The time came to 9:50 AM the next day.
At this point, it could no longer be called early morning; the summer sun was shining mercilessly, and the harsh light beamed down from the distant horizon.
The people of the Spirit Forest had already gathered and were marching deeper into the woods.
Dappled shadows of trees were cast on the ground, and Claire and Rinslet were still bickering as usual, while Ren Ashbell walked silently along the path. Ren Ashbell was like this; she rarely spoke unless necessary.
Roa was already used to Ren Ashbell's demeanor, so he didn't find it particularly special.
As usual, everyone walked along the gravel path.
Soon, they arrived once again at the formation. The formation emitted a faint glow, and after waiting for a moment, Roa saw Velsaria approaching.
Velsaria was still dressed as before, wearing light armor and a cloak, her face very calm.
Roa had no intention of greeting her; he called out to the others and directly stood on the formation.
The formation lit up, the view shifted, and a strong sense of weightlessness hit him. When Roa opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the Astral Zero.
The sky was blue, and white clouds rolled in the distant horizon.
The environment here was quite similar to the Spirit Forest; reality and the Astral Zero were not completely independent, as could be seen from this point.
After a while, five figures appeared not far away. The one standing in the middle was not Velsaria but the referee teacher, who was also a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses.
Without saying much, she glanced at the terrain, then separated the groups, taking out a form from her pocket and addressing everyone, "You all know the rules, so I won't say much. Now, let's begin. Five minutes."
However, Velsaria and her group did not move.
Velsaria stared intently at Roa, her eyes flashing with an unclear fierce light.
Velsaria's gaze made Roa feel quite displeased. He looked at Velsaria and said, "Were you planning to play hide and seek?"
Velsaria coldly replied, "No need, but if you want, I can let you hide."
Roa smirked, shrugged, and did not move his feet. The two teams stood off against each other in a stalemate.
The referee adjusted her glasses, the lenses glinting in the sunlight, and said somewhat helplessly, "Is this how you want to do it? Well, do as you please."
The five minutes were meant for preparation, and generally, both teams would choose to move a certain distance before playing a game of cat and mouse to see who could find whom first.
The side that was found would naturally be at a disadvantage, as they would be ambushed.
Of course, a strong team could do as Velsaria did, standing still and waiting for the other side to make a move.
But generally, no team would do this.
Now, however, it was quite rare for both teams to prepare to engage in battle right away.
As the five minutes elapsed, the referee stepped back, watching the start of the battle from a distance.
Before the battle began, verbal sparring was inevitable. Velsaria wore a mocking smile, but her eyes showed no amusement as she said, "Heh, quite brave, aren't you? To dare face me directly. Should I commend your courage?"
Without giving the three spirit users beside her time to prepare, Velsaria made her move.
A massive divine might gathered, and a blinding light erupted from Velsaria, the divine might surging like a tide, crushing outward.
Velsaria's companions unconsciously took a few steps back, and the expressions of the girls turned somewhat grim. One of the older girls spoke up, "Captain, you should wait. At least let us deploy our Elemental Waffes first."
The girl's words had no positive effect; Velsaria coldly replied, "You are just here to make up the numbers."
Dazzling white light enveloped Velsaria's body, and as the blinding light dissipated, a deep red fortress covered in composite armor appeared before everyone's eyes.
Roa stared in disbelief, exclaiming, "Gundam?"
Indeed, this was a massive Gundam, completely beyond Roa's understanding of Elemental Waffes.
In the next moment, the dark cannon ports equipped on the chest of the deep red fortress aimed directly at Roa's position, and Velsaria's voice, tinged with mockery, came from within.
"Let me see how strong you are!"
The gun barrels shifted, and a burst of sparks erupted from the dark cannon ports. With a thunderous roar, the cannons began to bombard the area where Roa was located.
The violent firepower poured down like rain, and bullets surged towards the group.
Roa frowned, gathering divine might to form a shallow red energy shield that blocked the bullets and cannon fire.
Particles of light gathered beside Roa, and Est appeared next to him, her gaze fixed on the floating fortress. Est, slightly surprised, looked at the massive, menacing Gundam and said, "Do you need me to pierce through it?"
Roa remained silent, wanting to see just how powerful Velsaria's firepower was.
Bullets collided with the energy shield, causing ripples to spread across the red energy barrier. Then, with a clattering sound, the bullets fell to the ground, making a tinkling noise.
Roa looked at the ground; these were not real nuclear bullets, but merely energy items materialized by divine might.
The dense firepower covered the surrounding area, and Roa naturally couldn't shield everything around him. Aside from the defensive range in front of him, the surrounding environment was left pockmarked and dusty from the barrage.
Velsaria's cold voice came again, "You have some skill; I hope you can take this move."
The machine gun barrels shifted, replaced by massive cannon tubes. The barrels aimed at Roa, and silver-white divine energy gathered at the gun muzzles, the energy continuously contracting and expanding, causing Roa to raise an eyebrow.
"Could it be?"
Roa had a bad premonition, retracting his divine might. The red divine energy returned to his body, and he said to the four beside him, "Let's retreat for now."
The energy continued to expand, and suddenly, it was fired at Roa.
The powerful energy wave shattered the scene, trees and soil rolling, and a massive beam of light shot into the sky. Of course, this attack couldn't compare to the Death's Dark Thunder that Ren Ashbell had once unleashed, but even so, if he were to withstand it purely with divine might, the amount consumed would be considerable—at least three to four times the energy gathered by this cannonball.
