!!!
An indescribable, even more terrifying aura seemed to awaken from slumber.
The Winged Sword went from absolute stillness to absolute motion, disregarding acceleration and almost overturning the laws of physics.
In swordsmanship alone, she had already reached an inhuman realm. But what was truly powerful... was Edelweiss herself! Only she could wield the true Winged Sword!
"Xiao Ai, could you wait a moment?"
A somewhat emotionless voice tinged with a faint milky sweetness. Deep-blue Thunderlight descended—black would not have looked good—and Bronya stood in the middle of the battlefield with her sword held horizontally.
This was seriously absurd... Just standing here made her skin tingle slightly, Bronya silently marveled.
But there was still business to handle. Bronya's silver-pink eyes turned toward Edelweiss. "Xiao Ai, give us a little time. After all, we..."
"No, it should be me."
A strange sensation welled up within her, and Bronya changed how she addressed herself. "I haven't gone all out yet. After all, a battle between Blade Dancers..."
Just then, White Night walked over from behind and picked up Bronya's words. "How can you fight without using your Supernatural Ability~?"
"...What is this?"
After a long silence, Edelweiss finally asked. Though she had vaguely guessed the truth, she still could not be certain. It was simply too absurd!
White Night and Bronya stood side by side. They were clearly two people, and even of different genders, yet they felt like one whole, looking exceptionally harmonious.
"Xiao Ai should have guessed already." As she spoke, Bronya extended a hand toward White Night.
◆Before this, their connection had actually been half-severed. After all, even their bodily sensations were shared, which affected daily life. (Most importantly, it tested White Night's self-control far too much.)
Conversely, when their bodily sensations truly connected, it meant the synchronization rate between their two bodies had reached its peak. They no longer needed words to communicate.
White Night said nothing. He merely extended his hand and lightly touched Bronya's fingertips.
A surge of Magic Power flowed over, healing White Night's wounds and making him look entirely refreshed. If he wished, even his clothes could be restored.
But there was no need. They would just get ruined again sooner or later. White Night tore off his tattered clothes in one motion, exposing his solid chest. "Sorry, but this counts as one of my secrets."
"If possible, I hope Xiao Ai won't mind." Bronya twirled the Sword Flower and held its blade level before her.
White Night lowered his stance, his left fingers brushing slowly across the blade. "Blade Dancers' Supernatural Abilities come in all kinds."
"I knew this move right when I awakened it. It wasn't something Bronya... it wasn't something I specifically developed, okay~?"
"..."
Edelweiss found herself speechless. This kind of thing... challenged one's worldview a little too much. Unconsciously tightening her grip on the Platinum Twin Swords, she gradually calmed herself.
"Then, White Night..."
The blade pointed directly at White Night as Edelweiss looked at the two of them—or rather, at Bronya.
"Bronya. That is my name," Bronya reminded her at the right moment.
Edelweiss gave a slight nod. Her light, graceful voice continued where she had left off. "Then, White Night, Bronya, let us communicate in the way of swordsmen."
"Of course."
Her tone was calm. Bronya charged out first, her silver-white spiral ponytail flying wildly behind her.
In an instant, she had closed in on Edelweiss. The Winged Sword had completely melded into her footwork. A flash of deep-blue sword light swept past, followed by a crisp collision.
"Clang—"
Without any surprise, a Platinum Sword lay across her path like an insurmountable mountain, blocking the Azure Blade.
At this moment, Bronya stood very close to Edelweiss and could clearly see those beautiful eyes. "As expected, Xiao Ai really is beautiful."
Edelweiss did not respond. She was no little girl who could be so easily thrown off. Silently, her other sword slashed down at Bronya.
The blade drew close, yet Bronya made no move. Unconsciously, Edelweiss slowed for an instant.
"That's why I said Xiao Ai is really kind."
Um...
Seeing that her opponent still had the leisure to tease her, the slightly slowed sword ultimately fell. The blade then passed through Bronya's body...
!!!
Something was wrong.
Edelweiss reacted instantly, only to see Bronya's figure gradually fade away—it was an afterimage! Whether Harmony of Light and Dust or something else, movement techniques inevitably required some initial motion.
But Yin-Yang did not. By canceling the Yin-Yang dual birth, White Night's thought alone was enough.
"Clang—!"
A flash of saber light swept past. Within the increasingly illusory afterimage, a Tang Saber gleamed coldly as it came crashing down. "Xiao Ai, you can be a little more serious."
After saying that, White Night took a slight step back and vanished before Edelweiss's eyes—Harmony of Light and Dust.
"After all, I want to see too..."
Then Bronya's distinctively milky voice sounded from behind Edelweiss. An Azure Blade struck out, colliding with the Platinum Sword.
"Clang—!"
Then White Night, representing "Yang," appeared behind and to Bronya's side, launching a surprise attack at Edelweiss. "How far am I from a true powerhouse?"
Since they were fundamentally the same person, once their synchronization rate reached 100%, the word "coordination" was no longer enough to describe them.
Vertical and Horizontal Alliance
For the first time, Edelweiss retreated.
White Night had seized that opening too perfectly. She had never expected him to dart out from there.
And White Night was no weakling either. To a certain extent, he could hurt Edelweiss.
