Chapter 157

PHA – Chapter 157 – Acting Competition

The pitch-black hands ruthlessly smashed down in the Hero’s direction. Just the presence of the dark mana used to construct this pair of hands had caused many people on the battlefield to grow sluggish.

Through past experiences and research, it was found that dark mana possessed a corrosive ability that resembled a curse. Meanwhile, those affected by this ability would face difficulty operating their physical body and mana.

However, what everyone currently experienced was nothing more than the residual power of the Demon King’s attack. Yet, this residual power was already enough to discomfort them. This showed just how extraordinary the Demon King’s attack was. Although the attack the Demon King just used didn’t match the descriptions of any recorded taboos, there was no doubt that the spell was already on the level of taboos.

With this one move, Luna had instantly convinced the demons and the elves that she was undoubtedly the Demon King. Meanwhile, not one to be beaten, Alice let out a soft grunt and tapped the ground with the Hero’s Sword.

Immediately, three bright dots composed of light mana emerged from the tip of the Hero’s Sword and scattered around Alice. Then, the three dots connected to form a triangle that enveloped Alice within it.

Subsequently, the triangle rose into the air and cast down a curtain of light that protected Alice’s “body” from Luna’s attack. Even when the pitch-black hands smashed into the curtain of light, the most it managed to do was cause the barrier to shake a little. The barrier showed no signs of breaking whatsoever.

“It’s the Enochian Prism.” Patriarch Elway, one of the oldest elves on the battlefield, took on the task of explaining the fight. Unlike Luna’s spell, the taboo Alice just used wasn’t something new, so Patriarch Elway quickly recognized it. “It’s a taboo developed by a scholar from the Rhine Kingdom several thousand years ago, and it is one of the few taboos with defensive capabilities.”

“A defensive taboo?” Since Luna was playing the role of a Demon King, she naturally had to play it fittingly. After seeing Alice blocking her attack with the Enochian Prism, she mockingly asked, “What? After all that talk, you only dare to use a defensive taboo?”

“I just want to avoid causing collateral damage to the Elven Forest,” Alice said as a follow-up to Luna’s words. Then, she lifted the Hero’s Sword with the power armor’s right hand.

Following Alice’s request, the Ymir Kingdom’s Dwarven Technical Unit had created an opening in the power armor’s right palm. The opening was meant to allow Alice’s right hand to make physical contact with the Hero’s Sword.

Because of this design, Alice could similarly take advantage of the Hero’s Sword’s stat bonuses. In other words, she could also use the Hero’s Sword’s active skill:

“Okay!!!”

Upon activating Holy Cross Slash, Alice’s body swiftly executed one vertical slash and one horizontal slash, sending a cross of holy light flying toward Luna. The light mana used to form the cross was so powerful that it caused a deep groove to form on the ground as it flew toward Luna. At this moment, though, the light the cross emitted was so dazzling that most of the elves and demons on the battlefield could only see a bright light filling their vision and nothing else.

“It’s useless!”

Luna’s voice rang through the air. Looking up, Alice saw that Luna had jumped into the air and dodged the oncoming holy cross. At the same time, Luna had also used her mana to push the demon soldiers behind her aside, just barely keeping them out of Alice’s Holy Cross Slash’s AOE.

Subsequently, without waiting for the holy cross to fade out of existence, Luna gathered dark mana in her hands and used it to form a large scythe. Then, she ruthlessly swung the scythe at Alice’s Enochian Prism.

Immediately, a crack formed on the light barrier protecting Alice. Although the Enochian Prism was a powerful taboo, there was still a limit to its defensive capabilities, and it evidently lacked the power to block a second attack from Luna.

Seeing that Luna had moved on to the next phase of their act, Alice tightened her grip around the Hero’s Sword. Then, as soon as her Enochian Prism shattered, she swung the Hero’s Sword to block Luna’s scythe.

When light and dark mana, two opposing attributes, clashed, the reaction they created was much more intense than any other attribute pairings. Immediately, with Alice and Luna as the center, a storm of power spread across the battlefield.

“Retreat! This isn’t a fight we can interfere in!”

Patriarch Elway hurriedly pulled out a staff from a weapon storage hidden under his long sleeves and summoned wind mana to pull back the elves that were sent flying. Then, he hastily retreated from the frontlines with everyone. Even though it was merely a clash of two weapons, the resulting shockwave was not the slightest bit weaker than a collision between two taboos. This situation renewed Patriarch Elway’s recognition of the Hero and the Demon King.

Unlike the elves’ side, things on the demons’ side were a little better. The demon soldiers were all geared in heavy armor, so the shockwave did not send any of them flying. Even so, Davis still hurriedly commanded everyone to pull away from the battlefield to avoid getting hit by any more shockwaves.

While the elves and the demons were pulling away, Luna did not stop her attacks against Alice.

Dark Sunburst!

A heavy female voice came out from under the cloak. Then, a pitch-black sphere suddenly formed at the intersection between the Hero’s Sword and the large scythe and shot straight toward Alice.

Thanks to the massive boost to her Mind stat, Alice instantly determined that the black sphere was a compressed ball of a massive amount of dark mana, and she couldn’t help but be startled by this attack. Although they had planned parts of their fight, the lack of training space prevented them from coordinating their entire fight. So, this second phase of their act was also known as the improvisation phase, and Alice did not expect Luna to use such an attack. Meanwhile, based on her perception, she could tell that while Luna’s attack wasn’t strong enough to injure her, it was definitely more than enough to destroy her power armor.

After realizing this point, Alice promptly pushed Luna’s scythe away with the Hero’s Sword and leaped backward, avoiding the black sphere Luna had sent flying to her chest. Then, without Alice to receive it, the black sphere ended up flying toward the distant grassland.

A moment later, accompanied by a large mushroom cloud, a deafening explosion spread across the entire forest. The sound was so loud that the elves and demons on the battlefield couldn’t help but cover their ears.

Meanwhile, looking from afar, the grassland beneath the pitch-black mushroom cloud had been turned into a total wasteland. Some of the dirt from the grassland had even flown to Alice’s and Luna’s feet.

Fortunately, Luna had not directed this attack toward the Elven Forest. Instead, she had directed it toward a prairie outside the forest. Otherwise, this attack would’ve decimated a huge chunk of the forest.

Regardless, since Luna had already shown her might as the Demon King, Alice naturally had to respond in kind.

Lifting the Hero’s Sword high into the air, Alice gathered crimson mana from her surroundings and concentrated it into the Hero’s Sword’s tip. Then, she used this mana to form a fiery star orbited by a dozen fiery planets. The heat radiated by these fiery celestial bodies was so intense that even the elves and the demons, who had long since retreated into the distance, could feel it.

“Burning Star!!”