Chapter 108: Battle

"Titan, Ashburn." Hearing such a succinct introduction, Ashburn reciprocated in kind, stating his own name with an increased interest in the human before him.

He had traveled to human realms before, experiencing numerous battles in human form. Spontaneous battles aside, during formal combats where names were exchanged, the humans he encountered typically adorned themselves with a slew of complicated and grandiose titles.

They sounded impressive and full of grandeur. However, in reality, these individuals often couldn't withstand even a single slap from him, being knocked to the ground while he was limited to a mere fraction of his strength in his human form.

"Boom!" In the gray, murky sky, countless golden thunders roamed, illuminating the dark, silent world. Slender columns of thunder, finer than those accompanying the legendary Titan's entrance, bombarded down, striking close to Ashburn.

Lava erupted, scattering around as a pure black greatsword, wrapped in chains, plunged into the magma pool created by Ashburn's impact. The heavy blade, hundreds of meters long, was covered in golden lightning continuously coursing along it.

This formidable weapon, a massive broadsword of pure black, seemed like a mountain. Its entire body shimmered with a faint crimson glow, a luminescence that only countless lives slain and drenched in blood could bestow.

Seeing such a fearsome weapon, even the stoic Sword Saint Ron couldn't help but flinch. The sheer size of the weapon, crafted entirely from legendary metals, was startling.

The middle-aged man glanced down at his own sword, less than two meters long, and exhaled slowly. His entire worth put together wouldn't match up to this single greatsword. Titans truly were wealthy.

Noticing the greatsword in the lava pool beneath him, Ashburn, now reduced to a "normal" human size of just over two meters, reached out his broad, powerful hand and made a grasping motion.

"Hum! Hum!" The greatsword trembled lightly, vibrating and stirring waves in the crimson-gold lava lake. Quickly, the mountain-like greatsword shrank to a manageable two meters, matching the Titan's current stature.

"Clatter!" The greatsword flew into the air, landing in Ashburn's outstretched palm. The chains wrapped around the hilt also vibrated, wrapping around Ashburn's arm like a living thing.

"Come, battle, Ron." The mighty Titan brandished his sword at Sword Saint Ron, his eyes burning with combat fervor. Ashburn took a stance, bending one knee slightly before snapping it straight, unleashing powerful energy.

With the greatsword in hand, he transformed into a radiant arc, charging at Sword Saint Ron and slashing out sword beams enveloped in wind and thunder.

Enshrouded in a layer of faint silver-white fighting spirit, the Sword Saint also swung his blade, unleashing streaks of silver-white sword beams.

Boom! Crash! Boom... The sword beams from the Sword Saint clashed with those from the Titan mid-air, then mutually annihilated each other, exploding into fragments of sword energy that wreaked havoc all around. Fine, hair-like spatial cracks appeared silently, then swiftly healed.

Facing the charging Titan, Ron remained fearless, swinging his long sword enveloped in dazzling silver-white light towards the Titan. "Clang!" Their weapons collided.

After a mere three breaths, "Boom!" Ron, wielding the long sword, could no longer withstand the overwhelming force from the opposing greatsword. His average-sized body was flung backward, streaking across the sky as a silver-white comet.

Under the distant gaze of Muria and others, Sword Saint Ron crashed into a mountain thousands of meters high. Amidst the thunderous echo of the mountain, he emerged from the other side, momentum unabated, and crashed into another mountain.

The mountains roared as Sword Saint Ron successively smashed through five mountains before finally coming to a stop in the sixth, the force of his impact fully absorbed by the rugged terrain.

"Boom!" Midway up the mountain, a flash of silver-white fighting spirit illuminated the scene, shattering the rocks burying the Sword Saint and revealing his figure in simple hemp clothes.

"This human is so weak. One strike sent him flying so far."

"This battle is meaningless. Even with so much power suppressed, that human stands no chance against Lord Ashburn."

"The First Sword Saint of humanity, huh? Just the first among humans."

...Many Titans and Celestial Offspring murmured quietly, disappointment visible on many faces. Just two exchanges in, Sword Saint Ron was sent flying with a single strike, making it seem like a lopsided battle.

For the observing Titans and Celestial Offspring, the ideal battle would have evenly matched opponents, creating a more intense fight from which they could learn more. An overwhelming victory, while thrilling to watch, held little value for them.

"Silence." A soul pinnacle Titan shouted, his dazzling golden eyes scanning the commentators, "Do not speculate foolishly before entering the realm of legends. The power of legends far exceeds your imagination. This battle has only just begun."

