Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Sparring as Usual (?)

Sadington City is now a ruin.

The damage worsened from the outside in. Near the outer edge, although many buildings collapsed, they were still relatively intact overall. Further in, there were only ruins, with one or two walls standing alone every now and then. Beyond that, there was only rubble and debris, stretching as far as the eye could see. At the very center of the lightning strike, there were only countless charred black ashes and fine sand; not a single intact piece remained.

The search is now nearly halfway complete, with a few survivors who were on the surface but not dead, and countless bodies recovered. However, much work remains, including the ongoing search and future reconstruction efforts.

Reconstruction will be extremely difficult.

Before allocating funds, transporting building materials, replanning the urban layout, and carrying out large-scale construction, the biggest challenge is how to clear away all the soil and rocks covering tens of thousands of square kilometers.

The best solution would be to gather all the rock-type, wind-type, or telekinetic ability users together and launch a massive cleanup campaign. However, these ability users have all been deployed to build fortifications and are unlikely to be available until the war ends.

Thus, the ruins of Sadington became the ideal sports field for some.

Molyna Wandarus was completely dumbfounded.

Now in her fifties, as the commander of the 10th Division, which consisted entirely of military doctors, she had seen far too many grand occasions.

But she had never heard of anyone competing to this extent just by training with each other.

"Haa... Haa..."

"Huff... huff..."

The white-haired woman in black and the black-haired woman in white faced each other, both panting heavily, as if they had just finished strenuous exercise.

Haoyue's hair was disheveled, and her body was covered with deep wounds, each one revealing the bone. Her left leg was gone, replaced by a prosthetic limb of light made of runes, and the flesh on her right arm was completely rolled up, covered with the silver light of the moon.

Most of Xiao Wu's white hair was singed, her left cheekbone was almost completely shattered, and her left arm and leg were bent and twisted. The front of her torso was a bloody mess, as if the skin covering it had been completely ripped off by a large hand, exposing her white ribs. Her clothes on her back were completely torn, and there were large, horrifying bruises on her back.

Centered on the two people, the area within a radius of more than ten kilometers looked as if it had been ravaged by dozens of tornadoes. The original countless ruins and broken walls disappeared, replaced by shattered pebbles, huge craters that looked like they were left by a meteorite impact, and ravines and cracks that looked like they had been torn open by something.

"Pah! Cough cough... You're really something, you delinquent girl..."

Haoyue spat out the blood in her mouth, brushed her messy hair aside, and the smile on her face was subtly somewhere between "kindness" and "ferocity".

Xiao Wu tilted her head, pulled out the broken bone that had pierced through her left arm, and casually threw it on the ground.

"Tsk... shut your bird beak, Qipao Woman... ah, you're not wearing a cheongsam..."

Even... cough... even I sometimes want to keep up with... trends...

"... You call that keeping up with the trend?"

Although it's tattered and worn out now, Haoyue initially wore a strange leather jacket and oddly shaped pajama-like pants, which didn't suit her at all.

"You just randomly picked some of Loxue's old clothes and rearranged them, didn't you? And the sizes don't even fit."

"This is a bold attempt, and it will definitely impress Xiao Ye when she comes back!"

"Come on, you should just stick to being your cheongsam weirdo. Other clothes don't suit you."

"I don't want to be told that I'm wearing clothes pieced together from a roadside discount store."

"But everyone says it suits you, unlike someone as tasteless as you."

"... I'll kill you, okay?"

"Stop talking nonsense if you're going to kill me!"

The two, who had been chatting about strange topics and seemed to have stopped fighting, suddenly turned fierce and attacked each other again.

"Moon Fire Fall, Moonstorm, Moon Wheel Spear - Combination!"

One orange, one silver, and one gold rune were combined at Haoyue's command. The three colors of light burst forth in an instant, and then automatically gathered together in the next second!

"Blazing Moon Halberd!"

The halberd, constructed like a halberd, transformed into a streak of light, pointing directly at Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu neither dodged nor evaded, charging straight towards the halberd that seemed to tear through the void—

"Supple Body!"

In the next instant, the halberd that should have pierced Xiao Wu's face mysteriously changed course the moment they made contact. The speed was so fast that only Xiao Wu and Haoyue understood what had happened— Xiao Wu's body twisted like a snake in that instant, extremely supple, but within that suppleness lay a power compressed to the extreme! Her arm, lashed out like a whip, unleashed an extremely violent impact the moment it made contact with the halberd, forcefully deflecting it!

With a flick of her sword, Haoyue unleashed a Light Gun like raindrops, but Xiao Wu's incredibly fluid body moved with unbelievable agility! She darted through the gaps in the hail of spears like a ghost, her body emitting sickeningly loud cracking sounds—the sounds of her bones repeatedly shattering and reforming at an incredibly high frequency. Only in this way could she achieve such a perfect balance of agility and power!

The two were only a few meters apart when Xiao Wu's arm muscles twisted and compressed strangely, then shot out like a cannonball!

Model 280 - Lion's Roar!

The sound of the fist shaking the air was like the roar of a raging lion. Even the surrounding earth and rocks were torn apart by the violent force of the fist. Just as it was about to hit Haoyue, a complex golden rune suddenly burst out with dazzling light!

