Of course, Shu had no intention of using a forged Star of Judgment as his main offensive method. Using [Hope] to create objects was just a necessary move to show Bianka.
And the Star of Judgment in his hand now...
Since he'd already manifested it, it would be a waste not to use it.
Shu swung the sword down hard at Bianka, who was charging at him after breaking out of the ice. The instantly exploding flames illuminated a large area of the sea.
A large amount of water vapor rose from the sea surface, and the ice floes floating on the surface were rapidly melting. It seemed that this sword strike was quite effective.
But the smile on Shu's face froze slightly, then turned into a faint sense of gratification.
A bone-chilling cold was rapidly engulfing the flames that Shu had unleashed. The cold wind blowing towards him stirred the stray hairs on his forehead...
It wasn't a cold wind.
Sharp ice shards scraped past Shu's surface, creating a shower of fluorescent light as they collided with the faint colored light around him.
This was just the beginning. A large forest of giant ice crystals rose from the rippling sea surface, rapidly covering Shu with a crushing force.
Shu couldn't help but pay extra attention. He could feel that this fantastical-looking ice crystal forest still showed no signs of being created with [Hope].
But this was still a huge surprise. Had Bianka already mastered her abilities to this extent? Although Shu wasn't familiar with Bianka herself, he had already read her file.
Just a few days ago, Bianka had become a complete MANTIS. After that, she had not used her abilities at all. This was the first time she had truly put her powers into practice...
To be able to master her powers to this extent just by conceiving of them, Shu, who had to go through countless practices to barely master his own abilities, understood better than Bianka what kind of talent she possessed.
How enviable...
The envy in his heart flashed by. It wasn't the first time Shu had considered what effect his abilities would have if they were in the hands of others.
Kiana had a miraculous talent. This power would be like giving wings to a tiger in her hands.
Bronya was much more rational than him. Many times, he could only use 20% of his power, but Bronya could use 100%, and even maintain it steadily.
Even Mei could do much better than him. She could easily know when to use what kind of ability, while he was easily outsmarted by his enemies...
And Shu's current excitement, and the various assessments he was conducting on Bianka, stemmed from this mentality. Even if Bianka could only possess a small part of the power of [Hope], the achievements she could accomplish would definitely be greater than his.
This was what Shu firmly believed... The reason he stood at the top was only because he possessed the power of [Hope]. Without this power... the gap between him and others was like a chasm.
So that's how it is...
A sudden realization dawned on Shu.
Fire Moth needed him because only he could fight against the Herrschers.
This was the reason he was unwilling to accept Otto's proposal to disband the team. Because once he retreated from the front line, the others would not be able to withstand the impact of the next Herrscher.
But now, Shu felt that he had found the reason why Otto wanted him to step down... It must be because Otto had also discovered that Bianka possessed the same power as him, right?
Then he was indeed not suitable to stay on the front line... Bianka would surpass him and do a better job in his place, and he...
Shu's movements paused slightly. In that brief moment of distraction, the sharp ice shards had already broken through the colored light shield around him, leaving a light scratch on his face.
The spread of the cold air came to an abrupt halt. Bianka had clearly noticed that Shu was injured and had urgently stopped releasing her power.
This brought Shu back to his senses, and he pulled himself together.
Now was not the time to think about retirement...
The smile on Shu's face was now uncontrollable. He raised his hand with anticipation and excitedly mobilized his power.
And what he had to do now... was to do everything in his power to get Bianka to "eliminate" him!
---||---
After taking Azhar to Rita, Ana rushed towards the source of the commotion by the sea without a moment's rest.
Those two probably didn't know that they had already become a serious public nuisance.
At this moment, not only Ana, but also Himeko at the base had been alerted. Leaving a few team members behind, she headed towards the sea with a few others.
However, neither of them were here to hold Shu and Bianka accountable for their public nuisance.
Ana knew that the two were Bianka and "Kevin," but she didn't understand why a game of hide-and-seek could create such a huge commotion.
The few sonic booms were one thing. In her calculations, Bianka could indeed break the sound barrier with her physical body.
If that "Kevin" was also such a monster, it wouldn't be a problem for two evenly matched people to create a few sonic booms...
But the point wasn't the sonic booms! The point was the tremor that erupted from the sea surface!
The energy contained in that level of collision...
Ana's footsteps suddenly stopped, and her figure abruptly halted at the edge of the Sapphire City harbor.
In her violet eyes was reflected a sun that had suddenly risen on the sea surface, and then she witnessed that sun rapidly fall, turning into gusts of bone-chilling cold wind...
Ana didn't know what kind of power that cold wind was, but she recognized the sun that had erupted before.
The Star of Judgment... the rated power of the exclusive weapon of Siegfried Kaslana of the Snow Wolf Squad. That highly recognizable small sun was definitely it.
According to the available information, Senior Bianka and Siegfried had a very good relationship. There were even rumors that Bianka was actually Siegfried's second daughter.
Now it seemed... this news was very likely true? And during this time, Siegfried and the Snow Wolf Squad were indeed at the base in ARC City.
It was said that in the previous great battle, the Snow Wolf Squad, as the main force against the Herrscher, had all been injured, so for him to lend the Star of Judgment to his daughter...
It was indeed reasonable.
But what was that cold that could even suppress the Star of Judgment?! Had Future City created some kind of technology that surpassed the Star of Judgment?
But was there really a Kaslana in this world who was closer to Future City than Siegfried? Who on earth was this "Kevin"?!
Ever since she had come to ARC City, Ana felt that her worldview had been constantly refreshed, from the Honkai at the beginning, to the Herrschers later, to the "Kevin" who had appeared out of nowhere now...
Suddenly, Ana had some unnecessary doubts about whether she could continue to adapt to this world.