Eternal Master: Path to Godlike Status-Chapter 20: Master Anywhere Part 4

"You really think I’ll let you trick me, heretic?"

She pushed herself to her feet. Her breathing turned shallow, but the white light around her body grew stronger.

Rain didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at the claymore in his hand, then back at her.

He made it clear that he only wanted to help her improve her sword technique. Yet she still took it the wrong way.

A doubt crept into his mind. Maybe something was wrong with her head. Or perhaps it was everyone tied to that so-called church.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the weapon through the air. It didn’t spin dangerously; it sailed with perfect balance, the hilt landing firmly in her palm.

She stumbled back, her fingers instinctively gripping the leather wrap.

"You dare... you dare humiliate me?" she hissed, her voice trembling. "To hand me back my weapon as if I were a child playing at war?"

"It’s not an insult. You have a good heart for the blade. It would be a waste to end this before you’ve actually shown me what that ’Holy Formation’ can really do."

Alexandra didn’t waste another breath. She lunged backward, her boots carving grooves into the earth as she retreated toward the phalanx of priests.

Alfonso, seeing their champion return, screamed for the others to join.

More holy men emerged from the shadows of the alley, their white robes fluttering. They formed a massive, concentric circle around her.

"Great Holy Formation: Holy Maiden!" Alfonso bellowed.

Light flashed. The street became a sea of white-gold fire.

Alexandra stood at the center, her claymore transforming into a pillar of pure radiance.

"DIE HERETIC!"

Her speed doubled. She became a blur of incandescent light.

Rain’s eyes narrowed. For the first time since arriving in this world, he was sensing danger. He felt his internal limiter click.

20%... 25%... 30%

Alexandra swung a horizontal arc. Rain leaned back—just an inch. The heat of the blade scorched his neck.

She pivoted, using the momentum for a downward cleave.

Rain stepped to the left, the blade passing so close it shredded his shoulder.

She began a ruthless sequence of thrusts and slashes.

To the priests, it looked like a golden sphere of death surrounding the enemy. To Rain, it was a high-speed puzzle.

He wasn’t just dodging; he was analyzing. Every time she swung, he moved by a hair’s breadth—no more, no less. It was a terrifying display of efficiency.

"Why!?" she screamed, unleashing a vertical strike that cratered the street for ten meters. "Why can’t I reach you!?"

Rain stopped moving. He stood amidst the dust and the craters.

"Because you’re fighting against your own body," he remarked, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Liar!" Alexandra shrieked.

The white light around her crackled like static. Her face flushed, sweat evaporating before it could even form beads. To her, his calm words was the ultimate humiliation.

Behind her, the priests were beginning to groan in pain.

The Holy Formation was a parasitic spell, feeding on their vitality to fuel her rage.

Alfonso was in the worst position—he was the core. Blood leaked from his ears, yet he kept chanting, driven by his blind fate.

"You speak of technique? You are just a monster, a freak of nature that refuses to die!" he roared.

This only agitated Alexandra further.

She lunged again, the claymore whistling a high-pitched sound.

"Holy Cross: Judgment!" she roared, transitioning her attacks.

Rain raised both hands and let her strike carry him backward. He tumbled through the air, hitting the ground without a scratch.

"H... How?" She stared in disbelief. That attack should have cut and incinerated him. But he redirected the force at the last second.

The light around her body faded, and what followed was not a good sight for her.

As the connection severed, the backlash was instantaneous. The surrounding priests collapsed as if their strings had been cut.

Alexandra, the conduit for all that concentrated power, bore the brunt of it. Her claymore clattered to the stones, its holy glow flickering out into a dull, grey hunk of metal.

She fell to her knees, her body racked by violent tremors. A moment later, she leaned forward and vomited, her body rejecting the massive power she just forced through her veins.

Rain watched her, his heart rate barely elevated despite using more than a quarter of his total strength.

"I told you. You were fighting your own body. You were trying to force a river through a straw. Eventually, the straw is going to burst."

Alexandra looked up, her vision blacking out.

Through the fog of her exhaustion and the ringing in her ears, she saw him—the man who just played her.

He wasn’t panting. He wasn’t bleeding. He looked like he’d just finished reading a dull book. And the subject of that boredom was her?

"I’ll leave now," Rain announced, turning his back on the defeated Paladin and the groaning priests.

He began to walk away, his footsteps barely audible on the ruined cobblestones. After a few steps, he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder.

"And by the way, I’m not affiliated with those two," he gestured vaguely toward the corner where Elisa was still hiding.

"I only saved them so they would lower their guard. That’s why they tried to butt in. It’s unnecessary, especially since I plan to kill them later."

His words were harsh, but he said them for their own good.

Without giving anyone time to speak, he took a deep breath and leapt into the air.

He landed on the roof effortlessly, then disappeared beyond the town walls.

None of the hunters or holy men dared to follow after witnessing Alexandra’s defeat.

They even felt relief that he didn’t go on a killing spree, despite everything they did to him.

Alexandra gritted her teeth in fury. Her companions tried to help, but she slapped their hands away.

Her pride hurt, yet his observation kept repeating in her mind. Could she really be so careless with her own strength?

Alfonso, seeing the look in her eyes, clicked his tongue in annoyance. To think she would be defeated.

"Report this to the regional church! That monster must be killed—no matter what!" he roared.