He swept his blade upward, and the dozens of bursts of blade intent combined as one, unleashing an attack even more fearsome than the second of Talan's three killing strikes that he had unleashed back in Windmetal Fort.

This was a clash between the power of a martial artist and a magician, and it was a direct exchange of blows between Talan and Erwin.

The tips of the sword and the saber collided with a dull thump, and a heatwave erupted outward in all directions. Larwood and the others were all forced back a few steps by the heatwave, while the airship in the sky swayed unsteadily in the face of the eruption of energy. Thankfully, Christine's reflexes were quite sharp, and she was able to quickly stabilize the swaying airship. Otherwise, she would've been flung off the airship by the turbulence.

Ultimately, Erwin was the one who came off second best in the wake of the clash, and the dozens of bursts of blade intent unleashed by Talan's long blade gradually devoured the giant purple sword. However, the final outcome was that neither side came out on top.

The giant sword conjured up by Erwin's ancient spell was indeed destroyed by Talan's devastating strike, but Erwin himself remained completely unharmed. Talan pressed his advantage and charged directly toward Erwin while continuing to lash out with his blade, but his attack struck the light shield that Erwin had just conjured up.

Strangely enough, even though this was an extremely...