A loud buzzing sound signaled the beginning of the match between Lin Luo and I. Immediately, both of us began casting our own spells.

Legendary Time Magic — Chronofreeze.

"Legendary Poison Magic — Asura Hell!

"

Naturally, mine was quicker because of my instacasting abilities. There was only one concern… whether or not the spell was truly successful.

But my worries were quickly erased as the whole arena — no, the whole world — turned greyscale, the RGB of all objects disappearing for that duration. All movement ceased; all thoughts stopped.

Lin Luo was still stuck in the middle of her casting movement as I flew up into the air and hovered before her.

"So… I can really use Legendary Magic, huh?

" I chuckled out loud, snickering proudly. I hadn't expected this to work, but it really did.

"Now then…

" I lifted up one of my katanas to Lin Luo's neck, and prepared to sever her head.

"Goodby-

"

Suddenly, her eyes lit up a golden yellow, unleashing a shockwave around her body that pushed me away a short distance.

"Ngh-!

" I groaned, shielding my eyes from the bright light that had enveloped her body.

To my surprise, the color and radiance had returned to her body, now more so than ever, despite the greyness all around us.

She lifted her sword and pointed it at me.

"You possess some abilities… for a demon.

"

"Uh… I'm not a demon though,

" I retorted, buying some time to try and figure out what the hell was going on.

"Human… demon… it's all the same to me.

"

With those cold words, she lunged towards me, two blades each emanating a different color of lightning — one yellow, one blue.

No Asura Hell this time…? Could it be… she can't use spells when time is stopped, but only her body?

I couldn't help but wonder that as I evaded her attacks, flying backwards as she moved forward. I brought up my Chaos Katanas to block the strikes I couldn't dodge, and Lin Luo's eyes widened as she saw the lightning on her blades slowly dissipate.

She immediately backed off in caution, narrowing her eyes.

"… What did you do?

"

I glanced down at my katanas, now radiating lightning — one of them sparked with red static, while the other sparked with black.

"Well, well, well… this is quite the interesting power you have,

" I murmured, inspecting my blades.

"Divine Lightning? Powerful indeed. However…

"

I smirked and slashed the air in front of me with one of my katanas, sending forward a crescent barrage of red lightning. Lin Luo hurriedly made her blades into an X to defend against my attack, but she was still pushed back a short distance.

Gritting her teeth, she glared at me in anger.

"How dare you… stain that power with your dirty hands!

"

It was then that the Chronofreeze effect finally wore out, allowing her to finally use spells again.

She flew upwards and thrust one of her swords into the air as thunderclouds began forming above, and I mimicked her actions just to spite her.

"Holy Raijin, I summon you! Be my blade; cleanse this world of sin and purge all evil! Come, Divine Lightning!

"

"Primordial Chaos, I summon you. Be my blade; cleanse this world of my enemies and purge all creation! Come, Chaotic Lightning!

"

It was a completely made-up chant, meant to do nothing more than to piss her off, but to both my own surprise and hers, a black cloud sparking with red energy began forming above me.

As a bright yellow lightning bolt struck down on Lin Luo's sword, a bigger, far more powerful red one struck down on mine. Under normal circumstances, one would end up paralyzed if struck by lightning, but not this time.

Rather than being shocked to death, I felt empowered by this lightning. It coursed through my veins, charging up every blood cell, every atom with its dark and phenomenal power. My body began emitting a dangerous crimson glow that matched the color of my eyes as Lin Luo's figure radiated yellow, and the two of us thrust forward at the exact same time.

A powerful golden lightning bolt shot out of her sword while a red one shot out of mine. They clashed together, causing an enormous explosion and shockwave that followed. The glass walls that surrounded the arena ended up shattering for the second time today, this time simply from the pressure — our attacks didn't even touch the panels.

At first, both of our strikes seemed to be of equal power, continuously clashing against one another.

But I knew — Chaos empowered my abilities. It took the original, amplified it, and made it my own.

