Rather than swinging a sword, Ash was painting. As his sword tip cut through the void, he painted round after round of sword-circle ink marks, like an ever-tightening cage closing around Starry Sky. Starry Sky had shifted completely into a defensive stance, neither dodging nor counterattacking, wielding billions upon billions of Starlight swords in the most elegant arcs, shattering every ink mark with exquisite precision.
Starlight and ink specks bloomed like flowers, turning the dazzling Star Sea into a riot of blossoms. In that moment, Ash knew that even if he bonded every Spellcaster in existence, he could never surpass Starry Sky in Sword Art.
Because Starry Sky was the Spellcaster who had walked the farthest down the path of Sword Art, farther than anyone else.
Sword Art Supreme, Star Art Supreme—both of her spell arts had shockingly reached the Supreme Realm!
But compared to her achievements in Sword Art, what surprised Ash even more was that she could still remain neither arrogant nor impatient, neither resentful nor furious.
As the greatest Spellcaster of all time, Starry Sky had still been able to suppress Ash so thoroughly half an hour ago that he could not raise his head. Now the situation had reversed and Ash was suppressing her, yet she had not let her pride drive her into doing anything irrational. In an instant, she accepted her weaker position and carefully, cautiously handled Ash's offensive. To her, this was no different from having Lala Fat leap straight into her face, yet she showed not the slightest impulse.
She was a Spellcaster of ultimate rationality, unaffected by any environmental factor. Long ages had stripped away all unnecessary flaws from her, until she had been carved into a flawless work of art.
Then it was not hard to understand why she stubbornly