"Ring—"
Sword Qi tore through the earth and struck empty space... Under the immense force, a relatively intact slab of road rose upright, one sharp corner stabbing straight toward the sky.
At that moment, the pure-white Valkyrie seemed to spread a pair of wings as she lightly descended onto that sharp point.
"Not bad tactics." A nearly imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Edelweiss's lips.
Edelweiss did not mind fighting two against one. After all... that was White Night's Supernatural Ability. But...
An extremely terrifying aura gradually awakened. Interrupted earlier by Bronya, it resumed at this moment. "Try not to die next."
She had been standing atop the sharp point just a moment ago, but in the next instant, Edelweiss vanished.
!!!
A prickling sensation rose along his back. White Night followed his instincts and immediately withdrew—Harmony of Light and Dust, shifting positions in an instant.
Without a sound, a smooth sword mark suddenly tore through the spot where he had been standing.
At that moment, Bronya switched places behind White Night and held the Azure Blade—Silver Wing—horizontally before herself.
"Ding—"
The tip of a Platinum Sword thrust straight forward, striking the long, narrow saber body with a crisp sound.
Without any need for communication, White Night immediately turned around and Myriad Phenomena came down in a fierce slash! As the blade touched Bronya... her figure turned illusory once more.
The resistance against the blade vanished, allowing Edelweiss's thrust to continue. But...
—Their positions had already shifted!
From this angle, she could not reach White Night. In that case, Edelweiss stopped abruptly, completely ignoring the laws of physics as the Winged Sword reappeared.
Um...
Hey, Newton? Or anyone else? Do something! Someone is dancing on top of your coffins! Huh, me too? Then never mind.
White Night could use the Winged Sword too.
Though... he was merely imitating it superficially, nowhere near Edelweiss's level. But now that he had taken the initiative, White Night was still one step faster!
A cold flash of sword light streaked by. Caught off guard, Edelweiss managed to block it.
Without the slightest sound, utterly covert. Bronya silently appeared and launched a surprise attack from behind.
At the same time, White Night launched a frontal assault, Myriad Phenomena descending with thunderous force!
"Boom—!"
Blazing white Thunderlight shot into the sky, connecting with the heavens. Under the cover of that tremendous spectacle, Bronya also made her move... a completely silent strike.
"Clang, clang—"
Two nearly invisible flashes of sword light, one before and one behind, neutralized their attacks.
Immediately afterward, Edelweiss counterattacked. It was an unmatched edge; the air... no, space itself was torn apart!
As the stirred dust settled, the figure within was revealed, still as flawlessly pure white as ever.
"This is just absurd."
At this point, techniques that redirected force were useless. The gap was too vast; no technique had any meaning anymore. It came down to pure hard power. "Let's give it a try..."
The already cracked road shattered even more completely beneath White Night's heavy stomp, and a figure shot forth.
As for Bronya... her body gradually transformed into Magic Power and merged into White Night.
"Clang—!"
Sword collided violently with sword.
In the next moment, Bronya appeared behind and to his side, filling the gap on his left flank.
She crossed paths with White Night, bringing down the Azure Blade to block Edelweiss's other sword.
Without needing to communicate, White Night swiftly disengaged and retreated, shifting to Edelweiss's back from an extremely tricky angle.
His sword slashed toward Edelweiss's completely defenseless(?) back. As expected... it had been a lie.
Sparks flew as a Platinum Sword swung around behind her back, precisely blocking White Night's strike.
Then a pale, slender arm erupted with strength utterly disproportionate to its appearance, violently sending the two of them flying apart. After that... all they saw were two streaks of light.
A tremendous force struck them, knocking White Night and Bronya back from different directions. Their arms trembled slightly.
Edelweiss pursued. A flash of sword light passed through White Night's body.
—Another afterimage!
When she turned back, Bronya was already close. A mass of Magic Power condensed behind and to Bronya's side... White Night appeared, joining Bronya in an assault.
This time, there would be no tricks. They would face her head-on! Myriad Phenomena and Silver Wing intertwined, scattering a sky full of sword shadows.
"Ding, ding ding ding—"
The ultimate rapid assault, each strike faster than the last. There was no possibility—nor could there be any possibility—of their sword paths interfering with one another.
But gradually, the pressure on White Night's side grew greater and greater. She truly deserved the title of World's Strongest Swordsman!
"..."
Edelweiss remained silent. She could sense that her opponents were constantly improving—or rather... evolving?
The foundation White Night had accumulated in Qin's World, Hitori no Shita, and even the primordial world was now being realized bit by bit, silently melding into his body like spring rain moistening everything.
During the high-speed exchange of offense and defense, White Night and Bronya became covered in fine wounds.
Finally...
"Ring—"
A sword flash that seemed blessed by the gods. The icy blade broke through Edelweiss's guard, leaving a bloody mark across her fair shoulder.
Bronya's figure faded away, avoiding the counterattack; but White Night used Elementalization and took the sword light head-on.
There was no helping it. One of them had to remain behind as his anchor of existence in the surface world.
A bolt of Thunderlight fell in the distance. White Night dropped to one knee, a savage sword mark carved across his chest as blood streamed down. "Tch, the same spot again..."
"Even Elementalization got cut." Bronya appeared, taking White Night's place.
Before you continue