"Heh, it seems your strength isn't bad. Then let me have a look!" Esdeath, having released her Ice Legion, watched Shogo step into the gravity zone and revealed an intrigued expression. She then directly swung her ice sword and attacked him.
"Close combat? Just what I wanted!" Seeing Esdeath launch an offensive against him, Shogo met her bare-handed. His unique skill, [Berserker], greatly enhanced his physical capabilities. Thus, his natural defense clashed fiercely with Esdeath's ice sword without falling behind.
Thus, the two clashed, momentarily locked in a deadlock. Due to Shogo's formidable physical constitution, although Esdeath landed numerous blows, their insufficient power only caused moderate damage. Nevertheless, she firmly suppressed him.
Meanwhile, Razen, witnessing the ever-increasing deaths of soldiers, could no longer restrain himself. He directly launched an attack at Takeru.
However, facing his assault, Takeru himself needed not intervene, as Beatrice and Rem intercepted the attack immediately.
"Hmph, your power seems quite impressive. Then Betty herself shall test you!" Staring at the attacking Razen, Beatrice used anti-gravity magic to float into the air and launched her own assault.
Facing Beatrice's attack, Razen dared not underestimate her. Beatrice's earlier display had already demonstrated much. Although she appeared to be a child, Razen suspected Beatrice, like himself, had used a possession reincarnation skill and was far from as youthful as she seemed.
As for Takeru, seeing Beatrice engage Razen, he glanced briefly then paid no further attention. If it were the former Beatrice, Takeru might have worried.
But with Takeru's naming, Beatrice had already been further reinforced, and the current her was far beyond what the so-called strongest mage of the Falmuth Kingdom could withstand.
Not to mention, defensively, Beatrice possessed not only her self-created absolute defense magic but also the close-proximity defense of Nen!
Indeed, during the previous naming enhancement, due to her strengthened life force field, her Nen had also received tremendous amplification. Merely using Ken alone, she could maintain it for two hours without strain.
On the other side, Kyoya, seeing Shogo had found his opponent, then targeted the seemingly gentle Emilia. He possessed the unique skill [Cutter] and the special skill [Heaven's Eye], which enhanced slashing and accelerated thought.
Furthermore, he could manipulate spatial attributes, generating simulated blades. If his attacks landed, the wounds would be inflicted with spatial attributes, making them difficult to heal.
Emilia, facing Kyoya's sudden assault, remained composed. First, she launched several ice spikes at him, forcing him to defend and thus slowing his advance. Then, Emilia lightly backstepped, creating distance.
Seeing Emilia retreat, Kyoya showed no intention of giving up. He directly swung his blade and attacked Emilia once more.
Seeing this, Emilia ceased paying attention to ordinary soldiers and devoted her full attention to battling him.
"Is Lia alright?" From the special tower, Miki and the others watched Emilia's battle with Kyoya, a trace of worry emerging.
Miki and the others did not doubt Emilia's power… rather, they worried about her character. Although after tempered by the trials of Sanctuary and Echidna, Emilia had grown considerably, her kind-hearted nature had not diminished in the slightest. This was their concern.
"Don't worry, Lia will be absolutely fine. Because she knows, right now, she fights for Takeru. She will never retreat!" Looking at everyone, Felt spoke seriously.
Among those present, Felt had known Emilia the longest. Thus, she understood Emilia better, knowing Emilia outwardly gentle yet inwardly strong, with a very resilient spirit.
Indeed, as Felt said, although Emilia did not wish to cause many casualties, Takeru had already informed her beforehand: casualties in this battle were unavoidable. If her conscience could not bear it, Takeru could have her protect Felt and the others in the rear.
Yet faced with these two choices, Emilia unhesitatingly chose to fight alongside Takeru and the others. And previously, although she had the fewest kills, she had still exceeded one hundred.
With Esdeath, Beatrice, and Emilia each having selected their opponents, Focken stepped forward, directly engaging Ram, who guarded beside Takeru. Seeing his attack, Ram narrowed her eyes, ceased her slaughter of soldiers, and soared forth to meet him.
