Now, finally, the overture to the counteroffensive began.
A suffocating stalemate. She had analyzed my new patterns, and I, too, had caught a faint glimpse of the boundaries of her power. The crater had become a cauldron of chaos where two divinities clashed. From the heavens, cold rain and lightning descended; from the earth, searing magma and steam rose to swallow each other whole.
"You...!"
In Pele's voice, the previous arrogance was gone, replaced for the first time by a tincture of pure rage and bewilderment.
"To dare command the powers of both the Earth and the Sky simultaneously! To commit a taboo that even the gods do not permit... you arrogant mortal filth!"
She was right. My head was thrumming under a psychic pressure so intense it felt ready to split. I felt like a pianist forced to play a tempestuous opus with the right hand and a funeral dirge for the earth with the left. The moment I focused on one melody, the other would spiral out of control, creating a dissonant screech. A single lapse in concentration would cause the two Authorities to collide and go berserk inside me. Yet, strangely, I wasn't afraid. Instead, this sensation of treading a razor-thin wire pleasantly stimulated my instincts as a 'King.'
"The gods don't permit it?"
I wiped a smear of blood from my mouth and smirked.
"I’m the one who killed a god to take this seat. Whatever path I walk becomes the new law."
I couldn't win with the power of 'Earth' alone. In that case, it was time to shift the initiative. I transferred the focus of my consciousness from my left hand to my right. I decided to bind Medusa’s power to the bare minimum required for 'Defense' and 'Binding,' and pour my entire being into the Authority of the Sky.
Amidst the thick mist and scalding steam, I thrust my right hand high toward the point where Pele's massive presence loomed. Then, I unleashed the power left behind by the God of Storms through the voice of a new King.
"Hearken to my voice, O Sky! Let your breath become blades, and your tears become the lightning that strikes my enemies! I command the Tempest to manifest here and now!"
CRRRRACK-BOOM—!
With a roar that sounded as if the heavens were being shredded, a massive vortex of wind began to coalesce around me. The falling rain transformed into horizontal, lashing whips, and the wind, having inhaled the heat of the crater, turned into flesh-shredding blades. This wasn't the passive manifestation I had shown moments ago, merely summoning rain. This was the essence of Tāwhirimātea's Authority—the 'Sovereign Command over all that exists between Heaven and Earth.' It was a living cataclysm, perfectly replicated.
"Such petty tricks!"
Pele roared, surging a wave of magma to tear through the storm. However, instead of taking the lava head-on, my tempest flowed fluidly around it, encircling her from all directions. She manifested firebirds from the magma and sent them flying, only for them to be shredded into a mere handful of sparks by the wind-blades. She extended tentacles of molten rock, but they lost all momentum as they were caught in the storm’s torrential currents.
'I’m changing the rules of this fight, Goddess.'
I no longer responded to each of Pele's 'Creations' individually. Instead, I used the massive wall of wind to isolate her in the center of the crater. Within that enclosure, I began to reveal the true destructive potential of the celestial Authority.
I recited the incantation once more. But this time, the words were different.
"Howl, O Tempest! Gather all the fury of the Sky and become a single spear!"
At the center of the vortex, right above my head, tens of thousands of lightning bolts began to condense into a single point. Blue plasma screamed with ferocious intensity, shaping itself into a gargantuan 'Spear.' This was the very wrath of the Sky that Tāwhirimātea was said to have used to punish his own siblings.
"That is...!"
For the first time, a flicker of 'wariness' appeared in Pele's voice. She instinctively realized that her Authority of 'Creation' held no conceptual advantage against that pure power of 'Destruction.' She began to construct dozens of layers of magma shields around her body.
Scoffing at the sight, I drove the Spear of the Sky straight toward her heart.
"Pierce!"
K-BOOOOOM—!
The world was saturated with light. The spear of lightning tore through Pele's magma shields like wet parchment, skewering her flaming form.
"AAAGHGHHH—!"
Pele let out her first cry of genuine agony. A massive hole was blasted through the center of her torso, and blue lightning bled from the wound, beginning to demolish her physical manifestation from the inside out. The body of the goddess—the avatar of fire—began to dissipate.
