"You dragged me out yourself, Kunikuzushi!"
A violent spatial fluctuation appeared in front of Nahida's chest. From the distorted space, a figure abruptly emerged, none other than Mikage, who then shielded Nahida behind him.
Balladeer's expression was as if he had seen a ghost. He had abandoned his dignity and chosen a dishonorable sneak attack tactic. Although it was a bit shameful, the effect was significant, as he had captured Lesser Lord Kusanali in one go.
As long as he could obtain the Gnosis from her body and gain divine knowledge from it, he would also possess omniscient and omnipotent clearance, becoming a true god. At that time, no one would be able to stop him.
However, when he excitedly performed a 'Black Tiger Steals Heart' on Buer, he ended up pulling out this… thing. He didn't know whether to be shocked or terrified. Who could possibly handle this?
Balladeer's face was filled with shock: "It's you! Yuto! How are you inside Buer's body? Did I fall into a dream again?"
Balladeer quickly checked himself but found no prior sense of incongruity, which meant that the current situation was in reality.
Mikage glanced at Balladeer's mech with a hint of envy, his heart full of admiration, not for the mech's power, but for its coolness. After all, what man could resist the charm of a mech?
He smiled faintly and said, "As expected, you still reached this point. It seems you didn't listen to anything I told you earlier. Such stubbornness, I must say, is truly befitting of a puppet created by Ei; even your personality is inherited."
Upon hearing these words, Balladeer's face turned ashen and he said, "Yuto, I am no longer who I once was. Since you have appeared here, it saves me the trouble of seeking revenge. The humiliation of yesterday will be repaid a hundredfold today!"
Balladeer's thought moved, and the Gnosis's operating power increased significantly. The entire mech was filled with a massive amount of elemental energy. The mech's four arms were covered in dazzling Electro light, smashing fiercely towards Mikage and Nahida.
Mikage merely sneered at the sight, showing no intention of dodging, which made Nahida, standing behind Mikage, somewhat worried.
[Wood Release: Hobi no Jutsu!]
Mikage clapped his hands together, and immediately, giant tree branches emerged from the ground, forming a massive, openable oni mask that enveloped Mikage and Nahida.
Balladeer's full-force and enraged attack was not only grand in scale but also not to be underestimated in power. Four mechanical arms, condensed with a massive amount of elemental energy, struck down simultaneously, instantly raising dust and causing the entire Divine Innovation Workshop to shake.
Balladeer gasped hysterically, a smile on his face. From the sensation transmitted back through his arms, he had indeed hit his target.
He was now more than ten times stronger than before becoming a god. To think that a few rotten pieces of wood could block his attack was simply wishful thinking.
But as the dust settled, the smile on Balladeer's face gradually froze, because he saw that his full-power attack had failed to shatter the wooden oni mask. How was this possible?
The next moment, the oni mask opened grandly, revealing Mikage and Nahida, completely unharmed, inside.
Mikage couldn't help but pick at his ears, saying with a look of distaste, "Damn it, it seems I'll have to remember to plug my ears when using this move in the future. The DEF is high, but my ears suffered greatly. Nahida, are you alright?"
Clearly, Nahida's focus at the moment was not on whether her ears were ringing. She looked at the oni mask before her, lost in thought, and instinctively echoed, "Hmm, I'm fine…"
Mikage looked up at the grim-faced Balladeer and said calmly, "Kunikuzushi, originally, as Inazuma Regent, I shouldn't interfere with Sumeru's internal affairs. However, you have arbitrarily dragged me into this incident and attacked me first, so don't blame me for personally intervening."
Balladeer sneered, "Hmph! Such a hypocritical fellow. Don't think I don't know that you've always been trying to gain some benefit from Sumeru.
Moreover, I have now ascended to godhood. It's laughable that you would try to bind me with mortal rules. Since you're so confident, try to stop me!"
Mikage looked at the arrogant Balladeer before him and couldn't help but shake his head. Then, he formed his hands into a flower bud shape, with his palms facing Balladeer.
[Wood Release: Jukai Kotan!]
The ground of the Divine Innovation Workshop suddenly vibrated, and four massive trees each formed a giant arm. Each wooden hand was no smaller than Balladeer's mech, and they simultaneously reached out to grab Balladeer.
Balladeer's heart tightened, and he immediately teleported to escape. Then, the Electro element energy in his chest rapidly condensed, firing a continuous Electro light towards one of the arms, hitting the center of the wooden hand's palm.
However, to everyone's surprise, Balladeer's attack did not cause devastating damage to the wooden hand. The wooden hand seemed to absorb the Electro element energy from the Electro light, becoming even more expanded before continuing to reach out for Balladeer.
Seeing that things were going badly, Balladeer immediately maneuvered his mech to dodge quickly. At the same time, three elemental forces—fire, ice, and wind blades—were continuously unleashed towards the wooden hands. After a rather frantic counterattack, he finally destroyed all four wooden hands.
But when Balladeer turned back, he found that Mikage was simply watching his performance, a faint smile on his face. That smile held a mix of gratification, encouragement, and appreciation, but in Balladeer's eyes, it was pure insult!
Balladeer: "You… you… Sweeping Six Dusts!"
Balladeer couldn't stand Mikage's insult. With a wave of his hand, he condensed five massive Electro explosion orbs in front of him, firing them at Mikage simultaneously from irregular angles, leaving him almost no space to dodge.
But no matter how varied the trajectories, the final destination was the same. Besides, the varied trajectories were only meant to make it difficult for the opponent to dodge, but Mikage had no intention of dodging at all. He simply placed the oni mask he had just condensed in front of him.
Bang, bang, bang, bang… Five powerful Electro explosion orbs slammed into the oni mask, but failed to leave even a single crack on the mask.
Balladeer roared, "It's not over yet!"
It turned out that Balladeer had hidden one Electro explosion orb, which arced beautifully through the air, bypassing the oni mask and heading directly for the target behind the mask.
Boom… Sizzle… This time, the sound of impact was completely different from before. A spine-chilling electrical sound made Lumine and Paimon, who were watching from the side, change their expressions, thinking that Mikage had been caught off guard. They quickly ran to check on Mikage and Nahida, only to find no trace of them behind the mask.
Balladeer also noticed that his normally guaranteed hit had missed. He immediately thought of Mikage's spatial ability used earlier, and a premonition of ill omen arose in his heart.
[Wood Release: Sashiki no Jutsu!]
Sure enough, the moment he turned around, a series of sudden wooden spikes precisely struck the various joints of Balladeer's mech. Although it was just a single wooden spike, upon impact, it spread outwards and entwined like a blooming flower.
Balladeer suddenly realized that he could no longer control his mech.
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