The Sword Princess's Stage (Part 3)

"Sonia Servi is also a Sanctuary Sorcerer!" Nidala's words slammed into the audience like a physical shockwave, reverberating through their very minds. Stunned disbelief covered every face as they whispered the same word under their breath: "Sanctuary..." Yet the two figures locked in fierce combat in the arena dragged the spectators back to reality. As they watched the red-haired Sword Princess duel Truth University's foremost prodigy, they finally knew they were not dreaming— This first-year student from Sword Flower University, competing in the Meteor Tribulation for the very first time—Sonia Servi was already a Sanctuary Sorcerer! She was nothing like Dimi. She had no illustrious noble lineage; she was just a country girl from a distant rural town! She was nothing like Dimi. She had been a sorcerer for less than a year... less than half a year. By all ordinary logic, she shouldn't have even condensed her Silver Wings yet! She was nothing like Dimi. This stage bathed in brilliance and glory had never belonged to her! No one had believed she stood a chance of defeating Dimi. In everyone's imagination, her best possible outcome would be forcing out Dimi's Sanctuary before suffering an honorable defeat. As long as she achieved that, no matter how brightly Dimi shone, no one would be able to overlook Sonia's light. Everyone had been waiting for the country girl to lose, and everyone had prepared to receive her defeat. The host, Arsenault, had stayed up all night drafting a speech, waiting only for the dust to settle so he could use an impassioned, stirring oration to paint her loss as a glorious triumph, draping her in honors and sending her home laden with glory all the same! Adele had long prepared an essay, ready to rally the Paw-Stretching Club to take over the university forum the moment Sonia lost. She planned to highlight Sonia's diligence, talent, tenacity, and perseverance—catchphrases like "She sees Jialesi at four in the morning every day" were already lined up. She had even prepared strength comparisons across past Meteor Tribulations to demonstrate that Sonia was just unlucky this year, that she hadn't truly lost! Lois had planned to take Sonia shopping in a couple of days; she had been itching to spruce up this country girl for ages. Ingrid had the simplest plan: she had stashed a case of liquor in the dormitory, waiting to return and drown her sorrows. The others were much the same. Everyone was prepared to comfort her, simply waiting for her to suffer her anticipated defeat! Yet time and again, the red-haired Sword Princess battered their worldview with her feats— She could contend with Dimi. She was learning Dimi's combat techniques. She had even found an opening to force out Dimi's Sanctuary. And now, she had wounded Dimi! Draped in stars, watched by the entire nation—the honors that should have belonged solely to Dimi were now undeniably split with Sonia! In fact, compared to this battered and bruised red-haired Sword Princess, the eldest son of the Duke of Vosroda seemed almost... dim! Everyone realized that they were about to witness an even more brilliant shooting star streak across the heavens! Yet rather than the dazzling radiance, the sorcerers in attendance paid far more attention to the fangs the red-haired Sword Princess had bared! "Secret Blade of the Hidden Hand?!" The Sanctuary Sorcerers among the spectators widened their eyes in shock, turning one after another toward Professor Trozan on Sword Flower University's side. "Secret Blade of the Hidden Hand..." Felix muttered the words, an intricate swirl of emotions crossing her face. "Secret Blade of the Hidden Hand!" Ingrid and the others nearly leaped with excitement, leaving Adele looking bewildered. "What's the Secret Blade of the Hidden Hand?" "A superior Radiant-tier miracle, Secret Blade of the Hidden Hand!" Ingrid suppressed her excitement, trying her best to explain in plain, straightforward terms. "Its effect can be summed up in a single sentence: an interspatial slash!" "I know about space-slashes," Adele said. "I saw it in Blood of Demon-Slaying! Daidalos cut through space with a single sword, cleaving the world apart—it was so cool!" "No." Ingrid smiled and shook her head. "That's artistic exaggeration compromised for visual effect. At the Sanctuary level, sweeping spatial attacks like that are actually the least efficient and the easiest to block. A Sanctuary can defend against all attacks, which naturally includes an external space-slash. "A truly formidable spatial attack is an interspatial strike. You've heard the story of the Heart Stealer, right?" "Of course. When I was little, my mother used to scare me with that ghost story," Adele said. "If you're naughty, the Heart Stealer will steal your heart..." "The Blade of the Hidden Hand is the exact same type of miracle as Heart Theft," Ingrid said. "It bypasses space to strike directly at vital points! "While a Sanctuary can repel all attacks, it functions more like armor covering the body's exterior, flawlessly turning aside any strike from the outside. An interspatial