Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Sun Water (6)
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─Teacher!
─Look at this! I've gathered qi and shaped flesh!
The image of the First Princess from the past was still vivid.
Her height barely reaching Zekiel's waist, proudly showing off a beam of light no bigger than a fork.
─Well done. Your future looks promising.
Zekiel now turned his gaze to the present scene ahead.
"…."
Kwaaaaaa—!
What had lingered in his memory as fork-sized was now hurtling toward him as a beam the size of a building.
"…This wasn't the future I had in mind."
Its speed, size, density of qi... everything was perfectly balanced. Of course its power was immense.
This was the crystallization of qi that had earned Ether all those titles and names. It was worthy of being called the empire's hope...
...and now the empire's hope was targeting Zekiel.
'If I mess this up, I'm really dead.'
Crunch. The Sunweed in his mouth burst.
No helping it. It was a gamble he'd chosen himself.
Trading blows alternately would have been far easier, but to squeeze more Sun Water from the emperor, he'd provoked Ether. Now he just had to endure somehow.
The intent behind such a massive beam was clear. This time, it was meant to be impossible to deflect.
But standing here was Zekiel.
He had a countermeasure.
Huu—
Zekiel exhaled Sunweed smoke and simultaneously coated his eyes with refined mana.
Enhanced eyesight. He could see it.
The size, shape, and composition of the beam charging toward Dominan Gorge—he grasped it all in an instant.
Next, creation.
Pop—!
Ice molds formed on either side, perfectly matched to the beam's shape without a hair's breadth of error. As Zekiel pressed his palms against them, they enveloped the beam.
Bam!
The first ice mold shattered immediately.
"As expected, one isn't enough."
However.
The beam that pierced the ice mold had its power slightly diminished. Now there was just one thing left: repeat the process until the beam stopped.
Zekiel pressed his palm against it again.
Thud!
The mold swallowed the beam like applause.
Kwang!
He could feel its speed slowing considerably.
Kwaang!
Both speed and size were reduced.
'Close.'
The beam, not yet fully depleted, was already at Zekiel's nose. He drew up every ounce of mana he had.
Thump!
Zekiel lifted one foot and stomped the ground.
Pssshhhhh!
Towering ice spikes erupted simultaneously, batting the beam upward with all their might.
Whoosh—!
The beam grazed just above Zekiel's head by a hair's breadth before flying off to embed itself in a distant cliff face.
"Haa, haa…."
Zekiel steadied his ragged breathing for a moment.
"Two left."
Then he gripped his brush and began moving his wrist. The portrait's completion was now within reach.
"Just two more times."
Cullinan Gorge.
"…Blocked it?"
Ether gazed across the gorge with eyes tinged with disbelief.
No, if he'd merely blocked it, she wouldn't be this puzzled.
But the explosion that should have ravaged the gorge was faint. It had all but vanished without a sound.
'Did he essentially nullify it? My beam?'
At first, she'd chalked it up to luck.
Then, to clever deflection.
But now she had to admit he even had the substance to back it up. Had such a talent appeared in the empire without her knowing?
Or maybe not from the empire at all.
'From the Great Forest, perhaps.'
She knew the emperor was searching for a rival to the First Princess. Among the elves of the Great Forest, some excelled at ranged combat, or so she'd heard.
[Just two more times.]
"…."
Ether quietly gathered her qi.
As the First Princess snapped her fingers, the massive ballista formed of qi slowly coiled back around her body.
"Hmmm."
The woman pondered.
"Just two times. Only two."
It wasn't hesitation due to the scarcity of attempts. Nor worry about failing to win.
'Only two more tastes of this guy?'
It had been so long since she'd encountered someone this intriguing.
Even when she'd craved subjugating beasts for the thrill, satisfying ones were rare. To think she'd find unexpected delight in an unanticipated matchup.
She was curious.
'I want to see how he counters all my techniques.'
Why only two left?
She wanted to unleash every technique she knew. Force him to defend them all, observe meticulously how he countered and evaded.
Then she'd study counters to those counters.
Wouldn't that lead to her becoming even stronger?
'With that guy around, I can become more perfect.'
Immense in stature, Ether was no longer a girl but a woman. She couldn't very well demand to change the rules like a child.
