"I don't remember anything, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to use this sword," Perry said as a smile appeared on his face.

He then took Aglea's Windage sword straight out of her hand, unfazed by the possibility that Aglea could kill him on the spot.

Even though the sword was formed purely by energy, it somehow didn't dissipate even after it was taken by Perry.

Perry then made his way over to Sword God Buu and said in a genuine voice, "Please enlighten me."

Sword God Buu faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a film of tears welled up in his eyes.

He couldn't be sure that this was his most prized disciple, but he had noticed a certain subtle detail that all but confirmed the skeleton's identity to him, and that detail was Perry's unconscious tapping of the hilt of his sword with the pinkie finger of his sword-wielding hand.

Even though Perry couldn't remember anything, he felt an instinctive sense of respect and reverence toward the elderly man standing before him.

Some things couldn't be described with words, nor would they fade with the passage of time.

Perry glanced at the bright blue light gliding over the Windage sword. Under the light of the stars, the sword was giving off a rather tragic gleam.

He stared blankly at the sword in his hand, and in that instant, it was as if the hand of fate had torn its way through the fabric of time, restoring all of his memories of his sword techniques.

The Three Dragonslaying Strikes were the first set of techniques taught to Perry after he became Sword God Buu's disciple, so it seemed only fitting that these were the first techniques that Perry was unleashing.

Sword God Buu faltered slightly before bursting into laughter as he retaliated with his Carefree sword. Not only was he not angry in the slightest, he was feeling more excited and elated than he had in years. He felt as if he had been transported back many decades ago, standing in front of the young man who was determined to become his disciple.

Back then, even though Sword God Buu had been very impressed with Perry's determination, he wasn't planning to accept Perry as his disciple as he didn't think that the son of a prince would be cut out for pursuing the path of the sword.

Regardless of what weapon one decided to cultivate in, they had to be prepared to endure hardships and persevere through pain and failure. Sword God Buu was worried that growing up in such a privileged background would've robbed Perry of that ability to endure adversity.

However, after seeing all of the scars all over the young man's body, Sword God Buu agreed in the end.

Those scars had been sustained by Perry from his sparring matches against all of the renowned martial artists and grand magic mentors of Finklan. He had been beaten down time and time again, but he got up every single time, continuing to challenge opponents more powerful than himself without any fear of embarrassment or injury. Even though he was physically battered and bruised, he was never beaten on a mental level. Even though he had only learned the basic martial techniques taught to him by the academy, he was determined to challenge the entire world. There was a reason why Perry was the most accomplished of Prince Xar's children before his premature demise.

Hence, looking at the young man standing before him right now, Sword God Buu's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He didn't know if this person was his disciple or not, but the subtleties in the way that he used his sword couldn't be imitated by anyone in this world.

Aglea crossed her arms as she calmly watched Perry in action, seemingly completely unsurprised by the fact that Perry was able to recover these memories.

It was as if she had gone back over 20 years in time, reverting back to the young woman who had learned his sword techniques in secret by watching him from the side.

Did she regret anything? Aglea would scoff at such a question as she didn't ever regret anything.

"This technique... I recall that its name seems to be Azure Dragon Spine," Perry said, more so to himself than anyone else as he flicked his sword toward Sword God Buu's wrist.

This was only a feint, and he immediately twisted around like a tornado to attack Sword God Buu's back.

Sword God Buu's eyes lit up with surprise and elation upon seeing this, and he didn't panic in the slightest as he raised his Carefree sword in a calm and collected manner, warding off the attack from Windage.

"Have you remembered everything?" Sword God Buu asked with a benevolent smile.

Perry shook his head in response. "I can only remember the sword techniques, but I can't remember anything else."

Sword God Buu wasn't saddened in the slightest to hear this. "Being able to recall the sword technique is already a good thing."

"Who am I?" Perry asked.

"If you've already forgotten, then why insist on remembering again?" At this point in his life, Sword God Buu had become a lot more liberated and open-minded than he had been many years ago. Instead of seeing Aglea's actions through a narrow-minded and dogmatic lens, he now realized with his vast wealth of life experience behind him that at times, it was far better to forget some things.

A faint smile appeared on Aglea's face upon hearing this, while Perry seemed to have fallen into deep thought.

Sword God Buu immediately seized this opportunity to pierce his sword toward Perry's throat. "Have you forgotten the lessons in concentration that I taught you?"

Perry immediately snapped out of his train of thought and reflexively parried the attack before unleashing Destined for Companionship.

Sword God Buu was the one who had seized the initiative, yet somehow, he was also the one who was forced back by Perry.

"What technique was that?" Sword God Buu asked with a surprised expression.

