CHAPTER 252: CHOOSEN GRAVE

"What’s going on? Where is that damned Exalted?"

"Am I still alive?"

"Where is this?"

The crowd’s clamor didn’t last long before numerous eyes turned toward the High Priestess.

Then, Sheena, Brady, and others stepped forward one after another to pay their respects to the High Priestess.

The High Priestess said calmly, "You’re safe now. Just watch the battle from here."

Watch the battle?

Before they could even ask who they were supposed to watch fight, they sensed massive disturbances coming from afar.

Terrifying roars shook the entire world. Flames soared to the sky, starry rivers poured like waterfalls, and various battle phenomena surged in continuously, shaking everything with unimaginable intensity.

This was clearly an Exalted-level battle!

Many people were shocked, and as they looked into the distance, they saw the old man who had sealed them, the same one who had turned them to stone earlier. And fighting against this old man was...

"Miss Carlotta White?"

Sheena screamed, her voice noticeably changed.

She almost thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes and looked again. The person before her was indeed the same Carlotta White she remembered.

She knew this lady was powerful and terrifying, but could she really fight an Exalted? Wasn’t that utterly absurd?

"Is it really her?"

Others also spotted Carlotta, and uproar instantly excited, some were even standing alone with shock, their hearts overwhelmed by immense impact.

This Miss Carlotta was far stronger than they had imagined. They thought defeating Gaoh, the strongest in the world, had already proven her strength. But now they realized that wasn’t even close to her true limit.

"Master, shouldn’t we go help end this battle?"

Sheena asked the High Priestess.

The High Priestess shook his head. "This is Carlotta’s own trial. She needs to test her strength."

The others nodded thoughtfully.

The great battle between Carlotta and Aldrich continues with extreme intensity. As they fought, they charged straight out of the city.

For experts of their level, a single blink or dash can carry them vast distances. Thus, their battlefield wasn’t confined to a small area, nor even to a single city.

As the two moved beyond the city, the massive disturbance spread far and wide, shaking millions of people.

This city, although once deep within the Central Ruins, had, due to recent spatial shifts in the Central Ruins, now emerging in the outer regions. There was no shortage of explorers around these parts.

When an Exalted battle erupted, its presence could be felt from an immense distance, and no one could ignore such a disturbance.

"What is that?"

Someone flew into the sky, gazing toward the battlefield. They saw two figures clashing with unfathomable techniques, each movement terrifying. The sky rippled, and the earth was continuously torn apart.

Even from afar, many viewers were swallowed hard, hearts filled with dread, their legs trembling slightly.

Such a battle was truly horrifying, many watching from a distance felt it was like witnessing the end of the world, terrifying, beyond measure.

"Wait... that’s... that’s Mr. Suarez!"

Suddenly, someone recognized Aldrich, the Exalted who had long been famous in the Northern Continent. He was practically a household name and not hard to identify.

This familiar figure shocked many. They couldn’t imagine who the opponent was, that this powerful man was locked in such a desperate fight.

But soon, everyone learned who Aldrich’s opponent was.

During the battle, Carlotta launched a fierce assault, sending a planet composed entirely of swords crashing down from the sky, pinning Aldrich beneath it. Blood gushed from Aldrich’s mouth repeatedly.

This attack, so familiar to many, nearly made their eyes pop out.

And those with long-range vision techniques inhaled suddenly in shock.

"It’s her, Carlotta White!"

"How can it be her?"

"Has she actually reached the point where she can fight an Exalted?"

Many were stunned, unable to comprehend how Carlotta had achieved this.

Just recently, news had spread that Carlotta had become a mid-tier Weaver. But how could a middle tier Weaver fight an Exalted?

Shouldn’t only Exalted be able to fight Exalted?

Although Carlotta was also accompanied by a terrifyingly powerful alchemical ship, sharp-eyed observers could clearly tell that even without it, Carlotta possessed the strength to stand and fight.

This person was simply too absurd.

"Boom! Boom!"

Amidst deafening roars, the two fought farther and farther away, leaving this location and reaching another region, shocking yet another group of people.

Carlotta had already anticipated that for her, this would be a prolonged battle. Thus, she wasn’t surprised by the battle’s progression.

Of course, she didn’t pay much attention to the outside world, she just continued fighting Aldrich fiercely, until the sky and earth darkened, and the sun and moon lost their light.

This battle lasted for a full several days!

For Carlotta, this was the longest battle since her arrival in this world. Never before had a fight required such an extended duration.

Yet, this very battle was immensely beneficial, giving her a whole new understanding of combat. As the fight progressed, she grew stronger and stronger.

Eventually, the techniques Carlotta unleashed became increasingly bizarre, no longer limited to Elven Knight path and card magic. More knight techniques, more spells, began manifesting one after another.

Even methods from the Path of Creation and Path of Faith weren’t beyond her reach. Her performance left Aldrich utterly horrified.

This single battle alone nearly made Aldrich question reality, many of the techniques Carlotta displayed, he simply couldn’t comprehend.

He had no idea how she could achieve such feats, so many knight techniques, spells, and even stranger abilities, all unleashed in succession. Was this still the world he remembered?

Why has the world become so incomprehensible?

The longer the battle continued, the heaviest Aldrich’s heart grew. For Carlotta, despite being merely a middle tier Weaver, truly possessed such overwhelming combat power. No wonder she hadn’t cared at all about his accusations.

By this point, Aldrich was already in a predicament, unable to back down. He could only grit his teeth and fight Carlotta with everything he had.

