NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40
Chapter 40: Esdeath’s Strength (Request for Subscription)
“Watching this makes me want to try out the arena function.”
Bai Luo: “Is anyone willing to spar with me?”
Esdeath: “The strongest in the group challenging? I won’t decline then.”
Not just Esdeath, many within the group were curious about Bai Luo’s true strength.
Misaka Mikoto, Kurumi Tiske, Adolf K. Wiesmann, and Tanjiro had all witnessed Bai Luo and felt up close the oppressive sensation akin to the heavens collapsing.
Even though it was only a trace of his aura.
That single leaked thread of energy gave them an overwhelming sense of power they could not match.
Therefore, the four of them would never doubt Bai Luo’s strength.
Of course, knowing is one thing.
Everyone also wanted to see what Bai Luo looked like when he truly fought.
Qian Renxue: “The power to destroy the sun sounds very promising.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe, but what Bai Luo said was simply too exaggerated.
Not to mention destroying the sun, even smashing a mountain was something Qian Renxue had only experienced through Kurumi’s Spatial Tremor.
“Being the strongest is just temporary.”
Bai Luo said: “There are so many worlds; perhaps the next person to join will have power no weaker than mine, or even stronger.”
[Esdeath requests a challenge against Bai Luo]
[Bai Luo accepts the challenge]
[Room 001 activated, group members have 1 minute preparation time]
Almost instantly, all group members gathered in the room, holding their breath as they waited for the legendary strongest to appear.
[Preparation time over]
[Duel begins]
The chat group prompt ended, and the scene of this room appeared before everyone’s eyes.
They saw the two appear on an island.
Raising the view higher, the azure planet seemed like a delicate gem floating in the universe.
This was a star system, a replica of Bai Luo’s remembered Solar System.
“This stage seems much larger than when the Electric Sister and Esdeath fought.”
Kurumi spoke, and everyone immediately realized the reason for this change.
Clearly, this was prepared for Bai Luo.
“The chat group provided such a vast stage, likely considering Bai Luo’s strength.”
After all, someone capable of exploding stars would need a large enough stage to showcase his abilities.
“Yo.”
Standing on the beach, Bai Luo greeted Esdeath in front of him: “Nice to meet you, Esdeath.”
“Are you Bai Luo?”
Esdeath did not attack immediately but carefully examined the young man before her.
How should one describe it?
Bai Luo was handsome, the most attractive male Esdeath had ever seen.
Esdeath wasn’t appearance-obsessed, nor would she hold back because someone looked good.
What made Esdeath feel positive was Bai Luo’s gaze upon her.
It was pure admiration and affection, which Esdeath found neither offensive nor unpleasant, instead giving her a subtle sense of pride.
Being recognized by a strong person was undoubtedly the best compliment!
“Do you know me?”
The moment these words left her mouth, Esdeath realized how foolish they sounded.
Bai Luo had read comics about her.
Though unsure what exactly these “comics” were, Esdeath thought they might be akin to stage plays.
Her story, events from the Amegakure world, existed as dramas in other worlds.
“I’ve seen you many times in anime, but meeting you in person is the first time.”
Bai Luo preferred high-cold older sisters like Esdeath over cutesy little princesses.
If he could win Esdeath over, it would certainly bring a great sense of accomplishment.
“I’m somewhat familiar with your manga.”
“I’ve watched the entire anime version.”
Bai Luo uploaded the content of the Amegakure anime to the group files via the chat group, marking it accessible only to Esdeath.
“You can check it out later.”
“Alright.”
Esdeath casually placed one hand on her hip and naturally downloaded the Amegakure anime from the group files.
She didn’t watch it immediately but focused intently on Bai Luo.
“Hmph, let’s begin then.”
Bai Luo’s body slowly floated upward, and he gestured to Esdeath from above: “Let me see the strength of the Empire’s strongest.”
“Same goes for you!!”
Esdeath narrowed her eyes, feeling no immediate threat from Bai Luo, yet precisely because of this, she needed to be more cautious.
How could the strongest in the chat group possibly be an ordinary person?
