CH 146

「Ahahahaha……Poor senior Silva…」 「Y-, you’re right, poor him……」

Leone and Liselotte were stunned as well.

「No, that’s good! You did we——」(Leon) 「……Well!? CAN YOU NOT BREAK THE BARRIER I MADE!?!?」 「Oh no, he’s going to shoot! Miliera, put the barrier up again!」(Ripple) 「I can’t! I-, it’s too late!」

If Prisma were to unleash its light rays all around just like that, the surrounding urban area would be severely damaged. He was already right on the verge of shooting them out.

「Then, I will take the responsibility!」

While saying that, Inglis, enveloped in the brilliance of Ether Armor, had already entered Prisma’s reach.

「HAAAaaaat!!」

BAAAMMM!!!

She kicked with all her might without holding back, and the sound of an otherworldly loud blow roared through. The enormous, small mountain-sized body of Prisma was briskly shot up high, exceeding the height of Rafinha’s Flygear.

However, the Prisma’s distance from where he was first kicked was practically none compared to Abel who was blown away to who-knows-where sometime ago. Moreover, even though he was blown quite high away, he maintained his posture in the air and locked his gaze at Inglis and co. A clear sign that he didn’t suffer much damage from the kick.

Incomplete as he was, Inglis expected no less of the strongest Magic Stone Beasts, Prisma. This was why he was worth all the anticipation she had for him.

「OOoooooh!? She kicked a freaking Prisma up to the air!?」 「Wh-, what power! Th-, that alone won’t redeem anything, you know!?」 「But he’s not stopping either! He’s shooting!」

Exactly as Ripple pointed. The countless dots of light on the surface of Prisma’s body didn’t disappear, the attack didn’t seem to have been halted.

「Interesting! Then shoot!」

Inglis beckoned at the Prisma. It was unclear whether her words reached him or not, but the Prisma unleashed his seven-colored beams of light from all around his body.

「I-, it’s shot!」 「Th-, the city!」 「Wh-, what a disaster!」

Everyone shrieked, their eyes looking upwards, and hadn’t noticed that Inglis’ figure had already disappeared.

They first noticed the oddity when one of the light ray Prisma shot suddenly changed its angle. The beam that should have landed on the ground and brought about great casualties was shot straight up instead.

「Ooh!? The light’s trajectory is changed!?」

And not just one, but two, and three, and then more and more.

「S-, something is moving around!?」 「Inglis! That’s Inglis, she’s punching the light rays!」

Ripple was right. Inglis had anticipated the trajectory of Prisma’s light rays and, at full speed, she punched them away to forcefully change their course. Knocking them up, rather than down.

This was also the reason why she kicked Prisma up to the air in the first place.

So long it was floating in the air, if it unleashed a full-body attack in all directions, half of that would go straight up to the sky and be rendered meaningless.

If she ignored that half and the ones that she judged would fly to areas outside the city, it wasn’t that tall of an order to disable the rest of the beams.

From Inglis’ perspective, that is.

「Disappear into the sky!」

BAAMM! BAMM!!!

The rays that Prisma launched had changed trajectory and disappeared over the Royal Capital, like a show of magnificent seven-colored fireworks.

「That’s it, Glis! Keep it up!」 「S-, so fast! I can’t see her movement at all!」 「Ahahaha… she is so over the top that it’s laughable……Aah, the sky is so beautiful tonight.」

However, this was not as easy as it looked.

Each streak of light was quite heavy and conveyed a definite resistance to Inglis. It would be difficult to repel them away if she didn’t apply all of her strength to each of her blows. And now that she had repelled a number of those beams, she was left with numbness in her hands and feet.

But, this numbness, this resistance. That’s what makes it great. A definite sign of her opponent’s strength. That was why he was worth fighting against.

「……You are wonderful! If that’s the case!」

A fitting opponent to test the new technique I’m working on!

Having finished emitting his light rays, the Prisma descended, pulled by gravity. His trajectory was easy to discern.

Even if he was the Prisma, gravity was an unavoidable thing. An attack aimed at him while he was on the air wouldn’t be easily evaded.

——Most perfect opportunity!

Inglis released her Ether Armor, gathered the Ether all around her, and condensed them into a singular point. This was the prelude to Ether Strike. The bluish-white Ether light expanded rapidly and turned into an enormous bullet of light.

「GO!!」

BBWOOOOMMMMM!!!

The Ether bullet raced through the sky and seized Prisma in its path. The Prisma crossed his arms in defense and tried to stop the Ether Strike.

He didn’t vanish instantly like the lower leveled Magic Stone Beasts, nor he did deflect it with some interdimensional technique that Black Mask used. He was taking Inglis’ attack head-on.

——Exactly what I waited for!

