"Well, isn't that cute?"
Rebecca's laughter bubbled up like she'd just heard the world's funniest joke.
Seriously, this cold angel actually believed her pretty boy master could take on Marcus?
It's an adorably naive little thought.
Sure, the big guy might be dumb.
But Marcus wasn't just some gym bro who spent his weekends flexing in front of mirrors. When it came to raw, bone-crushing power, nobody in the Camp could match the guy.
Heck, Marcus even once punched through a reinforced bunker wall because his lunch was 5 mins late.
The big man basically treated concrete barriers like they were made of wet tissue papers.
'But hey, let this emotionless angel keep her cute little fantasies.'
Rebecca shrugged to herself with a hint of sneering mockery.
"Aurelia…! Listen to me!"
Suddenly, Jin's desperate voice cracked from the sidelines, blood still streaming down her face.
She wanted to let Aurelia know what enemy she is dealing with before it's too late!
"She can manipulate the entire maze structure…! Her earth powers let her–"
"Tsk, tsk."
Rebecca raised an eyebrow and turned toward the near-dying "leader" with a mocking disappointment.
"It would be better to shut your mouth for eternity, Leader."
*Rumble...*
The stone floor beneath Jin began to crack and shift.
Sharp earth spikes started emerging from the ground, aimed directly at her heart.
But before they could pierce through…
*CLANG!*
Aurelia's blade sliced through the attacking spikes like they were made of cardboard.
Silver energy crackled along her sword as stone fragments scattered everywhere.
"... Well, well."
Rebecca's smile didn't falter, but there was definitely a sharper edge to it now.
"Fast reflexes. Color me impressed."
Rebecca commented and then,
*WHOOSH!*
Without any warning, the entire maze structure began to shift and groan around them.
Walls rose and fell like ocean waves.
Corridors twisted and reformed themselves.
The circular clearing they'd been standing in suddenly stretched into an irregular oval, with multiple stone pillars erupting from the ground to create cover.
"Here's the thing about direct combat, angel sister."
Rebecca's voice echoed from somewhere behind the newly formed pillars, but pinpointing her exact location was damn near impossible.
"When it comes to raw power? Sure, you're probably leagues above me."
*CRASH!*
A massive boulder came flying out of nowhere, aimed straight at Aurelia's head.
*SLICE!*
Aurelia's blade carved through the rock effortlessly, splitting it in half with a burst of divine energy.
"But here's what I'm curious about."
It's the same voice, but this time from the left side.
It's a wonder how the hell was she moving so fast?
"How long can you last against an enemy you can't see? Someone who can attack from any direction at any given moment?"
*SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!*
Earth spikes erupted from the ground in rapid succession, with each one of them targeting different parts of Aurelia's body.
Ankles, knees, torso, neck, eyes, back…
It's a coordinated assassination attempt designed to overwhelm Aurelia's senses and responses.
If it were a normal person, they would've surely turned into a porcupine.
But Aurelia wasn't just a normal person.
She's a Valkyrie forged through wars. Even if she forgot most of her memories, her expertise as a divine blender of death still remains.
The angel waifu didn't even break a sweat.
*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!*
Her blade moved in perfect arcs, destroying each spike with terrifying precise sharpness and power.
The movements were so fluid, fast and effortless, that it looked more like a… blender of sharp silver blade than actual swordsmanship.
"What the hell..."
Jin's eyes widened from her position on the ground.
She'd never seen anything like this before.
Each attack that would have instantly turned a normal person into a human tomato paste was being countered with the kind of skill that could only be called godly.
Honestly, watching Aurelia fight was like watching someone play a video game on easy mode while everyone else was stuck on nightmare difficulty…
"...Interesting."
Rebecca's voice carried a hint of strain now, even though she's trying to hide it despite her twitching eyebrow.
*RUMBLE! RUMBLE!*
The floor beneath Aurelia suddenly gave way, creating a massive pit filled with razor-sharp stone spikes.
But instead of falling–
"..."
Aurelia launched herself onto one of the stone pillars with a cat-like grace.
Her fantastical boots were jumping around on the narrow surface like she'd been doing parkour her entire life.
"You're making this quite entertaining, I'll give you that."
Rebecca's voice now came from above, somewhere in the maze walls that had risen to create an enclosed arena.
"But let's see you dodge this."
*CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!*
Boulders began raining down from multiple directions.
… Not just one or two, but an entire fucking avalanche of stone projectiles.
Each one was roughly the size of a car and moving fast enough to paste a normal person into a red juice.
As for Aurelia's response?
She didn't dodge.
Didn't even bother running.
She stood her ground and began cutting.
*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!...*
Her blade moved so fast it created afterimages, with silver energy trailing behind each strike.
Now this is… the true power of the divine blender of death!
Boulder after boulder was reduced to an almost fine powder that scattered across the arena floor.
"...T-That's impossible."
Rebecca's voice cracked slightly; her confident amusement started to waver.
But from Aurelia's perspective, this whole fight was honestly getting a bit boring.
Sure, Rebecca's tactics were clever.
The hit-and-run approach was smart for someone outclassed in direct combat.
The environmental manipulation was genuinely creative.
Any other warrior would have been overwhelmed by the constant attacks from blind spots and unpredictable angles.
