Chapter 25: Divine Thunder and Undying Fire

"Don't worry! I'll help you get stronger than anyone else in the world!" Phoenii spun around with a smug face. "As long as you let me become your master."

"I wonder if this sword can be reforged into something else-" I pretended to want to reforge the sword.

"Wait- no! Don't!" Phoenii panicked. "Alright, alright! I'll help you!"

She then taught me the sword's main form of attack, which she claimed to be the "Two Swords of Feng and Huang". It wasn't at all flashy or fancy; just a few normal slashes with a sword that's… on fire?

"This is, of course, no ordinary fire!" Phoenii puffed her chest and said proudly. "The fire of the phoenix is literally tied first on the Ancient Flames list in this entire dimension."

"There's a list for that in this world?" I scratched my head.

"People are thirsty for strength in this world." Phoenii pointed out.

"Fair." I shrugged. "So… do you have no special skills I can inherit?"

"Um…" Phoenii pointed her index fingers together. "Not yet…"

"Don't tell me you're gonna need another decade to awaken your 'full power'," I put my hand over my forehead.

"Uh, basically, yes."

I sighed and left my mental dimension. Ikazuchi was already dashing at me once again when I returned to my consciousness. Using my new sword techniques imbued with Phoenix Flames, I was able to easily fend off his six lightning spears.

"What is that fire?" Ikazuchi looked quite surprised. "Impossible… it's able to defeat my thunder of execution?"

"Your thunder of execution?" I wiped my nose. "These purple sparks? Do you think it looks like 'divine lightning' that struck down from heaven?"

"No matter." He did have much better composure than his brother. "You won't win in any case."

He finally called forth his spirit; all of his lightning energy turned into a bright red hue.

"Are these red sparks good enough for you?" Ikazuchi yelled, lancing a lightning spear at me.

I swung my sword. It was a lot more difficult, but I was still able to destroy the attack in one slash.

"Oh? Still not out of luck?" He formed another spear. "No problem, I can form as many of these as I want!"

He was right. Being in a defensive position almost always means being the first to run out of stamina. I had to take the high ground.

"Sorahoshi!" I charged in. He swiftly dodged my attack and laughed.

"Do you not have common sense? It's obvious that my spirit also makes me faster!"

I kept chasing him while fending off his attacks. After a few clashes, it became evident that he's just toying with me. I simply could not keep up.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kasumi flying in his Bifang form.

"Wait…" An idea popped in my mind.

I pretended to continue to focus chasing Ikazuchi down, but also started condensing my newly obtained Phoenix. Using myself as a catalyst, I slowly extracted the fire energy from the sword and formed the energy into a fan-shape. Applying the same logic that wings flap opposite in the direction their owner is propelled to, I was able to form pseudo-wings out of the fire energy.

"No way in hell that worked." I took a deep breath, and as the chance came, I dashed in again.

"It's no use, I told you." Ikazuchi smirked. "Well, I've had my share of fun. It's time to end this, don't you think?"

The wings' flames were so high-temperature that the air flow was apparently deformed, making a perfect chase environment for me. Before he realized what I was even doing, my sword already pierced his heart.

"Wha-" His eyes widened, and he was teleported out of the arena.

"What was that?" Moye inquired.

"The wings?"

"Yes, the wings. Where the hell did you get that from?"

"I just used the fire Phoenii gave me."

"But surely she did not give you a pair of fire wings."

"Oh, that was just me using it differently." I shrugged. "Is it that out of the ordinary to do that?"

"...yes? Considering you just created a whole new skill, which is usually only doable by spirit wielders who reached the demigods' level."

"Hah?" I was very confused. "It literally takes a second of thinking to create something like this."

"That's true, but people without sufficient power can't handle the overwhelming energy that is released when they use a skill without the exact compatibility and instructions," Moye explained. "If you're a fire spirit wielder but you channel too much water energy without the right method, you could implode."

"I guess I was quite lucky, huh?"

"No… it's more like you're different in your way of channeling energy." Moye replied. "It shouldn't affect you in any negative way for now… I'll look into it next time I physically see you."

Which will be quite a bit of time, considering if we go back to Yune's place we're likely to reveal her location.

"Boss! That was sick!" Montei ran over and gave me a big clap on the shoulder. "Quick, come over to the second stage!"

There were three different platforms for the finals. I followed Montei to the second platform, and was surprised by what I saw.

"The third prince lost to the fifth prince?" I pinched my chin.

"Well, it does seem so." Montei nodded. "But I heard the fifth prince is someone who would use any means, fair or foul, to reach his objective."

"I didn't think you would use… that," the third prince muttered before fainting.

"Looks like you know who to hand your throne to, Mingwei." The Empress was chatting with the Donghuang Emperor close to us.

"Quite the contrary," Emperor Mingwei shook his head. "Neither of them are fit. Lingwei is too much of a muscle brain, and Xingwei is too ambitious."

"How about your 7th daughter?" The Empress pointed out. "It's not like Donghuang has never had an empress."

"I have considered it, but Chuming says she doesn't want to be bound to this position, and I respect her wishes." Emperor Mingwei shook his head. "I guess I'll have to see between my first and second son."