With her perception ability, she couldn’t detect anything.
This was completely unreasonable!
The only possible explanation was that Bai Luo’s strength far exceeded her imagination.
“Graaaa!!”
In an instant, the air temperature plummeted, turning the originally clear sky into one covered with dark clouds.
Despite being in the tropics, the island was now enveloped in silver, and the surrounding seas had transformed into an endless ice plain.
“This!!”
This sight stunned the watching group members who had been eagerly waiting.
They knew Esdeath was strong, but such widespread freezing still left them awestruck.
“Was she just playing around with me earlier?”
Among everyone, Misaka Mikoto was the most unsettled: “If she had used this move from the start, she could have taken me out instantly.”
“Ah, that’s quite exaggerated.”
Rarely, Kurumi refrained from mocking Ace.
Only those group members could clearly see the extent of Esdeath’s freezing range.
It wasn’t just an island; it was the entire sea, vast enough to encompass ten Japans.
Saying she had created a new Arctic on this planet wasn’t an exaggeration.
“Ice General!”
At Esdeath’s summoning, countless ice knights rose from the island and sea surface.
Their dense figures made the watching group members shiver involuntarily.
“Hey, what are these?”
“Soldiers? Ice-sculpted knights?”
“Why summon an army?”
Although inexperienced in combat, even Qian Renxue, who spent most of her time in the palace, knew that facing a powerful individual like Bai Luo, armies and numbers were meaningless.
“Did she release all her icy powers at once?”
Different from others, Bai Luo understood the essence of Esdeath’s move.
The ice knights summoned by Ice General weren’t primarily for battle; that was its lower-level usage.
In reality, each ice knight contained significant icy power.
For Esdeath, they were like batteries, storing accumulated icy power.
When needed, she could reclaim them.
During her fight with Ace, Esdeath hadn’t used this technique.
Firstly, it wasn’t necessary; Misaka Mikoto hadn’t reached the level where Esdeath needed to use her full strength.
Secondly, Esdeath hadn’t been sure about the arena’s mechanism.
In real life, she was about to suppress ethnic minorities, so she couldn’t afford to exhaust all her icy powers in the arena.
However, after testing, Esdeath confirmed something.
The forces she released in the arena were unrelated to her real-life self.
No matter how intense or wasteful the combat style, it wouldn’t affect her upcoming war.
“Nice technique.”
Bai Luo sincerely commented: “By pre-storing icy powers and releasing them all at once…”
“But isn’t the order reversed?”
Normally, Esdeath’s technique wasn’t plug-and-play.
The proper use of Ice General involved Esdeath creating ice knights beforehand.
Through continuous accumulation over a day, week, or month, these icy powers were stored.
When needed, Esdeath could unleash the ice knights and reclaim her powers.
“I’m surprised too.”
Esdeath smirked slightly: “Didn’t expect the arena to be able to handle something like this.”
In the Amegakure world, Esdeath had already prepared a month’s worth of Ice Generals, containing energy equivalent to thirty days of continuous combat.
Logically, reality was reality, and the arena was the arena; they shouldn’t connect.
Yet, the arena defined “full strength,” including the ice knight army Esdeath had placed in reality.
“Don’t blame me for being underhanded.”
Esdeath: “After all, you’re the strongest in the group who can casually destroy stars!”
“…”
Esdeath’s mockery didn’t bother Bai Luo: “Continue, use your full strength, and before that, I won’t initiate any attacks against you.”
The best response to mockery is counter-mockery.
Clearly, Bai Luo’s calm attitude greatly displeased Esdeath.
“Whoosh~~~”
Cold winds howled, snowflakes flew.
As Esdeath unleashed all her ice knights, the temperature of the world dropped dramatically again, falling under her control.
“Swish.”
Esdeath drew the military blade at her waist and swung it forward.
“Graaaa~~~”
Bai Luo looked around, and tens of thousands of ice spears appeared out of nowhere, controlled by Esdeath and shot towards him.
“Bang bang bang~~~”
However, the ice spears that were usually unstoppable, capable of piercing steel, shattered violently several meters away from Bai Luo.
