Since the Imperial Guards swept by Merak hadn’t been cut directly by the Holy Sword, they would still regenerate. However, wiping them out wasn’t their objective in the first place.

There was no need to finish them off. The bisected ones could be left behind while they moved straight toward the barrier core. Leon didn’t even have to explain.

Cedric crushed the hand of a guard who was trying to grab his ankle with only half a body left, then caught up beside Leon.

“Hahaha! That was a fine strike, kid!”

Valter, Lyon, and Gilbert followed right after. Elahan, who had leaped upward earlier, landed and immediately broke into a sprint.

Within seconds, the Imperial Guards had reattached their torsos and risen again, but the infiltration team had already pulled more than two kilometers ahead. With the gap in their maneuverability, it was a distance they couldn’t possibly close.

A beat later, Karen burst out from the wall and joined them.

“Leon! How was that? I did well, right? That’s at least three people’s worth this time!”

“You did great! We got through all thanks to you!”

Leon knew exactly why the guards had suddenly weakened, as Karen had told him in advance. She had cut off the mana channels using Pitch-Black Dance, diverting the palace’s energy safely without damaging the conduits themselves. It was a feat only she could manage.

Deprived of the White Peak Palace’s power, the Imperial Guards were nothing notable. Even if they couldn’t die, rendering them immobile and passing by was more than enough.

Those who had just realized what she’d done turned to her with astonishment.

“So that was your doing? Impressive skill,” Valter said in admiration.

“Wait, did you destroy the mana conduits?!” asked Lyon, who’d already guessed the cause, gone pale.

Karen shook her head quickly and answered, “Of course not. I didn’t touch the conduits—just cut off the power flowing to the guards.”

“How exactly did you... no, forget what I said. That was rude. I apologize.”

“I’ll let it slide.”

To an Aura Master, their Aura Blade was both the source of their strength and the embodiment of who they were. Lyon’s slip of the tongue was a grave discourtesy, practically an attempt to pry into another Master’s secret. Luckily, Karen brushed it off without taking offense.

At the front, Elahan spoke up as she ran.

“Karen, is that what you were thinking about all last night?”

“Yeah. My poisons and assassinations don’t work well against things that don’t die, so I was trying to find another way to help.”

“That’s amazing! I only know how to smash things!”

“I’d... say that’s even more impressive.”

Karen laughed awkwardly. Deep down, she wished she could shine at Leon’s side like Elahan—but an Assassin Master was always stronger working from the shadows, not head-on.

As they traded a few brief words, the infiltration team covered over ten kilometers. Even with space magic expanding the corridors, the palace’s interior was finite. Eventually, the end came into view.

With an almost eerie creak, a massive gate opened wide before them, as if welcoming the seven intruders. It was so obvious a trap that turning back would only mean facing the pesky Imperial Guards again.

Without hesitation, Leon and Elahan crossed the threshold into a vast hall so wide that the horizon seemed to stretch within it. The others followed a moment later.

“What’s with this ridiculously huge room?”

“It’s the first of three grand halls we must pass to reach the barrier core,” Lyon explained, frowning.

Had it not been for Nex, he would have become the next ruler of the White Peak Palace himself. He knew almost every hidden mechanism and defense built into its walls—lightning arrays that rained down seventh-tier spells, traps that warped space at random, and others more insidious still.

Among them, a few stood out in his memory.

“Everyone, be on guard. A hall this size... it might appear.”

“And what exactly is ‘it’? You’ve got to be more specific,” Karen said.

“It’s—”

Before Lyon could finish, they appeared. Dozens of magic circles materialized in the air ahead, and massive figures emerged from them, blocking the path.

The ground shook as the colossal beings landed, the noise deafening. Giants, built like men with two arms and two legs but towering at four meters tall, lifted their heads and glared.

Their silvery bodies were made of adamantium, while their joints and plated edges gleamed gold with orichalcum. Even a single weapon forged from such metals would cost a fortune, but these constructs were built entirely from several tonnes of them. One of these golems might have been worth more than a fortress.

“Imperial Guardians!” Gilbert shouted beside Lyon, his voice cracking with alarm.

The Imperial Guardians were a security measure so inefficient that they could only function within the White Peak Palace, but with combat abilities rivaling those of Masters.

