"Look at this. I gathered energy and forged an arrow!"
The image of the 1st Princess from the past was still vivid.
Her height barely reached Jaekiel's waist, and she proudly showed off the
beam of light the size of a fork she had made.
"Well done. The future looks promising."
Jaekiel now looked straight ahead at the present.
"…"
Kwaaaaang!
What remained the size of a fork in his memory was now a beam of light
the size of a building flying towards him.
"…This wasn't the future I expected."
Speed, size, energy density… everything was evenly distributed. The power
was naturally immense.
Wasn't this the crystallization of the energy that gave Ether so many titles
and names? It was indeed worthy of being called the Hope of the Empire…
…Now the Hope of the Empire was aiming at Jaekiel.
'If I make a mistake, I'll really die.'
Crunch, the Sun Grass he bit into burst.
There was no choice. This was the gamble he chose.
It would have been easier if they took turns attacking and defending, but he
provoked Ether to get more Sun Water from the Emperor. Now, he just had
to endure it somehow.
The intention of shooting such a large beam of light was clear. This time, it
was intended to be impossible to deflect.
However, standing here now was Jaekiel.
There was no way he had no countermeasures.
Phew.
Jaekiel exhaled the Sun Grass smoke, simultaneously covering his eyes
with refined mana.
With enhanced vision, he could see.
The size, shape, and composition of the beam of light rushing towards
Dominon Gorge… he grasped it all in an instant.
Next was creation.
Pop!
Ice molds formed on both sides. They were made to match the shape of the
beam of light with no margin for error, and when Jaekiel clapped his hands,
they covered the beam.
Bang!
The first ice mold shattered immediately.
"As expected, one time isn't enough."
However.
The beam of light that pierced the ice mold had its power slightly reduced.
Now, there was only one thing left to do, repeat the process until the beam
would stop.
Jaekiel clapped his hands again.
Pop!
Then, the molds covered the beam again.
Bang!
He felt the speed significantly decrease.
Bang!
Both the speed and size had decreased.
'Close.'
The beam of light, which had not yet completely lost its power, was already
in front of Jaekiel's nose. He drew up all the mana he had.
Stamp!
Jaekiel lifted one foot and stamped the ground.
Whoosh!
Simultaneously, high-rising ice spikes struck the beam of light with all their
might.
Whoosh!
The beam of light barely grazed Jaekiel's head and then flew into the distant
wall.
"Haa, haa…"
Jaekiel steadied his rough breathing for a moment.
"Two."
Then, he grabbed the brush and began to move his wrist. Now, the
completion of the portrait was just around the corner.
"Only two left."
They say inspiration comes suddenly.
It was no lie.
He had an idea of how to draw the Emperor's appearance.
Cullinan Gorge.
"He blocked it?"
Ether looked at the gorge on the opposite side with a somewhat incredulous
expression.
No, if the opponent had simply blocked it, Ether wouldn't be so puzzled.
But the explosion that should have destroyed the gorge was minimal. It
almost disappeared without a sound.
'Did he effectively extinguish my beam of light?'
At first, she thought he was lucky.
Then she thought he had the cunning to deflect it.
But now she had to admit that he had substance. Had such talent appeared
in the empire without her knowing?
No, perhaps he wasn't a talent of the empire.
'Is he from the Great Forest?'
Ether herself knew that the Emperor was searching for a worthy opponent
for the 1st Princess. Among the elves of the Great Forest, there were those
exceptional in long-distance duels.
[ Only two left. ]
"…"
Ether quietly gathered her energy.
When the 1st Princess snapped her fingers, the giant ballista formed from
energy slowly remerged into Ether's body.
"Hmm."
The Princess pondered.
"Only two more, just two."
It wasn't that she hesitated because the number of attempts was limited. She
was not worried about not winning.
'I only get to savor this guy two more times?'
Such an interesting guy. It had been a long time since she encountered one.
Even when she longed for subjugation for fun, it was rare to find a monster
that satisfied her. But to encounter such unexpected fun in a duel.
Curiosity.
'I want to see how he counters all my techniques.'
Why were there only two attempts left?
Ether wanted to use all the techniques she knew. She wanted to have him
defend them all and observe how he countered and evaded them.
Ether would then research the counter to the counter.
Wouldn't that eventually lead to Ether's strength?
'With that guy, I can become even more perfect.'
Ether, now a woman, was no longer a girl. She was not young enough to
suggest changing the rules.
