Hero of Darkness

Ryuken was completely stupefied after his slashing attack was split apart in a mere moment.

Because it was one of his strongest attacks, it needed the use of both his Space Law to seal the space and confine the opponent in a spot where he could land the fatal blow.

Meanwhile, his own attack skill, which condensed a massive amount of space force, was enough to cleave a mountain in two in a single second.

However… Kahn/Byakuya deflected one of his strongest attack skills with just a flick of his katana's sheath.

"Impossible!" spoke Ryuken in a hushed and baffled tone.

Not just the Hero of Space but also his companions were left stunned and gobsmacked.

This was an attack skill not even they could defend against even if they worked together; that's how terrifying the space law was.

Because a blade made of the space force was able to split apart all forms of mana, elemental and world energy skills, barriers, formations, and even bloodline ability on the atomic level.

Yet somehow, that lethal attack that even made Omega finally face threat for his life, was casually brushed off by the One-Eyed Dragon, aka Masamune Byakuya.

"Just who is this man?" asked Momoko as her body finally healed from the injuries.

"So not only the vassal, but his lord was also a freak?" questioned Shingen with both of his mouths wide open.

[How?... This shouldn't be happening?] spoke Ryuken, still carrying the disbelief in his mind.

[I only aimed to cut off Raiden's arm with my previous attack by sealing him in space. He would've regenerated later and this skirmish would be put to rest.

I never planned on killing him, to begin with. But Byakuya-dono… he just threw off my void blade like it was a piece of paper.] wondered the Hero of Space.

"Wait a minute… I don't sense any law from him either. Unlike Raiden, who practices the Gravity Law… his unique power is not traceable at all." spoke Ryuken to himself again.

Next, his gaze fixated on Byakuya while a drop of sweat ran below his chin.

Kahn/Byakuya on the other end, looked down coldly on Ryuken, sending a shivering chill across all his body.

His intense and ferocious bloodlust almost made the Hero of Space freeze on his spot as if a primordial vicarious beast was ready to devour him.

"Is that the best you can do?"

A grim and harrowing voice resounded on the new battlefield.

"That power… that's not the Time Law. And it's not the space force either.

How did you deflect my void blade?" asked Ryuken, anticipating an honest answer.

"The unenlightened should try to open their minds to endless possibilities." responded Byakuya with an expressionless countenance.

And right after those words reached Ryuken ears, his entire body was filled with goosebumps as if he heard something unfathomable.

"The reason I couldn't sense it… don't tell me…" he stuttered while speaking as his eyes were filled with shock.

"You… you've achieved the 3rd enlightenment in the Space Law?!" asked Sasikebe Ryuken as his hands trembled and so did his katana.

"Yes, I have." revealed the One-Eyed Dragon without the slightest of worry.

Gasp!

Stunned!

One after another, everyone gasped in sheer disbelief and couldn't hide their shocked faces.

Not a single one of them had expected Kahn to be a practitioner of the Space Law at all.

Although the Erdve Empire was nicknamed the Empire of Space because it served the doctrine of the God of Space… the actual amount of people who practiced it was only 90 thousand given how hard it was to learn and master.

Out of those 90 thousand, hardly a thousand people had achieved the first enlightenment in the Space Law.

Those who were at the 2nd enlightenment, including the Hero of Space, were less than 50 people in the whole empire.

There were only 3 people in the entire empire who had achieved the 3rd enlightenment as per their knowledge. That included the younger brother of the current Emperor, Sakamoto Hideyoshi.

So even the Imperial family could produce only one person with the said 3rd enlightenment in the past 100 years despite all the knowledge, research, and resources they had accumulated over the past 6 centuries.

The Hero of Space himself was stuck at the 2nd enlightenment for the past couple of years despite being the chosen representative of the God of Space himself.

Many didn't blame him because it had been close to 8 years since he was summoned and generally, even those with 2nd enlightenment had taken more than 3 decades for such accomplishment.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

However… seeing that Kahn/Byakuya had also achieved that level of mastery… it was simply beyond their expectations.

"Were you solely relying on the fact that you have access to the Space Force, to act like you were the one with authority?" asked Byakuya.

Swoosh!

"Tell me now,"

But before Ryuken could even answer, Byakuya disappeared and next, a hand was placed on the Hero's left shoulder as the one-eyed dragon appeared in front of him.

A ghastly and grim voice reached his ears as Byakuya asked…

"Do you feel in charge?"

Woosh!

Ryuken quickly stepped back and appeared a few kilometers away in the sky.

[He got past my senses way too quickly for me to even react. It's as if he broke the laws that bind space and time together.

It only seemed like it was teleportation but I can tell that he was manipulating the space around us with a single thought.

I only heard that it was possible in theory but did he perform that feat so effortlessly?

If that's like how it is… then he is even far more dangerous as a foe despite both of us being 6th-stage saints.] thought Ryuken as his mind ran as fast as a computer, trying to come up with countermeasures in case Kahn attacked again.

"You're wasting my time." said Kahn with a dreary tone.

"They say that you've hit your limits. But you should know better by now that the most effective way to surpass yourself… is by keep trying until failure.

With each failure, you slowly go past your previous limit. That is how you can attain what you can't hope to achieve.

So, the Hero of Space, Sasakibe Ryuken…" declared Kahn the very next moment.

Cling!

He unsheathed Muramasa.

BOOM!!

Flutter!

Flutter!

A massive dark blue aura spread on the battlefield as Kahn/Byakuya revealed the true strength of his katana.

The indomitable and insurmountable aura of the ancient rank weapon put an incomparably leaden pressure on the Hero of Space, immobilizing his body with sheer terror alone.

Byakuya's personage wearing the black hakama started fluttering with the strong gusts of wind as he declared in a domineering tone…

"Show me your motivation."