Return Of The Strongest Player

'So this is the Divine Heavensplitting Resonance Art.'

'An Art devised carefully and intricately to shatter, to split, to destroy the Heavens through a seemingly divine power that resonates with a deep will attached to it. This is the Blade Sovereign's legacy…'

'His wish.'

Arthur underwent enlightenment at that moment. Knowledge flooded his mind, with each piece representing the Blade Sovereign's life. The five strikes represented each of his five traits. 

Pride, Arrogance, Cruelty, Power, and Indifference.

With those traits as the basis of his identity, the Blade Sovereign ascended into his prime, dominating the tower with his overwhelming power and superiority to every single Divine Ranker… 

Except for a few.

'The Enigma Of Space and Time, he said…'

As Arthur's vision returned, he glanced in shock at the Spirit of the Blade Sovereign, with both greed and anticipation present in his crimson pupils. Such a powerful Sword Art could shake, and potentially destroy the tower.

Suddenly, as Arthur swung his falchion while imitating the Spirit's movements, he felt a string of information enter his mind. 

"There exist three realms within the tower. Mortal, Transcendent, and God. Each realm is vaster than the previous, and the peak of it equals to peerless power. We–the Starbreakers–were merely mortal, and couldn't the scale the gap."

"But, as one inherits the legacy of two Starbreakers, our hopes rekindle."

Those words reverberated within Arthur's mind, echoing endlessly. They were powerful words that seemed to shake his ideology itself. How could even the Starbreakers lose to the Demons and Angels?

How powerful were they?

For someone who could destroy tens of floors with a single strike to lose to the Transcendents… Was Arthur underestimating them all along? Was he merely a speck of dust in a storm vaster than the Universe itself?

Was he merely a poser?

'I believed I was so close to reaching their level of power… But they, they were merely playing with me,' Arthur muttered internally. He could practically imagine their mocking, their condescending laughter…

His efforts were all in vain. If even the Blade Sovereign and the entirety of the Starbreaker Organization could not hold a candle against the Transcendents, how could anyone conquer the 99th floor?

'Wait… Did he say 2 Starbreakers? I'm inheriting the legacy of 2 Starbreakers?'

Arthur recalled the words that resounded in his head only a few moments ago. 

"But, as one inherits the legacy of two Starbreakers, our hopes rekindle."

'What the fuck does that mean?' He wondered, racking his brain. 'Is Divine Heavensplitting Resonance Art the legacy of two Starbreakers? Was the Blade Sovereign not the only one who forged it?'

'Or, have I inherited a different legacy…'

'Death Bones is the only other example,' Arthur concluded. 'Other than that, I haven't inherited any legacies. If the Baron Of Death was a Starbreaker… How? He was merely a High Ranker with powers related to death….'

'Then again, viewing the pattern of the Starbreakers, they all excel in their field. The Baron Of Death was by far the strongest wielder of the power of death, and a pioneer of his field that achieved many great things.'

Arthur dispelled such thoughts. For now, he needed to focus solely on absorbing as much of the Art as he possibly could. He unsheathed the falchion, continuing to perform various movements that he remembered.

There wasn't a special sensation that coursed across his body, but his physique seemed more fatigued than usual. It was as if he were exerting himself more than usual, despite performing fewer movements.

'Is it because of the gravitational force? No, my body doesn't feel heavier when I do anything other than perform these movements.'

'Perhaps it's a test.'

Gritting his teeth, Arthur continued swinging, each movement displaying his will to achieve mastery over the sword style. His eyes turned bloodshot at a certain point, while several cramps piled up.

Swing! Slash! Slash! Thud!

Suddenly, a string of information flowed into his mind yet again, guiding him through the movements. How to channel energy, how much force to exert, and how to progress through each movement fluently.

Arthur shut his eyelids, focusing solely on the purpose of the sword art.

He recalled the words of one of his former allies during his time as the Lord Of Sins… 'A Sword Style is not inherited, it is not imitated, and it is not given. Its power lies in its purpose, so if one can grasp it, they have successfully remastered it.'

'The Sword Style's power lies not in its destructive moves, but the purpose of every movement.'

'The Blade Sovereign's purpose… I don't know it.'

'But my purpose… I know it clearly.'

'If I cannot inherit the Sword Art with as much power as the Blade Sovereign wielded, I can simply deconstruct it and restart with my own purpose.'

With those thoughts, Arthur began searching for his motive, his will, his purpose. Revenge, domination, and protection. To enact revenge on the Demons and Angels, to dominate the entirety of the tower, and to protect his loved ones.

His five traits… they were different from the Blade Sovereign.

Pride, Arrogance, Cruelty, Power, and Indifference.

Pride, Power, Protectiveness, Duality, and Indifference.

Although a few aspects were borrowed from the Blade Sovereign's rather common ideology, the five traits displayed Arthur's life. 

"First Move, Heaven's Echo Strike!"

With those words, the scenery around Arthur changed. He swung the falchion vertically from top to bottom. As the falchion dropped, intense energy splurted from the blade, forcing Arthur to tighten his grip.

The atmospheric resistance prevented Arthur from drawing the strike's true power, with his lack of fluency and energy also contributing. However, as soon as his falchion collided with the ground beneath, a cataclysmic tornado arose with the power to level valleys, leaving behind unfathomable devastation.

The snow-capped peaks fell one by one, with each fall symbolizing the incredulous rise in Arthur's power.

Instead, piles upon piles of dust arose, threatening the ecosystem of the space. In mere seconds, the entirety of the world had crumbled before Arthur's eyes due to a single movement of his sword.

This was the first movement of the Divine Heavensplitting Resonance Art.