attack, however, bypasses the Sanctuary's barrier to strike the sorcerer's body directly—the equivalent of damage detonating from within!" Adele finally understood, exclaiming in surprise, "Then doesn't that make a Sanctuary useless? That can't be defended against at all!" "Exactly." Ingrid nodded emphatically. "Professor Trozan is hailed as one of the Ten Great Sword Saints precisely because of this virtually unbeatable Blade of the Hidden Hand!" "Then isn't Sonia guaranteed to win this time?!" Adele pumped her fists excitedly. "He's just the eldest son of the Duke of Vosroda! Paw-Stretching Club President, crush him!" Yet Ingrid's smile faded, and she shook her head slightly. "For Sonia to win... it's very difficult." "Huh? Why? Isn't the Blade of the Hidden Hand amazing?" "The Blade of the Hidden Hand is amazing. If Sonia knew how to use it properly, she would have slit Dimi's throat just now. But..." Ingrid kept her eyes fixed on the clashing blades in the arena. "She doesn't know how to use it." Meanwhile, Arsenault asked the very same question: "Lord Nidala, since Contestant Servi has unleashed the Blade of the Hidden Hand, isn't Contestant Vosroda in grave danger?" "She can merely cast the Blade of the Hidden Hand; she is far from mastering it," Nidala said placidly. "The core sorcery spirit of the Blade of the Hidden Hand is the Three-Winged spatial sorcery spirit 'Seamless,' presumably gifted to her by Trozan. Who knows how long she has practiced this miracle, but... she cannot bring out the true power of the Hidden Hand at all. "The Blade of the Hidden Hand is recorded in the Starry Miracle Catalog. While miracles and sorcery spirits are expensive, to a Sanctuary Sorcerer they are nothing out of reach. It is a Sanctuary miracle that anyone could theoretically learn. So why is Trozan the only one who claimed the title of 'Hidden Hand Sword Saint,' leaving other sword sorcerers terrified to face her blade?" At this point, the female co-host chimed in with a meddlesome question: "Does that include you, Lord Nidala?" Such an ill-timed remark caused a brief hush over the arena. Arsenault swept past the live broadcast slip-up at lightning speed: "Why haven't other sword sorcerers learned the Blade of the Hidden Hand?" "Because they cannot learn it." Nidala carried on as if nothing had happened. "To truly master the Blade of the Hidden Hand requires at least a Sanctuary-rank spatial faction—essentially switching one's primary study to the spatial faction entirely!" Nidala's explanation immediately made everyone realize the staggering difficulty of the Blade of the Hidden Hand. While a Two-Winged Sorcerer might still major in two or three sorcery schools, Sanctuary Sorcerers almost exclusively focused on a single primary school. The reason was simple: ascending to the Sanctuary realm in your primary art took ten to twenty years. Even if a second art took less time, it would still demand several years of intensive study—not to mention the profoundly esoteric spatial faction. "Any miracle capable of easily piercing a Sanctuary, such as 'Hidden Hand,' 'Heart Theft,' or 'Bone Erosion,' requires a Sanctuary-rank spatial faction as a foundation. Or rather, they were originally spatial miracles that sorcerers adapted into other forms." Nidala said, "That little lass Sonia can at best scratch Dimi's surface. She has no way of inflicting a critical blow on his vitals." "Why?" Arsenault asked. "Contestant Servi already grazed his neck just now. If it had been just a little deeper—" "It is precisely that 'little deeper' that puts the Hidden Hand Sword Saint leagues ahead of other sword sorcerers," Nidala said. "Sonia cannot go even a fraction deeper, because she cannot 'see.' As long as she relies on sight to launch spatial strikes, she cannot reach Dimi's interior. The Blade of the Hidden Hand will be repelled by Dimi's Sanctuary first." Arsenault: "Could you explain that in simpler terms? The audience might not follow." In public settings, Nidala was remarkably even-tempered. "Ordinary spatial attacks, like void-piercing bullets or space-cleaving sword strikes, merely make an attack difficult to defend against—essentially sharpening a weapon to an extreme edge. "However, interspatial miracles like 'Hidden Hand' and 'Heart Theft' are crushing blows from a higher dimension. They target the inside of a sorcerer's body, which cannot be protected. Unless one is an ascetic sorcerer, internal organs are as fragile as paper. "Yet interspatial miracles have one fatal hurdle—sorcerers cannot determine spatial coordinates." Arsenault: "Spatial coordinates?" Nidala: "Ordinary spatial attacks have tangible objects as coordinates, such as a blade or a bullet, and the spatial effect extends along that physical object. Interspatial attacks are different. They require the sorcerer to tear open a spatial conduit themselves and deliver the attack to the target. Thus, so long as you can lock onto the spatial coordinates of an enemy's heart, you can easily shatter it." Arsenault: "Is confirming spatial coordinates that difficult?" "Extremely difficult." Nidala paused. "Though, since you have