Vallhim stepped back a little, then raised his two swords and swung them straight down towards Orphin's waist. The strike was so strong it brought a fierce wind with it.
Quickly, Orphin moved his hands to block the two swords, causing a collision that woke up another earthquake, just as strong as the first one. Koran, who was on the hill, felt the earthquake and fell. He tried to get up and go back, then looked at the battlefield, which was now in ruins.
Even though it was already destroyed from the explosion, now it wasn't even land anymore. Koran lowered his head to see the scene.
"Is this the power of an Emanant? He's a monster," Koran thought to himself.
On the battlefield, both Vallhim and Orphin were pushed back by the crash. Vallhim smiled at Orphin, which made Orphin's soldiers run away.
"Let the game begin!" Vallhim shouted.
Orphin looked into his eyes and knew the real battle had started. Vallhim was about to summon his Emanant. Orphin turned towards his soldiers and yelled, "Whoever wants to live, run away now!"
The soldiers of the Valdrin kingdom started running away quickly without thinking, while Vallhim took his black and white swords and plunged them into the ground. Orphin didn't try to stop him, maybe because of his pride or for some other reason.
Vallhim closed his eyes and spoke in a deep voice, "You and I are one, we are the Heaven Sunderer."
Both Orphin and Koran looked at Vallhim with confusion. It wasn't necessary to do all this and glorify the Emanant. All you need to do to summon an Emanant is to call it from within. This method, discovered 400 years ago by the genius Roman Drena, made summoning an Emanant during a fight much smoother. In modern times, this method became a basic thing used by everyone who has an Emanant.
Vallhim opened his eyes, and their color changed to yellow. His body began to change slowly. His skin became a pale gray, and bones stretched out from it until sharp limbs formed on his shoulders and arms. From the sides of his chest, two additional arms came out, the same length as his original arms, moving steadily and with strength.
His facial features disappeared behind a hard, bone-like layer covering his entire face, topped with short, dark horns. His eyes became narrow and red, fixed and unblinking.
The muscles in his chest and arms were bulging, with dark veins running under his skin. His fingers were long, ending in sharp nails. He stood firmly, his whole body looking tense and ready for movement, like a creature made only for fighting.
The Heaven Sunderer stood after the transformation was complete, its four limbs tense, and every movement carried a clear weight. In its upper two hands, it held two opposite swords—one pitch black, absorbing the light around it, the other bright white, strongly reflecting it. Then its lower two hands stretched out to grab two more swords of the same kind, making a total of four swords—two black and two white.
Its huge body, gray skin, sharp horns, and the glow of the opposite swords made its appearance solid and harsh, like a fighter that knows no hesitation.
Koran, on the hill, felt a shiver run through his body, as if the aura of the Heaven Sunderer had reached him.
"This is the form of the strongest man on the continent," Koran thought, his heart beating faster.
"You haven't even reached the Resonance level. How do you think you can fight us?" The Heaven Sunderer spoke in a deep, faint voice, carrying a slight metallic echo. It sounded like it came from more than one throat.
Orphin replied sharply, despite the danger of the situation. "That doesn't mean I'm weak."
He closed his eyes, and a moment later opened them again. Unlike Vallhim, Orphin showed no physical changes. The only thing that changed was his voice, which became like the voice of another person.
"We are the Calamity," he said in a strange, low voice. It started quietly, then dropped to a deep tone on the word 'Calamity'.
The Heaven Sunderer was startled by the voice. This wasn't the voice of an ordinary Emanant; it was more like something was wrong.
Before it could speak, Orphin pointed his hand towards Vallhim. In less than a second, a lightning bolt shot from his palm, but it was unstable—filled with patches of flickering light, shaking and writhing as it moved forward. The sound was harsh, like an incomplete electrical explosion, and the light jumped around instead of flowing steadily.
When it got close to the Heaven Sunderer, it stretched out its four arms, and the four swords moved in strict sync. The swords cut the lightning bolt at the same moment. The lightning wasn't blocked cleanly; it split into small sparks jumping between the blades and shattered into pieces.
There was a sound of sharp sparks and a short flash that lit up their faces. Some of the energy bounced back into the air and scattered on the ground, another part curled around the edges of the swords and lost its power. The Heaven Sunderer didn't fall back; it held its ground but felt the vibration in its arms, the edges of its swords smoking slightly.
"We acknowledge you. You are strong. But not enough," the Heaven Sunderer spoke.
Then it moved with insane speed. Koran, who was on the hill, stared as if it had disappeared—his eyes weren't used to such speed.
In an instant, it reached Orphin and pointed its four swords at him. Moments before they could hit him, Orphin summoned a storm that pushed him backward. He knew the storm's force wouldn't be enough to stop the Heaven Sunderer, so he applied the force to himself.
Orphin got up, and when he lifted his head, he found the Heaven Sunderer right in front of him. He had no time for any reaction. It kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying through the air until he hit the opposite hill—Sun Hill.
Orphin lessened the blow by using the storm, but the hit was still very powerful. As he lay in pain, embedded in the hillside, he tried to think of a way to face this monster, and found only one solution. He spat blood from his mouth and spoke in a disgusted voice.
"Dammit. I don't want to use the Resonance level."