Volume One, Chapter 21: The Nameless Demon Blade

Whether the legends were true or not, just that blade’s aura from earlier was enough to put him on guard.

“You must be the fifth Celestial King of the Dark Nebula—Toregia, isn’t it?” Nodanshizamsha’s tone was light, as if he scarcely regarded the Celestial King as worthy of his attention.

And rightly so; after all, the strength of the Celestial Kings was almost universally known throughout the cosmos. Even the mightiest among them, Mephilas, was only at the fifth stellar tier. As for himself, he had already reached the seventh. Not to mention, he wielded the Demon Blade Nameless—below the cosmic level, he had no equal.

Toregia watched every trace of Nodanshizamsha’s arrogance, not missing a single detail. He gave a faint smile and spoke. “What brings the legendary hero to my doorstep today?”

When he uttered the word “hero,” Toregia bit down on the syllables, his tone laced with such sarcasm that none could miss the mockery.

“Courting death!” A flicker of cold fury flashed across Nodanshizamsha’s face as he drew his blade.

A flash—!

A sword aura exploded in Toregia’s pupils, magnified in an instant. He had intended to meet its force head-on, but in the next moment, he decisively abandoned that thought and leapt aside. Yet, because of that split-second’s hesitation, the sword aura still struck him.

A wet slice—

A gash split open Toregia’s left shoulder, unleashing a flurry of black-and-white motes of light.

The Demon Blade, coupled with the swordsmanship for which the Zamsha clan’s cosmic swordmasters were famed—this was, without a doubt, the strongest person Toregia had faced since his rebirth, aside from the Emperor.

“Oh? Your arm’s still attached?” Nodanshizamsha feigned surprise. “It appears the Celestial Kings of the Dark Universe do have some skills.”

“Is that so?” Toregia’s gaze sharpened; a burst of lightning exploded behind him.

In the next instant, his body seemed to truly become lightning itself, appearing before Nodanshizamsha in a flash and smashing a blast of power—fused with darkness and thunder—straight into his opponent’s abdomen.

Boom—!

Caught off guard, Nodanshizamsha was hurled tens of thousands of meters away, his entire body convulsing. A charred wound, twin sparks flickering across it, now marred his midsection, sending pain lancing through every nerve.

Yet Toregia did not press his advantage. Instead, the moment he sent Nodanshizamsha flying, he swiftly retreated into the distance.

He could handle one Demon Blade wielder. But to kill him—certainly not in a short time. Especially here, in their territory; if other inheritors of the Demon Blade appeared, he could easily find himself in peril.

Thus, fleeing the Plasma Galaxy was the wisest course.

“Toregia!” Breaking free from his paralysis, Nodanshizamsha roared, drawing the Demon Blade Nameless and speeding after Toregia at his fastest.

As the Plasma Galaxy’s Demon Blade holder and a descendant of legendary heroes, he had rarely known injury, let alone such humiliation. Toregia, I will sever your head beneath my blade and reclaim my honor!

The Zamsha clan, famed as the cosmic sword-fighters, were a warrior tribe that lived and died by the sword, their lives inextricably bound to honor. He could accept defeat, but never insult from an enemy.

Indeed, Toregia’s sudden flight filled Nodanshizamsha with shame. In his eyes, the other’s escape was a clear sign of disdain; otherwise, why run at all? If he truly had the courage, he would have fought honorably, won, and then left… Bah! How could someone so craven ever defeat me?

The more Nodanshizamsha dwelled on it, the angrier he became, his speed surging to its utmost. But Toregia, having reached the ninth stellar tier, was inevitably a little faster.

So it was that Nodanshizamsha rained sword auras behind him in furious pursuit, while Toregia dodged up and down to evade. This evasive pattern, however, cost Toregia some speed, and the distance between them shrank steadily.

As they drew closer, Nodanshizamsha began to laugh in triumph. “Toregia, face me in a duel to the death!”

He slashed forth a sword aura nearly four times larger than the last.

Toregia’s expression hardened as he twisted aside to evade—but at that moment, Nodanshizamsha’s lips curled in a wicked smile. Pressing two fingers to his lips, he murmured, “Sword Dissolve.”

A hiss—

As the sword aura grazed Toregia, it suddenly exploded into countless smaller blades, shooting in all directions.

“What?!” Toregia’s pupils contracted as he forced energy from within, forming a shield of darkness.

Bang bang bang bang—bang bang!

The sword auras hammered against his shield in rapid succession.

In that brief instant, Nodanshizamsha had already closed the distance and brought the Demon Blade crashing down.

This blow could shatter mountains and rivers, tearing open even the fabric of space itself, swelling in Toregia’s eyes as it descended.

“Die!” Nodanshizamsha’s eyes blazed with malice—and even greater excitement. To slay a Celestial King would earn him eternal glory.

But in the next instant, his expression froze, eyes wide in shock and disbelief.

The Demon Blade Nameless, as it struck Toregia’s head, did not burst in sparks, but instead slipped through with no resistance at all.

An afterimage.

The thought had barely formed in Nodanshizamsha’s mind before he quashed it. He simply refused to believe Toregia could be faster than him—how could he leave an afterimage?

A faint crackle of electricity flickered before Nodanshizamsha’s eyes.

His scalp tingled; by instinct he raised his arm to block the attack he sensed coming—but he was still a step too slow.

Toregia’s body dissolved into lightning, spreading in all directions to form a terrifying prison of thunder, sealing Nodanshizamsha at its heart.

Crackling—!

Countless arcs of electricity erupted, like a thousand birds crying at once. Had anyone witnessed the scene, they would have been amazed to see Nodanshizamsha, inheritor of the Demon Blade Nameless, dancing amidst the lightning.

At the same instant, Toregia, having spent the last of his thunderous power, shot away into the distance.

This time, Nodanshizamsha did not pursue.

Not for lack of will, but because the lightning suffusing the area had left the very cells in his body nearly numb. Though he could still move, to channel energy he would have to wait for the paralysis to subside.

Was this all the legendary Celestial King could do?

Nodanshizamsha slowly raised his eyes to Toregia’s receding silhouette, disdain and contempt written deep within his gaze.

From his level of mastery, it was immediately clear that Toregia had expended all his thunder power in that last attack. In other words, Toregia no longer had the strength to continue fighting.