never been to the Distant Sky Realm, it makes sense you'd think it sounds simple." Arsenault: "...My apologies for never having been to the Distant Sky Realm." "To put it simply, the space we inhabit is constantly changing," Nidala said. "Because the earth is perpetually rotating, even if we sit perfectly still, our spatial coordinates from one second to the next are hundreds or thousands of meters apart. "The movement of the world is the greatest obstacle to interspatial attacks—without sufficient spatial knowledge, a sorcerer cannot lock onto spatial coordinates at all!" Arsenault was puzzled. "Yet Contestant Servi did wound Contestant Vosroda just now..." "That was because she used visual targeting." A trace of mockery tinged Nidala's voice. "What she is doing now is like turning a handgun into a slingshot to fling pebbles—the Blade of the Hidden Hand is merely launched along her line of sight! The blade might graze Dimi's skin, but nothing more, because Dimi's Sanctuary will immediately nullify the attack! "She would need to 'see' inside Dimi's body and make the blade erupt from within to have any chance of defeating him. Otherwise, the Blade of the Hidden Hand is nothing more than an ordinary spatial attack that drains a massive amount of sorcery power." * Boom! In the arena, the red-haired Sword Princess used the crumbling ruins to fall back swiftly. Her combat outfit was torn in several places, and she was battered with numerous injuries. Even her fair, smooth cheek bore scratches, leaving her covered in dust and bruises. In contrast, Dimi maintained his pristine appearance. His combat outfit remained neat and undamaged, and even the cut on his neck had already healed—naturally, he possessed healing miracles. "Haven't formed your Sanctuary yet? Did you just ascend to the Distant Sky Realm a few days ago?" Dimi paused. "No... I actually felt a touch of superiority over that just now—I should be ashamed of myself. Compared to you, I feel as though I've squandered all these years. "You'll construct your Sanctuary soon enough and catch up to me, but I might not be able to keep pace with your footsteps," he said with a smile. "Perhaps tonight is my only chance to defeat you." Although not all Three-Winged Sorcerers could construct a Sanctuary, no one believed Sonia would halt here. Even Nidala had referred to her as a Sanctuary Sorcerer in his commentary. Everyone believed a Sanctuary was merely a matter of time for her. Yet that very layer of Sanctuary was the critical gulf between victory and defeat tonight. Her wounds and blood loss were rapidly draining Sonia's stamina. As time passed, the strain grew heavier and heavier. More crucially, Dimi could attack with complete abandon behind his Sanctuary, while she was forced entirely onto the defensive, forced backward step by step with no room for a counterattack. The stands had lost their initial fervor as well. Everyone realized that although Sonia was a Sanctuary Sorcerer, that startling revelation would not change the outcome of tonight's match. Sonia used her sleeve to wipe away the dusty streak of blood beside the corner of her eye, tightening her grip on her wooden sword as she took up a stance, showing not the slightest intention of giving up. Yet at that moment, Dimi stopped and sheathed his sword. "Let's call it a draw." "Huh?" "Let's settle on a draw," Dimi said with a smile. "The committee certainly wouldn't mind having two Meteor Tribulation Champions this year. Two Sanctuary Sorcerers emerging in the same Meteor Tribulation—we would become an unprecedented, perhaps never-to-be-repeated legend. "You don't lose, and I don't win." He glanced around. "This stage is large enough to hold the two of us. What do you say?" Dimi's voice, amplified by a miracle, carried across the entire coliseum. It was the first time anyone had heard someone propose a draw in the finals, but upon reflection, it made complete sense. Indeed, neither needed the Meteor Tribulation to prove their glory anymore. If anything, the Meteor Tribulation needed them to burnish its own prestige. If they agreed to a draw, the committee would have no choice but to award two Meteor Tribulation titles. Yet— "Perhaps it's because of my preconceived notions, but right now, I find you rather obnoxious too." Sonia spoke calmly. "Right now, I'm at a disadvantage, and everyone thinks I'm going to lose. Even if I agree to a draw, everyone will simply assume my first place was charity from you, making me second in truth anyway. On top of that, I'd owe you a favor, giving people yet another piece of ammunition to mock me with." Dimi shook his head. "No one dares mock a Sanctuary Sorcerer." "They wouldn't dare to my face, but they'd dare in private, and they'd dare in their hearts," Sonia said. "Besides, I don't need your charity. "Furthermore... "What makes you so sure I'm going to lose? Watch out." Sonia suddenly slashed out a Blood Moon Shattered Lake. Just as Dimi moved to counter, he sensed a spatial fluctuation right in front of him— Right before his eyes! Chack! The interspatial Blade of the Hidden Hand swept across Vosroda's eyeball!