"You've come, then."
Liens opened his eyes, looking at the magical phantom of Lucrezia before him, addressing her with a confirming question.
As he spoke, Liens rose, and the magical phantom of Lucrezia before him nodded gravely.
Without wasting time conversing with Lucrezia, Liens pinpointed the direction of the killing intent. The next moment, his figure vanished from the simple resting room.
"Have you come?"
Alfred withdrew his gaze from Lucrezia, looking at the suddenly appearing Liens.
At this moment, Balder and the others stood solemnly in front of Alfred, their elemental and magical energies already active, as if they would launch an attack at any moment.
However, they knew their strength was nothing to a serious Alfred, so they only adopted defensive stances and did not actively initiate an attack.
Behind them were the soldiers who were undergoing spiritual resonance and condensing their battle flags.
This was also one of the reasons Balder and the others did not attack proactively; at least at this time, stalling was the best option for them.
"Let's go somewhere further away."
Liens glanced at the army formation being prepared and suggested to Alfred.
"Alright."
Alfred did not refuse, nodding with a smile.
Then, the two quickly flew away from the Outer City defense line.
Watching their departing figures, Balder pondered briefly, then immediately issued an order: "Serra, Cruz, Valerie, Donahue, Uria, the five of you will guard against enemy surprise attacks. Everyone else, follow me to catch up with Liens."
This time, Alfred's 'visit' did not include Ralph and Grover, perhaps because he found them a hindrance or for some other reason.
However, Balder naturally would not overlook those two, so he arranged enough personnel to remain in the city.
"Continue preparing the army formation; do not stop."
Leaving the final instruction, Balder, Lucrezia, and the other six quickly followed Liens and Alfred, though they did not get too close, maintaining a certain distance behind them.
"This spot will do."
"This place is relatively secluded; the aftermath of our battle should not affect ordinary people."
Soon, the two arrived at a barren hill, where many rocks were exposed on the surface, lacking sufficient soil for trees to take root. Only a few weeds stubbornly survived in the rock crevices.
"At this distance, your army formation won't be able to help you," Alfred said to Liens, surveying the surroundings.
"You currently have no intention of killing me, nor even much thought of annihilating the Rebel Army. Your attack this time is likely to put more pressure on me, to make me reach your requirements faster."
"So, once the battle reaches a certain point, you will retreat."
Liens responded calmly.
"It seems I've been a bit too obvious… Before you appeared, I thought my opponent would be the God of Absolute Fairness, or some hidden existence."
"But with your appearance, I realized that what I need is not just a simple powerful opponent."
"You are like the reflection in the lake, nurturing the other side of my path."
"Therefore, before you fully mature, I will not kill you, and to maintain the current situation, I probably won't disrupt that one's ritual either."
"Hearing this, you show no surprise, and I don't even detect the slightest sign of your conviction wavering."
Alfred chuckled.
"Because I always harbor the thought of defeating you, or even killing you."
Liens responded calmly again.
"Is that so? Then you must continue to work hard. Although you have crossed that threshold, there is still a certain gap between us."
Hearing Liens's declaration of wanting to kill him, Alfred did not get angry. In fact, Liens maintaining this thought was what he hoped for.
"Let's pause the small talk for now. Let me see more of your strength."
Alfred continued.
"Yes, this battle should end very quickly."
Before Alfred could wonder why, Liens told him the answer with the powerful force erupting from his body.
"You certainly will make the battle end very quickly in this state."
Alfred's expression became a few shades more serious than before.
With a thought, Spirit Phase, Lake Aquillis, instantly materialized, transforming into the long sword in his hand. At the same time, 'Self-Belief' was applied to him, and he raised his sword to meet the slash that tore through space.
Boom ~
The earth shook, rocks tumbled, and the somewhat steep hill instantly vanished, leaving behind an abrupt deep pit.
Facing the erupting aftermath, Balder and the others, floating in the air, deployed their defenses to resist the impact but were still pushed back a considerable distance.
"The aftermath of this battle is much stronger than before. I didn't realize their true strength wasn't shown in the previous battles."
Balder exclaimed.
Although from the previous battles and the 'Master's Gift Pack' Liens had given, he could roughly deduce the strength of Liens's level, seeing the current scene still filled him with emotion.
"Liens is fighting with his Life."
Lucrezia suddenly said in a deep voice.
Hearing this, the others put away the astonishment on their faces and looked at the continuous roars from afar, their expressions becoming heavy.
No one questioned how Lucrezia knew at this point, as they all knew Lucrezia would not joke about such serious matters.
"Let's get closer and be ready to rescue Liens."
Balder said gravely.
After speaking, they strengthened their defenses and quickly approached the area where Liens and Alfred were fighting.
However, before they could brave the impact and approach the center, the battle's aftermath suddenly ceased. The entire process, from start to finish, did not even exceed three minutes.
Liens gazed at the gradually fading phantom before him, not pursuing, but calmly taking out a Healing Potion to treat his battered body.
Relying on Alfred's unwillingness for him to die easily, Liens successfully injured the opponent, reducing some difficulty for his subsequent plan and increasing the chances of success.
The cost was that his injuries were much more severe than Alfred's condition.
Before this battle began, he had roughly determined Alfred's strength limit through repeated instances and also formulated a winning plan.
Of course, for this plan to be completed, certain conditions still needed to be confirmed and multiple tests performed.
He would complete all of these one by one in subsequent instances.
"How are you?"
As the aftermath subsided, Balder and the others immediately rushed to Liens's side, asking about his condition.
"Mental weakness and even damage, ruptured blood vessels, internal organs, and many other important body organs, with very severe internal bleeding."
Isabelle explained Liens's injuries to the others around her while treating him with divine magic.
"If your condition were on an ordinary person, even if healed, it would be difficult to engage in strenuous exercise again."
"Fortunately, these organs are largely intact; otherwise, it would be troublesome to repair them."
"Your body is still at the first tier, and your physical strength is weaker than others. Such injuries are harder for you to recover from than for others. I suggest you don't next time… Also, your Life origin…"
Isabelle was about to caution Liens to take care of his body and not be impulsive next time, but realizing that besides Liens, they had no better means to deal with Alfred, she fell silent.
"It's fine; I know my limits."
Liens said with a smile.
Seeing the calm smile on his face, Balder clenched his fists, veins bulging on his arms, but in the end, he let out a heavy sigh, released his hands, and said nothing more.
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