After several seconds, my lightning began to push back Lin Luo's — but it wasn't just as simple as overpowering it.

Chaos had one other attribute — it devoured all.

Slowly, my lightning was consuming hers, making it harder and harder for her to fight back. She realized this as well, and gritted her teeth desperately.

I grinned. As if that's going to make you stronger.

Eventually, the beam of conflict between her and I became nearly completely red. She could not hold on any longer.

"It's over,

" I said.

"N-Not… yet…!

"

"The moment you lose your focus and try doing something else, my lightning will turn you to ashes. The only thing you can do is patiently is await death. It won't be long now. How does it feel, losing to your own power? Betrayal, perhaps? Hatred?

"

"What do you know… ABOUT BETRAYAL!

" she yelled in anger.

Suddenly, a second pair of wings grew out of her back, right below the first. She flew up even higher into the air, then opened all four of her wings, unleashing a violent wind all around her. The four white wings now had glowing golden symbols on them, drawn by a liquid that looked like ichor — a god's blood.

The IMF staff who had attempted to fix the glass panels in the middle of the battle were blown away by this sudden shockwave, blinded by the light. The glass they had just finished repairing was shattered once more, much to their dismay.

A blinding flash ensued as both of our lightning bolts dissipated into nothingness. Sensing danger, I quickly dropped back down to the ground. When I could finally see again, Lin Luo had changed — insurmountably.

Her eyes were set on fire, golden and divine. Her hair turned from silver into a youthful golden, and her white robes became a heavenly gown, fit for an empress.

Her two blades were now combined into one, a white and golden broadsword that matched the rest of her new appearance.

As she hovered in the air above me, she looked down at me as if I was some pest. Her eyes held godlike indignation, determined and full of fury.

"Woah! The final battle of today… it is truly intense! Lin Luo… she appears to have awakened her final form during the fight! To think I would get to witness a Seraphim Ascension with my own two eyes…

" the announcer shook his head in wonder.

"Everyone, this is a once-in-a-lifetime sight!

"

The audience should've been excited, but they were far too scared to do anything. The defenses preventing them from getting hurt had all been destroyed, exposing them directly to the holy power of Lin Luo.

She, however, had no one else in her eyes except me — not in a good way. She raised her sword with both hands, holding it above her head, blade turned downwards as if preparing to stab down.

"I said divine judgment, didn't I?

" she whispered softly, but her voice boomed across the arena and beyond.

"Prepare yourself — salvation is near.

"

But… there was just one problem. All this time, my eyes had been glued to one part of her and one part only. Since she was hovering directly above me…

I placed my hand over my eyes to block the sun and get a better view.

"Whew,

" I whistled.

"So they're that color, huh?

"

At this, everyone — the announcer, the audience, probably all the other contestants watching this fight right now, and most importantly, Lin Luo — all froze.

"… What did you just say?

" she asked quietly but menacingly. Under the dead silent atmosphere, her voice seemed to be loud.

"Polka-dots? Huh, so you're into that…

" I murmured, continuing to analyze her panties. It was truly a shame I didn't have a notebook with me, otherwise I would've wrote everything down and even included a professional drawing.

Lin Luo's entire body began trembling after hearing my words, on the verge of imploding from anger.

"YOU… BASTARD… DIE!

"

She swung her sword down, sending a golden lightning bolt so bright it was almost white towards me. The pressure it emitted was enough to root anyone in their place, and as I stared at the bright light it was giving off, it was as if I really faced salvation.

But I knew.

Deep down, I knew.

I had already gone too far for salvation.

Legendary Time Magic — Chronofreeze.

I used this spell Xiang Peng taught me once more, returning the world to greyscale. However, her stop did not stop.

Oh… she has transcended the laws of time, it seems.

But so what?

Even if she was a god, she could not beat the creator of everything — the primordial Chaos I wielded.

And so, within the frozen time, I confidently cast a single spell.

Forbidden Magic — Chaos Mirror.