Chapter 175 ~ Rend Space

Momonga could not believe his eyes, which blazed brighter in crimson light within the orbital bones of his skull. 

Touch Me had always been a paragon of strength within Ainz Ooal Gown and one of the strongest warriors within the entire game of Yggdrasil. While some might surpass him in terms of raw damage output or tankiness, in a one on one fight against another player, Momonga had never seen him lose before. 

And upon becoming a World Champion, his invincible status only became more concrete. 

He never thought he would see a day when Touch Me, the symbol of strength and justice in his mind, struggled, even if it was his phantom. 

He couldn't clearly see Yuuji and Touch Me's exchange of blows with the swords. He was a novice when it comes to swordplay, or anything other than magic, as he had never truly focused on it. 

As a magic caster, he would only focus on how to keep his distance when against a warrior or other melee fighter. He knew of their skills and the strategy melee fighters would normally use when against a magic caster. However, he never thoroughly learned the techniques and movements of a swordsman and fighter. After all, if his opponent could reach in melee with him, it would be almost impossible for a frail and slow magic caster such as him to avoid them anyway. 

Moreover, Momonga was never one who could learn quickly. Thus, he could only focus on what was truly essential for him and spend his limited time learning it to the best of his abilities. 

But even for a novice like him, he could see that the exchange of blows between Yuuji and Touch Me's phantom were extremely high leveled, at least from what he could catch. 

They were moving so quickly that even he, with his enhanced senses upon becoming Momonga, could barely keep up with. 

Even Lelouch, who was a keener observer, could not keep up with their movements. 

The same, however, could not be said for Albedo and the twin floor guardians. 

The twins could see their movements and the clashing of their swords, and while they were not too knowledgeable in regards to swordsmanship, given one was a ranger and the other a druid, they could still admire the sheer skill in which the two supreme beings displayed. 

Of course, they did not dare think this was the limit of the greatest supreme being, if he even had one. Yuuji must be holding back quite a bit, just like Lelouch had told them with Aika. And this only further their admiration and awe for the half-angel half-demon supreme being. 

On the other hand, Albedo was truly astounded as she watched the duel before her eyes.

While she was not on Cocytus's level in regards to her knowledge about swordsmanship, she was a dark knight who specialized in defensive melee combat and one of the highest leveled warriors within Nazarick. Her keen eyes for battle and knowledge of swordsmanship was one of the greatest amongst the other members of the tomb. And thus, she was the only one within this arena, aside from Yuuji, who could understand the sheer absurdity of what Yuuji was doing right now…

Predicting every move precisely as if he had seen the future, dealing with each and every blow with such precision, speed, and intent, and controlling the fight five, six moves ahead. 

Not to mention, she noticed something even more astonishing. 

Ever since the first blow, Yuuji had been adjusting his strength, lowering it with each consecutive blow until he was more or less equal to the phantom version of the World Champion that should've been incomparable to him. 

And with his skill with the sword that transcended everything, even the great warrior Takemikazuchi… 

'How dominating…'

Albedo thought in a daze as all eyes kept their focus on the cloud of smoke and dirt. 

And in the next moment, a shining bright light pierced through the smoke that began to whirl and blown away with a sudden powerful gust of whirlwind, revealing the figure of Touch Me with his sword raised into the skies once more. 

But this time, Yuuji noticed that it was not the same skill he had used before, and a smile of excitement appeared on his otherworldly visage. 

"Ah, that's right… Of course you have that skill as well… This will be fun."

Light and energy seemed to be pulled from his entire surroundings and converged, bending space and light around Touch Me's sword. 

Yuuji stood unmoving, holding Est before him in a relaxed stance. 

He did not plan on using the active part of [Aegis] to completely block Touch Me's ultimate skill… 

He wondered how much damage he could deal against him.

The brightly shining sword was swung, and along with the wind, it tore down the very fabric of space. 

"World Break!!!"

With a mighty roar, the phantom unleashed the strongest skill that belonged to one of the greatest warrior within the entirety of Yggdrasil. 

An unavoidable slash that cut through the very fabric of space. A skill that surpassed even that of the tenth-tier spell "Reality Slash". 

A skill that managed to create a diagonal cut across the body of the greatest supreme being, along with the very space around him. 

Gasps echoed as Aura, Mare, and Albedo failed to contain their surprise. 

Momonga was similarly shocked, as well as Lelouch. 