"The last two times, it must be that."
With only two chances left, she had to choose her most cherished
techniques. That way, she could refine them even a little more.
Even if the surrounding area would turn into ruins.
'It doesn't matter at all.'
The imperial family had already evacuated everyone in the vicinity. The
empire might regret the lush forest turning into a wasteland, but it was fine.
The forest was not the future of the empire; the 1st Princess was.
Ether gathered her energy in her hand once again.
But this time, it was not in the form of a bow.
A large spear.
Crack.
A terrifying sound was heard as she clenched it tightly with her fist.
Ether took her stance, put all her strength into her body, and then threw it
perfectly.
No, it would be more accurate to say she shot it.
Whoooooosh!
The spear pierced through the space as it advanced.
"Teacher! Teacher!"
"I finally made a spear. Can you see it?"
"How is it? Isn't it really strong?!"
"…Yeah. It's strong."
As soon as he saw the spear, Jaekiel spat out the Sun Grass.
'That's not a strike to block from here.'
Jaekiel covered his feet with mana and jumped into the air.
Someone might call it suicide, but for this spear, the best countermeasure
was to approach it closely rather than retreat.
"My spear is really unique."
"It absorbs everything. The farther it flies, the stronger it gets!"
"Should I swallow you up, Teacher? How about it?"
Typical projectiles lose strength the farther they fly due to encountering
various resistances.
But Ether's spear was different.
Its absurd characteristic was that it absorbs all the subtle energy around it as
it advances. Thus, the best countermeasure was to quickly approach and
defend against it.
Whoosh.
Jaekiel created a barrier to trap the spear.
An icy dodecahedron barrier.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The spear bounced off the faces of the barrier. It would be trapped inside
until it exhausted its power.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tremendous explosions occurred every time it hit.
Agonizing pain surged as if his entire body would break.
Absorbing the damage with the barrier meant that the impact would be
processed through the mana connected to the barrier. Ultimately, Jaekiel
would take a significant portion of the shock.
It might shorten his lifespan.
'I have to endure.'
Jaekiel swallowed the blood that surged up.
This was a gamble.
A gamble with his life on the line. If he won, he could gain more than three
times his life back!
Bang!
At that moment, the spear inside the dodecahedral barrier split and shot out
a small orb.
'That's the core.'
The essence that absorbed the energy from Ether's spear.
"Teacher~ It's a surprise gift."
"Hurry and open it! Hurry!"
How many imperial pillars had collapsed due to the surprise gift's
explosion? They could build a new palace with those pillars alone.
And that was based on her power as a child. Now, it must be incomparable.
Whoosh.
Jaekiel immediately withdrew the barrier.
Absorbing that power with the barrier was insane. It would be like a human
swallowing a bomb.
'…I have to stop the explosion itself.'
The more he observed, the more the power exceeded his imagination.
It had the power to blow away not just the gorge Jaekiel stood on, but the
entire surrounding area.
Jaekiel immediately created ice.
Frrrzzzwh!
He wove a curved path for the core—intricate and dense ice like a spider's
web, crafted to fit the path of the core like a custom-made wheel track.
Crssshkk! Crssshkk!
The core began to precariously roll along the ice path.
"Fortunately, I've seen countless surprise gifts."
The intelligence on Ether, and the extraordinary level of ice techniques. The
combination of the two made this countermeasure barely possible.
Crssshkk!
The core gradually changed direction as it rolled along the curved ice path.
If the ice was even slightly rough, it would explode.
If it wasn't custom-fitted, it would explode.
If the curve was steep, it would explode.
…Jaekiel focused all his concentration.
The power was incomparable to when she was a child, but the principle
hadn't changed.
Charrlrk!
Ice attached to the end of the ice, finally creating a path back to Ether. An
ice railway began to form in the air.
Crssshkk!
Smoothness beyond a certain degree possesses strength greater than
hardness. Ether's core began to run along the graceful curve of the ice.
Ptui!
Jaekiel spat blood and raised the corners of his mouth.
"Ether, take it back. I'm returning it to you."
.
.
.
.
.
The distance between the gorges was vast.
But Ether saw something at the moment.
Frrrzzzwh!
Something cold extending towards her.
"…"
Whoosh!
A sphere of energy was rushing towards her at an incredible speed, but that
didn't matter.
A flower of cold elements, simultaneously a collection of intricacy.
"…Ice?"
An incredible ice technique.
In that moment, someone came to the woman's mind.