"Destined for Companionship," Aglea replied in his stead with a faint smile.

All of a sudden, Sword God Buu felt as if there were mountains collapsing and seas parting in his heart. In this instant, he finally understood just how detestable and abhorrent all of the arbitrary rules in the world were. Those rules had torn this young pair apart when they were clearly deeply in love with one another. They should've been the envy of their peers, but instead, they were reduced to innocent sacrifices due to a conflict between two families.

...

On the other side of the battlefield, the battle of life and death between Onean, Lana, and the assassin was continuing to rage on with no respite.

Within the confines of Boundless Purgatory, the assassin was forced to engage in the most primitive hand-to-hand combat against Lana.

Even though Lana was capable of keeping up when it came to skills, stamina was a major problem. After all, it simply wasn't reasonable to expect a magician to come out on top in a contest of stamina against a martial artist, and that wasn't even to mention the fact that Lana had already previously sustained injuries.

Thus, after several dozen exchanges, Lana was beginning to pant heavily, while her chest was heaving violently.

"You're putting on quite a show," the assassin said with a mocking smile on half his face as he swept an intrusive gaze over Lana's chest.

The azure magician robe that Lana was wearing had already been sliced into ribbons by the assassin's daggers, revealing large sections of her legs, which were riddled with wounds. If it weren't for the fact that Lana was making a dedicated effort to keep the tattered skirt of her dress pinned between her legs, it would've been flapping in the wind. The upper half of her dress also wasn't in any better condition, exposing much more cleavage than Lana bargained for. Thankfully, the gray mist was providing some cover to conceal the exposed sections of her body.

Onean was peering into the mist with tightly furrowed brows, and she wasn't in the mood to be enjoying Lana's suffering. She had already expended a huge amount of magic power, and she didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to last, but it was clear that Lana wouldn't be able to take care of this formidable assassin in a short time.

Even though Erwin couldn't see what was happening inside the Boundless Purgatory, he could tell from Onean's expression that Lana was clearly struggling within the vast expanse of gray mist.

Seeing the deep concern in Erwin's eyes, Theresa urged, "You have to focus on the bigger picture. All we can do right now is trust them to take care of themselves."

Erwin offered no response as he continued to peer intently into the gray mist.

...

"If you have the time to mock me, then you should take that time to look at yourself," Lana said with a cold smile.

The assassin glanced down at the puncture wound on his calf, and the mocking sneer on his face instantly faded. That wound was a result of Lana plunging her staff into his leg.

"Even if you make a full recovery from that injury, there are still going to be some lasting after-effects. You'll have to be prepared for the possibility that you may not be able to move as well as you did in the past," Lana continued.

"I may not be able to move as well in the future, but you don't even have a future!" A sinister look appeared on half of the assassin's face as he spoke.

Despite the strong front that Lana was putting up, she was beginning to grow quite concerned. She wasn't losing in this war of words, but the physical battle was the one that actually mattered, and she didn't know how much longer her tiring body would be able to last.

"Why don't you just give up and die? You're just wasting your energy in futility anyway." The daggers in the assassin's hands had become completely inanimate and devoid of luster, but they were still more than capable of acting as killing instruments in the right hands.

Lana gritted her teeth as she used her staff as a crutch to dodge to the side. However, due to her weary state, she wasn't able to move as quickly as she wanted.

The assassin's dagger screeched along her staff, creating a flurry of sparks, and even though it failed to slice open Lana's neck, it was able to inflict a gash close to a foot in length onto Lana's shoulder and back right as she was turning around.

Lana drew a sharp breath through tightly gritted teeth in agony, and she didn't even dare to turn around to inspect the wound.

It was a good thing that didn't look at the wound because it was already deep enough to expose her scapular bone, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.

The assassin licked Lana's blood from his dagger as he looked at her with a gleeful expression.

"What a heartless man your lover is," the assassin chuckled in a mocking voice. "Looks like he's just going to leave you here to die. What a waste of a stunning beauty like yourself."

"Did your face become like that because you were constantly being slapped for talking trash?" Lana chuckled. Even though she was in so much pain that she had to rely on her staff just to remain standing, she refused to lose in this war of words.

The assassin's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. "That sharp tongue of yours will only send you to an early grave."

Right as he was about to land the killing blow on Lana, the gray mist around the two of them suddenly dissipated.

A surprised look appeared on Onean's face as she still had sufficient magic power to maintain the Boundless Purgatory, and she had no idea why it had suddenly faded.

Her surprise was amplified even further as she looked up at the night sky and caught sight of the figure under the moonlight.

Even Perry and Sword God Buu stopped what they were doing to look at what was happening up above.