|Jude's Perspective|
My fist tightened as the weight of the information I had just learned settled in.
'The Half-Fusion Stage. It's possible to reach it!'I thought to myself.
This was the ultimate level of power that only a few Djinns had ever achieved. By purifying their core to the highest level, they were able to integrate it with not just their body, but also the environment. It wasn't a perfect fusion as the name suggests, but the Djinn King who attained this stage could fight Kezess on equal footing without any mana or aether arts.
In other words, the power of this stage was on a completely different level.
However, I realized that I needed to achieve the Half-Fusion Stage before opening the Eighth Door. This would instantly catapult me above any asura, including Kezess and the current Mordain.
But the only way to achieve this was to obtain all six Godrunes, excluding Fate. I currently had three, and I could acquire the Spatium Godrune soon, but the Death and Life Godrunes were still out of reach.
That's why I was hoping the reward for this relictomb would provide artifacts that would give me insight into those two aether edicts.
Realizing that there was another way to reach the Half-Fusion Stage, I reconsidered my strategy. Rather than assuming that breaking through to this stage was the key to opening the Eighth Door, perhaps it was the other way around.
I focused on the sword horizon once again, determined to find the answer. Although I had previously reached this state, I had been unable to open the Eighth Door.
But why?
The answer was simple. I had not been using aether and mana to their full potential. I had created numerous sword techniques, but I had never truly integrated them with my sword horizon.
I needed to find my true sword, my ultimate weapon, in order to break through to the next level and unlock the Eighth Door.
Recalling the Djinn King's cryptic message, "Breaking to the next level is finding yourself," I immediately understood what I needed to do.
I had to combine all of my powers - mana, aether, and my swordsmanship - into a single, cohesive weapon. Although I had developed the Mana Elemental Blade and the Aether Runic Sword, I had never fully integrated magic, aether, and swordsmanship into a unified whole.
With renewed determination, I unsheathed the Djinn sword. This time, I didn't require Angelina's assistance to lift it. I channeled my mana and aether into the blade, allowing all of my Godrunes to activate and work together in harmony.
As aevum, spatium, and vivum moved together within the sword, the grey blade began to glow with a brilliant light.
I steeled myself, inhaling deeply and taking a small step forward towards the Eighth Door.
As I moved, I reflected on how I had been relying too heavily on my old world, neglecting the powers and opportunities of this new world. If I was going to achieve the Half-Fusion Stage and transcend my mortal fate, I needed to integrate all the powers available to me.
Ninth Heaven's Nine Doors was no ordinary martial art. It was a divine art, a miracle that allowed even mortals to reach transcendent heights.
And I was no ordinary mortal. I had already reached the level of a God.
With every step, I felt my body rebuilding itself, every pore energized by the power of aether and mana. My mana channels and veins seemed to fade away as my muscles tightened and my soul felt as if it were leaving my body.
In that moment, I could see the entire Hyperion Empire laid out before me, my brain effortlessly sorting through the information and honing in on what was important.
As I continued to channel both mana and aether, I could feel the pressure mounting as the Church pushed me back from the Western Front. Time had lost its meaning as I focused all my attention on breaking through to the Eighth Door.
I clenched my teeth, my memories from all my lives flashing before me in a seemingly endless loop. However, amidst the chaos of my thoughts, a sudden clarity descended upon me.
"I have died hundreds of times," I muttered, "yet I am a genius, the hope of Dicathen, the former guardian God of Pleiades. I must break through to the Eighth Door."
With renewed vigor, I began to combine the vivum's four parts, bringing the spatium under my control and moving it alongside the aevum. All four base elements of mana moved in harmony, fusing with the aether, and finally, I thrust my sword into the mix, causing the particles to jump and move around in a frenzied dance.
However, something was still missing. I realized that I lacked the power of Fate to tie all these elements together. But I couldn't worry about that now - I needed to focus on breaking through the Eighth Door first.
Golden light shone from my emerald eyes as I activated my soul power, calling forth the soul of a God who had slain an Archangel and two Overlords. It surrounded the aether, mana, and sword, acting as the binding force that tied them all together.
With a surge of power, the Eighth Door opened once again, and I stepped into a new realm, ready to face whatever lay ahead.
_____________________________________________
|Cordelia's Perspective|
With wind magic, I zoomed around the battlefield, firing missiles at the battle angels while defending the fort. The Great Sage and the Emperor engaged in battle with the Black Pope, and even Aluxio was here fighting the priests. My role was to handle the battle angels while the others dealt with the rest of the enemy forces.
Using my Kia's Authority, I ripped open massive tears in space, creating disruptions that engulfed the army of battle angels. They weren't a threat to me, but dealing with their sheer numbers was quite troublesome.
THUMP, THUMP!
My body froze as a powerful presence made itself known. I braced myself, but soon realized that it wasn't Mordain, but rather Jude.
'This feeling, could he be stronger than his past-life demigod self?' I pondered before taking in a deep breath. Another powerful presence entered the fray, this one belonging to Mordain.
'Mordain!' I thought before summoning spatium shields around me.
A barrage of black death rays rained down from above, and though my spatium shields withered and burned away, they managed to save the Empire's army from total annihilation.
'I can't beat him. He's too powerful,' I concluded, 'But Jude can.'
With a sound pulse, I signaled to Jude to come to me, but he must have sensed Mordain's arrival already.
"I'll take it from here," I said to Mordain, launching a barrage of mana and aether missiles at him.
He didn't even spare me a glance, effortlessly flapping his wings to conjure death aether that easily destroyed my attacks.
"That boy.... he has done a truly troublesome thing by imprisoning me," Mordain muttered, turning his gaze towards me.
"Where is he?" His pressure intensified, and I felt as if I was suffocating. Although he wasn't as formidable as the Archangels or the Overlords of Hell that I had faced before, his death aura alone was overwhelming, and I almost felt as if I would die just from being near him.
Suddenly, the pressure vanished entirely as Jude arrived on the scene.
A smile broke out on my lips as Jude confronted Mordain head-on. "I am here now, Mordain. Shall we get started?"
(A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Remember to vote if you did! I am very excited to write the next chapter covering the battle between these two, let me know if you guys are as well! There won't be an update tomorrow but a 2000-word chapter on Saturday. See you guys then!)