Ethan chose the Sagittarius Gold Cloth not only because it was the only one of the twelve Gold Cloths with wings, but also because Heaven was filled with positive energy. This energy, which leaned toward positive attributes, was very suitable for this Cloth. From its design phase, it was a Cloth imbued with positive energy attributes.
If angels had a combat power bonus in Heaven, Ethan did too.
The Holy Cloth, shimmering with sacred radiance, was worn on his body. Unlike the Gemini helmet, the Sagittarius headpiece was more of a headdress than a helmet, offering no defense. It also would not obstruct his vision or flatten his hair, so Ethan left it on his head.
The massive golden wings folded behind him, and besides allowing the wearer of this Cloth to fly freely, they also served as Sagittarius's armory.
As the only golden bow and arrow among the twelve Gold Cloths whose weapons were not confiscated and centrally managed by Libra, Ethan stored them in the wings, or more precisely, in the area where the wings connected to the backplate. Besides storing the golden bow, this location also served to retract the massive wings when not in use.
Furthermore, the arrows, which were consumables, were all transformed from the golden feathers on the wings. Ethan had not used this Cloth for a long time precisely because he was reluctant to shoot off the feathers from his perfectly good wings.
He did not know where the original Sagittarius Cloth got its seemingly endless golden arrows, but to account for rapid firing and long-term combat needs, he had to design it this way. Therefore, Sagittarius's ammunition was limited. Even if the arrows were fired and not destroyed, they would automatically return to the wings after a certain time, but they were ultimately not inexhaustible and could not be used carelessly.
What is more, some powerful moves would directly destroy the golden arrows, making them completely unrecoverable.
Now he no longer had this worry. Ethan's ability to convert magic into matter was becoming more proficient. Aside from certain special techniques, he could construct arrows using magic for attacks. Their power was no less than that of the arrows transformed from the golden feathers, and they could have more special abilities.
However, this time he did not use his bow and arrow. He swung his greatsword and charged forward, directly confronting Imperius's Spear of Valor.
The Spear of Valor, Solarian, carried intense heat. The blade part was like red-hot iron. Ordinary objects struck by the spear blade would be cut through like cheese.
The red and black greatsword in Ethan's hand suffered no damage. The moment the spear blade and sword blade collided, the powerful magic contained within the sword erupted furiously, turning into surging flames that instantly engulfed the area where the two were fighting.
The impact of the explosion sent both Ethan and Imperius flying back. At this moment, Tyrael still wanted to intervene and dissuade them.
The battle erupted so suddenly. Imperius could transform into a white stream of light and move in an instant. This movement method was very similar to a mage's teleportation. Even if you could see the trajectory of the white light, it was difficult to attack him.
One reason was the extreme speed, and another was that after converting into an energy form, he was somewhat immune to most attack methods.
The two individuals, gods perhaps, understood each other's situation after a simple test.
Imperius still looked the same. His face, covered by heavy armor, made it impossible to see his current expression. For these angels, the armor they wore was actually part of their bodies, just like Tyrael always wore a hood, but it was always pitch black underneath. That was his angelic form.
However, Ethan's appearance still retained his human form, and his face showed the same range of expressions as a human. All the equipment on his body was external.
Therefore, Imperius could judge the opponent's situation through Ethan's expression.
The result was not optimistic. His previous spear thrust had actually used more than half his strength, but the opponent had received it very easily. From the outcome, their strengths were nearly equal, and the opponent likely had not used his full power either.
Although Imperius noticed that the energy Ethan used was very similar to the power used by angels, he still would not stop. Ethan was not an angel, and this was the source of the conflict, and it could not be changed.
"Outsider, your strength is great, but you will still die here today."
Imperius's strength ranked among the top of the angels, and in some ways, he could even be ranked first. Although his only two battles in the story were rather embarrassing, this did not negate his combat power.
Ethan flexed his wrist, and a very subtle discomfort quickly disappeared. Perhaps his self-recovery ability was stronger than Imperius's?
This could not be confirmed. After all, this was Heaven, the opponent's home ground. It was filled with energy beneficial to angels, allowing them to display combat power far beyond their normal strength.
However, this energy was not a disadvantage for Ethan either. The Holy Cloth on his body began to radiate a more noticeable light. The energy gathered on the Cloth, to some extent, could enhance Ethan's strength, speed, defense, and more.