Tens of tons of rare metal enchanted with sixth-tier and higher spells, they were both nimble and powerful, attacking and defending with the grace of human warriors. Their movements mimicked Aura Masters, and they had no weak points. Each could self-repair, making them nearly impossible to destroy unless annihilated instantly.

“Hah! Finally, something worth cutting!”

Cedric stepped to the front of the group, raising his sword with a gleam in his eye. Showing no intent to conserve his strength, Cedric’s Ten Thousand Severing Strikes wrapped around his blade, cutting the very sound from the air.

Whether it was orichalcum or adamantium, it didn’t matter. If it could be cut, he would cut it. If it couldn’t, he would still try.

“Karen, fall back and guard the rear. The rest of you, we’ll take one each and handle them individually. Lyon, Sir Gilbert, please focus on defense.”

The Masters didn’t question him as if they thought that Leon’s tactics were correct. They simply moved into position.

Cedric faced the one marked with “I,” Leon “II,” Valter “III,” and Elahan “IV.”

As they approached, the Guardians’ mana circuits began to glow, and they spoke.

“Hostile entities detected. Adjusting power output to maximum. Entering combat mode.”

“Maintaining activation of thirteen magic arrays, including Haste, Gravity Bound, and Force Field. Engaging until hostile entities’ vital signs cease.”

The Guardians’ movements shifted so smoothly that it was almost lifelike. Their jointed limbs rotated with precision as they adjusted their grips on their halberds.

No one moved first. These constructs were nothing like the guards they’d faced moments ago. The Masters, sensing the sheer power radiating from their foes, ignited their Auras almost in unison, flames, lightning, and radiance of every color bursting into life.

Then, the Imperial Guardians charged all at once, their massive thumps quaking the earth. They were faster now, thanks to enhancement magic, but their immense weight hadn’t lessened.

Rather than being lightened, they’d been accelerated, retaining the full destructive mass of their heavy frames. In any structure other than the White Peak Palace, the floor would’ve collapsed instantly. These Guardians existed solely to unleash their full power within its walls.

The first Guardian reached Cedric first.

“Commencing extermination,” it spoke, and the halberd swung down like a bolt of lightning.

Cedric leaped aside as the weapon slammed into the ground, gouging out a small crater. Even the floor that had endured tons of pounding impacts cracked beneath the strike.

He didn’t dare parry it—not even with Ten Thousand Severing Strikes.

Even if he cut through the halberd, the power packed inside wouldn’t disappear. The backlash alone could break his wrist or shoulder—or damage his cursed sword, Dainslife.

“Monstrous. My blood’s boiling!”

Grinning wildly, Cedric relished the danger. The others were no different.

Elahan stood her ground and met the fourth Guardian head-on.

When her Holy Iron Breaker clashed with its halberd, a shockwave rippled through the entire hall. The difference in mass forced her back several paces, but the Guardian also stiffened, momentarily stunned by the impact. No one could have imagined someone capable of trading blows directly with an Imperial Guardian.

Facing the third Guardian, Valter clicked his tongue and stepped back.

“Tch. Why do we keep running into things I’m not compatible with?”

His Blaze was useless against these golems forged from rare metal. Their force fields and mana circuits resisted heat and magic alike. He could still try Dragon-Shaped Sword, but the road ahead was too long to burn all his strength here. So, he opted for a delaying battle, darting around to bait the Guardian and avoid its sweeping strikes.

While engaging the second Guardian, Leon calmly assessed the field.

Cedric can handle his on his own. Elahan, too, though it’ll take time. Valter’s stalling... I guess he’s keeping some strength in reserve. Not a bad call.

The Guardians’ attacks were fast and powerful, but their movements lacked martial instinct. Dodging them was possible if one aimed to evade rather than win through brute force.

The problem was time. It wasn’t on their side.

We need to beat them quickly...

It was simple in theory, but immensely difficult in execution. The Imperial Guardians were strong, fast, and unbelievably durable. Even if Karen cut off their mana supply, the internal cores within their bodies could keep them running for hours.

To destroy those metallic bodies outright would take something on the level of Cedric’s Te Thousand Severing Strikes—an attack that ignored defense—or a blow strong enough to crush even enchanted metal.

“Hoo...”

Leon’s eyes sank into calm focus. The moment he resolved himself, his mind entered a state of selflessness—a transcendent concentration where will guided strength, and strength guided the body. His heart, spirit, and body had become one. The martial enlightenment he’d gained fighting Nekator pushed him even deeper into the void.

