Not just the people on the ground—even Mukuro, whose heart should have been as still as an ancient well, found herself stirred by the blonde girl's attitude.
Don't misunderstand, this wasn't a flutter of affection.
It was a ripple of tangled, negative emotions, piling up inside her with no way to surface.
Could she really believe I wouldn't drop it? Does she think I'm just bluffing?
That thought crossed Mukuro's mind, and so she warned, "Are you truly prepared to catch it? Once I let it go, even I won't be able to stop it."
That was a lie. If Mukuro wanted to, she could easily intercept the meteor with her Lataib.
"Please don't worry. Earth isn't some prize to gamble with out of mere competitiveness. It is your future home—and mine as well."
Amber really wasn't treating this meteor as a big deal.
To put it bluntly, outsiders couldn't even begin to imagine just how strong she had become.
The training and experience she had accumulated while using Durandal's character card—and later the Palatinus Equinox card—hadn't vanished after switching cards.
Instead, it had all carried over and accumulated into her current role.
That was six whole years of training condensed. Even if it wasn't a perfect one-to-one translation, it still amounted to at least four or five years' worth.
A meteor like this? It was nothing. Even an asteroid, or even the moon—Amber felt she could crack any of them with a single punch.
You could say she was getting cocky. Confident without ever having truly tested it.
But then again, Amber had never felt power like this before. Not even back when she had Phoenix's character card had she experienced such a direct, visceral sense of numerical might.
"I've said my piece."
Since the other girl had spoken like that, Mukuro didn't plan to waste any more time trying to persuade her.
A violet shimmer flickered around her, and the massive meteor plunged straight toward Earth.
The Black Abyss White Flower vanished into thin air.
As Amber focused, Krishna—flowing like liquid with a blue, fiery glow—transformed into formless black energy. Then, it coalesced in Amber's hands into a spear of black and blue.
Midnight Ataegina.
Amber had wondered before why, despite having fully upgraded everything, this "graduation weapon" hadn't appeared.
But after actually switching character cards, she realized this spear was no different from the brick of the Herrscher of Sentience or any other blade or halberd—it was a weapon condensed from her own power.
Facing the colossal meteor hurtling toward her, thousands of times her size and trailing a golden-red tail of fire, Amber didn't hesitate. She raised her spear and charged straight at it.
The meteor Mukuro had formed was far harder than an ordinary one.
Not only did it retain its inherent physical properties, but Mukuro had also reinforced its structure with her Segva, making it incredibly difficult to 'separate'—that is, to destroy.
An impact larger than any before erupted from the point of collision.
The greater mass of the meteor meant a 'Segva' denser than ever. Even clouds a kilometer away were blown apart by the force of the clash.
The wind pressure swept across the high altitude, scattering every cloud behind it. On satellite imagery, a stark, abrupt blue void appeared in the sky.
She… really stopped it?
People on Earth watched in stunned disbelief at this godlike scene.
Right where the spear tip met the meteor, a hairline crack appeared.
As Amber poured on more force, the fracture spread rapidly in all directions.
The apocalyptic disaster capable of wiping out human civilization, something too vast to even comprehend, shattered into dozens—no, hundreds—of fragments within ten seconds.
The meteor's breakup triggered an even fiercer shockwave. Even though the two were positioned toward the morning side, everyone on the ground could see the brilliant flash of light in the sky.
Of course, such an impact wasn't something anyone could just shrug off.
Even steel would have been riddled with holes by the flying debris.
Though Mukuro used her Door to evade at the first moment, she was a step too late. Several chunks struck her body, and the force hurled her back dozens of meters.
That hurts!?
Mukuro, who had assumed she wouldn't feel pain, clenched her brow tightly.
As the shockwave subsided, she was about to check what lay ahead when she saw the girl with the cavalry spear already right in front of her.
"!"
"Are you alright?"
Amber summoned the Black Abyss White Flower once more.
She truly hadn't dared to use it against the meteor earlier—the impact force was no less than a nuclear blast to the face, and even a Herrscher would struggle to withstand that.
Maybe the Black Abyss White Flower was tougher than Sirin, but Amber wasn't willing to gamble on it.
Before Mukuro could react, a green light enveloped her.
The painful shocks she'd felt moments earlier eased almost instantly. Realizing this, Mukuro stared blankly at the black-and-white spear in the girl's hand.
"Did you heal me with this before too?"
"Yes."
Amber saw no reason to hide it.
"Whether as a guest or a host, even if my actions were motivated by protecting you, they were still undeniably forceful and rude."
"But we are not enemies. I do not wish to harm you, even if you make things difficult for me because of it."
"If you have any other conditions, you may state them. But my objective will not change—and I must see it through."
Mukuro didn't respond immediately. She quietly watched the girl finish speaking, then fell into thought.
No matter how she looked at it, the other's attitude seemed sincere.
Her words didn't sound deceitful. And if a meteor like that couldn't threaten her, then Mukuro really had no better means of attack left.
In other words, this girl had genuinely defeated her.
"The condition for going to the surface… I stated it earlier."
Mukuro finally spoke. "You fulfilled it. I won't break my promise. But that's all. If things aren't as I imagine, I will return here."
"Understood. Then, may I ask you to handle our return to the surface?"
"Mm."
The world-shaking battle thus came to a close.
Everyone who had witnessed the live broadcast would never forget those two blonde girls capable of easily destroying the world.
Forces opposed to Schicksal gathered that very day and held meetings through the night.
Their conclusion was… they must immediately condemn Schicksal and demand that the secrets behind Durandal's power be disclosed to the world.
It wasn't that they didn't want to surrender—they simply couldn't even kneel properly.
No one believed Mobius would spare them, not after they had frequently denounced her before and even carried out a kidnapping plot recently.
Pray that Mobius wouldn't come for them? Yeah, right. They were all adults here. No one was that naive.
Yet this time, these blustering nations and factions received no support whatsoever from the neutral parties.
Even though the neutrals had always played the role of meddlers, helping one side then the other, even meddlers valued their lives.
They genuinely feared ending up with six bullets in the back at home, ruled a suicide.
Completely isolated and without allies, the anti-Mobius factions could only watch as Mobius produced evidence of the earlier attacks and proceeded to settle accounts one by one.
Turning to serve Mobius as dogs became the most dignified outcome available.
Any other resistance was met with 'choosing not to align with Mobius, voluntarily stepping down,' followed within two days by being found at home having 'succumbed to despondency.'
Thus, Schicksal firmly gained control over half of the world's national powers and established close, friendly comrade relations with the other half.
The deployment of the Selene proceeded at the fastest possible speed, utterly unhindered.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.