The battlefield between the two was, by a silent understanding, set within the Astral Realm.
The reason was simple: the cost of their conflict was far too steep for the mortal world.
For these two, a single stray movement possessed the power to level cities or sink entire islands. Even the mere aftershocks of their clash would be more than the Earth's environment could endure.
Whether guided by her conscience or her own sense of pride, Melusine would never allow humanity to suffer such a senseless disaster.
Rama felt much the same.
As a god burdened with an excess of moral integrity, he had long felt a twinge of guilt over "constantly taking from the earth without ever giving back"—though the core issue wasn't just the taking, but the fact that his consumption was utterly uncontrollable.
Even if he wanted to win using only a fraction of his power, or without drawing any external energy at all, the Great Ritual of the Old Covenant within him would not obey his will.
The battle erupted the very instant they breached the Astral Realm.
Compared to ordinary Campiones or Heretic Gods, their raw combat statistics were worlds apart.
When Athena and Annie followed them into the rift, they were met with a scene that even their divine eyes struggled to track.
While the laws of the Astral Realm differed from reality, the tremors from clashing blades and the spray of leaking magical energy made the sheer horror of the fight unmistakably clear.
"Tearing through heaven and earth" was no longer a metaphor; it had become a visible, physical phenomenon.
The Astral Realm was infinitely vast, home to countless "Sanctuaries" carved out by ancient creators—Heretic Gods of old who had retreated from the world, divine spirits who hadn't reached the Godhead but possessed high-level spirituality, and those who had shed their flesh to attain immortality.
Despite having no personal grudge, even their casual probing strikes sent out shockwaves that carved ten-mile gashes through the atmosphere if they missed.
If a blow was parried, the resulting blast would sweep away everything for thousands of miles.
It was a spectacle so violent that even a God-King would be shaken and forced to retreat.
Past common sense had become utterly meaningless. Waves of heat and howling storms exploded outward from the epicenter of their duel.
Furthermore, as Melusine intentionally pushed the boundaries of the battlefield further out, countless Sanctuaries along the path suffered for it.
The lucky ones were merely cracked by the trembling earth; the less fortunate saw their entire pocket dimensions collapse, leaving the entities within with little hope of survival.
Athena watched with relative composure—after all, one of the combatants was her own—but Annie felt as though she couldn't breathe.
Campiones? Devil Kings? These existences, hailed as the "Arch-rivals of Heretic Gods" who reigned over the world, were no different from mere mortals in the face of this.
They could do nothing but watch from a distance.
Authorities? The powers they had usurped from the gods offered almost no opening to intervene here.
In a battle that defied all comprehension, only something equally incomprehensible could hope to tip the scales.
But...
This stalemate couldn't last forever.
Under the constant pressure of clashing at full throttle, Rama found himself drenched in sweat for the first time.
His heart, which hadn't beaten in ages, began to throb violently.
A joy of "being alive"—a feeling he hadn't experienced in an eternity—began to bloom within him.
However, as he looked at the silver-haired girl who met his blade time and time again, that rising joy was dampened by a touch of melancholy.
The next moment, the sting of a blade grazing his cheek and the sensation of hot blood splattering his skin snapped him back to the present.
"You seem rather relaxed," Melusine said, her tone sounding dangerously sharp.
"You misunderstand. I am simply enjoying myself immensely... yet I am also immensely saddened."
Though they were exchanging thousands of blows per second, there was still room for a few words.
A flicker of delight was visible on the silver-haired youth's face, but the bitter smile at the corners of his mouth made his complex expression look almost tragic.
"I never imagined I would encounter an opponent as powerful as you. In fact, you haven't even gone all out yet; you're planning something, aren't you?"
Melusine remained noncommittal.
Her intent was indeed obvious. Since the start of the fight, she had been steering the battlefield toward a specific coordinate. It was easy enough for Rama to see through it.
"Despite the circumstances, I find myself feeling strangely happy," Rama continued his monologue, not needing her confirmation.
Every collision between them released destruction exceeding three million tons of TNT.
A single second of clashing near the edge of a Sanctuary was enough to nearly shatter it to pieces.
"Finding joy in battle? I cannot relate," Melusine replied. She sent the youth flying an immeasurable distance with a strike, only to catch up to him in the blink of an eye.
Unlike Melusine, who seemed to grow stronger as the fight progressed, Rama's energy was draining rapidly at full output.
Without a way to replenish it, he could no longer keep up with her based on physical prowess alone.
While Authorities couldn't bring a decisive change to a fight of this scale, failing to use them would only make things worse.
"Divine Sword of Salvation! My masters! My friends! O celestial armaments granted by the sages and the great gods! Now is the time to show your true might!"
"O white light of salvation, erase my nemesis!"
Dazzling magic circles expanded across the divine sword, and countless legendary weapons manifested out of thin air, swarming toward Melusine like a cloud of autonomous drones.
Simultaneously, a sphere of platinum light rose behind Rama, rapidly expanding from the size of a globe to a glowing mass a hundred meters wide.
"Yes... though it makes little sense, I am feeling joy and pleasure right now." Despite his words, the sorrow on Rama's face was palpable.
He looked at Melusine—at her silhouette and her expression, which hadn't shifted once even under these conditions—and couldn't help but think of himself.
"To find no genuine joy in anything, to not even have a peer you can cut loose against... for a powerhouse like you, this world must be an agonizing place to live."
Rama had felt that kind of existence before, so he understood it better than anyone.
Their conversation didn't halt the carnage. Countless bolts of lightning crackled across the platinum star, accompanying the barrage of divine weapons to seal off every possible escape route for Melusine.
But... was there really a need to dodge?
Facing the overwhelming onslaught, a massive amount of magical energy processed through her reactor core, fueling Melusine's power.
Pale blue flames, accompanied by overflowing azure particles, spread from her heart to her entire body.
The lightning struck her dragon scales but failed to even sting. Even the various divine weapons, forged with the powerful concept of "Steel," were shattered and ruined under the weight of Arondight's swings.
Looking at the solemn Rama, Melusine felt a literal question mark pop up in her mind at his words.
"Have you misunderstood something? I'm simply not that excited about fighting."
"After all, I am the strongest. To me, a battle is just a 'process' one has to go through for various reasons before reaching the inevitable result. It would be weirder to find that fun, wouldn't it?"
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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.