Chapter 614 – White Light Liberation

“Here I come!”

With those words, Grace charged straight in and clashed with the Dragonian.

Clash—yes, it was a clash. They both surged forward with Fighting Spirit overflowing from their entire bodies, then slammed their axes against each other.

Centered around where the dull sound echoed, cracks ran through the stone pavement beneath their feet.

They continued swinging their axes as if trying to overpower each other head-on. Grace’s Dual Axes and the Dragonian’s Battle Axe crossed at ferocious speeds, scattering sparks where their Fighting Spirits collided, while heavy metallic sounds reverberated throughout Ende Wiles multiple times.

This was ground combat. Grace’s axe handling was so fast the tips of her arms became a blur. The Dragonian also swung its long-handled Battle Axe as lightly as if it were a piece of wood, exchanging blows with Grace.

Grace unleashed relentless Slash Attacks with her Dual Axes. Just when it seemed they’d crossed blades with the Battle Axe, the axe’s butt spike would swing up from below, sweeping through the space near Grace’s chin. When it seemed the Dragonian was committing to a large swing, its tail imbued with Fighting Spirit would strike to cover the opening, never letting Grace gain an advantage in number of attacks. It maneuvered without letting Grace close within range where her weapons could cut, maintaining the distance where only its Battle Axe could reach.

While it appeared to be a pure Power fighter and indeed seemed to fight primarily with Fighting Spirit, it apparently possessed technique as well.

Just as Grace had said, they were well-matched. As they crossed blades, they leaped right and left, expanding the battlefield while swinging their axes in all directions.

They paid no heed to their surroundings. Ant soldiers, nearby house walls—everything in the path of the three axes was treated as if it didn’t exist, being mowed down, sliced apart, and blown away.

Seeing this, the ant soldiers kept their distance to avoid being caught in Grace’s battle, moving toward the rearguard. Although they were somewhat struggling in their fight against the rearguard, they must have realized after several encounters that stepping into Grace’s battle would only get them torn apart like scraps of wood in a tornado.

Of course, Grace was intentionally expanding the battlefield for this very purpose. The ant soldiers had recognized this and given up on interfering.

That said, this didn’t put Grace herself at a disadvantage. They kicked and shattered the ground as they clashed, were repelled, then charged again. While reducing house walls to paper crafts, they swung their weapons at each other.

As if to block Grace’s approach, the Dragonian swung its axe with all its might, then used that momentum to execute a Form Shift.

It swept its tail imbued with Fighting Spirit through the walls, sending rubble flying at Grace like shotgun pellets. Grace didn’t hesitate at all. She deployed a Magic Shield over her left arm to protect only her eyes, then charged straight through the rain of rubble with Fighting Spirit overflowing throughout her body—as if that protection was sufficient.

“Haaah!”

She repelled the rubble with her body alone, breaking through the shortest path unscathed. With a sharp battle cry, she concentrated the overflowing Fighting Spirit into the axe in her right hand and struck.

The Dragonian also concentrated its Fighting Spirit, blocking with the long handle—but it couldn’t deflect Grace’s strike backed by momentum. She swung through. She kept swinging through. The Dragonian’s massive body was sent flying along with its wielder, crashing through a house wall and soaring through the air.

However, it hadn’t sustained any wounds that would hinder combat. Spinning round and round, the Dragonian spread its wings. Then, looking down at Grace who had crouched to jump from the ground, it took a deep breath.

Grace kicked through the floor of a house and leaped using all her might.

The Dragonian roared. The sound released from its mouth transformed into a directional Shockwave, intercepting the approaching Grace.

But—Grace was fully aware of this interception. She had already concentrated her Fighting Spirit into the axes held in both hands.

She swung them in a crossing motion toward the Shockwave. The glimmer of Fighting Spirit transformed into a massive Slash Attack that collided with the released Shockwave.

The clash of their techniques. Grace’s slash wave emerged victorious. The Dragonian instantly wrapped itself in Fighting Spirit and crossed its arms to defend. Taking it head-on wouldn’t have ended well, but the Dragonian possessed sturdy scales. Even swallowed by the massive slash wave, it didn’t receive a Fatal Wound.

Grace closed in. The Dragonian immediately flapped its wings, trying to escape Grace’s range. However, it failed.

Because chains had entangled its wings. While blocking the slash wave, Grace’s chains had traced a large arc and ensnared those wings.

Grace smiled, baring her fangs. She pulled.

In this exchange, neither could gain advantageous distance through reach difference. Timing its move, the Dragonian tried to bring its Battle Axe imbued with Fighting Spirit down on Grace from a High Stance—but at Grace’s feet where she’d kicked off her Magic Shield, Fighting Spirit erupted explosively as she accelerated. She stepped inside the Battle Axe’s range with speed far exceeding the Dragonian’s expectations.

