"Impressive. You actually kept adjusting your angle during battle, using me to block Alfia's attacks..."
Zald stared solemnly at Elise, seemingly trying to make the atmosphere more serious, but his mohawk made it impossible to take him seriously.
"But this battle won't end so easily!"
Although Zald had failed to hit Elise, he had successfully prevented her from escaping the "prison" Alfia had created.
That was precisely why Alfia now had the opportunity to unleash the ultimate magic she had once used against Leviathan, the King of the Sea!
Dong...
They were clearly standing on a boundless plain, so why had the tolling of a bell—something that should only be heard within a city—suddenly appeared?
There was only one answer!
"Wail! Sacred Bell Tower!"
Like the tolling that heralded the end of all things, the bell resounded across the entire plain. It was sacred. It was ruin. It was the prelude announcing the destruction of all creation!
At that moment, Alfia opened her tightly closed eyes, revealing irises of different colors as she gazed at Elise in the distance.
Her Mind had reached its peak, and her physical condition had been adjusted to its absolute best. Combined with the equipment Elise had given her, the current Alfia was no weaker than she had been when she destroyed Leviathan.
This strike would undoubtedly far surpass the one she had unleashed back then!
In an instant, the illusory great bell floating above Alfia's head released a dazzling radiance before shattering in an overwhelmingly dramatic fashion.
However...
Although the bell had shattered, the attack would not end there. The bell's destruction was merely one part of it.
A roar capable of annihilating the world now revealed itself before everyone's eyes.
It was the ultimate expression of ruin!
Sound gradually vanished, the earth began to split apart, and the devastating impact seemed intent on swallowing everything in existence...
This was Alfia's strongest magic!
Alfia was confident that if she faced Leviathan again, she could destroy it with ease!
But the opponent before this attack was now Elise!
Zald, who understood just how terrifying this strike was, retreated without hesitation and escaped the swarm of sonic blades Alfia had created. The price, however, was the complete disappearance of the long strip of hair remaining atop his head.
What a joke. Compared to his life, what did hair matter?
Even if he went bald, would Zald not still be a Level 7 adventurer?
Of course, Zeus and the others would definitely laugh at him afterward...
"Ugh!"
In the end, Zald could only flee Alfia's attack range as quickly as possible, leaving Elise standing alone before the terrifying impact.
"So this is... the magic that once destroyed Leviathan in a single strike?"
Elise had arrived in the world of DanMachi after the battle against the Black Dragon, so she had never seen Behemoth or Leviathan, two of the adventurers' Three Great Quests. Naturally, she had no way to judge their strength.
She only knew how they had been defeated...
Zald had eaten Behemoth's flesh, gaining an extraordinarily powerful boost that allowed him to destroy Behemoth.
As for Alfia... she had annihilated Leviathan in a single strike through an exceptionally long chant!
At least Zald had relied on an external enhancement before gaining the chance to defeat Behemoth, but Alfia had relied entirely on her own power!
Just how powerful was her ultimate magic?
Elise was finally seeing it for herself!
The moment she witnessed the attack, Elise understood why Alfia had done this.
This battle might nominally be nothing more than a trial meant to help Elise accumulate the Great Feats needed to level up, but...
Were Alfia and the others truly satisfied with that?
Many people knew that Elise was powerful.
She had created the Stigmata, crushed Evilus, and could even heal their old wounds and illnesses...
But none of that ultimately proved anything. Those accomplishments might offer hope for the future, but that was not what Alfia and the others wanted to see!
They had defeated Behemoth and Leviathan, yet they had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Black Dragon!
The reason was nothing complicated. They had simply been too weak!
Behemoth and Leviathan had been defeated by them because they were weak, while they had been defeated by the Black Dragon for the very same reason!
Therefore, overwhelming strength was the only truth in this world!
That was why Alfia had unleashed her strongest attack now!
Although she had already chosen Elise, she still wanted to confirm her decision one final time. The fact that she had opened her eyes and met Elise's gaze earlier made that clear.
Therefore...
"I have to face this strike head-on!"
Even though she possessed the ability to dodge, Elise chose to remain where she stood.
"Est, I'll need to borrow your power!"
"Yes, Sister. Let's do this together!"
The Sacred Demon Sword in her hand flickered briefly as Est's voice echoed within Elise's mind.
Elise and Est were bound by a contract. No matter where Est was, the moment Elise called for her, she would immediately appear in Elise's hand.
There was therefore no possibility of Elise ever finding herself without her sword.
Not only that, but when Elise and Est fought together, their strength increased dramatically!
Elise had already reached Level 5. What about Est?
The answer was...
Level 7!
That was right. Est was the same level as Alfia and Zald!
From the very beginning, Elise had never intended to reveal Est's abilities or information before everyone.
That was because Est leveled up even faster than Elise!
To be clear, this referred to increases in level, not gains in ability points.
Every time Elise leveled up, the upper limit of her ability scores increased by one thousand. Therefore, although Elise was only Level 5, every one of her ability scores exceeded ten thousand!
Est likewise possessed an ability that accelerated her growth. Although it was not as fast as Elise's, it was still far superior to that of an ordinary adventurer!
Unlike Elise, she did not need to accumulate several thousand ability points before advancing a single level, and she could share the same Great Feats as Elise...
She merely needed to level up normally. After following Elise for so long, how could Est's advancement possibly have been slow?
That was why Elise had always instructed Est to suppress her presence and conceal her strength.
Aside from Est herself, only Elise, her contracted partner, and Astraea, who updated her status, knew the truth.
No one else knew anything about Est's abilities. Outsiders knew at most that the Astraea Familia had a little girl who could transform into a sword. They had no understanding of her actual strength.
"Now is the time to reveal our power, Est!"
Radiance once again shimmered across the Sacred Demon Sword. Although it was still multicolored, there was now a subtle difference.
Originally, the elements had remained distinct from one another. Even when mixed together, the boundaries between them were clearly visible. But now...
Those boundaries seemed to have ceased to exist. Each element contained the others, and the others contained it in turn.
Elise had always been developing her own abilities. Why would Est have been any different?
This was what Est had created from different elements...
Chaos!