The So-Called Gods

With Warren's "Good!", the third round officially began.

This time, Jiang Bai did not impose any form of self-restriction.

He simply stood there quietly, but the aura emanating from him was completely different from before.

If Jiang Bai was a bottomless well before, then he is now a boundless ocean with towering waves!

The immense and unparalleled magical pressure spread out as if it were a tangible force, making the air in the entire throne room thick and suffocating.

Knightwalker and the others, who were still fighting Erza and her group, turned pale. Under this oppressive force, they even found it difficult to stand, as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on them.

"This... this is his... true strength...?" Knightwalker's voice trembled.

Jiang Bai Warren, who faced this oppressive aura directly, felt it even more acutely.

He finally understood.

Where was Jiang Bai being lenient before?

That's not just releasing water, that's like bringing the entire Pacific Ocean over here and only allowing a single drop to leak out for you to play with!

Warren gripped the blade Trace Rift, the purple patterns on its surface gleaming brightly. Intense spatial fluctuations emanated from him, barely offsetting the pressure from Jiang Bai.

"Bring it on!"

Warren roared and launched the first attack!

Instead of charging forward, he stood still and suddenly swung the Trace Rift in his hand!

Space Slash!

An invisible and intangible yet sharp enough to cut through anything instantly traversed the distance between the two, slashing towards Jiang Bai at the waist.

This is the most basic, yet also the most deadly, ability of the Trace Rift.

Ignoring physical defenses, it directly severs space!

However, faced with this attack that was enough to instantly kill any of Edolas's strongest warriors, Jiang Bai simply raised his right hand and extended two fingers.

"Clang!"

A sound so crisp it was unbelievable.

That invisible "Space Slash" was actually caught firmly by Jiang Bai using just two fingers!

It was as if what he was holding was not a spatial rift, but a light, floating piece of paper.

"What?!"

Warren's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Too rough."

Jiang Bai shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face like a teacher instructing a student.

"Space is not a thread that you can tear apart with brute force."

His fingers, which were holding the Space Slash, twitched slightly.

"Space should be used like this."

Before he could finish speaking, his figure vanished abruptly right before Warren's eyes.

It's not moving at high speed!

Rather, it was as if it had been truly erased from the "plane" of space!

Warren's internal alarm bells rang loudly. His powerful fighting instincts made him act without thinking, and he swung his sword behind him in a backhand strike!

"Pfft--"

The sharp blade sliced through the air, leaving only a Trace Rift afterimage.

"Above you."

Jiang Bai's lazy voice came from above Warren's head.

Warren looked up abruptly and saw Jiang Bai sitting cross-legged in mid-air, watching him with an air of composure, as if the astonishing spatial teleportation he had just witnessed was as simple as drinking water or eating.

"You're just cutting a piece of paper in half, while I'm folding it in half," Jiang Bai kindly explained to him.

"Hateful!"

Warren roared, and the Trace Rift in his hand burst forth with unprecedented light. He frantically swung dozens, even hundreds, of blades at Jiang Bai's location!

"Chaotic Space Slashing Dance!"

Countless fine spatial cracks instantly intertwined into a net that completely sealed off the space above Jiang Bai's head, and then suddenly contracted!

This is a terrifying attack capable of pulverizing an entire mountain!

However, despite the spatial rift shrinking like a meat grinder, Jiang Bai remained seated, too lazy to even move.

He simply raised his hand and snapped his fingers lightly towards that turbulent space.

"Snap."

With a crisp snap of his fingers, a black orb of light, no bigger than a fist, appeared out of thin air in front of him.

Cursed Technique Lapse - Cang.

The moment the black sphere of light appeared, it generated an unimaginably powerful gravitational pull.

Warren's "Chaotic Space Slashing Dance," capable of annihilating everything, created countless violent spatial rifts that were like starlight encountering a black hole. They were completely swallowed and absorbed by the small black sphere of light without even a ripple.

"How... is this possible..."

Warren stared blankly at the scene. His proud, all-out attack seemed like a childish joke in front of his opponent.

"I've already said it, your understanding of space is too superficial."

Jiang Bai reappeared in front of Warren, shaking his index finger as he continued his "teaching."

Where there is attraction, there is also repulsion.

As he spoke, another completely opposite orb of light, radiating red light, appeared in his other hand.

Technique Reversal - He.

"So now, here's the question."

Jiang Bai looked at Warren with a smile, like a magician about to reveal the secret of a magic trick.

What happens when Cang, representing 'attraction,' and He, representing 'repulsion,' these two diametrically opposed forces collide?

Warren did not answer, or rather, he was no longer able to think.

He instinctively sensed an extreme, all-destroying danger emanating from the man before him!

"Get out of the way, Warren!"

Erza Knightwalker, who was some distance away, also sensed something was wrong and let out a desperate scream.

But it was too late.

Jiang Bai slowly clasped his two hands, representing "Cang" and "He", together.

"Hollow Technique-- "

At the center of the collision between the two forces, there was no Heavenly Movement explosion, no devastating light.

Yes, there was one, but it was a deep, dark, ominous purple sphere that seemed to devour all light and color.

"Water chestnut."

Jiang Bai softly uttered the last word.

He snapped his fingers.

The purple orb of light transformed into a beam of light and flew forward with unstoppable force.

It made no sound, but wherever it passed, everything—air, light, and even space itself—was completely "erased."

Warren stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as the purple beam of light grazed past his shoulder.

He felt no pain, not even a wisp of wind pressure.

However, behind him lay the throne constructed of the hardest materials, the walls, the entire rear of the palace, and even the sky and clouds beyond...

Everything in the path of that purple beam of light was cleanly and decisively erased, leaving behind a completely empty "passage" that stretched across the sky.

Warren slowly turned his head, looking at the terrifying "scar" that seemed to divide the world in two. All the strength in his body seemed to be drained away in an instant, and the Trace Rift in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

Sweat soaked through his back.

He lost.

They lost... completely and utterly.