The Dragonian’s wide eyes met Grace’s crimson ones.

Leaving a purple afterglow of Fighting Spirit in Ende Wiles’ sky, Grace swung the axe in her right hand as they passed each other, sweeping through the Dragonian’s torso.

A momentary crossing. Behind Grace as she landed on the ground, the Dragonian’s massive body fell, carving cracks into the stone pavement. And—it didn’t get up again.

The T-Rex roared as it came toward me. Using its excessive strength and massive body, along with its Toughness, it crushed houses while trying to catch me, releasing Lightning Strikes and attempting to crush me with its massive jaws. While dodging these attacks by jumping left and right, I focused on controlling my Magical Power.

—The Enhancement of Magical Power Circulation that Eric Willcloud mentioned in his research.

It involved taking in Environmental Magic Power to increase total Magical Power, with the aim of achieving further amplification and physical enhancement.

Eric himself—like Helvorte—conducted experiments controlling Environmental Magic Power by deploying Barriers in fixed spaces, achieving some success.

However, it never reached practical application. There were two major problems.

The first problem was that he couldn’t gather Environmental Magic Power without taking time to deploy a Barrier.

This—was solved by the Spell Formula Mother was researching. One that gathered Magical Power from the surroundings.

The other problem was—the adverse effects of taking Environmental Magic Power into the body.

Mother was an example of this too—if you take in Environmental Magic Power with miscellaneous properties, it could adversely affect your physical condition depending on the circumstances. Eric seemed to have abandoned this research due to this point.

Since there had been no means to solve this until now, in my case, even when I gathered Environmental Magic Power, I would mix it with Magical Power released outside my body to control it, then release Magic from that… to put it simply, I treated it as additional fuel.

But if there were means to control Environmental Magic Power and transform it to suit the caster’s body—the usage methods would naturally change.

Yes. What I needed to solve the problem was right here in my hands. Orichalcum, which transforms and controls Magical Power according to my will.

Countless particles of light orbiting my body like satellites—I took the abundantly gathered Environmental Magic Power into the Orichalcum first, transformed its properties to something closer to my Magical Power, then took it into my body through Ouroboros.

“This is—”

The moment I began, I could feel Magical Power overflowing to an unprecedented degree.

That’s when it happened. The T-Rex’s tail wrapped in Fighting Spirit approached from the side.

I—casually raised my left arm and blocked it with a deployed Magic Shield.

There was no impact like I’d imagined. It felt like something the Shield could handle with ease.

As if sensing something, the T-Rex widened its eyes and shifted form, momentarily creating distance.

The emission of surplus Magical Power rising high from my entire body. Pale blue sparks scattering around. Refining and further amplifying through Magical Power Circulation.

“Here—I GO!”

Responding to my voice, Ouroboros let out a growl. I kicked off the Shield and charged straight in. Ridiculous acceleration. The trailing glow of Magical Power.

The T-Rex tried to intercept my charge with its massive jaws, but whether my speed exceeded its expectations or not, leaving only the sound of its jaws closing behind me, I had flown deep into its embrace.

I shattered the Magic Shield the T-Rex had deployed for defense—head-on with Ouroboros, and my Charge pierced deep into its torso. This wasn’t technique. It was literally brute force.

The T-Rex staggered. I loaded the overflowing Magical Power into a Palm Strike. Then, as if pushing it out, I slammed in the amplified Magical Power.

“Haaaaah!”

A dazzling white sphere of light swelled at my palm and sank into the T-Rex’s abdomen. Along with its roar, I released countless Magical Shockwaves from my extended palm.

Neither its Fighting Spirit defense nor Magic Shield meant anything. An explosion born from the clash of wave upon wave. And—the swollen white light finally became a directional blast that sent the T-Rex flying.

The T-Rex’s massive body tumbled over, mowing down houses and dragging ant soldiers with it as it crashed into the rubble.

“Haaah…”

I let out a deep breath.

The T-Rex—remained lying down. Its tongue hung limply as it didn’t get up. Even as the one who unleashed the attack, I could feel my arm tingling with numbness.

…Though brief, the results exceeded expectations. But it seems quite difficult to control.

I haven’t yet grasped how much Magical Power I need to take in for how much amplification. Since both Power and Speed, everything changes, I need to get used to the sensation. When your consciousness can’t keep up with the gap in physical abilities, it could work against you in combat.

And probably, since the balance differs from normal Magical Power Circulation, if I take in too much Magical Power and maintain activation for too long, I expect there would be considerable backlash.

If I don’t adjust the amount of Magical Power taken in and control it properly, in many ways it’s a double-edged sword.

Needs practice. There are challenges. But what I’ve gained is significant.

If I can match Valros in physical ability in close combat, my chances of victory should increase. Looking at my palm still emitting white smoke, I made a fist and savored the feeling of success.