I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

A brutal shriek boomed to life.

Insurmountable power pressing upon the world like a bush button as the vast array of Miasma set the world aflame.

Hot. Surging.

His powers reached an apex that one would only dream of striving for.

Flowing with the unrelenting intent to crush. To consume. To command.

This was the power that swept through every living being which stood in the expanse of the Academy.

Within its different subspaces and the Territory as a whole.

It swallowed it in an endless torrent of malevolent storms.

The earth rattled. It shook, broke and cracked.

Spider webs of destruction spreading like cancer across the Academy.

The sky shuddered.

A terrible scream ran through its horizon as if it were in pain.

The Moon quaked.

Reverberating with a scarlet red. Ethereal. Primal.

Like the colour of blood.

The air was hot. Terribly hot. Boiling, even.

It put a terrible strain on the body.

Pushing it to its limits and beyond.

Still, as she stood in the centre of the damnation, she refused to kneel.

Kira Merlin knew power. She knew strength.

She had seen it. Faced it. Owned it and strived for it.

But this…this was different.

This was a horizon she had yet to step into.

'The Saint.'

The word boomed with a certainty in her skull as she struggled. Hard.

Kira refused to let go of her body.

Her form was everything. Her will. Her pride.

She would not let that fall for anyone. Absolutely no one!

The Saint though, was a level thought unreachable. A mere legend in the books of old.

They weren't meant to exist. No.

And if they did, they should have been recorded.

These were people who had attained the 12th tier and above.

Either circle for mages or stars for a Swordsman.

Their strength was unfathomable.

But it was understandable, after all, to reach the 12th, one would have to resolve to lose themselves.

If the 10th tier represented Dominance, then the 11th would be Awakening and the 12th, Ascendance.

These were no longer mere humans. No. Not entirely.

It was a path where one had to lose their concept of humanity as a whole, to strive for something more profound.

A reach beyond the normal scope.

It wasn't unattainable, but it was implausible…until now.

'Then the demi-gods, the Grand Saint must be far superior to this…'

Her thoughts lingered for a second. Just a second.

Then everything began to churn together.

Her dome cracked and splintered into oblivion, and the force slammed Rhabanz right out of the sky into the ground.

It left Kira together with the strange man, but the former seemed insistent on standing her ground.

And quite frankly.

The Crimson Lord was not pleased.

"You dare stand before me?"

The world shuddered.

The Academy broke. Earth ruptured as lava oozed from its broken parts.

Cracks forming crevices which enlarged into giant scars.

The sky was not left unbothered.

The Mana reflux was on a frenzy.

Sent into a spiral as it fought desperately to take control of the miasma.

It was too much.

It couldn't cancel it all.

And its effects were eminent.

The skies began to tear. Large scars bearing fruit from the crimson skies as a giant claw-like opening formed.

Black in colour with twinkling white stars like the abyss.

Kira's lips quivered, and a fit of blood burst from her mouth.

She coughed.

She wheezed.

Coiled stretches of crimson oozing out like cheese from the corner of her mouth.

Rushing down in bits and amounts.

Her face twisted from the pain.

It crumbled under the weight of the power that surrounded her.

BUT SHE STOOD.

"No one..." Her voice trembled as she looked straight at the man.

His form was entirely cloaked in black, and his long, blood hair danced with the wind that shook the skies.

His crimson gaze locked onto hers. A mad glint sparkling in Kira's eyes.

"...absolutely no one…"

She tried to glare at him, but the pain had blurred every form of facial control.

Instead, a devilish grin came to life. Contorted in a splitter of madness that made her maniacally beautiful.

…Makes me Kneel."

The man took her gaze and frowned.

Then moved his arm from the back of his form.

He stretched his finger towards her.

"Die then."

The word had not even ended before a blast of a thin red line surged from his fingertips down to her chest.

Striking it before she could even think.

BANG!

Like a gunshot, only at the speed of the sound, a world-cracking pain exploded in her chest.

Her face twisted as she groaned.

