Mydei's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. This was utterly different from the traditional Kremnoan duels he knew—face-to-face roaring charges followed by tests of raw strength.
But... the power the other had displayed demanded respect, and the rules seemed fair. He said in a deep voice. "Though unfamiliar... the guest defers to the host. So be it!"
"Good." A faint, fleeting smile tugged at the corner of Phaethon's lips, so fast one might mistake it for a trick of the light.
The moment the word left his mouth!
Phaethon's fingers, holding the balance coin, flicked upwards with elegant precision.
*Ting—*
A faint spatial ripple quietly spread out behind Phaethon. An Infinity Gate, glowing with a pale yellow light and just large enough for one person, silently opened behind him like a dark maw ready to devour its prey.
Phaethon: Kids, the outcome is decided. I'm making my exit first.
That small metal coin, under the gaze of everyone, traced a cold, arcing path as it spun, flying high into the azure sky!
The light of the Dawn Device danced across its smooth surface, reflecting a blinding glare.
Time itself seemed to stretch into infinity!
Every muscle in Mydei's body tensed to its absolute limit! A wave of dark red energy erupted from him, forming a faint, roaring phantom of a colossal beast behind him!
The ground beneath his feet exploded, a spiderweb of cracks spreading madly outwards! He bent his knees slightly, adopting the charging stance of the Kremnoan royal line!
The moment that coin chimed against the ground, he would transform into a spatial-rending hurricane of destruction, intent on grinding Phaethon to dust!
The sheer, pent-up force made the Kremnoan warriors a kilometer away feel their blood boil, drawing suppressed roars from their throats!
The coin reached its apex, hung suspended for a brief moment, and then… began to fall!
Every heart leaped into throats! The air solidified like steel!
Mydei's blood roared in his veins! Power surged through every muscle fiber! His spirit was hyper-focused, all his senses locked onto that falling coin! Waiting only for that single sound—
The coin drew closer to the ground… five meters… three meters… one meter…
Just as the metal edge of the coin was about to touch the tip of a protruding piece of rubble below…
A rousing BGM seemed to echo in everyone's ears.
*BZZZZ—KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!*
A terrifying, low-frequency sonic boom—not an explosion, yet more heart-stopping than any blast, a sound that made space itself groan—violently and without warning tore through the air less than ten meters from Mydei!
It was a massive pillar, over a meter in diameter and more than three meters long, constructed entirely from some strange stone that glittered with starlike points of cold light!
It appeared with no logic, as if forcibly squeezed out of space itself! And it manifested carrying a near-supersonic, destructive kinetic force!
0.03 seconds!
Mydei's nerve reactions, capable of surpassing even a great dragon's, only allowed his crimson golden pupils to reflect the cold, grey shadow of death that filled his entire vision!
0.03 seconds!
He had no time to think! No time for fear! No time to mount any effective defense or evasion!
His proud, powerful body, capable of withstanding battering rams head-on, was as fragile as a ragged cloth doll before this physics-exploiting ambush!
*THUMP—CRUNCH-CRACK-CRACK—BOOM!!!*
A horrifying, gut-wrenching, teeth-jarring sound—a mix of twisting metal, shattering bone, and exploding rock!
The moment Mydei's mountainous frame made contact with the giant pillar, it was as if he'd been struck head-on by the Astral Express at full speed!
The layer of dark red protective energy covering his body, capable of deflecting heavy crossbow volleys, vanished like a soap bubble! His sturdy bones erupted in a series of heart-stopping cracks!
His entire form was utterly deformed, ruthlessly and seamlessly slammed back by the stone pillar, then caught up and carried away as a blurry afterimage of flesh and blood. He was plowed outwards at a speed far exceeding any vehicle, carving a terrifying trench into the earth away from the walls of Okhema!
Where the giant pillar passed, the ground was torn open into a horrific trench meters deep, burning with the heat of friction!
Dirt, rock, the occasional unfortunate animal that failed to flee—everything in its path was instantly pulverized!
Hundreds of meters were covered in the blink of an eye!
*BOOOOOOM!!!!!!*
Another earth-shaking roar, so loud the Kremnoan warriors a kilometer away felt their eardrums sting!
The stone pillar, its kinetic energy and structural stress pushed to the limit, finally and violently disintegrated like a giant bomb being detonated, nearly five hundred meters from its origin point!
*BOOM—! SHWIIIIING—!*
Countless fragments of stone, their edges red-hot and glowing from friction, irregular in shape and size, shot out radially in all directions like scythes of death, whistling with piercing shrieks!
Within a radius of nearly a hundred meters, everything projecting above the ground—rocks, dead trees, small hills, even a few unlucky rodents—was shredded, pierced, and utterly annihilated in this destructive storm!
All that remained was an enormous, blackened, scorched crater, its center sunken and its edges covered in radial cracks and burn marks. And at the bottom of the crater… a charred, mangled "object," barely recognizable as human. His flesh mangled, bones shattered and is now almost unrecognizable.
The few clothes that had remained on the figure had long since been incinerated into nothingness by the high-speed friction and impact.
As for Phaethon?
The moment before the coin was about to land, he didn't even turn his head. He simply leaned back, elegant and composed.
Phaethon: Coin lands, lean back, see ya!
*Schwoop!*
His figure vanished as if erased by a rubber, instantly swallowed by the prepared Infinity Gate behind him.
The light flashed, the portal closed instantly, vanishing without a trace. As if it had never been there.
The coin, only now, *clinked* once as it bounced off the protruding piece of rubble, then came to rest quietly on the earth, scorched black by the residual energy of the pillar's passage.
Phaethon: You're in for a big surprise!
And the "mass" at the bottom of the crater was none other than the Kremnoan Crown Prince, Mydei, who mere moments ago had been as arrogant and imposing as a lion.
[Detected individual life signs have completely vanished from the observation range.]
[Core protocol activated.]
[This individual…]
Wait! What the heck?
Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!
System, what's going on?
Didn't Mydei have an immortal body? How can you even collect him?
[People die when they are killed. Is there a problem?]
Phaethon choked momentarily. Then… then what happens after collection?
[I've already filed it. The data is recorded, the abilities are all mine now. Of course he's dead. He has to die, even if he didn't want to.]
Phaethon: ...Can you put it back?
[You didn't want him dead? Then why did you go so hard?]
System! Put him back now!
[Fine, fine.]
…
Mydei's Remaining Consciousness Shard: Wha… what the heck? Ugh— Why do I feel so dizzy? How come I close my eyes and open them… and I'm at the River Styx?
Wait… the procedure's wrong. Why did it take so long to regain consciousness here? Whatever… gO! gO! gO! Let's go!