Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 343 - 342 ’You can’t do it, Princess.

Chapter 343: 342 ’You can’t do it, Princess.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!"

Skyward, a rain of light, born from countless tiny meteors, continued to pour down relentlessly upon Cappelen.

However, as time elapsed, the scale and power of the descending Rain of Light increased significantly, resembling artillery fire scouring the ground, triggering more and more violent explosions.

Shane no longer showed any mercy and maximized the power of his Flying Star in an attempt to halt the steps of the Empire Princess.

But perhaps because Flying Star was after all but a Basic Magic and not particularly lethal, the Rain of Light from the sky never managed to harm Cappelen, allowing her to successfully breach Shane’s defenses and approach him.

"Divert!"

Having advanced to Shane’s proximity, Cappelen chanted a brief spell again, altering the effect of the imitation Holy Sword.

As the light from the imitation Holy Sword shifted, the protective glow of Damage Reduction around Cappelen was replaced by a brilliance that converted into sheer power, her aura escalating considerably.

"This time it’s a level upgrade, isn’t it?"

Shane saw through it at a glance and promptly readied the Holy Sword.

"Clang!"

Cappelen’s imitation Holy Sword transformed into a flash of light slashing down, striking Shane’s Holy Sword and sending sparks flying once again.

However, different from the last attack, the strength and intensity of this assault were significantly greater.

Involuntarily, Shane took a half step back, giving Cappelen the chance to press her advantage unrelentingly.

"Shoosh! Shoosh! Shoosh! Shoosh...!"

Amidst the sound of cleaving air, Cappelen wielded the imitation Holy Sword with formidable calmness, drawing streak after streak of sword light, enveloping Shane in swift flashes aimed for his entire body.

Shane saw countless sword lights coming at him, and he could not help but feel a chill at the formidable offensive of Cappelen.

Cappelen’s slashing was remarkably swift and decisive, devoid of fancy flourishes or convoluted paths— it was a sword skill that pursued efficiency in killing the enemy, fundamentally different from ordinary swordsmanship.

In fact, Cappelen’s Double-Handed Sword Skill was only at Level 5 in her skill repertoire, a far cry from Shane’s level 10, and even notably inferior to Luoqi’s Level 8. Yet, she had mastered a skill named Flash Sword, which was as high as Level 7.

Flash Sword seemed to be an upper-tier Weapon Skill that specialized in a particular strength, making it formidable compared to more generic abilities.

Normative skills like Double-Handed Sword provided well-rounded abilities, offering balance without outstanding strengths or glaring weaknesses, favoring steady and secure combat moves.

Contrastingly, skills like Flash Sword were altogether different.

Such skills often specialized in accentuating a particular strength, making that quality exceedingly pronounced and superior to common maneuvers.

Flash Sword, for instance, pursued lethal efficiency and provided inimitable advantages in swiftly dispatching enemies, allowing the user to execute quick and clean strikes as fierce as gusts and as dazzling as flashes. If one were careless, they could be beheaded without even seeing the trajectory of the cut.

However, upper-tier sword skills like this typically had a downside due to their specialized nature.

Cappelen’s Flash Sword was an example, honing the speed of slashing attacks but sacrificing defense.

And so...

"Swoosh!"

Shane’s figure flashed abruptly, vanishing from before Cappelen.

Innumerable flashes of light meant for Shane struck where he had been just a second ago, cutting through nothing but air.

"What!?"

Witnessing Shane’s disappearance, Cappelen’s expression subtly changed.

But by then, Shane had already emerged at the side of the Empire Princess.

"Clang—!"

The Holy Sword slashed forth anew, bringing a bell-like resounding impact.

"Ugh...!"

Cappelen could only hastily lift her imitation Holy Sword in defense, but the blow still made her arm numb, eliciting a muffled grunt as she staggered back several steps.

This was a testament to her insufficient defense.

Otherwise, Cappelen would not have been pushed back so far.

"Granting Explosion."

Shane cast his spell without mercy at the retreating Cappelen.

"Boom—!"

The air granted explosive properties suddenly expanded and burst, igniting into endless flames that engulfed Cappelen.

Yet...

"Divert!"

Once more, the light from Cappelen’s imitation Holy Sword shifted, changing its effect.

"Hum!"

A tremor ran through the air as a red Magic Light emerged from Cappelen’s imitation Holy Sword, transforming into a Magic Blade that she raised high and brought down in one stroke.

"Shluk!"

The relentless flames were instantly cleaved by the Magic Blade, scattering away as sparks.

Without a doubt, this was the Magical Sword Skill.

Moreover, it was a Magical Sword Skill enhanced by the imitation Holy Sword.

"Has it evolved into the effect of Skill Level boost?" Shane narrowed his eyes.

Cappelen’s Magical Sword Skill had been upgraded to Level 7.

With the imitation Holy Sword providing a boost of three levels to all her skills, Cappelen was effectively wielding a full Level 10 Magical Sword Skill, making the Magic Light of the Magical Sword incredibly dense and bright, lighting up the surroundings.