「Fufufufu……!!」

Inglis’ eyes gleamed in delight. She lowered her hips, readied herself so she could leap at any given moment, and yet the all-important Ether had yet to come back to her. Aside from little tricks like Ether Pierce, powerful techniques that she enacted with full strength like Ether Strike were difficult to be done in rapid succession.

It would take some time before she could draw out the next Ether battle technique after the last one. She was concentrating all of her strength to her limits to shorten that interval.

While that happened, exclaims rose from the surrounding people who were watching it all unfold.

「O, ooh……That’s hurting him!」(Leon) 「Y-, yeah it is! It’s even wounding the rainbow-colored epidermis of his!」(Miliera) 「B-. but it’s strange! Even though it should be something amazing, I can’t understand just how strong that attack is at all!」(Ripple) 「Go!! Blow it off all the way!」(Rafinha) 「That will do it! Surely!」(Leone) 「Yes, I’m sure it will!」(Liselotte)

Inglis herself, though, said the exact opposite of what they did.

「NOO! Hang in there! Keep it up! Don’t lose to it!」 「「「HAAH!?」」」

Everyone reflexively looked at Inglis, unable to comprehend the thing she said. Her body was enveloped in the pale light of Ether Armor. Right at that moment, she could use another Ether battle technique.

「Okay! With this!」

She kicked the ground without a moment’s delay.

Chasing after her Ether Strike, which was still struggling against the Prisma, Inglis herself plunged towards the beast on the same trajectory.

Then, overlapping herself with the enormous light bullet, she threw a fist with all of her might!

「GOOOooooooo!!!!」

Her fist pulverized the Prisma’s guarding arms, piercing his body, and carved a huge hole into it. And right after that…

KABBLAAAAAMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

An immense Ether explosion dazzled the Royal Capital much like a supernova. This was the new technique she had been researching. Perhaps it was apt to call it Ether Breaker.

It was an Ether battle technique in which Ether Armor was used to catch up with Ether Strike, and by striking the point of impact simultaneously, the two techniques synced and created feedback with each other in the form of explosion, thus increasing the destructive power.

It was probably several times more powerful than the usual Ether Strike. It was also the most powerful technique Inglis ever enacted throughout her two lives.

However, there was a flaw to this technique due to its make-up; unless her opponent managed to withstand and hold on to the initial step, which was Ether Strike, Inglis wouldn’t have time to activate and later strike her opponent with Ether Armor.

That was because Ether Armor couldn’t be activated during the short interval after Ether Strike was launched. Although, Inglis believed she could improve the technique’s efficiency as she became more proficient in handling Ether.

At any rate, with the development of this technique, it was more than enough proof that Inglis Eux had surpassed the strength of King Inglis.

When the intense, eyelid-burning light subsided, everyone was in mute amazement as they were staring at the empty sky.

「E-, erm……Th-, there’s nothing to see, huh…」(Miliera) 「Y-, yeah……the Prisma is gone without a trace… I-, it was an incomplete one, but still……」(Ripple) 「Th-, that was great, Glis! It must be the new technique she said before……it really was the most powerful thing ever!」(Rafinha) 「Too great, in fact. Even Lady Ripple was having a hard fight against it before, and yet……」 「B-, but… umm……」

Leone was the only one to show deep grief.

「? What’s wrong, Leone?」 「I-, I was just wondering…what happened to senior Yua……」 「「「「AAAAAAAAaaaahhhhhh!!!!」」」」 「Eh? EH!? What about senior Yua!? Now you said it, she’s not here…」

In the midst of such commotion…

「Phew…I sure worked out a lot of sweat today……」

Inglis walked back with a refreshing smile on her face, carrying an unconscious Yua with both of her hands.

「Miss Yua!! Aah, thank goodness she’s fine!」(Miliera) 「Nice going, Inglis! You’re the best!」(Ripple) 「I’m really glad! I thought senior Yua was annihilated along with the Prisma!」(Leone) 「I’m surprised you could save her!」(Liselotte) 「Yeah. When I pierced Prisma’s body, I saw senior Yua in there, so I pulled her away.」 「You did it, Glis! Now we can extend the all-you-can-eat deal in the cafeteria!」 「——can we, Principal?」(Inglis) 「O-, of course, you can……!」

Principal Miliera nodded.

「Yaay! Mission accomplished, Glis!」

Inglis and Rafinha high-fived.

「Yeah. My stomach is empty from fighting a lot, too, so let’s have some food.」 「You’re right! Let’s!」

It was then when both Inglis and Rafinha noticed it for the first time.

「「Eh……? Where’s the cafeteria?」」 「Blown to bits. Please eat your fill when the reconstruction is over~」 「「UWAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?」」

It was a scream filled with more fear and despair than anyone who faced what strong enemy tonight.

And, while Inglis and co. were having a ruckus, Leon had already disappeared.