Biting down on the scream that had threatened to escape.

Her gaze drifted to the wound on her chest.

'My heart! He had aimed for my heart.'

But at that moment, both knew– He had missed.

Kira moved within a fraction of a second. A twist was all she needed to avoid a fatal blow.

'I'm a Grand Master! Is the difference between us this much?'

Compared to the other tiers, similarities existed. This had proven different.

The Jun household was known for being able to take down enemies who should have been superior to them.

It wasn't common knowledge.

Just information within some of the Great Families.

History recorded in their libraries.

But this…this would he difficult. Far so.

It would be a delusion if she thought she could survive this.

'Every unprecedented event is one not planned for.'

A ring on her finger began to whirl.

'Though, far stronger than I presumed. The appearance of the Leader of the Red Peacemakers was not far from my sight.'

A bottle of vial came to life within her grasp.

A 10th-tier mana bottle.

Potent as its core itself.

It was one of a kind. A powerup that doubles the original mana threshold of the user.

Right now, Kira Merlin was that user, and you can bet the Merlin household stores a vast amount of mana within them.

She uncocked it and gulped it in a single motion. Her attempt to prevent the man from figuring out what she was doing.

It worked.

The Mana within her boiled. It churned.

It quaked and it erupted.

A vast amount of green shot out from her body in waves.

Mana in its primal form boiled down her insides as it emitted through every pore and corner of her body.

She screamed.

A low groan as the power rushed through her body in a current.

Her gaze darted to the man's.

Their eyes locked onto each other as the rush of mana healed the wound formed on her chest.

Her body glowed white.

Her vision cleared.

She endowed the very word of Merlin as she floated with the intent to stand. Firm.

The man scowled.

"A mere booster to your mana will do you no good."

He raised his finger once more and a burst of multiple red thin lines speared from the fingertips.

It ran through the air like a circuit.

Taking zig-zag lines across the air as it ran down towards her.

Its speed is completely overwhelming to the mind.

But not this time.

Kira moved.

One thing she had been unable to do since his appearance.

Her body darted through the air like a bullet train.

Blasting through the sound barrier like it were paper.

The jagged crimson lines spun to life.

Spreading like lasers as it charged towards her form in an unrelenting pursuit.

Her form turned into a blur, yet they caught up with gaining momentum before attempting to slice through her.

She dodged.

Spinning mid-flight and changing direction as the surge of crimson sliced down the air towards the earth and carved a path across it like a knife through butter.

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

The chain of explosions followed along that path immediately after its slice.

Carving craters atop craters along the path of the Academy grounds.

It's the Lecture Theatre and Cafeteria– or what was left of it- that suffered the most.

Demolishing upon contact as more crimson lines sliced through them with an electric hum.

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

The explosions were like a metal band's drum.

Resounding. Echoing. Persistent.

In the skies, Kira dodged and manoeuvred.

Encircling the man known as the Crimson Lord with her gaze tightly placed on him.

Observance was key here! And it was activated the moment he came.

The man was yet to move from his spot, but his purpose here was evident.

'He must have come for his executives.'

Two executives had died here.

That was two Level 100 Grand Masters in their own right.

One may think this is normal, but the average man outside the Academy could only dream of reaching Level 100.

Only a select few ever reached the apex of their system, and even variety existed within those select few.

'It would be a difficult loss for anyone.'

That kind of manpower…gone overnight.

The man must have been upset. Enraged, but still, curious.

Just then, three lines of crimson surrounded her in a cage.

It's force was unprecedented as it descended to cause its finality of death.

She clenched her teeth. Hard.

A sudden whisk of flames came to life at the corners of her lips.

"Don't mess with me!" She screamed as the flames ignited to life.

Golden crimson burning with a fiery intent.

"10th tier High Spell! Flames of Gomorrah!"

The flames pulsed. It warped.

Its tendrils screeching through the air as it spread in a blanket, burning through the lasers and spreading further like an inferno of doom.

The man turned back.

His expression darkened.

He was not pleased.