Rale, in his twenty seven years of life, has gone through enough combat training and fought in so many real battles -- not to mention the excessively brutal Succession Wars -- that his own combat sense was comparable to Senon's who lacked any real experience. Even though he could not see Senon's Conceptualized Weapon, he could feel something.
A cold bead of sweat rolled down Rale's neck, and his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and concern. He had an opportunity to counterattack, but something about Senon's smile and confidence gave him pause. Rale wasn't the kind of man to get intimidated by an opponent's bluff. Even if he died, there were plenty here who could use the Aedona magic to return him to life. But this time, it was different.
Aedona was different from Idona. Idona could revive anyone, and few in this era could use this magic developed by humans. On the other hand, Aedona was popular among humans, and a staple of both their offensive and defensive power. While humans generally did not generate magic power due to the open nature of their Circuits, they had the ability to ration a portion of the space between their lower and higher souls, and bestow it to a superior officer. This particular type of magic was called a Geas, and virtually all nobles who had servant houses and clans received the Geas from their inferiors. The higher one's rank, the more power they wielded.
Just before the Great Realm Wars, and during an era called the Calamity Wars, the Geas was only forced onto the nobility; but after the Calamity Wars, the military factions adopted the practice as well. This also marked the extinction of nearly all other paths and cemented the Sword as the only viable method to reach the pinnacle in the world.
Aedona only had the ability to bring back to life someone to whom the user of the magic has given his Geas to.
The moments dragged on and Rale was becoming impatient. Senon did not press the attack or make any obvious moves; she remained still, as if waiting for something. Rale was also in a defensive stance, watching her like a hawk, but as the seconds dragged on and became a full minute, he finally spoke. "What are you waiting for? Fight."
Senon furrowed her brows and the twitch of her shoulders marked a relaxation of her stance. "I am trying to make my sword visible," she replied.
"Why?" Rale asked.
"It would be unfair if you couldn't see its length or shape."
Rale blinked. He didn't expect that from a demon. Since he was a child he was taught that demons were unfair in combat and politics. They would stoop to any level to obtain victory. This is also what happened in the Realm Wars. That is how Humanity lost.
"It doesn't matter," Rale said. "I don't need to see it."
On one hand, Ain was glad that Senon wanted to fight with honor, but on the other hand, he was also glad that Rale didn't push the issue. There was a reason why Conceptualized Weapon were not visible in Creation and was also the primary reason as to why he was so alarmed when he realized that Avarice saved his life in the exo-planes. The Radix and Logos would most likely eradicate this place from existence, and everyone within it, if Senon revealed her sword.
Conceptualized Weapons were slightly different from Conceptualized magic. A Conceptualized magical technique was a temporary effect, generated from its own Concept, possessing its own Origin and Root. Once the effect was complete, all of those things ceased to exist.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
A Conceptualized Weapon, however, did not disappear. It was capable of generating its own Concepts, continually, and to possess multiple Origins and Roots; in simpler terms, a Conceptualized Weapon was its own Radix. And the Radix would never tolerate another Radix existing within it. It was a Paradox that unlocked the most savage and brutal retaliation from the Radix imaginable, and this kind of annihilation could not be found anywhere else but on Creation. It was of cataclysmic, era-changing proportions.
And this was primarily the reason why Sects or rogue clans no longer existed in the world, but all magic was practiced by government sponsored organizations. The risks were too high.
For example, the barrier that divides all the Realms was also partly a result of Conceptualized Weapons being brought into the world and revealed. There were many reasons why the barrier existed, and which event had the most impact on it is a widely disputed topic, but there was no doubt about it that Conceptualized Weapons had a large hand to play in it for many reasons. Weapons with their own Concept could rewrite reality and slay things that could not be slain per the rules of Creation -- namely the True Gods and Principles that govern the functionality of the universe.
Finally, Senon nodded and made her move. The moment she put her foot forward, the incredible pressure of her releasing her magic into her body to enhance it made several soldiers closest to her lose their lunch and the soldiers further in the back had no choice but to fall to their knees.
Purple cherry blossoms fell off Senon's invisible sword as it arced through the air, and as the blossoms fell halfway to the ground they turned into ash and evaporated into the air; this was an interaction of Senon's primary internal Method and the Desolation Sword.
Rale met Senon's invisible sword with his decorated, veteran blade and the catastrophic impact caused an obliteration of the air essence in the direct vicinity, creating an implosion of vacuum that shredded the nearby furniture and flung shrapnel across the entire banquet hall.
At the spot where Rale's sword met Senon's, the metal turned orange-hot and a bolt of purple-black electricity blasted outwards, nearly decapitating Rale in the process as it carved a line of molten slag across the beautiful marble walls of the banquet hall.
Rale reacted in half panic and half reasonable action, as he struck his palm out at Senon to push her away, but as his palm struck Senon, her fluid stance just made her twist instead of fall back.
Rale immediately realized that he misjudged Senon's stance to be a solid anchoring on the ground, rather than a fluid one, and fell into her trap.
Senon used the twist to add momentum to her follow-up attack, and her sword slid against Rale's, throwing sparks into the air as imaginary steel and very real steel created friction, and her sword struck Rale's neck in a supremely executed decapitating finisher.
And yet her sword could not even cut into Rale's skin, and bounced off harmlessly.
Ain narrowed his eyes and stood up. "He is Abyssalized," he said, speaking with such gravity to suggest how severe the situation was. "So that is how you got into the Demon Realm and conquered Gramr'ial."
There were some confused expressions among the soldiers, but there were also many who hatefully looked at Ain, reaching for their weapons. Senon immediately jumped away from Rale, her immaterial sword disappearing with the same shimmer of broken reality that created it in the first place.
"I should've known," Ain said, holding his hand out into the empty air. "You have all become True Demons."
Avarice suddenly appeared in Ain's hand, and immediately, its dark, invisible presence unfurled, tyrannical in its mind-boggling majesty. Its immense pressure blanketed the area, stilling thoughts and seducing minds into embracing impending death.
His words from earlier were a death sentence, and with the appearance of Avarice, the only thought on many of the soldiers' minds was to escape, therefore, a panic erupted in the banquet hall as suddenly dozens of people bolted for the exit, while others charged at Ain and Senon with their weapons drawn.