"Cling,"
"Cling," "Cling,"
Countless swords raged on the sword hill, like a storm of blades, completely surrounding and swallowing the old figure of the Water God Reida.
However, before these amazing numbers of swords could even touch Water God Reida's body, they were torn apart in mid-air by unseen sword energy. Bright sparks bloomed in mid-air like dazzling fireworks, exploding one after another and releasing fiery flames.
"Boom!"
After both Shirou and the Water God unleashed their full power, their clash had completely entered a heated state.
The Unlimited Blade Works that Shirou activated and the Sword-Stealing World that the Water God released were like meat grinders, constantly colliding and engaging in fierce competition.
The first to show weakness was undoubtedly the Water God Reida.
As the current Water God, Reida Reia's swordsmanship and aura were definitely at the god-level, without a doubt. Her strength was enough to crush any existence below the lower ranks of the strong. Even though Shirou was currently ranked seventh among the strong, he didn't have the ability to match the Water God in swordsmanship.
The reason Shirou was able to fight the Water God until now, and even suppress her to a certain extent, was purely due to the Unlimited Blade Works' long-range, unlimited consumption method.
If he didn't have the ability of Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou would never have been able to fight against the Water God's Sword-Stealing World from the start, let alone fight her head-on.
But precisely because he possessed Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou was able to make up for the gap, even though his own skill level had a certain distance from the Water God Reida.
And at this point, the Water God Reida's fatal flaw gradually became apparent as time went on.
The Water God's fatal flaw was none other than the fact that she was too old and weak.
The Water God was too old. As a human, no matter how strong she was as an individual, her bodily functions would gradually begin to decline over time, until her cells decayed and her organs failed.
Although the Water God hadn't reached the point of complete aging, or even the point of being unable to fight, the fact that she was gradually getting old still meant that her energy wasn't as strong as it was when she was young. Most importantly, her stamina was far less lasting than a young person's, and her attention would start to wander after concentrating for a long time.
Shirou dragged the Water God into a drawn-out battle, using the power of Unlimited Blade Works to gradually wear down her physical strength. Although this trick of exhausting the old woman was mean, it was indeed quite effective.
The Water God Reida's fighting ability gradually declined as time went on. In the end, she couldn't even completely rely on the Sword-Stealing World to block all the weapons flying from Unlimited Blade Works, and had to take steps to dodge the attacks.
However, the act of dodging itself was distracting the Water God Reida's already limited attention.
The Sword-Stealing World was an ability that required complete concentration in order to function. Once the user's attention relaxed even slightly, it would cause flaws to appear in the Sword World.
The Water God herself realized this. After nearly being hit by flying swords several times, she finally realized that her Sword-Stealing World couldn't compete with Unlimited Blade Works.
Therefore, she directly released her grip on the golden sword and actively deactivated the Sword-Stealing World.
"!!"
Seeing the Water God Reida's sudden change in action, Shirou's attention immediately focused. He had already confirmed the fact that Unlimited Blade Works restrained Sword-Stealing World, so he had been waiting for the Water God Reida to change her moves, because she could only defeat him if she used abilities other than Sword-Stealing World.
Shirou had to pay close attention to the Water God's movements and see through all her trump cards in order to ensure that his victory was unshakeable!
"Crack!"
The moment the Water God released the golden sword and deactivated the Sword-Stealing World, the countless swords surging around her no longer had any restrictions and rushed straight towards the Water God.
The old woman's body seemed to be submerged in an ocean of swords in an instant, and she completely disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.
However, Shirou still didn't relax his vigilance. He could still clearly feel the Water God's presence. She definitely wouldn't be defeated so easily.
"Boom!"
In fact, it was exactly as he thought.
Almost in the next moment, the Water God Reida's figure appeared from the sea of swords. The golden sword in her hand had somehow turned into a reverse grip, and at the same time, the Water God herself grabbed a sword from Unlimited Blade Works, and with a double-sword grip, actively rushed towards Shirou.
