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The timeline returns to the present.
Amid the endless expanse of towering stone peaks, a blue-white figure shot upward at tremendous speed, hurtling skyward like a rocket. In less than two seconds, he surpassed the highest mountaintop, soaring straight back up to the heavens.
Vali Lucifer—he had not been defeated by the previous strike, nor had he suffered severe injury. The White Dragon Emperor's armor covering his entire body remained pristine and shining—behind him, crystalline wings of icy blue overflowed with abundant magical power.
"Wow~" Bokue clapped slowly in mock admiration. "And here I thought a fall from this height would at least break a leg or two. You really are the king of crash dummies."
"Crash dummy?" Vali raised an eyebrow beneath his helmet.
Although he didn't fully grasp the humorous reference, he certainly caught the thinly-veiled mockery behind the nickname.
Before he could retort, however, the glowing wings of his armor flashed urgently, and Albion's voice emerged:
"Be careful, Vali. The previous strike forced me to expend twenty percent of my total energy reserve at once. If we continue prolonged combat, you'll need to watch our energy consumption carefully."
What? Energy reserve?
Bokue overheard the conversation clearly, his brow rising slightly in curiosity.
"You know, normally I'd remind you guys to switch to team chat, but from what I gather... your Sacred Gear converts any damage you take into stored energy?"
"That's not exactly how it works, but close enough," Vali shrugged nonchalantly.
"This is my Sacred Gear—the Divine Dividing. Every ten seconds, once I make contact, it halves my opponent's power and transfers it to myself. And that's not all—its halving ability can be applied elsewhere too, like reducing the impact of a heavy fall or weakening your attacks."
"Is that right...?" Bokue flexed his body, sensing no significant loss of strength.
Perhaps the gear had only diminished the falling damage and hadn't truly halved his actual strength yet?
Vali continued in explanation:
"Oh, and by the way—your Boosted Gear has a corresponding power to mine. Every ten seconds, your gear should double your strength. But since you aren't even using it, well, that's on you."
"Hmm... doesn't sound very fair to me," Bokue counted idly on his fingers.
"Let's say, purely hypothetically, both of us start with a strength rating of one. After ten seconds, my gear doubles my strength to two. But because of your gear, my strength is immediately halved, bringing me right back to one, while you gain that stolen strength and rise to two."
"Then another ten seconds pass—my gear doubles me back up to two, but your gear again halves me to one, transferring that stolen strength to you. Now you're at three, and I'm still stuck at one."
"Following this logic, after one full minute—sixty seconds—I'd still have one strength unit, while you'd have risen to seven. How exactly is that fair? You sure these gears are counterparts and not a goddamn trap?"
Vali: "..."
Albion: "..."
Ddraig: "Zzz~"
...Huh?
The vast sky suddenly fell awkwardly silent, including the two Heavenly Dragons themselves—one awake, one still deep asleep.
It was as though an ancient dilemma, haunting them for centuries, had suddenly been solved with perfect logic.
Based on this example, these two gears weren't rivals at all. Instead, one was essentially a living battery pack feeding the other.
Convinced he'd calculated correctly, Bokue rubbed his chin thoughtfully, voicing the critical question:
"Seriously, the guy who created these gears—did he even finish elementary school?"
"..." Vali.
"..." Albion.
"..." Ddraig (still sleeping).
An awkward silence hung thickly between them all.
After several moments, seemingly unable to bear this awkwardness, Vali exhaled slowly, pressing a hand against his helmet as if fighting a headache.
"We can worry about these details later. Right now, what's important is our battle!"
He barely managed to stop himself from blurting out "since you're not using your Boosted Gear anyway," afraid that once spoken, even the last scraps of his fighting spirit would vanish.
This whole realization felt too ridiculous. Ever since he awakened his Divine Dividing, he had believed firmly that the Boosted Gear was his absolute equal and destined rival.
Now, realizing the scales weren't even remotely balanced, he felt as if victory would mean nothing at all.
WHAT A GODDAMNED JOKE!
Barely suppressing the urge to roar skyward in frustration, Vali channeled all his pent-up emotions directly into his fists. Powerful magic erupted from his wings as he lunged forward, attacking fiercely with newfound determination.
"Fine~" Bokue casually raised one hand, effortlessly blocking Vali's charging punch.
But then—
[Divide!]
Albion's voice resonated clearly, as a haze of pale white light enveloped Bokue's body.
Huh?
A strange sensation flooded Bokue, like a sudden emptiness after overexertion. A subtle weakness surged within him, as if a portion of his immense strength had been drained away.
Not much, certainly not half—closer to ten or fifteen percent, at most.
Vali, however, suddenly convulsed violently as though he'd taken a heavy blow himself. Though he hadn't physically been struck, thin cracks spread across his armor, bleeding traces of crimson through the seams. His wings flared desperately behind him, shining brightly with overwhelming magical power.
"VALI, YOU'RE BEING RECKLESS!" Albion urgently warned.
"His power isn't something your body can handle! Your body isn't prepared to contain that much energy—if you continue recklessly, your body might—wait, what!?"
Just like taking a bucket of water from the ocean had no effect—any sudden gap would instantly be refilled by the boundless surrounding waters. With a roaring surge, Bokue's seemingly infinite ocean of spiritual energy thundered and effortlessly replenished the stolen portion, restoring him to peak condition in an instant.
Even greater golden spiritual flames surged violently around his arm. He clenched his fist tightly, raising it high—
[God-Slaying Overlord Fist!]
"VALI, WATCH OUT!!!"
Albion shouted frantically—but it was already too late.
The unstoppable fist landed squarely onto Vali's chest. The armor meant to protect him shattered explosively, scattering shards as blood erupted outward in a crimson bloom.
Eyes wide with shock, Vali violently spat blood as his body was blasted backward like a cannonball, smashing through dozens of immense rocky spires and finally embedding himself deep within the side of a distant mountain.
Bokue retracted his fist calmly, exhaling softly.
That should probably do it…
He'd pulled back at the very last moment—not hitting as hard as he truly could. After all, Vali had already recklessly overexerted himself trying to absorb too much energy, nearly tearing himself apart internally. Even if left untouched now, he'd probably lost any capacity to continue the fight.
The last punch had simply been to quickly and decisively end things.
However, just when Bokue believed the fight was over, a blazing column of magical power suddenly erupted skyward from the distant mountain, accompanied by an overlapping, echoing chant:
["I, who awaken as the Heavenly Dragon who lost all to the principles of supremacy."]
["With infinite envy, I chase an unreachable dream."]
["I shall become the ultimate White Dragon of Supremacy,"]
["And I shall take you to the limits of innocence!"]
"JUGGERNAUT DRIVE!!!!!!!!!"
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