Stormborne understood the Silver Elipseon in front of him was a Ground Element user and a close-range fighter. However, she was just too abnormal.
He had heard rumors in the past that Elipseons possessed ridiculously high Elemental and Mana Control, as well as Spiritual Sense, and today he confirmed it. By his estimation after this short clash, an Elipseon had nearly three times the control of a normal Mage of the same rank, even though they themselves were Warriors. This was a ridiculously overwhelming power. Perhaps only a very few same-rank Mana Wielders could be a match for an Elipseon.
He stared down at Marla and asked in a grim tone, "Tell me, why have you both come to this Kingdom? Does the Holy Palace plan to recreate what happened in the Teaknar Kingdom?" His fist, which was holding his sword, tightened to the point his veins were visible. He continued in a much heavier tone, "Does the Holy Palace think everyone is a fool and can't see what is happening and who is behind it?"
Marla remained mute while secretly gritting her teeth in frustration.
There was nothing she could reply with; there was no way she could either agree or deny. If their involvement was found out later, it would only create more distrust from other forces regarding the authority the Holy Palace held.
The Holy Palace still needed to maintain its absolute authority and respect in the world.
What she was tasked with might seem ugly to various heroic individuals, but in the larger interests of powerful people and forces, they would only take it lightly and discard it with the idea that the Holy Palace had suddenly found some interest in Kingdoms.
No matter how many Kingdoms the Holy Palace controlled, it wouldn't change the overall structure and workings of the world, as Kingdoms didn't really hold the ultimate power in a region. The Silvia Kingdom and other such Kingdoms were also too isolated and weak; thus, most powerful people cared even less.
As long as the Holy Palace didn't indiscriminately start killing or block established chains of business and rules, most forces would just ignore their minor involvement. They would even close one eye and suppress any harmful rumors related to the Holy Palace's actions as an act of favor, respect, and fear toward them.
However, that didn't mean she could outright agree either, as it would put the Holy Palace in a bad light. It was an open scheme, and everyone with power could understand that and was willing to ignore it. Yet, there were individuals and powers that just didn't have this 'common sense' and were not willing to overlook their actions for whatever 'righteous' reasons they held.
Although the Holy Palace feared none of these stupid, chivalrous people or groups—as one lift of its finger could destroy all those fools—that also didn't mean they could blindly execute everyone. And above all, the Holy Palace's recent strict order to all their top executives was to kill as little as possible, and to not create a situation where a lot of people would seek their own deaths, which gave her even more reason not to provoke those righteous idiots.
She had no idea just what the Holy Palace was trying to accomplish by giving such a ridiculous order. It had only put her and all the executives into a difficult position. And the worst part was that the Palace had only grown more active with each passing year, and while doing so, it was also passing them even more complicated and troublesome missions. The Palace was clearly trying to do something big, yet it was imposing meaningless shackles upon them, which made no sense to her.
Leaving that aside, if she were capable of killing Stormborne, she would do so; sadly, it was not possible.
So, instead of replying, Marla took action.
Both the massive fists pointing toward the sky opened, and from their now-opened palms, countless long Ground spears shot out toward Stormborne like a barrage.
Seeing this, Stormborne frowned. Dodging would put the town behind him in danger. He knew that Marla wasn't targeting them, but he also didn't want to outright ignore the risk.
So, he raised his sword high in the air, and a massive, long column of rotating wind started forming. Within no time, a violent tornado was formed in midair, connecting his sword to the sky high above.
The townsfolk continued staring at the battle between 'gods' in utter dumbfoundedness.
They ignored the violent wind blowing all around them and were gaping so widely that it was enough to fit a watermelon inside their mouths.
They had been glued in the same posture ever since they first saw the 'mountain' that grew out from the land and became a giant's fist.
They had never seen or even imagined such power could be wielded by anyone.
Hannah, who was also watching the battle between the two Mana Wielders from the rooftop of the orphanage, finally realized that the power she had imagined a Mana Wielder could hold was too tiny compared to reality.
Previously, she thought that Mana Wielders were just more physically powerful than mortals and could control mana to do a little more; that was all.
But now...
Looking at the two huge 'hands,' she was dazed. Even the palms of both hands were larger than any building she had ever seen in her life; even the massive trees she had seen were nothing compared to the size of a mere palm.
The spears shooting out from the open palms looked as tiny as needles from a distance, but Hannah could guess that even one of those spears could penetrate fifty or more of her if she were lined up in a straight line.
Her gaze then turned toward the huge tornado that had formed in the blink of an eye. She could guess that if that tornado were thrown into the center of Ringwood Town, perhaps the entire town might just be blown away and disappear.
