Mage Manual-Chapter 654 - 517: Sword Maiden’s Stage (Part 3)_2

At the same time, Arsen also asked the same question as Adelle, "Lady Nidara, if player Sevi has mastered the Hidden Hand Blade, isn’t player Vosloda in danger?"

"She can only use the Hidden Hand Blade, but she is far from truly mastering it," Nidara said indifferently. "The core Technique Spirit of the Hidden Hand Blade is the Three-winged Space Technique Spirit ’Seamless,’ which probably was given to her by Trozan. I don’t know how long she has practiced this Miracle, but... she can’t unleash the full power of the Hidden Hand."

"The Hidden Hand Blade is listed in the Dazzling Star Miracle Catalog. Miracles and Technique Spirits are expensive, but they are trivial for Holy Sanctuary Mages, and are Miracles of the Holy Domain that everyone can learn. So why is it that only Trozan has claimed the glory of ’Hidden Hand Sword Saint,’ and why do other Sword Masters dare not face her blade?"

At this moment, the female host beside them couldn’t help but ask, "Including you, Lady Nidara?"

Such an untimely remark caused a brief silence across the venue, and Arsen quickly brushed over this live broadcasting incident, "Why don’t other Sword Masters learn the Hidden Hand Blade?"

"Because they can’t learn it," replied Nidara, as if nothing had happened. "To truly master the Hidden Hand Blade, one would need at least Holy Sanctuary Level space faction, which is equivalent to directly switching to the Space Faction!"

Nidara’s comment instantly made everyone understand the difficulty of the Hidden Hand Blade—if a Two-winged Mage can still major in two or three types of Magic, then Holy Sanctuary Mages essentially only have one major Magic.

The reason is simple: the Magic you major in takes ten to twenty years to advance to the Holy Domain. Even if you can save some time on your second Magic, it would still require several years of research, let alone the most profound Space Faction.

"All these Miracles that can easily penetrate the Holy Domain, such as ’Hidden Hand,’ ’Heart Stealer,’ ’Bone Erosion,’ all require the foundation of the Holy Sanctuary space faction, or rather, they were originally Space Miracles, only to be executed by Mages in other ways," Nidara explained.

"Sonia, this little girl, can at most only scratch Demi’s skin and can’t really hit his vital parts," Nidara continued.

"Why?" Arsen asked. "Player Sevi just injured his neck, didn’t she? If she went just a little deeper—"

"It’s this little bit that sets the Hidden Hand Sword Saint far apart from other Sword Masters," Nidara said. "Sonia can’t go any deeper because she ’can’t see.’ As long as she relies on her vision to launch a Space Attack, she won’t be able to reach inside Demi, as the Hidden Hand Blade will be blocked by Demi’s Holy Domain first."

Arsen: "Can you explain it in simpler terms? The audience might not understand."

Nidara, always patient in public appearances, explained, "Ordinary Space Attacks, like Sky-piercing Bullets and Sky Slash sword strikes, essentially just make the attack harder to defend against, akin to sharpening the weapon even further."

"But ’Hidden Hand,’ ’Heart Stealer,’ and other such cross-dimensional Space Miracles are a higher-dimensional crush because they attack the Mage’s undefendable insides, and unless it’s a Weak Mage, the organs are as vulnerable as paper."

"However, the biggest difficulty of cross-dimensional Space Miracles is that Mages can’t determine the spatial coordinates."

Arsen: "Spatial coordinates?"

Nidara: "Ordinary Space Attacks have physical coordinates, like a blade or a gun bullet, extending the attack from these objects. But cross-dimensional Space Attacks are different, requiring the Mage to tear open a space portal themselves to deliver the attack to the target. So, if you can confirm the spatial coordinates of the enemy’s heart, you can easily crush it."

Arsen: "Is it difficult to confirm spatial coordinates?"

"Very difficult," Nidara paused for a moment. "But you find it simple because you’ve never been to the Distant Realm."

Arsen: "...I apologize for not having been to the Distant Realm."

"To put it simply, the space we are in is constantly changing," Nidara said. "Because the earth is always rotating, even if we sit still, our spatial coordinates from one second to the next are already hundreds to thousands of kilometers apart."

"The rotating world is the greatest obstacle to cross-dimensional Space Attacks—without sufficient knowledge of space, Mages can’t lock onto spatial coordinates!"