“Hm?”
Esdeath frowned slightly, unsure of what Bai Luo had done.
But her warrior’s intuition told her that Bai Luo seemed to have some kind of special defensive means, blocking her attack.
“Sacred Domain!”
Among the watchers, Adolf K. Wiesmann noticed the causal field enveloping Bai Luo, making him immune to any harm.
“Tsk, another bug-like skill, too cheesy, right?”
Ace had suffered from Sacred Domain before, thus understanding better the trouble caused by causal weapons: “Speaking of which, isn’t Brother Bai’s Sacred Domain stronger than yours, Wiesmann?”
“More than just stronger.”
Though merely spectating, through the connection between Sacred Domains, Wiesmann gained a clearer understanding of the intensity of Black King Sacred Domain.
“Our gap has reached a level that cannot be measured numerically.”
Wiesmann said: “I don’t know where Old Bai’s limit lies, but judging by his defense against Miss Esdeath’s attack just now, the causal force of Old Bai’s Sacred Domain is ten thousand times stronger than mine.”
This “ten thousand times” was merely Wiesmann’s rough estimate.
The actual situation was far more exaggerated than this number.
“Sssss~~~”
Misaka Mikoto indicated that she couldn’t comprehend the world of the big shots.
You know, Wiesmann’s Silver Sacred Domain could withstand nuclear weapons without damage.
What is ten thousand times of that?
“Gulp.”
Qian Renxue, who overheard everything, was thoroughly shocked.
Though she didn’t fully understand Wiesmann’s description, she knew the concept of “ten thousand times.”
Let alone Miss Esdeath’s Ice General, even her family deity might struggle to defeat Esdeath.
Miss Esdeath, could she be stronger than the gods in legends?
It was understandable for Qian Renxue to doubt, given the extremely shocking sight of an entire nation turning into an Arctic wasteland.
Master Abe: “Hmm, it seems everyone here is divine beings.”
Tanjiro: “I agree.”
Within the chat group, the only two ordinary people trembled.
“Boom!!”
Ignoring the spectators’ discussions, Esdeath swung her blade again, directly forming a kilometer-wide iceberg in the sky.
“Not finished yet!!”
Simultaneously, tornadoes wrapped in ice crystals surged skyward, encircling Bai Luo and sealing off his escape space.
Such powerful moves usually required some time to charge under normal circumstances.
But now, with the Ice General completed, the entire world had become her icy domain.
The energy consumed here didn’t disappear but returned to this storm of ice and snow.
While the original Esdeath created ice and snow from nothing,
In her icy domain, Esdeath became the queen controlling the ice and snow.
Unless Bai Luo could melt it all instantly, Esdeath could continuously create icebergs and summon icy storms without cooldowns or noticeable consumption.
Then, how would you deal with it?
Esdeath awaited Bai Luo’s counterattack with interest, not believing she could easily win.
But fighting, slaughtering, hunting, the process was far more interesting than the result!
Thinking this way, Esdeath’s expression carried a hint of madness, perfectly showcasing the queen’s tyranny and brutality.
“Ya le ya le.”
Bai Luo roughly gauged Esdeath’s strength: “Already reaching seven-digit numbers.”
And not just any seven-digit number.
“A large-scale domain like this, with the ability to freeze an entire country in a short time.”
“Mid-seven digits, national-annihilation level, huh?”
Don’t underestimate this freezing ability; Bai Luo could feel the surrounding temperature, which was genuinely extreme cold.
You know, the lowest temperature on Blue Star is only near -100 degrees Celsius.
But in Esdeath’s icy domain?
Just in this short while, the temperature had dropped to -150 degrees Celsius and continued to decrease.
This was no longer about freezing or icing.
If Esdeath continued, the surface environment would be destroyed, and all living things would perish.
Even particle motion would stop as it approached absolute zero.
The Esdeath added to the group had the personality and image from the anime.
However, in terms of abilities, she leaned more toward the manga version.
Undoubtedly, purely in terms of world and environmental destruction, Esdeath ranked second only to Bai Luo in the chat group.