"For the final two, nothing but those, I suppose."
With only two chances left, she'd have to select her most prized techniques. That way, she could refine them even further.
Even if it turned the surrounding area to ruins.
'Doesn't matter at all.'
The imperial family had evacuated everyone nearby from the start. Destroying a lush forest might pain the empire, but it was fine.
It wasn't the forest—the First Princess was the empire's future.
Ether gathered qi into her hand once more.
But this time, not in the form of a bow.
A massive javelin.
Kaduduk—
Clenching it in her fist produced a menacing sound.
Ether assumed her stance, tensed her body fully, and hurled it perfectly.
Or rather, launched it.
Huuuuuung—!
The javelin pierced through space as it advanced.
─Teacher! Teacher!
─I've finally made a spear! See?
─How is it? Isn't it incredibly strong!
"…Yeah. It's strong."
The moment he saw the javelin, Zekiel spat out his Sunweed.
'That's not something you block in place.'
Zekiel wrapped mana around his feet and leaped into the air.
Some might call it suicide, but closing in rather than retreating was the winning counter for this javelin.
─My javelin is truly unique.
─It devours everything. The farther it flies, the stronger it gets!
─Shall I swallow you whole, Teacher? What do you think?
Ordinary projectiles lose power the farther they travel due to air resistance and such.
But Ether's javelin was different.
It had the absurd property of devouring all ambient qi as it advanced. Thus, rapidly closing distance to defend was the only optimal counter.
Shhh—!
Zekiel generated a barrier to trap the javelin.
A twenty-sided freezing barrier, no less.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
The javelin ricocheted off the barrier's faces to the opposite side. It would remain trapped until its power waned.
Bam—! Bam—! Bam—!
Deafening explosions with every impact.
Pain surged through his body as if it might shatter.
Absorbing damage via barrier essentially meant digesting the collisions through mana linked to the barrier. In the end, Zekiel bore most of the shock.
It might even shorten his lifespan.
'I have to endure.'
Gulp. Zekiel swallowed the rising blood.
This was a gamble.
A gamble staking his life, where victory would reap several times that in return!
Bam!
At that moment, the javelin inside the dodecahedral barrier split, firing a small bead-like core.
'That's the key.'
The essence of all the qi the javelin had absorbed.
─Teacher~ A surprise gift.
─Open it quick! Come on!
How many imperial pillars had crumbled to such surprise gifts? Enough to build a annex with just those.
And that was child's play. Now it was incomparably stronger.
Shhh—!
Zekiel immediately dispelled the barrier.
Absorbing that power with a barrier would be insane. No different from a human swallowing a bomb.
'…I need to block the explosion itself.'
The more he observed, the more its power exceeded imagination.
Enough to obliterate not just Zekiel's gorge but the entire surrounding region.
Zekiel immediately conjured ice.
Shwaaaaa—!
Dense, intricate ice like a spiderweb, curved precisely like a custom rail for a cartwheel to guide the core along its path.
Shh—! Shhhh—!
The core began precariously riding the ice path.
"Good thing I've seen these surprise gifts countless times."
His intel on Ether, combined with extraordinary freezing arts. Only their union made this counter possible.
Shhhhhhh—!
The core followed the curved ice path, gradually veering direction.
A single rough patch would detonate it.
Imperfect width would detonate it.
A steep curve would detonate it.
…Zekiel poured all his focus into it.
Its power was incomparable to her childhood feats, but the principle remained the same.
Shrrrrk—!
Ice connected to ice at the end, beginning to form a path back toward Ether. Iron rails of ice began weaving through the air.
Shhhhhhh—!
Excessive smoothness breeds superior strength. Ether's core simply surrendered to the ice's graceful curves and raced along.
Cough—!
Zekiel spat blood but curled his lips upward.
"Ether, take it back. It's a return."
.
.
.
.
.
The distance between gorges was vast.
Yet at some point, Ether saw it.
Shhhhhhhhh—!
Something chilling extending toward her.
"…."
Kugugugugu—!
A sphere of qi hurtled toward her at tremendous speed, but such things were irrelevant.
A flower of chilling elements, a masterpiece of intricacy.
"…Ice?"
Extraordinary freezing arts.
In that instant, someone flashed in the woman's mind.