"The real party starts now."
At my provocative declaration, a look of pure, childlike ecstasy washed over Salvatore Doni's face. He straightened his shoulders, which had been sagging with disappointment, and readjusted his grip on his massive claymore.
"Yes! That's it! I knew my eyes didn't deceive me! Come on, show me, rookie! Show me the true power you've been hiding!"
I didn't bother exchanging any more words with him. Instead, I shifted the power of the wind—which I had been using solely for evasion and containment—up to a level meant for true 'destruction.' Raising my right hand toward the void, I unleashed another essence of Tāwhirimātea, the god who once ruled the Hawaiian skies.
"Hear my voice, O Sky! Let your breath become blades, and let your tears become the lightning that strikes my enemies! I command the storm to manifest here and now!"
CRACK-BOOM—!
An impossible phenomenon erupted from the high ceiling of the hall. Dark, obsidian clouds began to swirl within the indoor space. The air grew cold and damp, raising the hair on my arms. An ominous premonition—the metallic scent of ozone that precedes a thunderstrike—blanketed the entire room. This wasn't a simple breeze. It was an artificial climate conjured by a divine Authority, warping this very space into my personal domain.
"Oh! Changing the weather indoors? Now that's an interesting trick!"
While Doni stood there marveling, I took to the winds, moving three-dimensionally by using the walls and pillars as springboards. I had no intention of fighting him on the ground anymore. Within the churning maelstrom, I seized complete control of every angle—front, back, left, right, and most importantly, the space directly above his head.
"Let's see you try to block this!"
I wasn't going to waste time with wind blades that clearly weren't working. Instead, I drew upon a power closer to the storm's core essence. With a sharp gesture, dozens of azure bolts of lightning descended from the dark clouds, homing in on Doni like lethal harpoons. This was the sharpest set of fangs the Authority of the Storm possessed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!
Thunder crashed against the marble floor, bathing the hall in a blinding glare and a roar that threatened to deafen anyone nearby. Through the thick veil of dust and smoke, I felt a surge of anticipated victory. No matter how much of a 'Man of Steel' he was, he shouldn't be able to withstand a direct barrage of divine lightning.
However, as the smoke cleared, the sight that greeted me made my breath hitch.
Doni stood there perfectly intact, without a single scratch or even a scorched thread on his clothes. He looked up at the air where the lightning had just been falling, muttering with a mix of admiration and slight regret.
"...What a waste. If I had been just a little bit faster, I could have cut them all."
Cut them? You mean the lightning? That's impossible. Just as I wondered if I was hallucinating, a second bolt of lightning tore through the air toward his head.
SHHH-ZAP—!
I saw it clearly this time. Doni’s massive greatsword cleaved through the air with a speed exceeding the flash itself. The moment the light-speed bolt touched his blade... it was 'cut' into two pieces. There was no thunder, no explosion. It was as if he were slicing through a piece of ripe fruit—smooth, effortless, and utterly absurd.
"...Are you kidding me?"
A curse slipped out of my mouth instinctively. Was that even a level of swordsmanship achievable by a human being?
"Hahaha! Surprised, rookie? This is one of the secret techniques of the blade!"
With an entirely jovial voice, Doni began to explain the divine swordsmanship he had just displayed.
"I heard that there are these crazy masters in the East who can stand in a downpour and slice a single specific raindrop out of the sky. Just imagining it is cool, right? So when I heard that, I thought, 'Oh, that’s stylish,' and I spent a long time swinging my sword like a madman to try and copy it."
His eyes sparkled like a child recounting a playground boast.
"And eventually, I realized it!"
He held up an index finger with a smug, yet strangely likable, grin.
"I think the formal name was... 'Mind's Eye' or something like that, hehe. Anyway, that’s not the important part! The point is that you 'see it and cut it,' right?"
He spoke as if he had just discovered a very simple truth.
"So I just decided to see and cut everything! The rain, the wind, and even your lightning! Eventually, I'll probably cut the sky too!"
This wasn't empty bluster or arrogance. It was like a pure, childish dream—he truly believed that one day, he could slice the heavens themselves in half.
"Now, the chatter is over!"
