"Father!"
Inside House Bigusle, Geno's cry rang out loud and clear, every bit of his panic fully exposed.
"He..."
Tilly's eyes widened as she stared at the cloaked figure on the roof, her face filled with astonishment.
"You are...?"
Rocket was almost too stunned to react. Looking at the figure's back, he seemed uncertain and suspicious.
The sudden turn of events left everyone present dumbfounded and at a loss.
Shien merely glanced at them without saying anything, then turned his gaze toward the ground below.
Smoke and dust still filled the air there, while chunks of rubble fell one after another, striking the ground with a series of crackles.
Salilo had been buried beneath it all, completely out of sight.
From an onlooker's perspective, Shien's strike had been astonishingly heroic. He had sent a Legendary-tier expert flying with a single kick—simply unbelievable, wasn't it?
Yet Shien did not feel pleased.
The feeling from that kick had not been very good.
"Hard as hell."
Shien muttered to himself.
That kick had felt as though he had struck a block of refined iron. Not only had it been incredibly hard, but the rebound nearly forced him to take a step back.
So while that kick had looked incomparably impressive, it probably had not dealt the opponent much damage.
At least, that was what Shien thought.
And it seemed the truth was indeed so.
"Boom!"
With an explosive blast, the smoke and dust on the ground were suddenly blown away, revealing what lay beneath.
Salilo looked as though he had blasted apart the ground itself, bursting through the rubble burying him. He stood in the huge crater with his greatsword raised high, mana surging continuously around him.
The falling stones were blown aside.
Even dust and debris could not approach Salilo, blocked outside