But the problem was simple.
When the gap in skill and power was this massive, tactics could only do so much.
That's why Aurelia is also strict and an adverse believer of strengthening your own body and enhancing your skills through repeated training and battle engagement.
And it's a testament to the miraculous transformation of Nero since day 1 apocalypse.
*SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!*
Each spike attack telegraphed itself through subtle vibrations in the ground.
Every boulder throw created air displacement that she could feel seconds before impact.
Rebecca's hiding spots were obvious to someone with enhanced senses.
It was like watching a child play hide-and-seek behind a glass door while wearing a bright yellow raincoat.
Definitely adorable, but ultimately pointless.
*SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!*
Countless earth spikes erupted around her, this time in a spiral pattern designed to force her into a smaller and smaller area.
Aurelia simply jumped to another pillar.
*CRASH!*
The pillar she'd been standing on suddenly crumbled, but she'd already moved to the next one.
"Stay still, damn it!"
Rebecca's voice carried genuine frustration now as she gritted her teeth with cold sweat running down her forehead.
*Rumble... Rumble...*
The entire arena began to shift again.
Walls rotated, floors tilted, and the maze structure rearranged itself into something that looked like a three-dimensional puzzle box.
But here was the real problem Rebecca was facing.
Aurelia wasn't just defending.
She was adapting.
The divine girl was memorizing the patterns of each of her attacks.
With each of her attacks revealing more information about Rebecca's location… her range limitations, and the versatility of her ability.
The earth manipulation was impressive, but it wasn't unlimited.
Creating and controlling this much stone required serious mana expenditure.
Rebecca was burning through her reserves fast, and they both knew it.
"You're running out of steam."
Aurelia spoke for the first time since the fight began, her voice carrying that same stoic authority that could make mountains bow.
"Surrender now, and I'll make your death quick."
"Ha! Like hell I will!"
*CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!*
It's another barrage of boulders, but this time it was mixed with razor-sharp stone discs that spun through the air like deadly frisbees.
But as usual, Aurelia destroyed them all without even changing her expression.
… And then something interesting finally happened.
The platform beneath Aurelia's feet began to shift and buckle, forcing her to leap to another unstable surface.
Then that one started collapsing too.
Rebecca was getting desperate, sacrificing precision for chaos.
The entire arena was now in constant motion, with no stable ground to stand on.
Pillars rose and fell.
Platforms tilted and spun.
The floor itself became a shifting maze of death traps and unstable surfaces.
"... Let's see you maintain that perfect defense when you can't even find solid ground!"
Rebecca's laughter echoed from somewhere in the chaos, but there was a hysterical edge to it now.
*Jump! Jump! Jump!*
Aurelia leaped from surface to surface with impossible grace, her movements looking more like flying than running.
Each landing was perfect.
And each of her jumps was calculated.
Even in complete chaos, the angel maintained absolute control and calmness she had since the beginning.
"...T-This can't be happening."
Rebecca was now truly beginning to panic, the fear was slowly encroaching her heart.
Meanwhile,
"... Amazing."
Jin watched with a stunned look on her face as Aurelia slashed through the chaos effortlessly.
Every surface that should have collapsed held just long enough for her to reach the next one.
And every attack that should have connected and could've been a grave injury missed her pristine body by a few inches.
… It was like watching physics take one look at her and decide to just give up on all its rules.
Because apparently, gravity was optional when you were this ridiculously "skilled".
But Rebecca wasn't done yet.
*SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!*
Earth spikes began erupting from every surface simultaneously.
By I mean every, I mean EVERY.
Walls, floors, ceilings, even from the sides of the stone pillars.
The entire arena became a field of razor-sharp death, with new spikes appearing every few seconds in completely unpredictable locations.
"Dodge this, you smug bitch!"
The attacks were coming from literally everywhere now.
There were no safe spots or predictable patterns.
Just pure, overwhelming aggression designed to eventually catch her off guard or tire the bitch out.
Watching the countless attacks arrive at her simultaneously, for the first time in the fight, Aurelia had to actually focus.
*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!*
Her blade work became a blur of silver light, destroying spikes faster than Rebecca could create them.
But even with her overwhelming skill, she couldn't keep this up forever.
The constant movement and defense were starting to tax even her divine-enhanced stamina… at least that's what it looked like.
Rebecca finally sensed something had changed, but couldn't figure out what.
"Hah! Finally! You're slowing down!"
… But was she though?
Because from where Jin was sitting, Aurelia looked exactly the same as before.
The angel feels like… she's more focused and stoic, if that was even possible judging from how emotionless her expression is.
*SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!*
The attacks intensified in power and speed. They were coming faster and from even more unpredictable angles.
… And that's when something shifted in Aurelia's expression.
Her golden eyes suddenly glinted with a mysterious light, like she'd just spotted something.
… Like she'd finally found what she was looking for.
*Glow...*
Silver energy began swirling around her sword, covering it in an instant with a faint light.
It's a build-up for what she's about to do next.
Aurelia then raised her blade high, pointing it toward a specific section of the arena wall with a deadly precious and target in mind.
Parting her blossom lips, her stoic voice rang out loud and clear amidst the chaos.
"Light's Wrath."
***
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