Afterward, having determined the location, Takeru and Esdeath quickly arrived at Mount Feikema.
In a valley, through his perception, Takeru discovered numerous Danger Beasts around him and Esdeath… tree-like Danger Beasts with one large eye and mouth.
However, these Danger Beasts were probably only around levels 2 to 3, not much different from ants by the roadside for Takeru and the others.
Aside from these monsters, Takeru also narrowed his eyes and looked towards a place about two kilometers away where Dr. Stylish was monitoring them.
"What is it?" After freezing all the tree monster Danger Beasts, Esdeath also looked at Takeru curiously.
"No, it's nothing. Let's start our duel here." Looking at the basin-like terrain around them, all hard rock, Takeru said casually.
"Alright. But I won't hold back. If you're not strong enough, you'll die." Hearing Takeru's words, Esdeath licked her lips.
"Is that so? It's only interesting if we give it our all!" Hearing her words, Takeru said with a smile.
"Interesting." Hearing Takeru's words, Esdeath's recognition of him deepened.
"Then let's start with an opener. White Icicle Fragments!" As Esdeath concentrated for about two seconds, numerous slender and extremely sharp ice shards materialized around her.
"Don't die, Takeru." Saying softly, Esdeath quickly unleashed the attack towards Takeru, seemingly showing no mercy.
But Takeru could sense that not only the number but also the speed was lower than he had imagined. Clearly, Esdeath didn't want his life...
Although not using full strength, a single ice shard from her felt comparable to the ice arrows released by Rikka and the others.
Combined with this quantity, it was clearly not something they could match.
However, Takeru revealed a faint smile, extended his right hand forward, and a transparent light appeared… Mana Barrier, a skill attached to the Star Ring. This was Takeru's first time using it.
The transparent barrier seemed thin but proved extremely resilient against the dense barrage of ice shards.
"Interesting. Then how about this? Gray Ice Giant Horn!" Seeing Takeru block it, Esdeath showed a happy expression. As her arm swung forward again, a huge, hard, and sharp ice spike surged from the rock in front of her, charging fiercely at Takeru.
"Gluttony!" Seeing the imposing giant ice spike, Takeru remained calm, still just extending his hands forward. As the ice spike made contact with Takeru's palms, it seemed to enter a black hole… all parts extending beyond Takeru directly disappeared.
Not long after, as the ice spike halted, only a smooth cut remained.
Seeing this, Esdeath narrowed her eyes. It seemed Takeru was much stronger than she had imagined, which made her show a happy smile. Although nurturing him personally would also be good, having such strength now was even more convenient.
Thinking this, she quickly drew her sword and charged directly at Takeru, wanting to test his close combat skills.
Seeing this, Takeru materialized his staff. Noticing Takeru's staff appearing out of thin air, Esdeath narrowed her eyes, instantly realizing Takeru was also a Teigu user.
Takeru had nothing to say about Esdeath's misunderstanding. The reason for materializing the staff was simply to let Esdeath feel more at ease about using her full strength...
Holding his staff, Takeru quickly charged at Esdeath. Almost instantly, the two collided. Since Takeru didn't use excessive strength, their clash was evenly matched.
Feeling Takeru's strength, Esdeath's eyes sharpened. Takeru's power exceeded her expectations, but soon she felt joy for Takeru again. Then, she quickly launched a combo at Takeru.
However, although Esdeath's attacks were fierce, Takeru wielded his staff, blocking them all. His agile speed was no less than hers.
In an instant, they exchanged dozens of rounds, still seemingly evenly matched. But Takeru suddenly erupted with even greater force, repelling her rapier, then clenched his right fist and punched hard. The tremendous force sent her flying over ten meters, only stopping after she collided with a giant rock behind her.
What surprised Esdeath was that although Takeru's attack seemed merciless, she felt no pain. Instead, she felt surging power continuously welling up inside her.
Suddenly, she noticed a strange thing on her left side. Without thinking, Esdeath directly punched the Potclean. Hit by her attack, the doll flew out but soon returned, seemingly unscathed.
"Esdeath, no need to waste effort. The Potclean is invincible." Seeing Esdeath targeting the Potclean, Takeru said calmly.
"You created this thing?" Frowning as she looked at the Potclean, Esdeath then looked at Takeru.
"Correct. It's called the Potclean. You're feeling very energetic now, right? That's because I lent you my stamina during that last attack. The number 1650 on its panel represents the amount of stamina I just lent you." Takeru said with a faint smile.
"Time's up. Starting interest calculation!" Just as Takeru was explaining to Esdeath, the Potclean suddenly announced, and the number changed directly to 1815.
Noticing the Potclean's change, Esdeath frowned, understanding that this doll was clearly not something good.
"Oh, right. The stamina I lent you is calculated with a 10% interest every ten seconds. If the number exceeds your stamina limit, then the Potclean will directly transform into a Toritaten, continuously deducting your stamina." Seeing Esdeath frown, Takeru added with a smile.
"Is that so?" Hearing Takeru's words, Esdeath directly froze the doll, then snapped her fingers, turning the ice into powder. But the Potclean showed no damage.
"It's useless. Only by defeating me can it be stopped." Seeing Esdeath's actions, Takeru reminded her with a light laugh.
Confident in himself, even if she knew these secrets, Takeru had no worries.
"Time's up. Starting interest calculation!" As Esdeath tested, the Potclean announced again.
"Is that so?" Hearing Takeru's words, Esdeath gave up attacking the doll and instead raised her sword to thrust at Takeru.
Seeing this, Takeru also greeted her with a smile.
Clang... clang!
Accompanied by the sounds and sparks of rapier and staff colliding, their movements became like afterimages.
Perhaps sensing that she would definitely lose without using her full strength, Esdeath no longer held back.
But even as Esdeath erupted with power and speed greater than usual, Takeru still seemed at ease. Then, she was kicked away by Takeru again.
The number on the doll's panel even changed to 8250. Clearly, during the recent attacks, Takeru had lent her quite a bit more stamina.
Seeing herself kicked away, Esdeath jumped into the air above Takeru.
With a snap of her fingers, a spherical ice block about fifty meters in diameter appeared beside her.
"Hail Fury Dive!" With a confident smile, Esdeath made the spherical ice block crash down heavily towards Takeru.
Takeru could have left using his speed, but that would be too boring.
Instead, he directly made his right fist turn pitch-black while continuously gathering Aura towards his fist. Finally, the moment the spherical ice was less than a meter away, Takeru had gathered enough power and directly punched towards the giant ice block.
Boom!
Accompanied by a tremendous sound, massive shockwaves appeared around. Under Esdeath's shocked gaze, her Hail Fury Dive quickly developed numerous cracks, then exploded apart.
Only Takeru's figure at the bottom stood like a towering giant, both awe-inspiring and utterly captivating.
Though captivated, Esdeath didn't freeze up. Taking advantage of Takeru breaking the giant ice, her figure quickly descended towards Takeru.
"Freeze!" Her right hand, glowing with a light blue light, rapidly approached Takeru's fist.
"Still not giving up? Then let me make you fully recognize the gap in our strength." Seeing Esdeath still not giving in, Takeru murmured softly.
Then, facing Esdeath's attack, Takeru simply crossed his arms and watched Esdeath calmly.
Though curious, Esdeath's unwillingness to lose made her quickly touch Takeru's body with her hand. Then, a layer of ice quickly enveloped Takeru. Soon, Takeru was completely frozen.