To onlookers, it looked as if golden flames were burning on Ethan's body. These flames were not violent but very gentle. The few people standing nearby felt a warm sensation, as if basking in sunlight.
The only difference was the greatsword in Ethan's hand. The flames on the strangely shaped greatsword were more intense, like a fiercely burning black iron rod.
Ethan attacked again. No one saw how he disappeared. When he reappeared, he was standing where Imperius had been. He fiercely swung his greatsword down. In the area slashed by the blade during the strike, a pillar of fire erupted violently.
The pillar of fire, over two meters in diameter, shot up into the sky. Imperius, who reacted quickly enough to dodge the slash, was grazed by the subsequent pillar of fire. Although the terrifying high temperature did not cause him serious damage, it greatly angered the proud Archangel.
Imperius, still retreating in the air, used that special movement method again. While the pillar of fire was still erupting toward the sky, he appeared behind Ethan. He fiercely thrust the Spear of Valor, intending to pierce Ethan's head.
The Spear of Valor was only halfway through its thrust when a flash of golden light suddenly appeared before him. Ethan's massive wings behind him could not only be used for flying and as an armory, but also as shields and weapons when necessary. Just as they blocked the spear thrust, Ethan, using the wings for cover, twisted his body and slashed toward Imperius's side.
Imperius's combat experience was very rich. The moment his first attack was blocked, he chose to retreat, creating distance between himself and Ethan, causing Ethan's attack to miss.
As he retreated, the Spear of Valor in his hand suddenly emitted an even more intense light, and a beam of light as thick as an arm shot out from the spear tip.
Besides being used for melee combat, the Spear of Valor could also release a high-temperature energy ray with decent lethality. However, this simple attack method had limited effectiveness against powerful enemies.
Ethan was definitely among the top enemies Imperius had encountered. He did not expect such a simple attack to be effective.
As expected, when Ethan on the opposite side turned to face the ray he had fired, he did not even bother to dodge. He simply stood straight and raised his empty left hand.
Puff.
There was no explosion or shockwave. Instead, a strange muffled sound was heard. Ethan's left hand flashed with an even more intense light, directly neutralizing Imperius's ray.
That was not all. The light on Ethan's hand gradually became more dazzling. Imperius realized that the opponent seemed to want to counter with a move.
Perhaps it was a similar disruptive attack, intended to hit him while he was dodging. Should he take it head-on?
Imperius was overthinking. Ethan's move did not give him time to dodge at all.
Or rather, by the time he was debating whether to dodge, it was already too late.
Holy Star Shining Pulse.
The correct translation should be Chiron's Luminous Pulse, but since Ethan made these Cloths, he could name the moves however he wanted.
So he chose this name as the official name for this move.
This move, which gathered a large amount of positive energy, could be explained in one sentence: a very fast, high-quality positive energy bombardment.
It was so fast that by the time the move was unleashed, the target had already been hit. According to the standard of Gold Saints, their moves reached the speed of light, meaning they were almost guaranteed to hit. However, the Cloths Ethan made were difficult to reach this level. Only the Holy Star Shining Pulse, due to its inherent light attribute, infinitely approached this standard.
The thick golden-yellow beam of light directly plowed a trench in the ground. Imperius, who was standing opposite Ethan, was blasted into the distant massive wall by this beam.
When the light dissipated, Imperius, embedded in the wall, lay motionless in the crater. Many wounds appeared on his body, and the surface of his heavy armor even showed scorched marks. This shocked him more than being knocked back.
The energy Ethan used was almost identical in nature to the energy he used. Being blasted away was nothing, but his body being scorched by the energy he was most familiar with was the truly unsettling part.
Because the energies were nearly identical, Ethan was able to immunize himself against Imperius's ray attack when he condensed a more powerful and higher-quality energy. Being more concentrated and higher in quality meant this energy could barely be absorbed, or rather, it had exceeded Imperius's tolerance limit. In this situation, the energy would display its violent side, and causing some damage was not strange at all.
At this moment, Ethan continued his attack. His empty left hand retrieved the golden bow from behind him, and then he placed the greatsword from his right hand onto the bowstring.
(To be continued.)