"Ares, where do you want to fight?"
Ganso's question hung in the air. Ares thought for a moment before replying with supreme confidence.
"Right here!"
His words made Stella and Tetsutaro jump in shock, both protesting simultaneously. Tetsutaro was devastated at the thought of the robot he had spent so much time building being destroyed, while Stella panicked because the room was filled with her precious medicinal supplies. Seeing their worry, Ganso surmised that Ares was certainly not a weak person.
"Ares, you seem quite strong yourself," Ganso said in a low voice.
Ares didn't bother with modesty and replied flatly,
"That's right. I am the strongest person in all of Heavenfield."
The two stood facing each other, locking eyes while Tetsutaro and Stella scrambled to hide behind a heavy table. Suddenly, Ganso's body began to emit faint wisps of white smoke. Sweat poured off him, drenching the wooden floor only to evaporate instantly into thick steam. Ares watched the scene with great interest, letting out a small chuckle.
"Oho, so it's your Essence?"
Meanwhile, in the Deepgreen forest, Shinji's group had climbed to an altitude level with the clouds. The appearance of these white drifts at such a low height was baffling. As one cloud drifted toward Shinji, he instinctively reached out his hand to push it away. However, a strange sound erupted from within the cloud—a hooting cry like that of an owl, making Shinji recoil in surprise. Omelet observed closely and suddenly realized a glaring physical inconsistency.
"What on earth? Clouds are water vapor. If that's the case, Shinji, how were you able to touch it?"
A sense of dread washed over them. They hurriedly looked down to warn Akidou and Alba, but at such a vast distance, Akidou—who was half-asleep—only heard faint, distorted shouts:
"The clouds! Be careful!"
He didn't pay much mind to it, simply telling Alba it was nothing. Realizing they couldn't afford to linger, Shinji's group immediately accelerated, racing toward the summit of the Great Tree.
Back at Heavenfield, the battle had truly begun—a clash between the strongest of Heavenfield and the strongest of the Sernik continent. Ganso initiated the attack with a lightning-fast dash, throwing a punch that carried the weight of a thousand tons. Ares dodged effortlessly and countered with a direct punch to Ganso's chest. However, Ares was the one who took damage; he was sent reeling back by a massive force of recoil and had to crouch low to maintain his balance.
"Well now, your ability is quite interesting," Ares praised. Before he could finish his sentence, Ganso was already closing in with another direct strike. Ares transformed into light, teleporting into the air to evade the blow, causing Ganso's punch to slam into the stone wall. The sheer power of the impact caused the wall to cave in and shatter into large fragments.
Ares landed in the distance, his feet beginning to glow with a brilliant golden light before he kicked forward:
"Heavenly Destruction: Light Kick!"
A long, sharp beam of light shot toward Ganso before he could even turn his head. However, the moment the beam touched Ganso, it reflected completely back at Ares. He reached out to catch the beam, absorbing it back into his body, but the resulting shockwave was so powerful it caused the entire wall behind him to crumble.
Sensing that Ganso was preparing to attack again, Ares finally grew serious. His eyes turned razor-sharp, and a dense, suffocating killing intent radiated from him, causing Ganso to freeze in shock.
"Heavenly Destruction: Light Dancing!"
Ares turned into a blur of light, moving at a speed impossible to track as he maneuvered behind Ganso. Ganso spun around to throw a punch, but Ares was a step faster. He ducked low and pointed his finger toward the ceiling.
"Heavenly Destruction: God Slayer!"
A massive pillar of light exploded from the center of Ares's palm, shooting straight upward. The energy pierced through hundreds of feet of solid earth, tearing through the ground to reach the surface. All of Heavenfield shook, a tremor felt even by the real Tetsutaro sitting in the control room. Ares had deliberately held back to avoid obliterating the area above Heavenfield, leaving behind only a muffled explosion and a golden halo of light on the surface.
Stella's infirmary was now nothing more than a pile of ruins. That last strike could have easily finished Ganso, but Ares had intentionally fired a grazing shot, only scorching the man's shaggy hair. Ares stood up, casually fixing Ganso's hair for him before turning to walk away.
"Not bad, Ganso. I acknowledge your strength."
Ganso, Stella, and Tetsutaro stood frozen in awe of that terrifying power. Ares walked away nonchalantly as if nothing had happened, then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh shoot, I forgot to buy food for the old man."
He left behind a massive crater piercing through the earth to the surface.
At that moment, in the Grand Command room, Odin was fuming because his stomach was empty and no one had brought him his meal. Back at the infirmary, Stella looked at her destroyed home and pharmacy, trembling with rage. Even Tetsutaro's promise to build her a new room couldn't calm her down. As for Ganso, he stood in silence, looking at the palm of his hand and clenching it tight with an eye full of determination.