The moment Zebul gave the order, everyone realized she was serious.
She really intended to destroy the protective shield—letting the tsunami rush in!
Panic swept through the people. None of them understood why Zebul would do such a thing, but now was no time for questions. Survival was the only priority.
Countless people scrambled toward the surrounding mountains. From above, it looked like a massive swarm of black ants moving together.
Zebul poured all her strength into her strike, but the shield did not budge.
Bang!
With a sharp metallic clang, the shield's recoil blasted her backward, leaving not even the faintest crack.
Zebul was startled for a moment, but quickly regained her stance, pulling some distance away.
Buzz—!
A flash of violet lightning tore through the sky. Using the momentum, Zebul slashed at the barrier again.
Bolts of thunder burst from her blade, writhing like countless sea serpents across the sky. The terrifying sight left onlookers frozen in shock.
"Break..."
"Break open!!!"
Gritting her teeth, Zebul unleashed an immense surge of power. But her blade failed to pierce even an inch, and the shield remained flawless.
This was the same Zebul who had cut her way through the Archon War, defeating foe after foe until she seized her godhood—yet her strength couldn't shatter this transparent wall.
She couldn't understand when Elliot had gained such power, but she had no time to dwell on it.
Boom!!!!
Another massive explosion thundered from the distant north.
Even thousands of miles away, Zebul saw the sky turn crimson.
The battle was fiercer than she had imagined.
That terrifying power churned the seas into utter chaos. The surrounding waters had become a forbidden zone, where tornadoes spun with monstrous force.
But none of that mattered. If she could break the shield, she could cleave those tornadoes apart afterward.
First, the barrier had to fall.
Zebul leapt back, her eyes narrowing.
She couldn't afford to waste time. She had to reach Elliot quickly.
He had only one hand—he couldn't possibly stand against a god.
Raising her blade slowly, Zebul summoned a storm of violet lightning that dyed the world around her in its glow.
She was ready to unleash her ultimate technique.
Musou no Hitotachi.
Her blade gathered endless thunder. Bolts as thick as water barrels coiled wildly around it, sparking and crackling.
Her entire figure was engulfed in that blinding light.
At that moment, the people finally understood—
This was the power of a god.
A single strike, strong enough to split the sea itself.
"This moment..."
"Is the moment of annihilation!"
Boom!!!
The blade fell with thunderous might.
But the result was not what Zebul had hoped.
The shield did not break. It held, completely blocking her strongest attack.
The unleashed shockwave was so violent it whipped into a raging hurricane.
The storm tore everything apart—trees ripped out by their roots, rooftops blown away, food and fruit hurled into the sky. People clung desperately to whatever they could hold.
"Break!!!!!!"
Zebul roared in fury, her lightning surging brighter, the winds climbing to an even deadlier force.
Her hair whipped wildly in the storm. Her eyes burned with conflicting emotions—fear, anger, desperation.
She was frantic, terrified that Elliot might already be in danger.
She was baffled, unable to comprehend why even Musou no Hitotachi couldn't tear through this barrier.
Even if Elliot were stronger than her, at the very least, a head-on clash should end in stalemate.
But this wasn't Elliot she was fighting—it was just a barrier.
What did that mean?
It meant that even if Elliot stood motionless, she couldn't touch a single hair on his head.
And the sheer scale of this barrier was astonishing. The energy required to sustain it had to be beyond anything she could imagine.
Zebul couldn't understand it. Even with all her laziness, all her neglect in training, her full-force strike should never fail to leave even a crack in something Elliot had made.
But it wasn't her fault. She didn't know that Elliot had taken the Gnosis with him—and gone to confront Heavenly Principles.
Boom!!!!
A third explosion shook the skies in the same distant direction.
The horizon there was now dyed an even deeper red.
Zebul refused to give up. She pushed herself harder, pouring every last ounce of strength into her blade with no reservation.
The shockwinds ravaged Narukami Island's interior, but she did not stop.
She had to protect Elliot. She had to bring him back.
For that, she would pay any price.
But as the struggle dragged on, her stamina began to drain away.
Even exhausting all her power, she could not leave a single crack in the barrier.
As the lightning around her blade flickered weakly, she noticed movement on the sea below.
Her gaze dropped instinctively, and she saw something different amidst the raging waves.
Boom!
The ocean outside the barrier swelled, rising like a massive dome before collapsing. Torrents of seawater cascaded down like a waterfall.
Zebul's pupils contracted sharply.
"What… is that?"
She froze as her eyes locked on a monstrous figure, as tall as a building, rising from the sea.