Defending always consumes more than attacking, so this was not a good idea.
After telling the four, Roa vanished from his spot.
Claire and Rinslet hurriedly ran in all directions, while Ren Ashbell looked thoughtfully at the floating Gundam, her eyes seemingly recalling something.
Ellis had run halfway but turned back upon seeing Ren Ashbell standing there foolishly. Gritting her teeth, she returned to forcibly pull Ren Ashbell away.
In an instant, the group scattered like birds and beasts.
Fortunately, this round of intense bombardment did not successfully hit anyone.
Velsaria pouted in displeasure, a shadow appearing on the girl's face hidden within the mech.
The nearly 200mm caliber gun barrels turned, and the floating mech began to search for the locations of the others.
Upon spotting a suspicious target, it would inevitably rain down cannon fire, followed by a round of concentrated fire, bombarding the ground into a mess.
Roa's figure had already crept close to Velsaria. A strange expression appeared in Roa's eyes.
Logically, Velsaria should eventually tire from recklessly expending divine might, but she seemed to be in good condition, which puzzled Roa.
After all, not everyone, like Roa, had an immaculate body capable of perfectly converting divine might and magical power. Velsaria, as an ordinary spirit user, even with her high strength, had a limited amount of divine might. As someone from a normal background, where did Velsaria get so much divine might?
While pondering, Roa still prepared to take action against her.
After all, allowing Velsaria to continue her relentless bombardment was not a solution.
"———Cold Steel Queen, Holy Sword that Slays Demons."
The incantation in the spirit language began, and the spirit imprint on Roa's right hand lit up, symbolizing the opening of the door to the Astral Zero. Est transformed into a silver-white light, and the white light continuously gathered, ultimately forming a snow-white steel sword.
The steel sword shimmered with silver light as Roa grasped Est and charged forward.
The transparent world opened, and the violent divine might was concealed within the transparent world. Roa held the long sword at his waist.
Taking a deep breath, feeling his heart pounding like a drum, a smile crept onto Roa's lips.
"Absolute Blade Arts - Purple Lightning."
Roa murmured softly, and in the next moment, his figure vanished from sight.
Purple lightning filled the area, and Velsaria sensed something, suddenly turning her gun to fire at Roa's position.
A dense barrage of large-caliber bullets shot out from the thick gun barrels, and this was yet another round of concentrated fire.
However, before Velsaria could catch her breath, the snow-white sword wrapped in purple lightning had already arrived in front of her, and in an instant, the purple lightning pierced through the body of the Gundam.
Everything happened too quickly, so fast that Velsaria didn't even have time to react.
The Gundam's firepower was indeed fierce, and its attacks could be said to be top-notch, but accompanying that was its heavy body.
Even with various spirit magic to reinforce the Gundam's defenses, once faced with a holy sword like Est's, which could easily penetrate any defense, the so-called defense became a joke.
The silver-white sword easily pierced through the tall body, and the nearly five-meter-tall Gundam was penetrated. Accompanied by the sparks from the metal collision, Velsaria let out a muffled groan, her face turning pale and twisted.
"Damn it, how could you do this!"
Velsaria's angry voice came from the mech as it raised its right arm and slammed down towards the position where Roa was.
The speed of the punch was not slow, but it was not enough to hit Roa. Roa drew his long sword and dodged to the right side of Velsaria, causing the punch to miss and instead hit Velsaria's armor.
Sparks flew, and the Gundam staggered again.
Velsaria struggled to control her spirit magic armor, trying to stabilize the heavy mech giant.
Roa once again gripped the Demon Slayer Holy Sword, a mocking expression on his face as he said, "At this level, it's no wonder you're not a match for Ren Ashbell."
This statement infuriated Velsaria, but the next moment, a silver-white slash came down violently, the raging sword edge cutting a deep scar into the five-meter Gundam.
Velsaria wanted to take action, but the next moment, a tremendous force erupted from the right side. Roa kicked directly at Velsaria's massive mech, and the force of this kick was not light. In an instant, the already crumbling parts of the steel fortress scattered, and the heavy armor scraped through the air, flying out with a sharp wind sound, while the Gundam was smashed hard to the ground.
Dust rose, and as the dust settled, the massive Gundam lay on the ground.
The Gundam transformed into white light and dissipated, revealing Velsaria in the center.
Velsaria looked disheveled, her face filled with despair.
As Roa approached, he heard Velsaria mumbling, "It can't be, it can't be. I clearly… I clearly have become much stronger than three years ago. This, this is impossible."
Roa walked in front of Velsaria, looking at her with a sympathetic expression. Without saying much, he directly reached out his right hand and tightly grasped her throat, his sympathy unmasked. Roa said to Velsaria, "Pursuing power out of obsession, losing oneself in power—what use is it to become stronger?"
Velsaria began to struggle, her face turning red from the pressure.
Roa released his grip, and Velsaria fell to the ground, gasping for fresh air. She glared at Roa and said, "What do you know, you bastard?"
Roa shrugged, just as he was about to ask something, he saw Velsaria suddenly clutching her heart in pain.
Roa: ???
Is she faking it? I didn't use much force.
He had indeed grasped her throat, but Roa's intention was merely to make Velsaria behave. Moreover, even if one dies in the Astral Zero, it only results in mental trauma in the outside world, so he had only applied a little force.
However, looking at Velsaria's expression, it didn't seem like she was faking it.