On Flamebearer II, Violet comfortably stretched her limbs, then lay on the floor and rolled around. She had already returned to her original form—a robot no bigger than a palm.
On the other side, Li Bai had his eyes tightly shut, his toes balanced atop a sheathed longsword standing upright. He seemed to have entered some state of unity between man and sword, standing even more steadily than if he were on solid ground.
Violet mischievously ran over and reached out to shove Li Bai, only to grab empty air. Li Bai had simply tapped off with his toes and leaped away, leaving Violet lunging at nothing.
When Li Bai landed steadily again, the longsword did not so much as tremble, showing just how stable he had been before. Violet refused to accept it and pushed directly against the sword this time, actually making Li Bai tilt to one side. But then his body rapidly spun, using powerful centrifugal force to halt his downward fall. Like a roly-poly toy, he swayed a few times before returning to balance.
This was no longer something Li Bai's internal processor could achieve through balance calculations. It was an inexplicable state that allowed him to perform such feats as though by magic.
Unlike the other AllSpark robots, who relied on special abilities or equipment to strengthen themselves, Li Bai's increase in power came more from his own "cultivation." At first, he had merely been an assassin capable of changing his appearance, able at most to deal with ordinary people.
But during his previous battle with Hela, Li Bai's longsword had been able to pierce the Death Goddess's armor and her body brimming with divine power. Even if Hela had been weakened at the time, it still counted as possessing god-slaying might.
Violet seemed to