"Haah!"

With a gale-like charge, Cappelen gripped the blood-red blade of the Magical Sword and, using the Trick of the Flash Sword, unleashed a thrust as crimson as a flash.

That thrust, as if able to tear through space and distance, darted in front of Shane in the blink of an eye.

Facing such a lightning-quick attack, even Shane had to admit that he had no chance to evade it.

After all, firstly, Shane hadn’t used the cheat-level strengthening Skill Extreme Transformation, and secondly, even if he had Evasion Skill constantly alerting him to how he should dodge, it was useless if his body couldn’t keep up with his brain’s understanding of the need to dodge.

Not to mention, with the effects of all Skill Levels being increased by three, whether it was the Magical Sword or the Flash Sword, both were at Level 10, and since his opponent’s Level was higher than Shane’s, dodging was naturally impossible.

If it hadn’t been for the equally cheating Skill of Instant Movement...

"Whoosh!"

Just as the red Magic Blade was about to pierce Shane’s chest like lightning, Shane’s figure disappeared once more.

"Boom!"

The miss of the red slashing strike caused an explosion and a shockwave, lifting the ground nearby off its foundation.

"Disappeared again...!?"

Cappelen’s gaze sharpened as she suddenly felt something, and her Magical Sword became a second crimson flash, slashing suddenly to the side.

"Impressive!"

There, Shane’s figure suddenly appeared, facing the terrifying strike head-on, not startled but delighted, bursting into laughter.

"Boom!"

The formidable power of the Magical Sword hit Shane, setting off another explosion and shockwave, shattering the ground under his feet and craterizing it like a thunderstrike.

Yet, under the red magic slash, Shane remained completely unscathed.

The mighty torrent of magic power that slammed into him couldn’t even inflict the slightest injury.

"A Resistance Skill...!?"

Cappelen’s pupils constricted, instantly understanding the reason.

"That’s right!" Shane laughed in the midst of the red magic torrent at Cappelen, saying, "It’s the Resistance Skill!"

Correctly speaking, it was the combination of the Resistance Skill and the protection of the Holy Sword.

Though three Seals had been applied, let’s not forget, there was still a small part of the Holy Sword’s effect that wasn’t completely sealed, granting Shane effects like Level plus ten, all Skill Levels plus one, and a ten percent reduction in all types of damage.

With a Resistance Skill surpassing Level 10 and an additional ten percent damage reduction, even a Level 10 Magical Sword and Flash Sword could not scratch Shane in the slightest.

Of course...

"If you had magic power on the same level as Luoqi, the Magical Sword’s power would certainly be strong enough to overcome the Resistance Skill and not completely nullify all damage."

Shane said with a hint of regret.

"Pity, you don’t have it."

With that, Shane burst out of the magic torrent and, without pity for the fair, punched Cappelen in the abdomen.

"Bang!"

The heavy punch landed solidly on Cappelen’s midsection, sending her flying into the wall of a building, cracking it open.

"Cough...!"

Cappelen couldn’t help but gasp, expelling all the air from her lungs.

In the nick of time, Cappelen diverted to mimic the effect of the Holy Sword, gaining the power of Damage Reduction, coupled with her own Defense Skills, to withstand Shane’s strike.

But she hadn’t completely blocked the blow.

Because Shane possessed a Level 10 Penetration Skill that allowed his attacks to ignore a certain level of defensive power, inflicting direct damage on the opponent.

Had it not been for the effect of Penetration unable to overcome the power of the imitation Holy Sword, considerably weakened in the end, that punch would’ve at least made Cappelen vomit blood.

Shane watched Cappelen pinned to the wall, immensely satisfied.

Being able to single-handedly dominate the Empire Princess was proof enough that his strength was improving.

Bear in mind, Shane hadn’t even used Extreme Transformation.

Originally, even with Extreme Transformation, Shane could only draw with Luoqi, and indeed, be slightly at a disadvantage.

And the strength Cappelen displayed was no less formidable than Luoqi’s at that time.

After all, Luoqi at the time was using the sealed Holy Sword, and even though Cappelen’s Holy Sword was an imitation, it was far inferior to the genuine article; however, the imitation Holy Sword, not being sealed, had effects that were stronger than those of the sealed Holy Sword, and all things considered, it wasn’t too different from the sealed Holy Sword.

Yet this time, Shane was able to overpower Cappelen without using Extreme Transformation, proving that his Level increase to fifty-five wasn’t for nothing.

Therefore...

"You’re not up to par, Princess."

Shane simply stated.

"It seems Luoqi is stronger after all."

At these words, Cappelen, embedded in the wall, suddenly trembled with her hand.

A strange magic power began to operate on her body.

"Hm?"

Ai Yi, who had retreated with Lasha and Jade to the edge of the battlefield, suddenly let out a light gasp.

Shane was about to turn and leave when his expression suddenly drastically changed.

"Boom!"

A terrifying surge of magic power erupted from behind Shane.

The earth trembled in an instant.