<h4>Chapter 701 - To Win Without Winning?</h4>


    <i>’Oh? And exactly how do you n to do that?’</i>


    The Dragon Lord of the Abyss’ Dragon’s Mark and Dragon’s Scales were useful abilities; however, neither of them was enough to turn the tides of battle.??


    Even if Dragon’s Mark could somehow make it past the torrent of raindrops that would undoubtedly obstruct its path, it stillcked the power to break through the blue mes that shielded Tal’Nis.


    As for Dragon’s Scales, Izroth believed that it may be able to protect him from one or possibly even two hits, but the moment it was broken, he had no way of counteracting the bacsh. After all, potions and lifesteal were not avable options in this situation. And, when it came to the use of an HP recovery skill, Izroth’s only one, Rapid Regeneration, was currently on cooldown after his dive into the Immortal Hydra’s body.


    <strong>(If you ask this lord nicely, perhaps I can consider offering a hand.)</strong>


    <i>’I do not have time to y with you right now. If you’re not going to be useful, scram.’</i>


    <strong>(You-!)</strong>


    Swoosh!


    Izroth avoided one of the flying swords. But, just as he thought it was safe, his Soul Sense went off as his Energy Vision Sense picked up an iing torrent of raindrops!


    Zeeeeut!


    Just before the torrent reached Izroth, he utilized the final charge of his Primed Instantaneous Movement and teleported to a safe location.


    "Your time is slowly ticking away, Izroth. Now, what will you do? Do you n to continue running until the end?" Tal’Nis stated calmly as she raised her arm above her head and pointed her palm towards the sky.


    She then continued, "Is this your current limit? Or... Will you show me something worthy of the person who has received the blessing of two beings from the Divine Realm?"


    All of a sudden, the raindrops ceased as the nine swords Tal’Nis summoned shot into the air.


    At the same time, the raindrops above that were in a stasis-like state, began to swirl and converge at the middle of the circr formation as a heavy pressure descended on the tform.


    <i>’?!’</i>


    The pressure was so great that it caused the ground beneath Izroth’s feet to shatter!


    <i>’This pressure—it’s like being at the center of a level four gravity pocket... No, maybe even a level five. Just moving takes a lot of effort.’</i>


    <strong>(This woman is too ruthless... how regrettable. I suppose I have no choice. I can’t have you dying in this ce. Human, you should be grateful for this lord’s assistance. It is just that—this lord is uncertain whether or not your current physical body can handle it.)</strong>


    <i>’If you have something in mind, then speak. As for whether or not I can handle it—there is no need for you to concern yourself with that. It is something for me to worry about.’</i>


    <strong>(Very well. I’ll say this now. The effects and changes are only temporary. Once it’s over, we will be unable to establish an active link for at least ten days and the bacsh will leave you vulnerable for a while. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you, human.)</strong>


    〈System Alert: ?Authority? for the ?Immortal Persona: Dragon Lord of the Abyss? has temporarily risen from Mid Level to Max Level!〉


    〈System Alert: Your ?Authority? with the ?Immortal Persona: Dragon Lord of the Abyss? is now high enough to ess the skill ?Dragon’s Soul?!〉


    The second Izroth received the alerts from the system, he was ovee by an intense wave of heat. Every bone, muscle fiber, and cell within his body felt as if it was abruptly set aze by an unknown force. At the same time, stress on his body from Tal’Nis’ ability started to subside.


    ...Ba-dump!


    Izroth eyes turned cerulean in color as his pupils transformed into that of a dragon’s!


    BOOM!


    An explosive wave of dense energy was expelled from Izroth’s location as a new surge of power flowed within him.


    <i>’This sensation...’</i>


    Just when it seemed like his body was going to be torn apart from the surge of energy, after reaching the absolute limits of what his physical body could endure, the feeling receded. And, soon, the once intense burning sensation was reced by a gentle warmth.


    <i>’Is this the effect of possessing a Dragon’s Soul?’</i>


    "So he has some secrets remaining, after all. But, if he can’t survive this next attack, it will all be for naught." Tal’Nis internalized as she clenched her hand pointing towards the sky into a fist.


    "Nine Cycle Cloudburst: Heaven’s Waterfall."


    ...


    As this unfolded, the atmosphere outside the tform grew heavy as everyone could not hide their grave expressions.


    "It’s over... There’s no way we can win against something like that... We should have never challenged this cursed stage..." Colorful Nimbus uttered as he released a helpless sigh and shook his head.


    They thought that, at the very least, Tal’Nis had used up a good portion of her hand against them. The reason they chose one on one fights in the first ce was to give thest few who stepped onto the tform a higher chance of obtaining victory.


    But, in the end, whether they chose to go forth individually or as a party, the end results remained the same. From the very beginning, they never stood a chance against the third stage of this crusade!


    Even though no one else in the party wanted to say it aloud, in their minds, they had already silently epted their defeat.


    "Was Guide telling the truth, after all? Is this stage truly impossible for us to clear?" Niflheim thought to himself.


    "No... The system is fair—almost to a fault. It would not give us a challenge that is impossible to ovee. Do not think of winning against what you face, those were Guide’s words, but... How can one win without winning? Wait- Could he have meant- I see..! The answer was right there all along! How could I overlook something like this?!" Niflheim internalized as he quickly opened his party chat.


    He might not be able to send a verbal message to Izroth due to the barrier around the tform, but the party chat function should still work.


    "I have to hurry and tell him—the way to win without winning," Niflheim said to himself.


    ...


    Back on the tform...


    〈System Alert: 20 seconds remaining!〉


    As the waterfall washed over the tform, Izroth moved freely throughout the blue mes of water that stood several meters high.


    Izroth activated Dragon’s Scales to protect himself. And, due to having a temporary Max Level Authority, the strength of Dragon’s Scales reached new heights.


    Also, due to Izroth’s Breath of the Great Sea passive that allowed him to resist Flow, he did not have to worry about being disced by Tal’Nis’ skill.


    <i>’I never thought I would see a sword technique like this in RML. How peculiar...’</i>


    If Tal’Nis were to unleash her full power, this sword technique would have likely covered the entire third stage. However, there were likely some restrictions in ce because of her existence as a fragment of the original Tal’Nis.


    But, judging from the fundamentals of the sword technique itself, Izroth believed that its actual level ofplexity and potential was only a few steps below the Way of the Heavenly Sword—such a thing should not be possible in this world!


    <i>’This is more than just a skill... How can something almost as powerful as my Way of the Heavenly Sword exist in this world thatcks spiritual essence? It doesn’t make any sense.’</i>


    There had been several strange urrences in RML that caused Izroth to question its origins. From the system being able to understand and decipher many of his heavenlyws, to his strange run-in with the members of Heaven’s Law in the Chaotic Dogma Realm. Of course, the biggest thing was being able to actually cultivate in-game and have it affect his body in the real world.


    Although he had temporarily set it aside as a fortunate situation, that did not mean Izrothcked any misgivings.


    Was it all really the work of a sophisticated artificial intelligence hosted by a quantumputer? To Izroth, it was too outrageous a notion. And, after confronting Tal’Nis, a part of Izroth was certain.


    There was no other way to exin everything he hade across up until this point. Even if he could brush most of it off as a coincidence, the existence of something even remotely close to his Way of the Heavenly Sword should have been a theoretical impossibility.


    Izroth was unsure how or why, but somehow—this world had a connection to the Seven Realms!