Chapter 221: The Ability of King Arthur's Holy Sword, Excalibur, Is...
Boom—!
The earth shattered, creating a small-scale crustal tsunami that swept outward in all directions.
The epicenter of the explosion resembled the devastation caused by the Tunguska event in the 20th century.
Thus, the land was being brutally ravaged.
In less than ten seconds since the battle began, the two had already exchanged countless blows. Roughly ten of their attacks had impacted the ground, each causing enough destruction to wipe a country off the world map and force a complete redrawing of its topography.
Moreover, their speed was so immense that, for the first few seconds, one could trace their collision paths through the trails of light.
This was due to the intense heat generated by their friction with the air. However, after a few seconds, their terrifying velocity had blown away all the air in the area, creating a vacuum-like state.
As a result, the luminous trails produced at high speeds became nearly impossible to see.
Still, occasional flashes revealed where the two had suddenly appeared and clashed. These flashes occurred when Zeus's fists struck the invisible sword King Arthur used as a shield.
After several strikes, the invisible sword began to ripple, faintly revealing the golden blade hidden within.
"Hohoho, this time it'll be ten times the power, and ten times the speed~"
Zeus, who had paused briefly, said with a weird laugh, his fists clenched so tightly they emitted sounds akin to explosions.
"Is that so?"
"Then, catch this!"
The moment the words were clearly heard, Zeus vanished.
In just 0.00001 seconds, he appeared before King Arthur, and his fist swung out at the same speed.
Boom—!
A dull sound echoed, and the invisible blade of the sword was mostly exposed.
Huh?
Pupils contracting, Zeus immediately crossed his arms to guard in front of him.
BOOM—!!!
An unprecedented explosion erupted from their clash, tearing and digging into the earth, forming a massive chasm.
Immediately after, a mountain collapsed—not from the shockwave of the explosion, but from being struck.
"Wh-what happened?"
"I don't know!"
"I see, allow me to explain it to everyone."
The host Heimdall understood what had occurred.
The so-called massive explosion was a storm released from King Arthur's sword—a compressed storm enveloping the blade. It was this storm that distorted light refraction, making the sword invisible.
And this storm wasn't shattered by Zeus—like popping a balloon—but rather, it seemed King Arthur had actively detonated it.
It wasn't a full radial shockwave either; instead, the compressed storm was further focused directly in front of Zeus, erupting toward him with such terrifying force that it tore a chasm in the earth.
As for the collapsed mountain, it was King Arthur who was sent flying backward and crashed into it.
It wasn't due to the recoil from releasing the storm—though there might have been some—but more so from the impact of Zeus's punch.
"Hohoho, how interesting~"
With Zeus's delighted, eerie laughter, he leaped out from the depths of the massive chasm.
At the same time, King Arthur flew out from the still-collapsing mountain.
Now, he no longer wielded an invisible sword but a golden one.
"Th-that must be the holy sword Excalibur!"
The magician girl, Le Fay, said with some excitement.
In her world, the holy sword didn't have an invisibility effect.
Of course, she didn't believe the holy sword before her had only that ability.
In the next instant, King Arthur made a slashing motion toward Zeus from a distance. The movement was so fast that to Le Fay, it looked like a poorly framed animation, unnatural and disjointed.
Even from such a distance, Zeus suddenly dodged to the side, and in that split second, the earth was cleanly sliced apart.
What is this?
Only after the host's explanation did she understand: the holy sword had been instantly re-covered in wind, but this time not for invisibility—instead, it formed a transparent, elongated blade of wind.
"Still refusing to draw your weapon, are you?"
"Ho~ Then show me the power that will make me draw it."
So, King Arthur took a slight breath, and the atmosphere began to change...
To be precise, the flow of the wind was shifting, swirling into a torrent, and the affected clouds created a spectacular scene.
The clouds suddenly collapsed, forming a massive funnel-like shape, its tip precisely aimed at King Arthur, flowing into his body as if being absorbed.
"Hoh?"
Zeus realized it wasn't flowing into the other's body but covering it, much like how the compressed wind had earlier enveloped that sword.
This time, he was covering his own body with compressed wind to enhance his defense, wasn't he?
But it couldn't be that simple!
Suddenly, Zeus's pupils contracted, and he immediately raised his defenses!
Clang!
This time, a metallic clashing sound rang out. Right at Zeus's heart position, the tip of a golden sword was mere centimeters away from piercing through. The reason it couldn't advance further was that it was blocked by blue lightning.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't blue lightning but a sword that resembled lightning—Zeus's divine weapon, the Lightning Sword.
This time, the opponent's speed was too fast, so fast that he couldn't dodge, so fast that he couldn't intercept it with his bare hands without being pierced or sliced apart.
Thus, in the face of imminent death, he finally drew his Sacred Gear to block in front of his chest.
The reason King Arthur's speed was so absurdly fast this time was that he used the explosive force from releasing the compressed 0.8-level wind as propulsion.
Was this the ability of his weapon? To dominate the atmosphere, to command the wind!
Boom—!
A deafening roar echoed as part of the impact from the opponent's thrust was channeled through Zeus's body into the earth.
As a result, the ground suffered massive destruction.
It was as if a vast cavity had formed beneath the earth, causing it to collapse under the force of this strike.
The scale of this destruction was enough to completely bury the largest human city.
Of course, if this had occurred in the human world, the devastation would have been far greater.
Even the areas surrounding the buried city would suffer severe calamities due to the massive upheaval of the earth.
The sturdy structures built by humans would crumble like sandcastles.