Did I win?
No, not yet.
"You... YOU...!"
Pele did not collapse. Instead, a more ferocious fire of indignation ignited in her eyes. Rather than trying to pull out the spear of lightning impaling her, she began to absorb that very energy into her own body.
'Impossible...! She's absorbing a god's Authority!'
I was appalled. But she spoke as if mocking my common sense.
"My essence is 'Creation.' My Authority is the 'Hearth of All Things.' All things gain form within my flames, and all things must eventually return to my fires. Your pathetic little fireworks only serve to stoke my furnace!"
To heal her wounded body, she began to siphon the crater's magma even more maniacally than before. The hole in her chest was mended in an instant, and her body began to bloat, growing larger and more unstable. Throughout her form, the absorbed blue light of the lightning mixed with the crimson of the lava, flowing out in an ominous, swirling pattern.
"Within my hearth, all power belongs to me! Even the power of the heavens is but kindling for my new creation!"
She was going berserk. My attack had inadvertently transformed her into something even more dangerous. Her body had doubled in size, and the heat radiating from her threatened to evaporate the very storm I had summoned. The rain faltered, and the steam began to clear. The tide was turning against me once more. As the lava infused with blue lightning dripped onto the ground, the surrounding earth shrieked, transforming into a corrupted, rotting wasteland.
"Good heavens..."
Alessandro, watching the battle from afar, murmured in utter despair.
"The goddess is... absorbing the King's Authority! How can such a thing be possible?!"
Beside him, the Kahuna stared at the battlefield with eyes full of deep hopelessness.
"That is the power of the 'Hearth'... A force that melts everything to make it a part of oneself. His Majesty is fighting at the very core of the world's hottest forge. To even endure her presence is a miracle, but at this rate..."
The Kahuna couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
'Damn it, that wasn't the finishing blow! I've made the situation ten times worse!'
I widened the distance between us, frantic for my next move. The celestial Authority was potent, but its consumption of magical energy was astronomical. I could feel nearly half of my remaining power had vanished with that single strike. If this continued, I would collapse from exhaustion first.
'So it comes to this. In Italy, and now here. Must I always resort to a total gamble? A normal life? That dream melted away in the magma a long time ago. Fine... I’ll accept it. As the King who slew a god and shouldered that destiny, the responsibility to end this disaster lies with me.'
I manipulated both Authorities once again.
"Let my breath become blades...!"
Using the power of the storm, I created thousands of wind blades, relentlessly battering Pele's front. It was a feint to keep her eyes fixed forward.
"Those petty tricks again!"
The moment Pele swung her gargantuan lava arm to swat away the blades, I poured the last of my 'Earth' Authority into the ground behind her—the very spot where she stood.
"...Turn to stone and be silent."
The grey curse extending from my left hand seeped silently into the earth beneath Pele's feet. This time, I wasn't trying to manipulate the ground. I was forcing a single point beneath her into a state of absolute 'Stasis.'
CRACK.
A faint sound, but the result was catastrophic.
"...What?!"
Realizing the ground beneath her had hardened completely against her will, Pele's massive frame tilted, her balance momentarily shattered.
That was the opening.
I shifted the 'Heart of the Earth'—the culprit behind this entire mess—from my left hand to my right. Then, I channeled every last spark of lightning I possessed into that jewel.
BZZZZZZZT—!
The 'Heart of the Earth' shrieked as it was enveloped in brilliant blue lightning.
This was my final gamble. The Black Prince had given me two choices: 'Return it' or 'Destroy it.' I decided to do both at once.
I put everything I had into a throw, hurling the lightning-wreathed Heart of the Earth straight toward Pele's defenseless core.
"This is the end!"
It wasn't a simple projectile.
It was a final strike that weaponized the worst conceptual mismatch—taking a sacred relic of the 'Earth,' imbuing it with the Authority of the 'Sky,' and forcibly returning it to the Goddess of the 'Earth.'
A flash of light swallowed everything.
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