As the emerald-green jewel on the chest of the silver-white armor released its mechanical voice, the holy light radiating from the point where its gauntlet collided with Vali's fist rapidly spread across Vali's entire body.
"Divide! Divide! Divide…"
The sound rang out again and again. In almost an instant, the dense Magical Power covering Vali's white armor dropped at an unimaginable speed, all the way down to the level of an ordinary person.
And then…
Cid caught Vali's fist in a backhanded grip while Vali was still frozen in shock. With a light swing of his arm, the silver-white armor on his body moved with him and swung its gauntlet.
Vali had charged at Cid with incredible speed. Now he was sent flying back at that same speed, carving a deep trench through the ground.
"Boom!"
After plowing through the ground for dozens of meters, the force on Vali's body finally faded completely. The armor protecting his head vanished, revealing a face that could certainly be called handsome.
"Guhah!"
The next second, Vali vomited mouthfuls of blood onto his own armor. With a single blow, Vali, known as the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history, had been seriously injured.
"How is this possible?!"
After recovering slightly, Vali stared in disbelief at the towering silver-white armor before him. He paid no attention to his injuries. Instead, he was shocked by the Divide ability Cid had just used on him.
Divine Dividing, the White Dragon Emperor's wings, was one of the thirteen Longinus created by God. In life, it had belonged to one of the Two Heavenly Dragons that intruded into the ancient battlefield, and it was said to possess the power to kill gods.
Its abilities were Divide and Absorption. Every ten seconds, it halved the opponent's power once, then absorbed that power to strengthen the user.
That was why Vali was so shocked. Just now, Cid had activated Divide on him several times in a row, absorbing nearly ninety percent of the Magical Power on the surface of his body. Then the arm carrying that ninety percent of the Magical Power he had been using for defense had smashed him apart in a single blow.
T-that was his own ability. His own Magical Power!
"So there's actually a copy of a Longinus created by God… No, based on what just happened, that mass of white liquid first transformed into armor identical to Divine Dividing, then used the same ability as Vali. Interesting…"
Cao Cao watched everything thoughtfully, calmly analyzing Cid's ability. He tapped his shoulder with the True Longinus in his hand, looked at Cid in his silver-white armor, and murmured to himself with an interested smile.
"Child of God, Roy… That was the name, right? Let me see who's stronger between you and Vali when you're using the same ability. If you win, I'll be your next opponent. You'll be perfect for testing the new ability I developed."
Perhaps sensing his fighting spirit, the head of the silver-white armor turned toward Cao Cao. The emerald-green lenses glowed faintly. As a response to a possible future opponent, Cao Cao met that gaze without backing down until the silver-white armor looked away first.
Cid withdrew his gaze from Cao Cao, completely unaware of what Cao Cao was thinking. He felt his meaning just now had been obvious enough.
Wait for death, Cao Cao. For the sake of our teacher-student relationship, I'll even put up a grave marker for you.
Turning his attention to Vali, who had gotten back up in front of him, Cid wondered whether he had seen this gray-haired boy somewhere before. There was an odd sense of familiarity.
"How arrogant. You're just someone who stole the White Dragon Emperor's power, yet you stood there and watched me recover my strength. Are you really that confident you can defeat me again?"
Vali's voice carried suppressed rage as his furious eyes locked onto Cid. The white helmet condensed again, covering his head.
He knew he had actually lost. If Cid had not stood in place just now and had instead rushed forward to continue attacking, he would not have had any chance to fight back.
But there were no ifs. Since his opponent was arrogant enough to let him stabilize his injuries, he would seize this chance and show him exactly what the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history was.
This time, he would not be careless again.
That was right. Vali believed the other side had only won because he had let his guard down. Anyone would have been unable to withstand having ninety percent of their defense reduced right from the start.
What is this guy even talking about? Another overthinker?
As he silently mocked Vali's inexplicable words, Cid finally remembered who the person in front of him was. He was the man who had jumped out and helped him when a bunch of people cornered him over the weekend. The main reason Cid could remember so quickly was the loli beside him back then, the one who had given him that long-lost feeling of being watched.
