Stefan was stupefied by the sudden urrence around him.
"Y-you…"
The disaster he had caused waspletely reversed, and the casualties all appeared alive and well. It was as though time had been reset to a time before his appearance.
''H-how…?!'' Stefan knew fully well what had effected this change.
It had to be the star his opponent sent flying into the sky. It contained such dense Aether that even he had felt shaken to his bones. However, that didn''t answer the crux of his question.
''How is Maria able to use such power?!''
He watched as even Elrich Lendertwale appeared beside her,pletely unscathed. The Grand Mage seemed surprised as well, but after a few moments, he calmed himself and backed down from the fight—leaving only Maria to face him.
''You''re looking down on me too much!'' Stefan growled.
Something had changed about Maria, sure. She seemed more capable and certain of her actions, and the energy she emitted was beyond ordinary. However, so what?
''I''m still the superior one!'' The moment he made his triumphant thought, Stefan created sevenrge beams of light—each containing six of the seven colours of his Original Magic.
''Let''s see if you can handle this bombardment!''
As a safety measure, he created a gravitational field that would copse any spacial rift that tried to interfere with his offensive move. As far as his senses went, Elrich Lendertwale seemed to be protecting everyone below.
He didn''t need to worry about those small fries.
>WHOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!<
The surge of multicoloured lights leapt from his direction, and with such a speed and veracity that could not be described. They reached their target in no time, surrounding her from all angles. With each light promising the most fatal of injuries and damage to every portion of her being, they struck.
>PSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU<
However, before they could even get to her, the giant balls of light dissolved into particles—glittering as they were swept away by the wind.
''W-wha—?!'' Stefan was taken aback by this.
Not only did his attacks not work on her, but they were easily done away with.
''I see. So you''ve also reached that level, huh?'' He realized he would be foolish to underestimate her.
With the amount of power oozing from her, refusing to acknowledge the girl''s strength would be the very definition of stupidity.
''Guess I''ll go all-out.'' Dark energy slowly began to rise from Stefan as he made those thoughts, and the intensity kept climbing to an overwhelming degree.
"It is no use, Stefan Netherlore. You have already lost." Maria spoke, her tone sounding hollow, and her gazepletely focused.
"Hahaha! Shut up! Just because you deflected my attacks, you think you can run your mouth?!" A violent, raging storm surrounded Stefan instantly.
Wrapping itself around the boy to form a cocoon of darkness, the ck power, coupled with dark red shes of light, kept growing stronger and stronger.
Unlike thest time when he entered this form half-prepared, Stefan decided to fully transform into his most powerful state—a form that Maria could not trump no matter what.
''I''ll show it to you, Maria… despair!''
*
*
*
Elrich Lendertwale stood among the gathered Beastfolks, and all of them watched from the safety of their distance.
He wasn''t sure if he would consider this range to be safe, but he had been assured by Maria—whoever she was now—that it was.
"W-who is that female?"
"A-amazing!"
"S-such power!"
He could hear the Beastfolks around him murmuring and marvelling at Maria''s power ceaselessly. Ever since they awoke a few moments earlier, they had been talking about the same thing—how powerful the goddess-like figure in the sky was.
Some even bowed and prayed to her.
As much as Elrich found that to be extreme, he also couldn''t me them. He too was in awe as to how Maria was able to generate so much power.
The dome she created spanned several miles, and the white flowers that blossomed and covered the entirendscape flowed with smooth energy. The destroyed capital was restored in the blink of an eye, and all the dead were returned to life.
It was a reset—something he could not have fathomed.
''Even I am alive. It truly is amazing!''
He remembered how surprised he had been to find himself by her side. It was only when she telepathicallymunicated with him that he sort of understood what was going on. He was also given a task—which was to teleport the previously dead people to the safe storage space and to protect the Beastfolks.
He realized none of them would agree to be sent to the pocket dimension for safety, considering the sight that was about to unfold before them. Even Elrich didn''t want to miss it for anything.
Somehow, he had the reassurance that everything was going to be fine now. And so, like the other spectators, he knelt and watched the sh between light and darkness in the sky—hoping to see light prevail.
"Show me…" He smiled at the shimmering goddess above him. "... I pray thee."
*
*
*
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Stefan cackled.
His body was now covered in darkness, and everything around him radiated pure malevolence. His size had also improved, as he became a bit over three meters tall, with sharp distinguishing features that made him resemble a devil rather than a man.
"WITNESS MY POWER!"
Dark lightning shed all around him, and the intensity of his Arcana peaked. The power of motion began expanding beyond his area of influence until it covered the entire capital and even beyond.
''I''ll destroy it again! I''ll destroy everything and everyone below! And I''ll destroy you!''
His power was unstoppable. He was currently covered in highly concentrated Nether. Who could be his match?
Perhaps if Stefan had paid a bit more attention to his surroundings, rather than obsessing over the goddess in front of him, he would have noticed something.
The impotence of his power to everything around him.
*
*
*
[A/N]
New book release announcement!!!
Please look up Chuunibyou Challenge!! on Webnovel, or simply use the link below. I promise, you''ll love /book/chuunibyou-challenge!!_25760893305800205
Cheers!