As for the final Otherworlder, Kirara, she herself possessed no significant combat power. Against one or two ordinary soldiers, she could manage, but facing beings like Ram and Rem, she was not worth a single blow. Thus, she dared not advance.
Focken and the others were also very aware of Kirara's abilities. Her capability was not intended for combat, but for public manipulation.
Her unique skill was [Bewilder], enabling her to make targets act according to her words and influence others' thoughts.
However, amidst this chaotic battle, it was utterly useless, especially against Takeru and the others, whose spirits were exceptionally tenacious.
With Focken and the others engaged, facing ordinary soldiers, Takeru and Rem commenced a massacre.
Takeru first opened three gates of the Eight Gates, used multiple Shadow Clones, and then, in all directions, unleashed Wind Release, Fire Release, Water Release, Earth Release, Wood Release, and various magics in large-scale attacks against the soldiers.
The Shadow Corps meanwhile delivered finishing blows to surviving soldiers.
In less than ten minutes, over half of the 25,000 troops Focken and the others had brought were dead or wounded. And this was with Takeru exercising restraint. If Takeru erupted with full power, with Eight Gates, Susanoo, various magics and Ninjutsu, he could erase the entire Sylk Mountains from the map in moments.
But such meaningless destruction held no interest, nor was it what Takeru desired.
As time passed, Ram was the first to slay her opponent. Although affected by the barrier, the gap between Ram's power and Focken's was too vast. After some fighting, Ram lost interest in Focken.
She directly hit him with a Rasenshuriken, obliterating him to nothing. The terrifying destructive force left a massive crater in the ground, completely shattering the will to fight of the numerous surviving soldiers who witnessed it. They could only collapse limply on the ground, awaiting death.
Having killed Focken, Ram turned her gaze to Emilia and Esdeath's battles. Seeing both were holding the advantage, she did not interfere further and returned to the battlefield as a reaping machine.
On Shogo and Esdeath's side, facing the battle-hardened Esdeath, Shogo was throughout suppressed. His so-called karate was utterly useless against Esdeath's terrifying combat experience. Only his thick defense and high health allowed him to endure thus far.
Throughout the entire battle, failing to land a single effective attack on Esdeath drove Shogo crazy. Twice, enduring the pain of Esdeath's strikes, he forcibly counterattacked, only to have his attacks easily blocked by ice Esdeath manifested.
Similarly, his sneak attacks from behind were precisely intercepted by ice Esdeath conjured.
"Damn it, damn it! Just a woman, how can she fight me for so long? I'm an Otherworlder from Japan!" Repeatedly utterly dominated by Esdeath, Shogo grew increasingly ferocious.
"Heh, is this your limit? Truly disappointing. Since that's the case, let me send you on your way!" Seeing the somewhat irrational Shogo, Esdeath lost what little interest she had.
"Don't joke around! You may be strong, but your attacks can't effectively harm me!" Hearing Esdeath's words, Shogo mocked loudly.
"Is that so? So that's what you thought." Hearing his words, Esdeath revealed a charming and dangerous smile.
Seeing Esdeath's smile, Shogo instinctively felt an ominous premonition rise within him. Before he could recover, Esdeath's ice sword was coated in a layer of black substance.
Facing Esdeath's slash, Shogo instinctively blocked with his right arm. But this time was different. The ice sword, infused with Armament Haki, easily severed his defending right arm, cleanly cutting it off.
"Ahhh!" As blood sprayed and intense pain struck, Shogo couldn't help but wail.
"Hahaha..." Looking at him, Esdeath laughed crazily. Then, her hands moved continuously, quickly carving him into a limbless trunk.
Under his incredulous gaze, she stepped on his head with her foot, then activated Demon's Extract, completely freezing him.
With a slight exertion of force, Shogo's frozen corpse was crushed beneath Esdeath's foot. Thus, Shogo completely perished.