Once he remembered the place where they first met, he remembered Vali's name. From there, he connected it to the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history that Kuroka had mentioned to him before… If he killed Delta's subordinate just like this, would Delta be sad?
"Just enjoy the battle. It doesn't matter if it takes a little more time. After all… simply defeating someone like you won't make you repent. Only humiliating you in the thing you're most proud of will truly make you feel pain deep in your heart."
Cid murmured softly, as if speaking the truth of the world. Although he himself often damaged his surroundings during battle, that did not stop him from lecturing the strongest White Dragon Emperor before him from the position of a victim.
"Hahaha. You're only a cheap copy, yet you think you can beat me with power that belongs to me. How hilarious. I am the true White Dragon Emperor."
In his anger, Vali's eyes widened, and the dazzling light around his white armor flared to full power once again.
[That's right, Vali. Destroy this petty thief who stole my power. When it comes to understanding my power, no one knows better than me, Albion. You are the White Dragon Emperor I acknowledge, not the thief in front of us.]
Another furious voice came from the White Dragon Emperor armor on Vali's body, responding to Vali's declaration. It was Albion, the soul of one of the Two Heavenly Dragons, residing within Divine Dividing.
"Heh. Ancient dragon soul, how much do you truly understand your own power? Strongest White Dragon Emperor, when did this power ever belong to you?"
Cid gave a mocking laugh. Broad steel dragon wings spread open behind him, and a solemn voice echoed through the sky as powerful Magical Power poured endlessly from his body.
"But about you calling me a copy… that really does need to be settled. How about this?"
Suddenly, his tone changed. A slightly teasing voice came from inside the armor. Crimson began spreading across the surface of the silver-white armor. In just a few seconds, it covered every part of the armor except the emerald-green jewel.
"…"
At that moment, the entire area fell silent. More than a few people stared wide-eyed at the scene before them.
"Kill him!"
In the end, it was Albion's deep, calm voice that broke the atmosphere.
"Kill that thing wearing Ddraig's appearance while using my power!"
To explain, the Two Heavenly Dragons who had intruded into the ancient battlefield and were killed together before being turned into Longinus were not called the Two Heavenly Dragons because they had a good relationship. They were called that because they were each other's sworn enemies.
That bond of fate did not end even after their deaths. Instead, it was inherited by their hosts. Basically, every generation of White Dragon Emperor or Red Dragon Emperor had been killed by the other.
And now, standing before Albion was an enemy wearing the appearance of his archenemy while using his own power.
"I'll do it even if you don't tell me!"
Vali answered the furious Albion, flapped the wings on his back, and swung his fist at Cid.
"Divide…"
"Divide…"
The voices signaling the activation of Divide came from the blue jewel and emerald-green jewel on their chests. White armor and crimson armor collided in midair, filling the air with the endless clang of metal striking metal.
"Didn't you say you were going to humiliate me, the weak one, as the strong? Why are you only defending now? Are you trying to be a turtle hiding in its shell?"
Their Divide abilities could not affect each other at all. The moment one side halved and absorbed half of the other's power, the other side halved and absorbed it right back.
Now, the fight between the two of them had become a pure contest of physical attributes and combat technique.
Vali was confident he could gain the advantage in battle, but from the beginning until now, Cid had only defended and never attacked. No matter how powerful Vali's combat skills were, he had no way to use them. All he could do was try to provoke his opponent into attacking first and create an opening.
"The strong show mercy, only for the weak to answer with arrogance. You've shown me a very interesting ability, but you don't seem suited to it."
"Divide…"
The emerald-green jewel on his chest released its voice. Cid dropped his defensive stance, twisted his waist, and drove his right fist toward Vali's face with a rush of wind.
He can dodge it!
That was what everyone who could see their battle clearly thought. There was no technique behind it. It was just a straight punch, the sort of attack only a beginner would use.