Understanding all this, she sighed.
Previously, she thought she had become quite capable after reaching the mid-stage Rank 1, but now, she realized that she was just a tiny grasshopper celebrating jumping over a single blade of grass and imagining that she had jumped over a tree.
If her current power were to be compared to what she was seeing, probably a hundred times her current strength would be required just to be able to stand near the battle while staying alive.
She shook her head and wondered if Eric, Lyria, and Livy would also become this strong one day; she hoped to see that.
Arlo, who was standing alone in the air, was frowning under his mask while watching the huge tornado. He was starting to realize the distance between him and Stormborne was truly vast. He promised himself that one day he would surpass this power.
He then turned toward Marla, and his frown deepened. He didn't know her full capability, but he had a feeling that Marla was losing ground. For whatever reason, she, who was a close-range fighter, was actually fighting a long-range battle against Stormborne.
'Is this some scheme of hers?' Arlo mused while glancing toward the airship some distance away from him.
It would only take him a few moments to reach it.
He hesitated and eventually decided that when Marla was about to release a powerful attack, he would also attack the airship at the same time. This would definitely distract Stormborne's attention and lead him to make some critical mistake, and then Marla could kill him smoothly.
He nodded in his heart and felt he was quite smart.
Stormborne kept increasing the power of his tornado and waited until the spears were close enough to him. The moment they arrived, he thrust his sword toward the rain of spears.
The huge tornado in the sky also moved with the motion of Stormborne's sword and collided with the incoming spears with an unstoppable force.
It tore apart all the spears, turning them into sand and dust. The tornado kept charging straight toward Marla, who stood under the cover of the two massive hands.
She quickly used both giant hands to create a defensive cross in front of her.
The tornado struck the fists, and the hands started to crack like eggshells, yet they didn't entirely crumble.
After the tornado disappeared, Stormborne charged straight toward Marla, who was hiding within the cracked hands.
Marla knew her giant hands would crumble with another hit, so she used them together to punch toward Stormborne.
Both fists joined together, one on top and the other upside down, interlocking with each other.
She also hid between the fists and charged with the intention to strike Stormborne physically.
Stormborne didn't dodge. He raised his sword to his side and then made a straight thrust toward the charging twin punch. His wind element and Mana burst out upon impact.
With a thunderous boom, the two forces clashed.
Soon, Stormborne's attack broke through the fists like a sword through a clay pot.
Marla's figure appeared behind the crumbling fists, with her right fist pulled back to deliver a heavy blow. The moment Stormborne appeared, she plunged her punch straight at him.
Stormborne took Marla's punch head-on with his sword tip.
With another thunderous boom, they clashed in mid-air.
For a moment, both stood still, while the remains of the huge hands around them blew away in every direction from the powerful collision.
This time, Stormborne was on the weaker side. Marla had prepared her punch for a while and used everything on him, while he had to first destroy the huge fists before colliding with such a charged-up, heavy punch. Furthermore, Marla was physically stronger than him.
Stormborne knew if Marla successfully diverted his sword away and shortened the distance, he would be in danger.
His eyes narrowed, and a sharp glint flashed across them. Similarly, a bright light flashed across his entire sword from the hilt to the tip.
Suddenly, Marla, who had a clear advantage in the clash, shrieked in pain and was shot back while coughing up blood.
This was the very reason Marla wanted to avoid clashing directly against Stormborne, as he was one of those extremely rare talents who had awakened 'Will' while only in the early stage of Rank 4!
Clashing at close distance without using any of her trump cards was a hopeless battle against Stormborne, as Will could increase the damage of any attack countless times. Will, in essence, was a completely different power that could ignore all rules and tricks. It was an absolute 'rule' by itself.
Marla was quite helpless in this battle. After all, she was a close-range fighter; fighting from a long distance against someone like Stormborne had its limits, and both of them were not going all out, as they knew they couldn't kill each other.
She couldn't kill Stormborne due to his skill, and Stormborne wouldn't dare kill an Elipseon, as he knew what that would mean.
She had been hoping to land one proper hit in close range with her full strength, which would turn the remaining battle a lot more in her favor and allow her to end this meaningless fight sooner.
Pity, Stormborne wasn't giving her that opportunity. She had to use one of her defensive trump cards hidden in her glove just to avoid being penetrated by his Will and losing her entire right arm in the process.
Bright light and symbols flashed across her long dark glove, and she managed to block the penetration. However, she still had to take the full brunt of the attack, leaving her internally injured—though this level of injury was not deadly at her current stage, and her Constitution was even higher than Stormborne's.
Stormborne paused for a moment and soon chased after Marla.