Turning one's back on an enemy is foolish.
If the enemy lacked the strength to injure you, perhaps it could be forgiven, but Altera was clearly capable of harming the serpent-woman.
Yet, after flinging Altera away, the serpent-woman immediately spun around and rushed toward the city walls, completely ignoring the threat behind her.
Has she lost all reason…or is there some hidden trap?
Altera pondered quickly, but her body never ceased moving.
Regardless of whether it was madness or some other intent, she had to stop the enemy's advance.
Though the serpent-woman wasn't slow, releasing her Noble Phantasm now would easily catch her.
Whatever trap awaited, activating her Noble Phantasm would at least halt the enemy. Even if it failed to severely injure her, Altera was confident she could protect herself within the storm unleashed.
Once Photon Ray activated, even Mystic Eyes of the highest level wouldn't easily penetrate it—and that was just its most basic release.
Right now, the basic release was more than sufficient.
"NOT TO DESTROY LIFE, BUT ONLY CIVILIZATION..."
Murmuring her Noble Phantasm's activation phrase, Altera shifted into her release stance.
But perhaps because the serpent-woman's presence was so overwhelmingly dominant, or because gods rarely cooperated with others unless truly desperate, Altera overlooked another critical possibility.
The possibility of a sneak attack from a different enemy.
Perhaps sensing danger early due to Revelation, Jeanne suddenly turned, frantically calling out a warning. Almost simultaneously, the instinctive warning granted by the Crest of the Star thundered inside Altera's mind.
But it still came just a fraction too late.
Countless chains erupted from beneath the earth, shooting upward and wrapping toward Altera.
At the same moment, a golden rain of light descended from above, launching a lethal attack toward Altera from nearly every angle.
Massive danger!
Her instincts shouted clearly.
At this moment, Altera possessed no divinity, but the enemy's raw power alone couldn't be underestimated.
This opponent was already faintly stronger than Altera, and now, with this sudden assault completely sealing off all escape routes, each strike could easily pierce Altera's defenses. Naturally, responding would be immensely difficult.
However, not impossible.
Releasing her Noble Phantasm required channeling massive amounts of mana internally, briefly slowing her reflexes. The enemy had chosen precisely that moment to strike.
But this also meant───the conditions for releasing the Noble Phantasm had already been met.
Unpanicked, expression utterly calm, Altera quietly spoke the name of the sword in her hand.
"[PHOTON RAY]!!!"
In Altera's grasp, the tri-colored sword responded to her voice, spinning furiously as considerable magical energy surged along its blade.
Thus, a tri-colored tempest burst forth.
The deadly whirlwind clearly visible even to naked eyes didn't harm Altera; instead, it spun around her protectively, forming a devastating tri-colored storm.
Whether chains or weapons enveloped in golden radiance—all shattered into fragments under the indiscriminate hurricane.
Yet, the enemy clearly had no intention of stopping there… Or rather, Altera's countermeasures had entirely been anticipated.
At almost the exact moment Altera unleashed her Noble Phantasm, a golden pillar of light accompanied by countless chains surged skyward from further north. By the time Altera had neutralized the first wave, they'd already fused together, forming an enormous golden chain.
"…"
Facing down the chain's deadly point, Altera felt a threat infinitely greater than the previous wave.
Indeed, a sense of danger surpassing anything she'd faced before.
The feeling of imminent death relentlessly battered her senses, oppressive enough to nearly suffocate.
Altera clenched her teeth tightly.
The mana she'd infused into her Noble Phantasm was nearly exhausted in the earlier burst. She could forcibly maintain its activation, but its power would inevitably decrease greatly.
This was exactly the enemy's intent, practically an open scheme.
Without using the Noble Phantasm, she'd have been severely injured—or worse—by the initial attack. But having used it prematurely, she'd spent her greatest trump card, leaving only weakened means to face the enemy's true attack.
This was a common flaw among most Noble Phantasms when fully activated—low controllability.
Even more troublesome…
In the corner of her eye, Altera glimpsed the serpent-woman already reaching the city wall, her massive tail raised high, swinging down brutally.
She wanted to stop it—but lacked any surplus strength, and even if she had, she wouldn't make it in time.
I can only trust in my comrades…
Without realizing it, Altera, who had originally followed only her instinct for destruction and obligation to answer summons, had begun sincerely wishing to protect this resilient kingdom.
Facing overwhelming threats, yet maintaining resilience, able to smile, able to pick up their weapons and fight back…
Altera liked a kingdom like this, liked its lovable people.
That's why she wished to protect them.
Maybe it was just giving a more noble-sounding reason to her sword's destructive impulse—but at least in this summoning, she would assign her sword and destruction such a meaning…
Yet for now, Altera could only focus fully on the crisis before her.
The situation was dire, leaving her few choices.
The residual power of Photon Ray wouldn't be enough to resist the incoming attack.
Whoever launched this ambush was strong—terrifyingly strong. Perhaps most gods wouldn't even be their match.
The power of this strike was strong enough that Altera genuinely couldn't understand why someone possessing such means hadn't simply shattered the city wall already.
But now wasn't the time for such speculation.
Most crucially───what Altera clearly felt was this sensation of being utterly restrained and dominated.
Anti-unit or counter-alignment…something along those lines.
What Altera didn't know was that the incoming attack—whatever name Kingu whimsically gave it—was originally called the "Chain of Heaven," a divine wedge of light.
It absorbed the Counter Force itself, dramatically enhancing its strength and suppressing its target, proportional to how destructive the target was to humanity or the planet.
As it approached its target, the golden chain's radiance and oppressive presence intensified exponentially, shaking even space itself.
Perhaps not even the attacker himself had anticipated this.
In this era, upon this planet, the one who could maximize this special attack's function to its ultimate potential───was Altera alone!
At the very same moment, the serpent-woman's massive tail violently smashed downward.
---
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