Arsen seemed puzzled, "But player Sevi just wounded player Vosloda..."

"That’s because she is using vision to lock on," Nidara’s voice carried a hint of mockery. "Right now, her actions are like shooting stones with a slingshot made from a Hand Cannon—The Hidden Hand Blade is only initiated along her line of sight. While the blade can cut through Demi’s skin, that’s all it can do because Demi’s Holy Domain will immediately counteract the Hidden Hand Blade’s attack."

"She needs to ’see’ inside Demi, letting the blade erupt from the inside out, in order to possibly defeat him. Otherwise, the Hidden Hand Blade for her is merely an ordinary Space Attack that consumes a lot of energy."

Boom!

On the battlefield, the red-haired Sword Maiden rapidly retreated amidst the collapsing ruins. Her War Dress was torn in several places, she had numerous injuries, and even her beautiful, smooth face bore cuts—the entire person was covered in grime and scars.

In contrast, Demi still maintained his immaculate appearance; his War Dress was neat and undamaged, and even the wound on his neck had already healed—he naturally had the Healing Miracle.

"You haven’t constructed your own Holy Domain yet, have you just ascended to the Distant Realm a few days ago?" Demi paused. "No, I just felt a sense of superiority because of that—and now I should feel ashamed. Compared to you, I feel like I’ve been wasting my time over the years."

"You’ll be able to build your Holy Domain and catch up with me soon, but I might not be able to keep up with your pace." He smiled, "Perhaps tonight is my only chance to defeat you."

Although not all Three-winged Mages can build a Holy Domain, no one thinks Sonia will stop there. Even Nidara spoke of her as if she were a Holy Sanctuary Mage, and everyone believed that for her, the Holy Domain was only a matter of time.

Yet, it was this very Holy Domain that became the crucial distance between victory and defeat tonight.

Her wounds and bleeding were rapidly sapping Sonia’s strength, and as time passed, she would only feel more and more strained. More crucially, Demi could launch attacks with reckless abandon by virtue of his Holy Domain, forcing her into defense with no room to counter—step by step, she was driven back with no chance to strike back.

At this point, the excitement from the beginning had vanished from the spectators’ stands, and everyone realized that although Sonia was a Holy Sanctuary Mage, the surprise did not affect the outcome of tonight’s contest.

Sonia wiped the blood mixed with dust from the corner of her eye with her sleeve, gripped her wooden sword tightly, and took up a stance, showing not the slightest intention of giving up. freewebnσvel.cѳm

But at this moment, Demi stopped, sheathed his sword, and said, "Let’s call it a draw."

"Huh?"

"Let’s call it a draw," Demi smiled. "The committee certainly wouldn’t mind having two Meteor Disaster champions this year—having two Holy Sanctuary Mages in the same class of the Meteor Disaster, we’d become a record that is unprecedented and perhaps never to be equaled."

"You haven’t lost, and I haven’t won." He looked around, "This stage is big enough for both of us. What do you think?"

Demi’s voice spread throughout the competition center amplified by a Space Miracle, and people heard someone advocating for a draw in the finals for the first time. However, on reflection, it felt quite reasonable.

Yes, they no longer needed to prove their glory through the Meteor Disaster; rather, the Meteor Disaster needed them to add to its luster. If they agreed to a draw, the committee would only be able to award two Meteor Disaster prizes.

However—

"Maybe it’s because I’ve been biased from the start, but I now also find you quite annoying."

Sonia calmly said, "Right now, I’m at a disadvantage, and everyone thinks I’m going to lose. Even if I agree to a draw, everyone will just assume my first place is due to your charity, and in the end, it’s still effectively second place. Plus, I’d owe you a favor, and it gives people one more thing to mock me about."

Demi shook his head, "No one dares to mock a Holy Sanctuary Mage."

"They wouldn’t dare to my face, but behind closed doors and in their hearts, they would," Sonia said. "Besides, I don’t need your charity."

"Moreover..."

"Why are you so certain I’m going to lose? Be careful now."

Sonia suddenly executed a Blood Moon Shattered Lake, and just as Demi attempted to counterattack, he felt a spatial wave—

Right in front of him!

Crack!

The Hidden Hand’s blade, crossing through space, grazed past Vosloda’s eyeball!

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