Shin soared through the sky at breakneck speed, the howling wind rushing past his ears, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of urgency in his heart.
This was nothing. With just a bit of effort, he could easily return to—
Before the thought even finished, he saw a flash of white leaping from the battleship behind him, a figure hot on his trail.
Boom!
The thrusters behind the figure roared to life. Durandal, already impossibly fast, pushed her speed to an even higher level and closed the distance almost instantly, catching up to Shin in midair.
"Got you!"
She grabbed his wrist tightly, her expression serious.
"You should try smiling in moments like this," Shin advised kindly.
Mission accomplished, yet the girl still wore a face like he owed her a battleship or something.
Well... maybe he actually did owe her a battleship.
As he glanced up at the floating warship billowing with black smoke, Shin felt a twinge of guilt.
About the size of a fingernail, maybe.
Schicksal's equipment quality is really questionable.
Shin firmly believed he had nothing to do with the ship's damage and expressed strong condemnation toward the logistics department for their shoddy engineering.
"I'm not letting you get away!" Durandal declared, completely ignoring his nonsense.
Whether it was for causing such a catastrophic Honkai outbreak or nearly destroying the Immortal Blades' battleship, she had no reason to let him leave.
"Don't say it like I ghosted you after a one-night stand or something," Shin quipped, despite the bone-crushing pain shooting through his wrist where she gripped him.
"..."
A faint blush crept across her cheeks. Durandal's attacks became even more intense.
This brute. She's definitely destined to be single for life.
Cursing silently, Shin counterattacked with equal force.
Their bodies plummeted toward the ground under the pull of gravity, yet their fierce midair clash showed no signs of slowing down.
Durandal didn't trust him in the slightest and was determined to capture this dangerous figure at any cost.
As for Shin… Well, she'd come straight to him. Even if he wanted to run, there was nowhere to go.
Despite the less-than-ideal setting, their battle was no less intense than before. Every punch and kick was aimed at disabling the other.
As for the threat of falling from such a height? At this point, neither of them could be considered "normal" humans, so who cared?
Hundreds of meters vanished in an instant. As they neared the ground, they exchanged one final blow before slamming into the earth, blasting out two massive craters.
"Surrender. You've got nowhere left to run," Durandal announced, brushing away the rising dust with a wave of her hand.
Now freed from the limitations of the battleship, she could unleash her power without restraint.
"Then allow me to return the favor," Shin replied, rubbing his sore wrist before launching a spinning kick that sent a charging Honkai Beast flying over ten meters away.
They had landed right in the middle of a pack of Honkai Beasts.
But to both of them, these creatures were little more than ants.
"This is your final warning. I don't want to kill you."
Her tone was grave, and in her deep blue eyes shimmered a faint hint of gold.
"So what you're saying is, if you wanted to, you could kill me anytime you like?!"
Standing atop a Honkai Beast's head, Shin shouted defiantly, his white robes billowing wildly in the wind.
In a moment like this, he really wished he had a folding fan in hand.
"..."
Durandal didn't respond to his provocation, but the golden glow in her eyes flared like twin suns ablaze.
Sensing the surge of power radiating from her, Shin fell silent.
Coach, I'd like to report a cheat user!
We agreed to fight using our own strength, and here you are, pulling out your secret super mode?
"Surrender," Durandal warned again. "This power is still unstable. I don't want to kill you by accident."
Despite the intensity of their clash, she hadn't sensed any killing intent from him. It was as if he'd come all this way just for the sake of fighting her.
"Hahaha~" Shin laughed madly behind his mask. "Young Valkyrie, who told you that was my full strength?"
"I am the man who inherited the name of Welt!"
As his words fell, a pair of luminous white glows appeared in his eyes, not searing like the sun, but calm and radiant like twin moons in the night sky.
In that moment, the full power of the Stigmata within Shin was unleashed.
Half a year was more than enough for him to fully master a single Stigma.
Durandal pressed her lips together but didn't refute his claim to Welt's name.
Her legs bent slightly, then in the next second, her body shot forward like a cannonball, leaving a streak of golden light across the ground.
Without hesitation, Shin also accelerated, breaking the sound barrier as he charged toward her.
Boom!
The two collided midair with a deafening crash, ten times louder than before. Shockwaves rippled outward from the impact, destroying everything in their path with equal force. Even the massive Honkai Beasts were instantly pulverized to dust.
When two beings at the pinnacle of the world's power clashed without restraint, even just witnessing the battle came at a heavy price.
Inside the command bridge, the Valkyries remaining on the ship watched the brutal battle unfold on screen as it moved from sky to ground. Their previously numbed expressions began to shift once more.
So even Schicksal's floating battleships, the pinnacle of their technological achievement, weren't even qualified to serve as a stage for these two?
So it was really possible for humans to unleash such overwhelming power on their own, and not just one, but two?
To the side of the screen, the onboard AI marked the energy output:
2000HW.
And this battleship's maximum output didn't even reach 1000HW!
For a moment, everyone felt their understanding of the world shatter into even finer pieces than before.
They'd already thought Durandal was incredibly powerful, but now it was clear—her previous opponents were simply too weak to let her show her true strength.
Staring at the blurry display, Rita couldn't help but waver.
Facing a Durandal like this… was she truly worthy of protecting her?
After returning from the Sea of Quanta, Rita knew Durandal had become much stronger, but this was her first time seeing her go all out.
And even now, even like this, Durandal couldn't secure a win.
The fight was hard to follow visually, but the AI's energy readings showed she only held a 200HW advantage—not nearly enough to be decisive.
What's more, Rita knew full well that using World Bubble power placed tremendous strain on Durandal's body.
Carrying the weight of an entire world wasn't a burden one could simply wield at will.
She had no idea what condition Shin was in, but she needed to be ready to step in if Durandal faltered.
Biting her lip, Rita made up her mind.
But before that, there was something else she had to do.
As she thought, the Valkyrie opened Schicksal's main communication channel.
"Hello? Is this Miss Amber?
This is Rita of the Immortal Blades squad. We've encountered an unexpectedly powerful enemy. The opponent's strength is on par with that of a Herrscher.
Requesting immediate dispatch of another Valkyrie unit for support."
Neither side was the type to waste time. The transmission ended quickly.
As her gaze returned to the screen, Rita's lips curved into a subtle smile.
This is Schicksal's home turf, after all.
*********
Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!