While Welt waited, the battle raged on.
"Huff—"
On the battlefield, the white-haired man swung his greatsword, gasping heavily for breath.
His situation was not optimistic.
As the most destructive of all the Divine Keys, its toll on the user was incredibly immense.
After unleashing its power multiple times, Siegfried felt his body begin to tremble.
He was almost at his limit.
Siegfried looked at the leisurely Second Herrscher in the distance and fully realized the gap between them.
"Looks like you're about to be defeated, are you?"
The tone was as friendly as greeting a neighbor, making one want to smile back.
But the action 'It' took was enough to make everyone's scalp tingle.
The Second Herrscher waved a hand. An unknown power gathered abruptly, and Honkai energy, at an output far beyond that of a normal Herrscher, transformed into a gale. It let out a thunderous roar like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting. The rocks and hills below 'It' were silently turned to dust.
That was the Herrscher of Wind's fundamental Authority—Fluid Dominion.
When those fluids were transformed into ideal fluid by the Herrscher of Wind's Authority, they would become an indestructible sword.
However, judging from the Second Herrscher's effortless state and the terrifying range of the gale, it was unlikely that the entire gale was composed of complete ideal fluid.
"Hah!!!"
Facing the enemy's assault, Siegfried, wielding the Might of An-Utu, roared forward without any hesitation.
Scorching flames erupted from the greatsword of Judgment, swelling at a visible rate. The white-haired warrior swung the grotesque greatsword in his hands, and the scorching flames transformed into a deadly tide, clashing with the terrifying gale.
"BOOOM———!!!!"
A terrifying sound echoed under the sky of the battlefield, like the roar of an ancient giant god, or the bellowing of hundreds upon hundreds of evil dragons.
Under the clash of the two forces—the gale composed of Honkai energy and the flames of the Key of Destruction—the earth was torn apart as if struck by the tip of a tornado, exploding and shattering, disappearing in an instant.
So tired.
The man, whose super-transformation genes were incomplete and whose own constitution was nowhere near Kevin's, yet was forced to use Kevin's weapon, was drenched in sweat.
Damn it, is this thing really on the level of a Herrscher?
After repeated clashes, Siegfried, completely outmatched, gritted his teeth.
"When you're in a battle, you need to be completely focused, you know."
Before he could have any more thoughts, a very pleasant, androgynous voice echoed like a nightmare from behind him.
Damn it! This guy is the Herrscher of the Void!!
An extreme, bone-chilling dread washed over Siegfried's heart, like the tentacle of an indescribable monster coiling around his body.
He leaped back, but it was too late.
A seemingly slender hand struck him squarely in the chest!
"Crack—"
Like a siege ram smashing into a thin iron gate, Siegfried was sent flying backward, a sound of near-shattering coming from his sternum to his ribs.
Along with it was the wail of the earth being torn apart and ravaged.
The air in front of him was instantly shredded into countless fragments, erupting outwards in an explosion that kicked up a storm of destruction. Countless gashes opened up in the ground, and the shockwave rolled forward with devastating force, completely erasing an area a thousand meters ahead.
As if bitten by a legendary beast, a large patch of land vanished entirely from the Second Herrscher's sight.
This is the limit.
The man, who felt like all his bones were about to fall apart, lay deep within a giant crater, coughing violently.
The super-transformation genes were rapidly repairing his body, making him appear unharmed on the surface.
But—
He himself knew that this was probably the limit of the super-transformation factor.
How many more times can I swing this sword?
Completely unable to comprehend it all, Siegfried struggled to climb out of the giant crater and picked up the flame sword beside him.
Doesn't matter.
I'll just fight to the end.
With the will to die in battle, the man, his body weakened to the extreme, looked towards the enemy of humanity in the distance.
Then—
"Siegfried, can you hear my voice?"
Like an auditory hallucination, a man's voice sounded in his ear.
Is it an illusion?
Feeling that he was probably just too tired and was hallucinating, the man shook his head forcefully.
"Siegfried, can you hear my voice?!"
As if to transmit the sound more clearly, the man's voice shot up several octaves.
It's Welt!
Stunned by the loud voice, Siegfried froze for a moment, then a look of ecstasy spread across his face.
Welt had finally appeared.
Did this mean it was time to counterattack?
The moment this thought arose, a bitter smile appeared on Siegfried's own face.
Although he had been fighting all this time, he truly didn't think he could win the final victory.
The Second Herrscher was a monster in the truest sense of the word.
"Listen up, Siegfried! We still have a chance to win."
But then, Welt's voice rang out.
What? A chance?
As if hearing something incredible, Siegfried's spirit suddenly soared, as if he had been doused with ice water.
"Can you unleash a slash of the highest intensity?"
As if demanding an answer, Welt, who was himself in an extremely dangerous environment and had no time for pleasantries, asked sternly.
I can probably swing it two more times.
The man, who would pass out after swinging the Judgment of Shamash two more times, gave an answer in his heart.
"Good. Next, I will provide you with cover."
Welt's voice, having silently seized control over the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason, was fiercer than ever before.
Cover?
"The Second Herrscher's defense network is two-layered. The first layer is the ideal fluid created based on the Authority of Reason. The second layer is the power of Space that can take her away at any time."
Very quickly, Welt relayed this information.
"I can take back control of the Core of Reason for a short time, and then simulate the Authority of Rock to seal off her spatial teleportation."
"After that, I'm counting on you to crush her."
So that's how it is.
Siegfried thought, and his expression underwent a dramatic change.
"Have you thought of some interesting way to fight?"
The Second Herrscher, who roughly knew what Welt was up to, showed an expression of waning interest.
"If you have something, then use it."
So arrogant.
Siegfried stared at the god in the distance.
This powerful Second Herrscher had barely shown its full power from beginning to end.
Just for fun, 'It' had given up a large number of Authorities and powers, always wearing the expression of a cat toying with a mouse.
As expected, no matter how cute she looks, she's still in dire need of a lesson.
The white-haired man, now with Welt's support, raised his sword once more.