Round Two Ends. Round Three-An Even Fiercer and More Spectacular Battle Among the Gods-Begins Now!

The Demigod lurking within the Grand Tutor opened her crazed, bewildered eyes. Her immense divine might crashed down like a mountain falling from the heavens, ruthlessly dominating the battlefield in an instant.

But in the next moment, the Silver White Crystal that had spread across the entire abyss contracted into an area less than a hundred meters wide.

The spreading divinity was compressed into an infinitely powerful divine singularity, which tore apart the authority the Demigod had brought down!

The second round ended. The third round began at once, with an even more ferocious and spectacular clash between gods!

One could wield the power of a Demigod; the other possessed nine percent of a major god's bloodline.

Two beings who stood infinitely close to true gods collided and fought without pause, using the authorities and laws at their command.

Rhine had to admit it.

Grand Tutor Electra Lucia was a woman worthy of respect.

Back when Laita had been on the brink of ruin beneath the Demigod's assault, the Grand Tutor—the last demigod of her generation—had made the most brutal sacrifice.

She had refined herself into a Law God Mechanism.

Then she devoured a Demigod and used it as a furnace core to supply her with energy, gaining extraordinary power.

The price was that she had to endure the Demigod's maddened backlash every moment. Even in death, her soul could find no peace.

Through despair and torment, she had led the last elven empire through its darkest years.

An enemy like that

was worthy of respect—and all the more deserving of fear.

"Why go to such lengths, Electra Lucia?"

Rhine asked, "This ancient dragon is going to challenge Olivia. Dead or alive, he won't be guarding your defenses anymore. What's the point of saving him?"

The Grand Tutor's voice remained calm. "But now, hasn't his situation changed?"

"Ha..."

Rhine froze for a moment.

That was true.

Obadiah had failed to molt and lost the right to usurp Olivia's throne.

So as long as he survived, he could keep serving as Laita's dragon shield against the Demigod!

Rhine laughed. "Interesting. Could it be that I'm the one being used?"

"I have no desire to use you."

The Grand Tutor said coldly, "I only want to kill you and destroy you, you lowly human!"

Clearly,

because Rhine had defiled Laita's New Moon King,

the Grand Tutor now wanted nothing more than to kill Rhine and erase the stain on the King of the Moon.

The battle continued.

Crystal and mithril, two forms of divinity, launched a relentless assault against each other.

But little by little, Rhine began to falter.

Thanks to his profound understanding of life's divinity, Rhine could use even the smallest trace of a bloodline to perform the advanced feat of transforming and elevating a divine puppet into an entirely different being.

But this ascension

couldn't last.

As time passed, Histia's power grew weaker.

She had just been evenly matched with the Grand Tutor, but now she was clearly at a disadvantage.

Rhine's body was also beginning to give out.

The lingering pressure from Obadiah's barrier had injured him earlier.

Rhine could feel his legs slowly going numb, the sensation fading away, while sharp cramps twisted through his abdomen.

The Grand Tutor, by contrast, housed a Demigod within her as a furnace core. It supplied her with an endless stream of energy. As long as her mind didn't break, she could fight on without end, like a perpetual-motion machine.

At this rate,

Rhine had no chance of winning.

"Your Highness!"

Histia's anxious voice rang out. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I can barely hold on. The Grand Tutor is so strong. I don't think we can beat her. And... Hela and Italien..."

Not far away, Hela and the two puppets were being ground into the dirt by Obadiah, whom Hela had been fighting alone.

As the Silver White Crystal contracted, control of the abyss returned to the Grand Tutor and Obadiah.

The ancient dragon's barrier unleashed its divine might once more, relentlessly pressing down on Hela and the two puppets.

This time, Hela had come prepared, changing into a set of gear specifically designed to resist the barrier's pressure.

Even so, she was still fighting at a severe disadvantage...

If the barrier couldn't crush Hela,

Obadiah simply opened his jaws and unleashed a devastating dragon breath, engulfing Hela in a sea of fire and burning her to ashes.

"Hela!!"