The Water God's actions surprised Shirou.
After all, the Water God Style had always been more about defense than offense. As the current Water God, Reida Reia's previous battles had also generally focused on defense and counterattack, and she rarely used direct offensive moves. Even Sword-Stealing World was essentially a technique to limit the opponent's mobility, rather than directly kill them.
Now, the Water God suddenly switched from defense to offense, and it was hard to imagine what kind of moves she would use and what kind of trump cards she would activate.
"Hehe, are you guessing what kind of trump cards this old woman still has?"
Compared to Shirou's serious expression, the Water God Reida didn't seem to think as much as he did, and showed a very open-minded smile. "Actually, this old woman doesn't have any more trump cards. Stealing Sword World is my strongest ability. If even this move can't defeat you, then this old woman is completely out of moves. But ah, isn't there a saying that goes like this: when you truly have nothing, that's when people burst out with the strongest power. Swordsmanship is also like this. When you're no longer bound by moves, and you fight with the purest will, that's when you're the strongest."
"..."
As soon as the Water God's words fell, before Shirou could react, he discovered that an unspeakable terrifying aura had erupted from the old woman's body.
She seemed to have completely disregarded everything and unleashed all her abilities.
After abandoning Sword-Stealing World, the Water God no longer needed to rely on extra abilities to maintain Sword-Stealing World, which instead allowed her to completely break free from restrictions and spontaneously unleash all her strength!
"Boom!"
Facing the Water God who was rushing straight towards him, Shirou didn't have time to think. He immediately opened his right hand and summoned countless swords from the inherent boundary, rushing towards the Water God.
However, the Water God Reida didn't intend to dodge at all. She allowed the thousands of swords to rush in front of her, and then, silently swung her sword!
"Crack—!"
It was as if everything suddenly froze, or as if the originally colorful world suddenly turned black and white!
"Bang!"
The terrifying power erupted from the Water God's sword directly tore apart the thousands of swords, covering the sword hill with the wreckage left behind by countless blades.
However, the Water God herself didn't seem to be unscathed.
After abandoning Sword-Stealing World, the Water God had essentially abandoned all defense, which made her body completely as fragile as an ordinary person's. Even just the wreckage of flying swords could completely tear apart her body.
But the Water God didn't care at all about the extra wounds on her body, and could even be said to be enjoying the feeling of being attacked by her opponent, the corners of her mouth curving into a smile as she continued to rush towards Shirou.
The distance between the two was suddenly pulled very close.
Shirou had no other choice. It was impossible to use the power of Unlimited Blade Works at such close range, so he instead summoned a pair of dual swords and charged towards the Water God to meet her attack.
"Cling,"
"Cling,"
The Water God Reida's dual swords and Shirou's dual swords collided with each other on the sword hill.
The sound of the clash echoed across the wilderness.
After the momentary collision, Shirou and the Water God suddenly pulled away from each other, but in the next moment, they continued the previous clash.
The two completely abandoned extra skills and fell into a pure collision of sword against sword.
Fighting the Water God at such close range, Shirou could clearly feel the terror of this active god-level strong person. Even when engaging in this most unfamiliar offense, the Water God's moves could still be said to be quite perfect. Every move was both murderous and beautiful. It was less like fighting and more like dancing.
The sword was like a dance, moving gracefully.
The Water God's last dance almost allowed her to overcome her age limit and return to her peak state.
It was conceivable what level the Water God Reida's swordsmanship had reached.
But Shirou wasn't moved by this. Although his swordsmanship was inferior to the Water God's, this was Unlimited Blade Works, the domain where he was. Relying on the amplification of Unlimited Blade Works and the countless swords that could be replenished as backup, even if Shirou's skills couldn't keep up with the Water God's, he could still make up for his shortcomings in other ways.
The two continued to fight, and their movements were both at the limit, not only moving faster than afterimages, but also sometimes beyond the ability of hearing to catch.