“Sun Sword, Crimson Lotus, Third Form.”

Aura surged from deep within his heart. He had already mastered controlling external Aura with Icarus Wing, thanks to an insight that came after witnessing Nekator’s Asura Arm.

There was a limit to strengthening one’s body with Aura alone. But what if that same Aura could be deployed outside the body, reinforcing every movement instead?

“Armor of White Flame, Corona.”

A white halo flared behind Leon’s back. The force condensed to such density that it surpassed form itself, taking on a fourth state of matter—plasma.

Leon didn’t know the science behind it, but he instinctively understood that this was no mere flame. It was the same radiance that surrounded the sun during a total eclipse.

The light of Corona enveloped him like a suit of armor, a full plate of pure brilliance, until only his shimmering silhouette remained.

“Threat level of target: immeasurable. One unit insufficient to contain.”

Realizing its disadvantage, the Guardian tried to retreat—but Leon was already moving several times faster. He shot forward like a streak of light.

Without even unfolding Icarus Wing, Leon broke the sound barrier in a single step, and by the second, a thunderclap followed as he drove the Holy Sword straight in.

The Guardian reflexively intercepted the thrust yet still staggered back. A golem of tens of tons, forged of rare metals, was unable to withstand a single strike from one human. As the second Guardian slid backward several meters, the floor beneath it split into two deep trenches.

“I’m not done yet!”

Leon should have been frozen by the backlash of the clash, but instead, he seamlessly connected his next strike.

The function of Corona was not merely to enhance physical strength. It wrapped his body—flesh, bone, and soul alike—in Aura, nullifying all external pressure and inertia. In that state, acceleration and deceleration were effortless, and he could even walk or leap through the air.

Leon executed the second strike. Before the Guardian could recover from the first, the blazing white sword drove straight into its head.

With a crunch, the adamantium helm covering its skull split apart as El-Cid’s blade carved diagonally through. If it had been human, its brain would have been bisected, resulting in instant death.

However, despite their humanlike shape, no brain hid inside those heads.

“Detected disadvantage in close-quarters combat. Redirecting all power to Force Field and Gravity Bound.”

The second Guardian activated the magic arrays engraved across its body, using the opening Leon’s strike had created.

The overlapping sixth-tier spells, barrier and gravity field, erupted, flinging Leon backward with a tremendous shockwave. He neutralized the force instantly with Corona and charged again, but the Guardian had already switched to full defense mode.

“Gravity Field fixed. Force Field output at maximum.”

Leon’s sword, sharp enough to sever sound itself, clashed with the descending halberd. Unlike before, even the Corona-empowered blow failed to push it back. The halberd merely bent slightly before holding firm.

With its immense mass, enchanted alloys, and defensive magic combined, the thing was practically impregnable. And yet, Leon showed no hint of frustration.

I wasn’t fighting at full power either, you metal blob.

Even as Corona steadily drained his energy, he still had enough for one last secret technique.

If a single casual swing could knock the Guardian off its feet, then how much stronger would the Grand Chariot be when unleashed in this state?

He didn’t know the exact number, but it would surely surpass the Guardian’s defense by far.

The golem stood unmoving. Unlike humans, its cognitive circuits were linear. Once it committed to a pattern, it took time to adjust.

Even as Leon gathered power right before its eyes, it couldn’t respond fast enough to interrupt him. The starlight of Grand Chariot mingled with the white radiance of Corona, flickering with blinding intensity. The power spilling from Leon’s hands was so overwhelming that he realized, if he lost control, this entire chamber could vanish in an instant.

Three strokes would be too much... I can’t exhaust it all in just one, either.

That left him with only two strokes. When Leon raised his sword high, the other Masters turned instinctively, feeling the torrent of power building within him.

They couldn’t help it. Even Valter’s Dragon-Shaped Sword couldn’t compare to that output. Even Cedric, who rarely praised anyone, murmured in awe.

“That is magnificent...!”

It was a different path entirely from Ten Thousand Severing Strikes, yet the sheer density of Leon’s power seemed heavy enough to crush through quantity itself.

“Grand Chariot, Chained Secret Technique.”

Leon moved twice, leaving behind faint afterimages, once vertically, once horizontally, in a dual strike that quartered its target in a single breath.

“North Star Cross.”

A cross of blinding light burst forth, crashing upon the second Guardian.