Journey to Become the Zenith

Chapter 230: The Step Beyond Sound

The Step Beyond Sound

Then— Hundreds of magic circles rotated behind her simultaneously.

"Master..."

Her voice became soft.

Beautiful.

Deadly.

"Take this."

The world turned white.

"Icicle Rain!"

The moment Diana completed the spell, every remaining strand of mana inside her body erupted outward violently.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Water particles floating naturally in the air solidified one after another until the entire battlefield looked like a frozen kingdom suspended in time itself.

Countless razor-sharp shards of ice materialized across the sky.

Some were thin like needles.

Others were massive spears large enough to pierce buildings apart.

The magic circles behind Diana spun continuously while glowing with brilliant silver-blue light.

Then—

The rain began.

SHHHHHHHHH!

Thousands of ice projectiles descended simultaneously toward Azriel from every direction imaginable.

There was no blind spot.

No escape path.

The entire sealed battlefield became a storm of destruction.

Lane’s face turned pale.

Clara instinctively grabbed her arm.

"This is insane..."

The sound alone was terrifying.

Every ice spear sliced through the air with enough force to rupture stone.

Yet standing beneath that frozen apocalypse—

Azriel smiled.

A savage smile.

His golden eyes gleamed brightly as Zenith Aura surged around Victor’s body like a burning invisible flame.

"Good!"

BOOOOM!

The ground exploded beneath his feet.

Azriel moved.

Not backward.

Forward.

Directly into the storm.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Both swords moved at terrifying speed.

The low-grade blades in his hands screamed from the pressure as he sliced apart incoming icicles one after another.

Some shattered before even reaching him.

Some exploded into frozen mist.

Some grazed his shoulders and arms, leaving shallow cuts across Victor’s body.

Yet Azriel never slowed down.

Instead—

He deliberately used the barrage to train Victor’s body further.

Every movement became sharper.

Cleaner.

More efficient.

The body was memorizing movement patterns.

Adapting.

Strengthening.

Exactly as expected.

Push beyond limits.

Break.

Recover.

Evolve.

Again and again.

"This junior incarnation truly has monstrous potential..."

Azriel could feel it clearly now.

Victor’s muscles had started adapting naturally to combat rhythm.

His mana pathways became smoother every second.

Even his reaction speed had begun increasing under pressure.

Monstrous talent.

Truly monstrous.

Still—

The body remained weak by Azriel’s standards.

Every powerful movement strained Victor’s joints heavily.

His muscles trembled from overload.

Blood slowly dripped down one arm where several ice shards had pierced through.

Pathetic.

But exciting.

Azriel laughed softly while twisting his body sideways to avoid another massive spear of ice.

At the same time, flames suddenly erupted around him.

"Crimson Veil Ignition."

BOOOOM!

A rotating layer of crimson fire surrounded Victor’s body instantly.

The incoming ice began melting before reaching him while steam exploded violently around the battlefield.

Fire and ice collided continuously.

The entire barrier shook from the pressure.

Diana narrowed her crimson eyes while maintaining the spell.

Sweat dripped down her pale neck now.

Her breathing had become unstable.

She was reaching her limit.

Yet despite exhausting herself completely—

She could not land a decisive blow.

Meanwhile Azriel continued advancing through the frozen storm step by step.

CLANG!

Another spear shattered.

CRACK!

Victor’s wrist trembled violently from impact.

Azriel immediately adjusted his grip afterward.

"Too stiff."

He corrected the movement instantly.

The next slash became smoother.

Faster.

More natural.

The endless barrage of icicles had unknowingly become perfect combat training for Victor’s body.

Diana noticed it too.

Every second—

He became harder to hit.

Faster.

Sharper.

More terrifying.

"That monster..."

Even during reincarnation...

Even inside a weakened body...

Azriel still evolved mid-battle exactly like he used to.

It was absurd.

The battlefield became drowned beneath steam and frost.

Visibility dropped heavily.

Only flashes of crimson fire and silver-blue ice remained visible inside the chaos.

Then suddenly—

BOOOOM!

Azriel burst through the storm entirely unharmed.

The flaming Zenith Aura around him spun wildly while shattered ice rained behind his figure.

Diana’s eyes widened slightly.

He broke through?

Already?

Azriel pointed one sword toward her casually.

"Your control improved."

His voice remained calm despite the battlefield around them looking like the aftermath of a natural disaster.

"But your mana output is unstable near the end."

Diana’s expression froze slightly.

That observation...

It was too precise.

Only someone who had fought beside her countless times would notice such a flaw during combat and then she heard victor’s voice whispering in her ear.

"That was pretty good Eliora." When Diana heard this, she was shocked and wanted to say something, but then her consciousness faded.

For a brief moment—

Her heart shook again.

But before she could think deeper—

Her spell finally collapsed.

The magic circles behind her cracked apart one after another before disappearing completely.

The rain stopped.

Silence returned slowly.

The battlefield had transformed entirely.

The ground was frozen solid.

Gigantic ice spikes covered the area.

Steam drifted everywhere while frost danced through the air like snow.

Diana swayed slightly.

Her mana was empty.

Completely empty.

The moment the spell ended, she heard Victor’s voice whisper softly beside her ear.

"That was pretty good, Eli."

The world stopped.

Diana’s crimson eyes widened completely.

Eli.

That name.

Only one person had ever called her that.

Only him.

Her lips parted slightly as she turned toward Victor in shock.

"Y-You..."

But before she could finish speaking—

Her consciousness faded.

The mana depletion had become too severe.

Her humanoid form collapsed into silver particles instantly before retreating back into Victor’s tattoo to recover.

Silence filled the battlefield afterward.

Lane and Clara remained frozen in place from everything they had just witnessed.

Meanwhile Azriel stared at the tattoo on Victor’s arm and chuckled softly.

He honestly could not help it.

Diana’s shocked expression after hearing that name had been genuinely amusing.

"She still makes the same face..."

For a brief moment—

A faint nostalgic look crossed his crimson eyes.

But it disappeared quickly.

Then suddenly—

Azriel’s expression changed.

He felt something.

A strange fluctuation far away near Fantom City.

His smile slowly widened afterward.

"Oh?"

Azriel closed his eyes quietly.

Mana spread outward from Victor’s body like invisible waves, extending across the surrounding lands.

Seconds later—

He found it.

A massive spatial disturbance.

Someone had used a huge amount of mana for teleportation nearby.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

"You guys continue training, I’m just going somewhere, to deal with some things."

Azriel spoke casually while turning away.

Lane immediately blinked.

"Huh? Wait—"

But before either she or Clara could respond—

A dense layer of Zenith Aura coated Victor’s body.

The pressure around him changed instantly.

Sharper.

Heavier.

More dangerous.

Azriel flexed Victor’s fingers once while examining the condition of the body carefully.

’This body is just barely strong enough so that I can use the weakest version of my movement techniques. Let’s see if it can actually handle it.’

A faint grin appeared on his face afterward.

Then—

Azriel took a single step forward.

"Voidstep: Crimson Drift."

BOOOOM!

The air exploded.

The ground beneath Victor shattered apart instantly.

And with that one step—

He vanished several hundred meters away.