While Aika simply glanced at her hubby as she kept one arm raised before Ulbert, who now kneeled before Aika in absolute reverence. 

"Kuh… That was a nice blow…"

Yuuji took a step back, his lips curled into a grin. Damages to his clothing were quite astounding, though not to the point that the "auto repair" function couldn't amend shortly. 

While the damage to his body was similarly astounding. With the passive skill from his "True Light" job class that granted him passive healing which increases as his hp drops, the damage was negligible at best, as he would be able to heal it off shortly. 

However, he was still impressed. For a phantom to be able to shave off almost 6% of his total health was quite the feat that only further proved the original Touch Me's prowess. 

'I really wish I could've met the real Touch me and spar against him…'

He smiled fondly before raising his left hand towards the phantom. 

"Chain of Oblivion."

From the shadows, wisps of darkness manifest from beneath the phantom. And before it could even realize, jet-black chains shoot out from the ground and wrap around the figure of the jet-black phantom knight. 

Then, hands… numerous hands clawed out from the darkness, reaching out for the light of day and salvation before grasping onto the greaves, torso, and arms of the phantom, and began pulling. Pulling it down back into oblivion of eternal darkness. 

The more Touch Me tried to struggle, the more powerful the chains bound him and the hands pulling him down. 

"Dispel Evil!"

The holy paladin struck down with his sword as light briefly filled the area around him. But, the light soon faded, with the blackened chains and arms from hell continued to bound and clawed onto him. 

It was impossible for a mere phantom paladin, even if it was a World Champion, to dispel the spell cast by a true prince of darkness, a World Enemy. 

"Kuh…! Death Ward!"

A glimmer of excitement flashed within Yuuji's eyes when he heard the phantom cast that spell. 

[Death Ward]. A relatively high tier spell which granted its target a means of protection against death itself. 

Upon suffering lethal damage, the ward would protect its target from death and leave them with a sliver of health remaining. And if the target was hit by a spell that would cause instant death, the effect would be negated. 

It was a literal live saving spell that only players with high levels into clerical and priest job classes could gain access to. 

The spell would normally be inaccessible by a paladin, such as Touch Me. However, with the divine class item [Ward from Death], he would be able to cast the spell [Death Ward] onto himself once a day. 

It was the item that made the already hard to kill paladin nigh-immortal in the battlefield. 

With the phantom having used the item and cast the spell, Yuuji no longer had to hold back from trying out the two things he wanted to try out. 

Unfortunately, he was currently still within the Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Thus, the high-damaged super tier spell he would've loved to try wasn't something he could cast right here. 

However, there was still a tenth-tier spell that would be fun to try out. And then, he could still test his strongest skill as well, since the phantom would still be alive. 

With his left hand still raised, Yuuji began to cast a spell once more. 

Enormous, bright, white magic circles stacked on top of each other shined and emanated with all colors of the rainbow appeared in the air above Touch Me. 

And with the utterance of a word, the light of judgment fell.

"[Dǿma](Judgment)."

A column of searing, brilliant light fell upon the tiny phantom paladin, engulfing its entire figure in blinding light an instant along with the entirety of the sixth floor of the underground tomb. 

The earth trembled. The air shook. The darkness disappeared from the world in that instant. And silence filled the air. 

Slowly, the blinding light dissipated, and vision began to return to those caught by the blinding light. 

And as soon as it returned, they could see a massive crater and the phantom of Touch Me kneeling at its center. 

Without even the need to use [Life Essence], it was apparent that the paladin was barely clinging onto life… 

Seeing the result, Yuuji couldn't help but smile.

While the spell wasn't as powerful as his [Singularity], it was still quite effective and satisfactory for a tenth-tier spell. 

But… There was still one more spell, or rather, skill he'd like to test and see its effectiveness. 

And thankfully, the phantom had not expired yet. 

Six pure white and golden wings and six jet-black crimson wings spread open behind him before Yuuji took to the skies. 

"Well then… let's try this."

Yuuji pointed Est towards the fallen paladin below him, and activated the strongest skill exclusive to the [Champion of the First Light] class; one of, if not, the most broken offensive classes he received.

"Disappear… [Rend Space]."

The figure of the kneeling phantom Touch Me twisted and bent, causing his figure to seemingly stretch into a single central point as space distorted. 

Then in the next instant, the space unfurled in a violent tear, ripping the very fabric of space along with the phantom. 

The very space "cracked", like a broken mirror, before disappearing in the next moment. And the phantom dissipated into particles of light. 

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