Seeing her mother swallowed by the dragon's breath, Histia let out a heart-wrenching wail.

"Don't worry! I'm fine! I cast more than a hundred anti-dragon blessings on myself before the battle. I'm not going to die!"

Hela's voice reached Rhine and Histia through a message spell.

"But Your Highness, we can't win if this keeps up! Why not use Italien to perform another ascension?"

"I wish I could..."

Rhine's voice grew weaker.

His injuries were taking their toll.

His body felt heavy, and his mind was clouded. His wounded body seemed liable to give out at any moment.

The Grand Tutor had noticed his injuries too. She deliberately surrounded Rhine with liquid mithril and used her divine authority to directly nullify every healing spell he had cast on himself.

Rhine couldn't heal his injuries.

At this rate...

Histia wouldn't be able to maintain her ascended state.

"Just hold on a little longer, Histia..."

Rhine gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep going, struggling against the Grand Tutor's increasingly fierce attacks.

"Don't worry. I still have one last trump card..."

Rhine said weakly. "She... will come..."

"Imperial Prince Rhine Hyun."

The Grand Tutor's voice remained calm and cool.

"Your understanding of [life] has surpassed my expectations. You have my sincere admiration. If you weren't the Emperor of Hain, if you hadn't desecrated Alice, then even if you were human, I'd be glad to call you a friend. If you didn't mind, I might even call you my teacher."

"But sadly..."

The Grand Tutor said evenly, "Today, you will atone for your crimes against my King with your life."

Boom!!

A tidal wave of mithril swallowed Histia once more.

The Grand Tutor finally shattered the last trace of divinity within Histia.

Her ascended state ended.

Histia Hela knelt on the ground, panting in pain. She had no strength left to fight.

Ignoring the puppet, the Grand Tutor walked toward Rhine.

Mithril flowed together to form a sword, which the Grand Tutor took in her hand.

Her steps quickened, until she became a streak of lightning, her blade aimed straight at Rhine's neck.

Her voice was filled with murderous coldness.

"You deserve this, Rhine Hyun!"

Targeted by a demigod who ranked among the very strongest in the mortal world,

there was no doubt that Rhine, a mere mortal, had no chance of surviving.

In truth, the Grand Tutor needed only to glance at Rhine to kill him.

Using a sword to behead him was practically special treatment, granted to Rhine because he was a prince.

And just as Rhine was about to be killed,

the trump card he had been waiting so desperately for finally appeared!

Beside Rhine,

a sword cleaved through space!

Those ice-blue eyes behind a pair of glasses fixed on the enemy through the rift.

The radiance of magic became a blazing streak of sword light, rushing to protect Rhine and meet the mithril blade.

Clang!!!!

The two weapons collided in midair, their edges locked together in a fierce bind.

Their tremendous powers clashed. Though the Grand Tutor was clearly stronger, the one at a disadvantage refused to yield, holding back her attack with all her might!

The Grand Tutor froze.

Someone had actually caught her sword for Rhine Hyun!

It wasn't Hela or her puppets.

Another demigod had torn through space and arrived!

Thea Constance strained to withstand the Grand Tutor's strike, shielding Rhine behind her.

Her appearance left the Grand Tutor stunned.

Am I dreaming?

The Grand Tutor drew back her attack and took two steps away.

She asked in disbelief, "You used spatial teleportation to teleport straight into the ancient dragon's barrier?!"

The Grand Tutor looked utterly baffled.

"What kind of monster are you...?"

Why did the ancient dragon's powers seem to have absolutely no effect on her?

"?"

Thea Constance didn't understand what she meant.

A barrier.

Judging by her appearance, this elf was probably the Grand Tutor of Laita's White Light Courtyard.

Was she talking about the dome covering their heads?

To be honest, Thea Constance couldn't feel its power at all.

It seemed

like nothing more than an ordinary magical shield.

Ignoring the Grand Tutor,

Thea Constance turned to Rhine.

After confirming he had no life-threatening injuries, she sighed with relief inwardly.