At this point, there was nothing left but to fight to the death!

The thought was noble, but as the battle wore on, even Aldrich couldn’t help feeling increasingly helpless. He realized that as the fight continued, the balance of power was beginning to tilt toward his opponent.

Could it be that he, an established Exalted, would lose to a mere middle tier Weaver?

Aldrich utterly refused to accept such an outcome. Clenching his teeth, he continued battling with his Word Magic.

Yet after another full day of combat, Aldrich’s mentality finally shattered.

Because within the battle, Carlotta suddenly cast Word Magic as well!

"Your Word Magic will become increasingly difficult to use," Carlotta declared.

Immediately afterward, Aldrich discovered that casting his Word Magic truly was growing harder and harder, something he’d never experienced before.

He understood then that it was because his opponent had also used Word Magic, creating such terrifying interference!

But how was that possible? How did she know Word Magic?

This was a magic unique to him, a technique passed down from his predecessor decades ago. That predecessor had once ranked first on Sky Island, but since he had already mastered another form of magic, Word Magic could only remain secondary.

Thus, Aldrich was the first person in the strictest sense to fully master Word Magic, and the only one capable of inheriting it. Even when teaching his students, he always held back, though they could grasp the magic, they could never teach it to others, much less leave behind any records.

He simply couldn’t comprehend how Carlotta had learned Word Magic. Could it be that she just watched him fight for so long that she naturally picked it up? If so, was she even human?

In truth, the reality wasn’t so outrageous.

Although Carlotta had read Phiva’s notes, such documents only deepened her understanding of Word Magic, they weren’t enough to let her actually master it.

But then, she fought Aldrich for several days straight, someone who used only Word Magic. This deepened her exposure to the technique. As a result, her intelligence cleanly and decisively revealed the method of cultivating Word Magic to her.

This had happened many days ago. After mastering Word Magic, Carlotta continuously practiced it in real combat against Aldrich. In a short span of time, her proficiency deepened significantly, and now it was playing a crucial role.

Of course, Aldrich couldn’t possibly understand any of this.

And as Carlotta now possessed Word Magic too, the balance of battle became increasingly one-sided.

Carlotta utterly dominated Aldrich, chasing him from east to west, across mountain after mountain, forcing him to cough up blood repeatedly, his appearance utterly disheveled.

This scene was witnessed by countless observers, leaving many hearts pounding with terror, swallowing nervously.

A middle tier Weaver chasing down an Exalted? No matter how one looked at it, this was absurd. Yet it was truly happening.

Such a shocking piece of news naturally didn’t remain confined to the Central Ruins. This area was already on the periphery, and many people immediately spread the news. Instantly, it caused an uproar in cities nearby.

Later, there wasn’t even a need for someone to deliberately spread the word.

The longer the fight went on, the more Aldrich felt something was wrong. He felt defeated drawing near, yet he had no way to reverse the situation.

Reluctantly, Aldrich had no choice but to retreat, quickly fleeing the Central Ruins.

With the battle having reached this point, Carlotta naturally wouldn’t let Aldrich escape so easily. Their enmity was now settled. Releasing him like this would only invite endless trouble later from an Exalted lurking in the shadows.

Even if Carlotta herself wasn’t afraid of retaliation from an Exalted, what if this man shamelessly went after her friends?

No matter the reason, Carlotta had no justification to let him go.

She gave chase, her momentum overwhelming. Swordlight flashed across the sky and earth as she pursued Aldrich.

The two burst out of the Central Ruins, quickly crossing over city after city in the sky, one chasing the other. Wherever they passed, immense disturbances erupted, dimming the heavens and shaking the earth.

This caused countless people to witness the pursuit, leaving them stunned and disbelieving.

"T-That... is that Aldrich Suarez from the textbooks?"

"Good heavens! A legendary figure is being chased? Am I dreaming?"

"That girl... Could she be the rumored Carlotta White? The Empire’s number one prodigy?"

"What? The top prodigy who defeated the First Sword Saint? Is she now capable of chasing down a legendary figure like Aldrich?"

Countless cities explode into chaos. Innumerable people gasped in shock.

This event exceeded everyone’s imagination. No one had expected something so astonishing to happen, a rising star chasing down a legendary figure they’d heard about since childhood!

Across city after city, thousands of people were startled. No matter what they were originally doing, they stopped everything to follow the events between Carlotta and Aldrich. The impact was simply too great, no one could ignore it.

Even after Carlotta and Aldrich raced far away, people in city after city couldn’t stop discussing it, feeling as though the sky itself had changed.

The endless debates followed Carlotta and Aldrich’s path, but they had no time to care. They had already reached a critical point in their battle.

After several consecutive days of combat, both had consumed enormous amounts of energy. Their mana was nearly depleted. The fight had reached its final stage.

And Aldrich already foresaw the outcome. He was fleeing with all his might, desperate to escape Carlotta, but no matter how he ran, it was useless. Carlotta’s speed wasn’t any slower than his.

They swept across the western region of the Wendell Empire, flying over dozens of cities, shaking the entire empire to its core.

It had to be said, Exalted possessed terrifyingly tenacious life forces.

In the end, Aldrich, fighting for his life, actually managed to escape all the way to the capital city, Averilia, after several grueling days!

"Have you chosen your own grave?" Carlotta arrived, carrying the invincible momentum forged through relentless battle. With a single slash, she cleaved Aldrich in two before the eyes of thousands of citizens in the capital.