The speed of the sword had exceeded common sense and turned into extreme light.
And in this process, Shirou's speed was constantly increasing. From the beginning, he needed to rely on the replenishment of Unlimited Blade Works to keep up with the Water God's movements. Later, he didn't even need the extra help of Unlimited Blade Works. Relying on his own strength, he was able to collide with the Water God.
This scene surprised the Water God, and she couldn't help but murmur, "Did you learn my swordsmanship in the battle with me? Now you can be called a Water King without a problem..."
Shirou didn't respond to the Water God's words, but he had indeed been imitating the Water God's movements in the battle.
Shirou was originally someone who was good at imitating and learning. After the battle with Dragon God Orsted, he realized the mysteries of the Water God Style and became a Water Saint.
Now, engaging in close-quarters combat with the Water God Reida in such close proximity, he could almost be said to be absorbing the Water God's various techniques at an extremely fast speed. He even learned the second mystery of Water God Style—Breaking the Sky—to a great extent.
After learning the two mysteries, he became a true Water God Style King-level, plus the King-level Sword God Style and North God Style. Shirou had completely reached the three-style King-level, completing an almost astonishing achievement for humans.
So far, there probably wouldn't be a second human in this world who reached the three-style King-level.
Moreover, Shirou's growth wasn't just limited to that. The longer he fought with the Water God, the more exaggerated the speed of absorption and improvement became. If he continued to fight, it wouldn't be impossible for him to directly become a Water Emperor.
But before that, the Water God shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, although this old woman really wants to continue fighting with you, my aging body is about to reach its limit and is crazily protesting. At most, I can only perform one or two more moves before reaching my limit."
"One or two moves?"
"Hehe, don't underestimate this old woman's one or two moves. These might be my strongest moves. Get ready, kid Shirou."
A gentle smile appeared on the Water God's face. It was as if she was not facing an enemy and an opponent, but rather looking at a promising young junior.
With Shirou's current Water King strength, it wasn't a problem for the Water God to regard him as a junior of Water God Style.
While Shirou was hesitating, the Water God had already prepared her last blow.
She slowly raised the sword in her hand and raised it high above her head in a strange motion.
"Whoosh—"
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the environment of Unlimited Blade Works. The gust of wind expanded and spread little by little, finally howling and engulfing everything.
The Water God's surroundings were like being swept by a storm out of nowhere, turning into a domain of storms!
"This is..."
"The world's perception of Water God Style is that Water God Style is good at defense and not good at offense. Although this statement isn't wrong, it's also far from correct."
The Water God Reida stood in the center of the storm and slowly opened her mouth in a calm tone, "Actually, Water God Style isn't that it's not good at offense, it's just that the offense in our perception is defense. Using defense to launch an offense is the essence of Water God Style. Therefore, if all the power originally used for defense is output and used to actively launch an offensive, Water God Style won't be weaker than the other two styles. No, it might even be stronger than the other styles! After all, when the shield that advocates defense is used for battle, its explosive power may not be able to defeat the enemy, and even if the output is large enough, even the city walls can be broken through!"
"So, this is the final move."
"Water God Style Ultimate Form, White Emperor Sword."
As the Water God spoke, the storm caused by the sword in her hand became more and more violent. The exaggerated energy swept up the sky with yellow sand, completely covering the entire Unlimited Blade Works domain and raising dust.
Faced with this scene, Shirou didn't hesitate and decisively activated the thousands of swords in the sword system to face the Water God directly.
At the same time, he also projected Excalibur, using this strongest Holy Sword to collide with the Water God's strongest blow.
"..."
In an instant, the environment of Unlimited Blade Works seemed to fall into absolute silence.
It was complete silence, emptiness, and even the void created from the opening of chaos.
When the Water God Reida and Shirou each unfolded their moves, the fierce explosion finally arrived late, but the exaggerated burst almost instantly took away everyone's senses.
In the next moment, the sandy sword hill only had a pure white landscape left!