… Lux Caelum.
That was the name Ryoji gave to this technique.
If Lightning Flint was a technique that surpassed an opponent's limits, then Lux Caelum was a technique that surpassed his own limits.
He would throw both swords at the same time.
He would apply simultaneous commands to both swords.
He would make one sword faster than the other, and then make the second sword faster than the first.
In other words… Infinite Spiral Acceleration!
By exploiting a loophole as though abusing a bug in a game, the two swords continuously became faster than each other, creating an endless cycle of acceleration and achieving true Infinite Acceleration.
Until Ryoji's Magic Power was completely exhausted, this infinite acceleration would never stop.
Because the process of infinite acceleration itself was completed within a single instant, even if Ryoji wanted to stop it, he simply couldn't react in time. All he could do was watch as his special ability drained every last drop of his Magic Power and pushed his psychic power to its absolute limit, eventually causing psychic exhaustion and loss of consciousness.
Compared to that, the side effects of Lightning Flint had become almost negligible as his physical abilities and Magic Power continued to grow. His body could already withstand supersonic speeds.
But the side effects of Lux Caelum were permanent.
No matter how much Magic Power Ryoji possessed, Infinite Acceleration would drain it completely in an instant, leaving not a single drop behind.
Even if, in the future, his Magic Power were to become a hundred times greater than Stella's, collapsing unconscious would still be inevitable. There was absolutely no way around it.
In return, however, the power of this move was beyond imagination.
Since it consumed all of his Magic Power, it was effectively converting every ounce of that energy into fuel, pushing the speed of the twin swords to their true limit.
Even Ryoji himself didn't know what speed the swords had ultimately reached when he used the technique against the Corrupted Spirit.
His estimate was that they had probably approached Mach 10.
And as his Magic Power continued to increase in the future, the power of this technique would inevitably continue to grow as well.
The only problem was that using it guaranteed unconsciousness afterward, making it a move that still couldn't be used casually.
...
When he woke up again, a white cloth ceiling filled his vision, while faint sounds drifted into his ears.
"Ryoji, you're awake!" Not long after opening his eyes, Tiona's annoyingly energetic voice rang out beside him.
"Where is this... a tent?" Ryoji sat up on the bed and looked around.
"Yep!" Tiona gave him a thumbs-up and pointed proudly at herself.
"We're already back on the 50th Floor! And I was the one who carried you back!"
"Oh. Great job."
"Ehehe~" Receiving Ryoji's completely insincere gratitude, Tiona grinned foolishly.
"My head hurts..." Ryoji rubbed his forehead. "How long was I out?"
His entire body still felt drowsy. Even moving felt like a chore.
"A whole day and night!" Tiona answered immediately.
"And that's after Finn ordered them to give you a whole bunch of Mental Power Potions!"
Good grief.
The side effects were far more severe than he'd expected.
Even after consuming a large amount of potions, he had still slept for an entire day and night. Without them, he might have been unconscious for three days and three nights, or even five.
Infinite Acceleration really wasn't something a normal person should mess with.
Ryoji shuddered. If he didn't have companions he could trust completely, he absolutely could not use this technique.
He firmly warned himself to be much more careful in the future.
"By the way..." A smug smile appeared on his face. "I looked pretty cool yesterday, didn't I?"
"Eh..." Tiona froze for a moment.
Looking at Ryoji's expression, a strange mixture of humility and self-satisfaction, he was probably imagining that he'd remained standing even after losing consciousness. That would indeed have looked cool.
In the end, she decided not to tell him that after firing the attack, he'd been blown away like a piece of trash and bounced across the ground several times.
To be fair, he looked incredibly cool right up until the moment he got blasted away.
Whether he looked cool afterward was a matter of personal opinion.
Although he really didn't feel like moving, lying around would only make him feel worse.
Ryoji slapped his cheeks, forcing away his lethargic, world-weary mood, and decisively got out of bed.
"By the way, who changed my clothes?"
"Hehe, me!" Tiona flashed him a bright, radiant smile.
"...What did you do?"
"I didn't really do anything. Everyone was watching." Tiona replied with a disappointed look.
Her bright eyes kept drifting toward Ryoji's lower body, and the look in them gradually became more and more hungry.
The Amazons were a very open race. When they encountered a male they liked, their passion could flare up suddenly and intensely, enough to leave ordinary people completely overwhelmed.
Tiona and her sister were relatively conservative by Amazon standards, but that was only because they had never met someone they truly liked before.
As for what an Amazon was like after finding her ideal partner, one only had to look at Tione. Her enthusiasm was so intense that it gave Finn headaches. If Finn hadn't been constantly on guard, dealing with her advances dozens of times a day wouldn't have been out of the question.
Ryoji had every reason to suspect that if no one had been watching last night, his innocence would definitely have been in danger.
Wait a minute.
"How many people were watching while I was changing clothes last night?"
"No, everyone was outside."
That's a relief.
It wasn't a big deal if Ais and the others had seen him, but if Bete or Gareth had been watching, that would have been way too weird.
After getting out of bed, Ryoji stepped out of the tent.
Before him stretched the gray stone ceiling of the 50th Floor. Members of the Loki Familia and the blacksmiths of the Hephaestus Familia were gathered together, chatting and laughing.
"Oh, Ryoji, you're awake?"
"We all heard about it. You were ridiculously active this time, right?"
"Sounds like you solved a problem that nobody else could handle."
People occasionally greeted him with smiles as he walked by, looking at him with enthusiasm and admiration.
The members of the Loki Familia had long since become accustomed to his absurd, common-sense-defying performances.
But thanks to him, the Loki Familia had successfully broken through into unexplored territory this time, surpassing all previous achievements. Their name would undoubtedly become famous throughout Orario—and perhaps even the entire world.
"How are you feeling?"
After wandering around the camp for a while, he turned a corner and ran into the Elven Royalty herself.
Although her appearance was still impeccably clean, her emerald-green robe now contained quite a few tears and holes. Yet despite being an elf who valued cleanliness above all else, she stubbornly continued to wear it.
"Riveria, are you okay?"
Ryoji looked at her in surprise.
During that battle, Riveria had been among the first to be blasted away. Having been swallowed by the sea of flames, she hadn't received the group defensive buff that Ryoji had applied afterward.
"I'm fine."
Riveria pointed at the robe she was wearing.
"This robe is a sacred garment of the Elf race. It possesses extremely high resistance to magic power, so I only suffered minor injuries. If I had taken another one or two hits, though, I might really have been finished."
I see.
In that case, they should be thankful the enemy had been a magic-focused monster. If it had been a warrior-type opponent instead, this sacred robe probably wouldn't have protected her, and Riveria might truly have been killed.
Still, after taking a direct hit from a long-chant spell cast by what was at least a Level 7 avatar of the Corrupted Spirit, the robe had suffered significant damage. Riveria's expression darkened considerably.
Who knew how much time and effort it would take to repair it?
It was almost as if she could hear money flowing away like water.
The pain was enough to make it hard to breathe.
"Since you're awake, it's perfect timing. Finn is planning to hold an executive meeting. You should come as well."
Seeing that Ryoji appeared to be in no serious condition, Riveria relaxed slightly before turning the conversation to business.
"Sounds good. Let's go."
Ryoji nodded in understanding.
The three of them walked side by side toward the large tent located at the center of the camp.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395