Before the smoke and dust had completely dissipated, the golden energy at the bottom of the pit suddenly surged again!
This burst of power was several times more terrifying than the wave from the Thunder Sovereign just now.
Carol's eyes gleamed with determination; she had no intention of holding back. She unleashed the full power of her Twin Binary Mode, and a dazzling golden light tore through the dust and smoke as she burst straight out of the collapsed ditch.
In an instant!
The powerful energy shockwave shattered the surrounding earth, causing the entire virtual ground to collapse and crack layer by layer, its aura terrifyingly fierce.
She charged towards Rimuru in mid-air at full speed, carrying with her devastating golden energy, her movements fierce and unstoppable.
Seeing Carol charging towards him, Rimuru didn't dodge at all.
It wasn't that he was stubborn and wanted to confront someone head-on and rely on strength; it was simply that he had finally found a top-tier, universe-level combatant as an opponent, and it was a perfect opportunity to test his new skills.
Since advancing to the Demon Lord Stage and unlocking new defensive skills, he hasn't used them in actual combat even once. Today, he'll take advantage of this duel to properly test their effectiveness.
The thought flashed through his mind the instant Rimuru raised his hand and activated his shield with zero frames.
[ Seraphim Ring-Realm Sanctuary ]!
A light yet extremely stable transparent energy barrier instantly enveloped his body, perfectly formed and serene.
The next second, Carol slammed into the barrier with tremendous force!
Instead of a dull thud, there was a terrifying energy shockwave far exceeding the limits of a sonic boom.
This can no longer be considered sound; it's pure spatial energy exploding.
A violent energy wave instantly swept across the entire area centered on the two individuals. Even with layers of red virtual barriers protecting them and the Avengers firmly isolated in the safe zone, the Quake still caused a sharp pain in their eardrums. Everyone instinctively covered their ears tightly, their faces grave.
Steve couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.
"Fuck."
This isn't a superhero fight; the feeling is exactly the same as being bombarded face-to-face by a battleship's main guns. The sense of oppression is terrifyingly absurd.
Banner's face was tense, and his muscles were unconsciously tensing and trembling.
He didn't even participate in the direct confrontation; the residual force from their collision alone almost broke through his rational defenses, forcing him to nearly lose control of his Hulk transformation urge on the spot.
The onlookers were already terrified, but the two people in the center of the battlefield were in completely different states.
Rimuru floated silently in mid-air, his clothes fluttering slightly, his posture upright, and his face serene and composed.
The terrifying impact that had just struck, enough to uproot an entire city, was to him nothing more than a strong gust of wind; he didn't experience even the slightest tremor.
He couldn't help but secretly comment to himself, "He really has some skill."
Believe it or not, there's some truth to the claim that this [ Seraphim Ring-Realm Sanctuary ] actually exists.
It almost perfectly isolated all impacts, kinetic energy, and energy damage, leaving only a small amount of Soundwave to penetrate the defense. All other destructive forces were blocked and neutralized, making it as effective as directly cutting off an independent space to protect itself, maximizing its defensive capabilities.
Looking at Carol on the other side, he wasn't in such a relaxed state.
The most fundamental theorem in physics—forces are reciprocal—applies to everyone, regardless of their strength, and no one can escape it.
Her all-out attack, fueled by the combined power of her two Binary, was completely repelled by the barrier, the immense recoil force rebounding and harming her along the path of impact.
Carol's body swayed violently, her blood and qi surged, and her internal energy was thrown into chaos by the shock. She staggered back several steps before regaining her balance.
Her eyes were filled with utter shock.
Its attack power is absurd enough, but its defense is also ridiculously overpowered?
Top-tier in both offense and defense—is this really a fighting force that Earth can nurture?
Carol, having regained her footing, made no attempt to rest. Her eyes sharpened, and she gathered her strength to strike again, still refusing to back down in the slightest.
Seeing that she wanted to fight again, Rimuru simply took the initiative to withdraw from the Seraphim Ring-Realm Sanctuary.
The defensive skills have been tested and the results are satisfactory. Next, it's time to test the durability of this new armor.
He planned to confront it head-on and properly test the [ Vishanti Ring-Domain Holy Armor ]'s ability to withstand direct attacks.
The next second, Rimuru charged forward to meet Carol's attack head-on!
There are no barriers to block, no skills to dodge, it's pure fist-to-fist, energy-to-energy!
A deafening explosion followed!
The extreme energies of gold and purple collided violently, and the dazzling light instantly illuminated the entire red barrier space.
Both figures were thrown backward simultaneously by the force, one to the left and one to the right, with almost the same range, making it look like a 50/50 situation, with neither gaining the slightest advantage.
In fact, no one really benefited.
Carol is a top-tier damage dealer in the universe, built purely from brute force. Every punch and every move is a primal burst of destructive power, a pure numerical monster.
The left hand deals high damage, the right hand deals high damage.
Rimuru, on the other hand, has completely transformed into a quintessential mechanical monster.
With the buffs of magical armor, innate resistance, Demon Lord constitution, and full stacks of energy immunity, a direct confrontation would be enough to reliably withstand all of Binary Carol's attacks.
In a simple contest of brute force, the two are indeed evenly matched.
Rimuru in mid-air, carefully sensing the feedback from the impact borne by the Holy Armor, and had already made up his mind.
This magical holy armor surpasses the previous Dragon Knight Armor in all aspects of overall performance, resistance, and toughness.
If all goes well, the old armor can be officially retired.
Having tested both sets of defensive skills, Rimuru abandoned any further attempts to test the waters by exchanging blows.
That's enough fun, it's time to end this duel.
Before Carol could charge up again, Rimuru an instant attack with zero frames!
Watoomb's Sonic Howling Wind Breath!
Unlike the Thunder Sovereign's precise single-target burst damage, this move deals massive area-of-effect (AOE) damage.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the entire battlefield, carrying with it an invisible, numbing aura that raged wildly.
A raging hurricane swept over Carol, who hadn't yet regained her footing. The biting wind blades relentlessly slashed at her combat suit, making the already badly damaged suit even more tattered in an instant.
Even more deadly is the Paralysis Breath lurking in the wind.
Invisible and intangible, yet capable of precisely penetrating energy defenses and invading the body to disrupt the Binary's energy circulation.
The golden energy that had surged around Carol began to visibly flicker, weaken, and decrease.
Her body gradually felt stiff and weak, and her explosive power and reaction speed were being slowly suppressed and weakened by the continuous wind.
The energy in both hands was rapidly compressed and then suddenly exploded.
It instantly shattered Rimuru's [ Watoomb's Sonic Howling Wind Breath ].
Rimuru wasn't surprised to see his skills being dispelled so quickly.
After all, it's a wide-range skill, so being able to suppress Captain Marvel for a second or two is already quite good, especially since it also comes with weakening and cutting effects.
It's only because Captain Marvel looks okay; if it were an ordinary person, they would probably be a bloody mess by now.