"Golden Moon - Moon Emperor!"

Boom!!!!

The burst of golden moonlight and the brutal punch collided head-on, but after a brief stalemate, Xiao Wu automatically released her strength. At this point, a direct confrontation would only be exhausting and counterproductive; she should avoid its edge!

"Willow Catkin Body!"

In the next instant, Xiao Wu's body was blown away, but she was not harmed in the slightest—her body floated in the air and landed steadily without any unnecessary impact. Soft as a flying leaf and light as a drifting catkin, she did not rely on brute force, but rather allowed her body to move freely along the flow of energy!

But the instant she landed, a Greatsword wreathed in golden moonlight cleaved down from above her head! Even though it was still some distance away, the ground beneath Xiao Wu's feet was torn in two by the sword's force!

"Is it this form again...?"

After sparring for so long, they both know each other's signature techniques.

In that instant, as if Stop Time, Xiao Wu looked at the bright moon that emerged from the light. Her long black hair had turned golden, and the condensed light gathered on her body into a shape like a royal robe, while her snow-white longsword had transformed into a golden Greatsword.

Both its defensive and offensive capabilities have seen a qualitative leap, but--

"The speed has slowed down! 'Broken Army'!!"

Just as the blade was about to touch her, Xiao Wu's left hand moved swiftly, and a white pistol with a bayonet—the White Night—suddenly appeared in her hand! She didn't need to aim deliberately, or even hold the gun properly; she simply flicked the trigger with her little finger, and the activated Gun Array fired exploding bullets!

Ding!!!

With a deafening roar, impeccable control of power, perfect angle and impact point—a single strike deflected the golden Greatsword! The massive blade of light crashed to the ground, the overflowing golden light tearing a chasm hundreds of meters long, with terrifying explosions erupting every few dozen meters! But Xiao Wu didn't even bother to glance at it. Her right hand magically produced another black pistol— the Black Star. At such close range, she didn't even need to pull the trigger! The black bayonet emitted a dazzling light, piercing straight towards Haoyue's wide-open body!

"Checkmate! Blade Array - Bee Sting!!!"

Sa--

Just as the bayonet thrust out, the golden body swayed and dissipated into countless particles of light.

Laughter erupted from behind.

"Idiot, I'm right here~"

"--Tsk! Li Qiqi Style: Flying Ripple!"

The move unleashed by the softened leg was several times more powerful than usual, radiating outwards in a fan-shaped vacuum that severed everything on the same plane! But the silver figure only flickered slightly before appearing behind Xiao Wu! Her golden hair had turned into pure silver, and the solidified golden light on her body, which resembled a royal robe, had transformed into a silver light like a dancer's attire.

"Now it's a combination of 'Moon Emperor' and 'Moon Mist Silver Veil,' and 'Star Princess' who has abandoned defense to specialize in strength and speed~"

"Ghost transformation!"

The surrounding space trembled, and the purple lightning manifested from the Demonic Power spewed out lightning serpents and strangled Haoyue, but Haoyue was like a silver meteor, and the purple lightning only struck afterimages!

"Moon Sea and Moon Storm - Moon Flood Dragon Bullet!"

Like liquid silver light bound by the silver mist, it transformed into a silver dragon, roaring as it lunged at Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu coldly, and the purple lightning that had been radiating in all directions suddenly contracted rapidly, disappearing entirely into Xiao Wu's body. As the purple lightning was suppressed into her body, beautiful yet ferocious purple lightning patterns appeared on her hands and feet, with faint purple flashes emanating from beneath her skin!

"Body Activation - Thunderous Body!"

Stimulated by the purple lightning, every cell in Xiao Wu's body was activated. Her foot stomped the ground, producing not a thud but a deafening roar! By the time the Moon Flood Dragon Bullet reached her original location, Xiao Wu was already ten meters away, but that was no distance for her now. Another explosion, and Xiao Wu's body vanished again. When she reappeared, her fist was already slamming towards Haoyue's face!

"Didn't you become faster just by changing your color? Dodge!"

With a powerful punch, a shockwave shot out, striking Haoyue squarely in the chest! Lacking any defense, even the Star Princess force of the punch couldn't withstand it; Haoyue exploded into countless silver fragments, her clothes ripped to shreds, revealing her numerous wounds.

And the mocking smile on his face.

"You're the one who's faster, aren't you? Don't you think you'll get faster by becoming a generator? Dodge!"

"--Well!?"

The Moon Flood Dragon Bullet, which she had dodged, turned back again. Countless liquid light spots spontaneously merged into one, and it was already within reach without a sound!

Xiao Wu —simply extended one palm, fingers together, seemingly giving up on dodging.

"Soul Chisel!"

Then, Xiao Wu's injuries stopped healing.

It's as if they want to save the energy they use for self-healing and use it all for offense.

The instant the fingertip made contact with the Moon Flood Dragon Bullet--

"Extreme Night Flow Style One - Devouring Blast!"

With a slight exertion of force in his palm, an invisible wave spread from his fingertips, causing the Moon Flood Dragon Bullet to tremble in mid-air before exploding from within.