It was not so fast that Vali could not evade it. In fact, because the technique was so crude, Cid's front was left wide open. As long as Vali dodged this blow, he could use the opening to press the advantage.
"Smack!"
A crimson steel fist pressed into Vali's white helmet, while Vali's fist was still more than ten centimeters away from Cid's chest.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Vali had not chosen to dodge. Instead, he had chosen to attack the opening directly. But when both attacks were thrown at the same speed, how could Vali, who moved second, possibly land first? The result was exactly what they saw.
Did Vali misjudge it?
That thought flashed through Cao Cao's mind. It seemed to be the only possible explanation for Vali making such a basic mistake in battle. But what happened next overturned that assumption completely.
A continuous barrage of attacks struck Vali's body. In theory, every one of Cid's attacks was launched at a speed Vali should have been able to dodge.
But for some reason, Vali simply refused to dodge or evade. Even after being beaten to the point of serious injury, he did not adapt at all. Whenever an opening appeared, he ignored the timing completely and forced an attack.
"How… did you do that?"
A kick struck his chest, nearly shattering the armor covering his body. After flying dozens of meters, Vali dropped to one knee, clutching his wounds as he stared at Cid.
"Those attacks should have been canceled by your injuries before they hit me. So why could you strike me first even though you were slower than me?"
Cao Cao and the others could not understand Vali's bizarre question, but Cid did.
"Divide!"
"What number is this?"
The emerald-green jewel on Cid's chest glowed again. Instead of answering Vali directly, he raised two fingers and asked.
Vali frowned. He had no idea what Cid meant, but he answered anyway.
"One."
"That's the answer."
Cid spoke slowly, then snapped his fingers and released the Divide effect. Then he gave a gentlemanly bow to Vali, who had already seen the truth.
"The strongest illusion-type Longinus, Divine Dividing Wings. I used it to divide your sense of danger. Like this…"
"Divide, divide, divide…"
The jewel on the crimson armor's chest continued to release emerald-green light. Then Cid openly walked up to Vali, whose face had suddenly gone blank with confusion, and kicked him across the face with a roundhouse.
"I only divided my presence, making myself as insignificant as dust in your sight, your memory, and your senses. And yes, that range of effect includes all of you."
Looking toward the huge pit Vali had crashed into, Cid began explaining. At the end, he deliberately turned to glance at Cao Cao and the others nearby, who looked as if they had only just noticed his existence.
"Divide!"
A flash of white light erased the sneak attack from behind. Cid slowly turned toward the white armor in the sky and tilted his head.
"Anything better?"
As his voice fell, Vali reached his hand down from the sky. A white ring of light descended and spread across the ground.
"Snap!"
Everything touched by the ring instantly shrank by half. The trees along the roadside thinned, houses compressed, and the ruined debris from the explosions diminished.
"Sorry. Calling that 'something better' feels like an insult to the phrase. It's just a child showing off his power."
Cid crushed the white ring spreading in front of him with one hand. With the other, he made a finger-gun gesture and aimed at Vali in the sky.
"A person has two hands. If you halve one pair of arms, how many arms are left?"
As he asked that simple question, a white bullet of light emerged from his fingertip and shot toward Vali at an unimaginable speed.
"Snap!"
"Ahhh!!!"
A flash of white light streaked across the sky. Vali screamed, and a large amount of blood poured from the stump of his severed right arm.
"The answer to that question is one. Then here's the next question: if a person is divided, does his body shrink to half its size, or is he cut directly into two pieces?"
An indifferent voice came from inside the crimson armor. Another light bullet shot from his fingertip. The blinding light let Vali react in time, and he scraped past it with his wing, dodging the attack and letting the light bullet strike the building behind him.
"Looks like the answer is being cut in two."
Cid looked behind Vali. The concrete wall had been sliced cleanly from top to bottom at the center, like an ingredient split in half by a kitchen knife, leaving a smooth cut surface behind. He waved his hand and spoke calmly.
"I told you. You know nothing about your own power."
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