The look in Doni’s eyes shifted. The cheerfulness remained, but within it, a fierce battle-lust burned. He didn't wait for more lightning to strike. Instead, he threw himself into the air, leaping directly toward the swirling vortex of dark clouds.
"If this is your sky, it’s only polite that I come play inside it!"
Spinning his body mid-air, he began to slice through the dozens of lightning bolts pouring down around him. Every time his sword cleaved the air, the flashes of light shattered and the raindrops split apart. The entire hall became a stage for his Sword Dance. He was no longer just a heavy tank; he was a great steel shark swimming through the heart of a hurricane.
I wasn't just standing there paralyzed by the overwhelming sight. I saw it as an opportunity. I pushed the storm's Authority to its limits. The winds howling inside the hall became chaotic turbulence meant to hinder his movements, and the torrential rain formed a thick curtain to blind him. Simultaneously, I rode the wind, constantly flanking his blind spots while manipulating the lightning's descent to be unpredictable. This wasn't just destruction; it was the absolute dominance of one who controls the environment.
But Doni was enjoying every second of it.
"Hahaha! Yes! This is it! Annoying winds! Blinding rain! Lightning striking from everywhere! It’s the perfect stage!"
As if mocking my intentions, he exploited the flow of my wind to accelerate his own body, pinpointing my silhouette through the sheets of rain with terrifying accuracy. Finally, after cutting through the last of the lightning, he leveled his blade at me from the center of my own sky.
"There you are!"
I heard his voice right behind me as I was soaring through the air. He had closed the distance in an instant. His claymore swept down toward my back like a mythical hero aiming for a mortal weakness.
"Guh...!"
I forced my body to twist mid-air. I placed the curse of Stasis on his sword, slowing its speed for the briefest of flickers. Thanks to that, I avoided a direct hit, but the sheer wind pressure from the blade slammed into my back.
"URGH!"
I was sent hurtling like a crashing plane into the opposite wall of the hall. At the moment of impact, I instinctively wrapped my entire body in the storm’s Authority to cushion the blow; if I hadn't, my spine would have shattered instantly. Even so, a crushing wave of pain washed over my entire frame.
"Wow, you’re persistent. You left your back wide open, rookie. That’s combat 101, isn’t it?"
Doni walked toward me casually. I stumbled to my feet. Every move I made was being countered. The storm, the lightning, the curse—nothing worked against the steel-willed King of Swords.
I guess I have no choice but to use Pele’s power. Now that everything else has failed, it’s the only chance I have to break through this fortress of steel that shows no weaknesses.
I decided to awaken the primordial flame sleeping within me—the heat that melts all things and returns them to their origin. The Authority of the volcano goddess, Pele, which had once melted the very concept of Ravana’s Mythic Syncretism.
Bloodied and battered, I looked at Doni walking toward me and managed a smirk.
"Basics? Sorry, but I never actually learned how to fight properly."
"Oh?"
Doni’s eyes gleamed with renewed interest.
"Then what are you going to show me now?"
"I’ll teach you a new game. It’s a game of tag where 'everything melts.'"
I woke the forge within my soul, the furnace that returns everything to the beginning. A searing sensation bubbled up from my heart. Feeling my very existence become a massive kiln, I whispered the true incantation of that power.
"My Hearth is the forge that melts all things back to their primordial state. I shall melt that arrogant body of steel and begin my pure creation!"
WHOOSH—!
From my right hand, crimson lava erupted. But it wasn't just a flowing liquid like before. Carrying a white-hot intensity that seemed to swallow all surrounding light, it condensed into the shape of a perfect spear. The marble floor melted like ice cream from the sheer heat, and the air in the hall warped into shimmering hazes.
This wasn't just fire. It was the primordial fire that melted the very 'Laws' of divine Authorities. It was a conceptual hunting tool that even a Campione's power could not hope to escape.
"...This..."
For the first time, the smile vanished from Doni’s ever-cheerful face. In his sky-blue eyes, a sharp alertness replaced pure curiosity. His instincts and his Man of Steel Authority were screaming at him—that white spear was a natural predator capable of erasing his very existence.
I leveled the tip of the spear at him and proclaimed the power's true name.
"O sacrifice offered to my hearth, surrender your very soul upon this altar—Pāoa!"
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