"Watch calmly. It's too early to declare a winner," added Silvester, an eight-winged Celestial Offspring, nodding in agreement.

As his words faded, a brilliant silver-white sword light surged into the sky. It was Sword Saint Ron, glowing high above, his body effusing sword energy, resembling a humanoid divine sword.

The ordinary-looking Sword Saint raised his sword, assuming a unique stance. The sword energy emanating from his body and the fighting spirit within converged towards his sword.

"Buzz!" The deep blue blade vibrated, cloaked in a layer of silver-white light that grew increasingly intense, eventually obscuring the sword's original hue.

Within moments, Ron's deep blue fine gold sword transformed into a gleaming silver-white light sword, with terrifying power concentrated along the blade. Around the light sword, space seemed unable to bear the force amassed there.

Thin, hair-like black spatial cracks appeared around the blade. Such power made even the Titan standing on the magma lake change his expression. This space, once part of the endless abyss but now belonging to the Abyss Lord Ulysses, was fortified far beyond the normal world.

Here, even legendary Titans couldn't move through space by shattering it; they either used inter-world teleportation circles or sought permission from epic beings to leave passages.

That's why this battlefield was chosen—to minimize damage to the main material world.

But now, Ron's single sword move caused space to fracture, showing cracks, although far from breaking entirely for teleportation. Nevertheless, the feat was impressive, especially since this space had been specifically reinforced by epic beings.

Seeing Sword Saint Ron gathering his strength, Titan Ashburn wasn't about to stand idly by. His arm, wrapped in chains, clenched the greatsword, enveloped in storms and thunder, and charged at the Sword Saint.

Golden thunderbolts descended from the sky, targeting Ron, while storms swept towards him. Thousands of meters from the Sword Saint, Ashburn hurled his greatsword.

"Clatter!" The greatsword shot out at high speed, parting the thin atmosphere of this desolate world, even visible as a trail of mist. A chain extending from the hilt of the greatsword, still wrapped around Ashburn's arm, kept them connected.

Facing the oncoming thunderbolts, storms, and the hurtling greatsword, the Sword Saint maintained an expressionless face, showing no fear. Endless silver-white sword energy burst from every part of his body, shattering the thunderbolts and dispersing the storms.

Then, the Sword Saint swung his sword, unleashing a long arc of sword light that soared through the sky, blasting Ashburn's thrown greatsword away and striking him directly.

"Hmph!" Ashburn grunted angrily, his left arm enveloped in wind and lightning as he punched towards the silver-white sword arc. "Boom!" The Titan only managed to withstand the assault for a few moments before the sword beam drove him to the ground.

"Boom!" Though he was only two meters tall, the impact of Ashburn hitting the ground created a crater nearly a hundred meters in radius, while the sword arc continued to press down upon him.

The gray earth trembled, and the crater rapidly expanded, becoming larger and deeper. This sight shocked the observing Titans and Celestial Offspring, none of whom had expected the human legend to possess such combat prowess.

But this time, no one spoke up. They just silently watched the battle unfold, certain in their belief that the Titan would not be defeated, even though he had suppressed much of his power.

Within the now vast crater, at its deepest point, Ashburn stood amidst a brilliant column of light, reaching out his hand. "Clatter!" The sound of the chain rattling filled the air as the blown-away greatsword returned in a flash of black light, landing back in its master's hand.

With the roar of thunder and the howling of the storm accompanying it, a column of golden sword light rose within the white sword beam that the Sword Saint had unleashed. "Bang!" The sword column shattered. The fragments of the sword beam turned into variously sized bursts of sword energy, creating a fierce and brief storm of sword energy across the desolate plain.

When the storm subsided, the desolate ground was crisscrossed with countless sword marks of varying depths and sizes. Some of the smaller hills were completely leveled by the sword energy.

Standing in the newly formed basin, where he had been driven to the ground, Ashburn held his greatsword with smoke still curling from his body. He looked up at the plain-looking man hovering in the air and grinned: "That's some punch!"

Then, in an instant, the Titan vanished from the spot. Where he had been standing, the ground collapsed once more. In the air, Ashburn reappeared in front of Sword Saint Ron, his greatsword raised high, crashing down with monumental force...

"Clang!" "Clang!"... Their swords clashed, sparks flying, as they continued to exchange blows in mid-air, their sword energies sweeping across the sky.