how his true Spirit worked, however, Nitra, Osvald, and the Guardians were still puzzled.

Spirits were needed for Axalts to absorb energy, it lengthened the process considerably, but the output was the purest energy possible, which had a positive effect on their progress.

If an Axalt had a destroyed Spirit, his journey was almost over as it became almost impossible to absorb energy. Axalt could still do it like any other creature, but it would seriously pollute his body.

Axalts as a race were used to their energy being pure and unadulterated, much better than other races. It was a trait they had acquired over thousands of years of existence, so in this case, they had two options.

Axalt could try to restore their Spirit or they could end their journey and live as a normal person. This was possible to do, but it was extremely difficult and required a huge amount of resources.

Only a simultaneously talented and rich Axalt could try to do this and if successful, he would be able to continue his journey to power.

So, the fact that Liang himself decided to continue destroying his Spirit after its damage was truly insane. With his resources, he could definitely successfully repair his Spirit, for him unlike other Axalts, it wouldn’t be a critical problem.

However, Liang decided to choose a different path and obtain a strange Spirit, with a seemingly completely useless property.

“What’s the point of this…?” Nitra asked in confusion, “Why do you need a Spirit whose function is to get rid of excess energy?”

Liang smirked, “Well, with it as with any other Spirit I can absorb energy, and the process has differences compared to other Axalts. But overall, it happens in the same way.”

Nitra wanted to ask again since Liang didn’t directly answer her question, but, something interrupted her.

“Hahahahahah!!!” Suddenly, a burst of loud laughter spread out, echoing all over the desert and even going beyond its boundaries. It was Alucard, who simply couldn’t contain his emotions.

“Haven’t you realized yet that you’re fucked!” Alucard exclaimed with a mad grin on his face.

Then, he waved his hand, “Just now, you were hoping that the excess energy would seriously harm his body! You were waiting for the right moment and preparing to attack, weren’t you?”

Nitra flinched as Alucard was absolutely right. He was watching the battle from afar, hovering several kilometers away from the Tree. However, his hearing and vision allowed him to see everything as if he were a few meters away.

Alucard could easily see Nitra’s every movement and, thanks to his experience, could tell what she was thinking just from the emotions on her face. Just a few clues were enough for him to figure it out.

“Hah, don’t be surprised, it was extremely obvious. However, it’s amazing how stupid and smart you are at the same time. Don’t you realize that Liang can’t have an overabundance of energy now?” Alucard asked with a sly smirk.

Liang glanced at him, he didn’t like that Alucard was speaking for him, but, then he shook his head with a bitter smile.

He didn’t want to be as arrogant towards Alucard as he was towards everyone else. After all, if he wanted a friend he had to treat him as an equal. Considering Alucard’s strength that would be fair.

Nitra’s eyes went wide when she realized what Alucard was talking about.

“Shit… Looks like things have gotten a lot more complicated now…” Nitra muttered with a great frown.

At the same moment, Liang took a deep breath as the threads stopped shining brightly. In that short period of time, Liang’s Spirit had completely merged with his body after the shell was destroyed.

Perhaps Nitra could take advantage of his temporary weakness to do some damage, but that time was spent talking.

‘Bastard! He did it on purpose!” Nitra internally exclaimed. Now, she understood why Liang suddenly decided to answer her question, even though he had completely ignored everything she said before.

”Hah, it seems like you’ve already figured it out. Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s get on with it. You’ll be one of the few people I decided to reveal my true sword and Spirit against. You should be proud of yourself!” Liang majestically said before leaping to swing his sword.

A shard fell from the massive crystal in front of him, which Liang caught with one hand. He didn’t devour it like the previous ones, this time he acted more naturally.

A huge amount of energy was channeled into his body, if Nitra absorbed the same amount of energy, her body would instantly receive critical wounds.

However, Liang felt great. When the energy completely filled his body, it headed towards the middle of his Spirit, which looked like an abyss. ．

Then, the threads all over his body shone brightly again, increasing his power.

“Hey… Can you guys explain to me what’s going on?” Osvald asked with a puzzled expression, rubbing the back of his head.

Sven smiled, “Sure. Liang and Alucard talked a lot, but they lacked clarity. First of all, now Liang doesn’t have to worry about the excess energy in his body, all the excess will go into his Spirit.”

“Secondly, as you can see, the excess energy doesn’t actually disappear. Instead, it is channeled through these red threads that have already become one with his body. Thus, by absorbing energy from an external source, he simultaneously enhances his magical abilities and physical characteristics.” Sven calmly explained.

Osvald’s eyes went wide as he stared intently at Liang’s muscles. They hadn’t gotten bigger, but they looked stronger, especially the ones near where the red threads ran.

At the same moment, his body was full of energy, so each of his magic attacks would be as powerful as possible if he wanted to use all the reserves at once.

“Wait… Doesn’t that mean he still has a certain limit?” Osvald asked, with curious expression.

Sven shook his head, “No. Even if there’s no room for energy left in the threads, it’ll just pass through his Spirit and out. Oh, like this.” Sven pointed at Liang.

The large portion of the crystal was too much even for him, so when all the threads were filled with energy, his Spirit trembled slightly. Inside the vortex, another one appeared, unremarkable and barely noticeable, with purple outlines. This one did not touch the crimson tips and was located in the dark part.

The purple vortex began to rotate, counterclockwise, so out came a red mist, slowly disintegrating into waves of scarlet energy. Exactly like Liang’s sword and such was his own aura.

“Agh… What a pleasant feeling… I haven’t experienced this in a long time.” Liang smiled, experiencing sheer pleasure.

Then, he glanced at Nitra and a sly smirk appeared on his face.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

Liang’s silhouette blurred as he disappeared like a ghost, then Nitra’s pupils narrowed. For a moment, the world around her slowed down, she could see absolutely everything, even the wind currents, and their direction.

She could use this ability from time to time to speed up her mind and make everything else slow down in her eyes. With this method, she had time to react in the best way possible.

Crackle.

However, even with that effect, it did nothing to save Nitra from Liang’s fist that came down right on her face.

He moved too fast for her or anyone else to notice anything.

“Shit… That was impressive…” Wain muttered sincerely as his gaze became more serious.

When he regained his full strength he would be able to see even such fast movements, however, right now he was on the Absolute Stage. He had to concentrate to keep up with Liang’s movements even if he was a mere spectator.

“Yeah, I don’t know if she can recover from something like that.” Sven nodded, keeping his arms crossed on his chest.

Crackle. Crackle. Crack.

Cracks went down Nitra’s face while waves of energy traveled down Liang’s arm. For this attack, he used the power of his threads, some of which were no longer shining as brightly as before, but it was definitely worth it.

The impact, caused a shockwave that threw Nitra high up. In a matter of seconds, she had traveled through the clouds and was near the top of the Tree.

She could do nothing as her body tried to minimize the damage by spreading the pulses across the protective plates.

Then, a shadow appeared above her and Liang raised his leg high, bringing it down directly on Nitra’s stomach with a monstrous power that only he could possess in all worlds.

Whoooooooosh.

Nitra’s body once again broke through the cloud layer, heading downward until it reached the ground, collapsing on it.

Waves of sand spread around as if from a powerful impact or explosion, while smoke emanated from Nitra’s body as if something inside her had burned. In fact, her defense plates overheated, trying to absorb at least some of the damage from two such powerful attacks.

“Agh… This is bad…” Nitra muttered, struggling to get up from the ground, holding her stomach.

The Guardians that had been watching the fight got frightened faces, for Nitra’s wounds were horrifying. She was missing part of her jaw, as well as more than a third of her stomach. She had definitely lost several major organs.