Inside the Stardust Garden, the home base of the Astraea Familia, within its training grounds…
Judas and Kaguya stood across from one another atop a raised platform.
The members of the Astraea Familia, along with Astraea herself, sat by the sidelines watching.
"Finally, I've been waiting for this for a while now."
Kaguya commented, rolling her neck and stretching her legs.
"I'm going to ask again just in case, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
Judas asked as he rolled his shoulders.
"What? Scared already?"
Kaguya countered with a teasing grin.
"Well… I am afraid."
Judas admitted with a shrug, causing Kaguya to raise a brow.
"Afraid that I might hurt your pride because you'll obviously lose."
Hearing his words, Kaguya's lips twitched.
She wanted to snap back, but she couldn't offer a real rebuttal.
'I admit it…'
She thought, her grip tightening around the hilt of her weapon.
'You're stronger than me now. I know that.'
Compared to the last time they dueled, the current Judas exuded a far heavier presence.
Standing before her now was the hero who had achieved the great feat of slaying a monster capable of wielding Arcanum, the one responsible for completing what the Guild had dubbed the unofficial Fourth Great Quest.
Even setting that aside, she had witnessed him battle against the executives of Evilus during the incident on the 24th Floor, showcasing combat power comparable to a Level 7.
'He did say he got boosted because of a conditional skill during that time… but this guy… is still a monster.'
She tightened her grip on her katana and unsheathed it.
shing
The sharp ring of metal entered her ears as she lowered herself into a stance.
"Hey! Make sure you don't destroy the place like last time!"
Alise yelled out from the sidelines.
Judas nodded and summoned a dense, translucent barrier that enclosed the entire platform to keep their clash contained.
He still vividly remembered nearly taking down the Astraea Familia's manor during their previous bout.
The moment the barrier snapped shut, both Kaguya and Judas moved. Their figures flickered out of existence.
They collided in the center of the arena.
The sound of metal crashing rang out as Judas' metal-covered fist struck Kaguya's blade.
Kaguya adjusted her footing and immediately counterattacked with a slash aimed at his side.
Judas parried the strike without flinching.
Sparks exploded into the air between them, his eyes locked onto hers with absolute focus.
The two immediately plunged into a rapid exchange of blows, their limbs moving so fast they dissolved into a blur of silver and black.
Kaguya slashed with everything she had, pouring her martial prowess into every strike to force her opponent onto the defensive.
Yet, Judas defended relentlessly, matching her step for step.
The absolute most Kaguya could achieve were a few shallow tears in the fabric of his clothes.
'He's improved… his close-quarters combat is completely different from before.'
Kaguya noted, her eyes widening slightly at his rhythm.
'Silence from the Hera Familia… Alfia must have trained him like hell.'
The corners of her lips curled upward.
'But if you think you can stand up to me in terms of martial arts with barely two months of training, you are dead wrong.'
Her eyes glinted as she spotted a microscopic opening in his guard. Kaguya struck from a deceptively difficult angle.
The martial arts of the Far East... honed through years of training... making her especially dangerous in close combat.
Judas found himself unable to properly parry the incoming strike and, at the last possible moment, twisted his body to the side.
riiiip
The sound of fabric tearing echoed through the arena.
The long sleeve on the right side of his coat was severed cleanly in half, but thankfully, he avoided having his arm sliced off by the narrowest margin.
'That was a close one.'
Just as that thought crossed his mind...
A thin red line appeared across his right cheek before a droplet of blood slowly rolled down and fell onto the floor.
'I got cut.'
Judas brushed his finger against his cheek and stared at the blood staining his metal glove.
Then he shifted his gaze toward Kaguya, who was looking at him with a smug expression.
'...I see. I died right there.'
He realized that if this had been a battle to the death, his head would've been sliced clean off.
'Well… that's what I get for trying to fight her in close combat.'
From the start, he had been testing himself to see how much progress he had made.
'This only proves I still have more to learn.'
He adjusted his stance.
'No more horsing around.'
He clenched his fist as strands of lightning crackled around his arm.
'So he's finally taking this seriously…'
Kaguya grinned, immediately sensing the shift in the atmosphere.
"Done with your warm-up already?"
She pointed her blade toward him.
"Yeah…"
Hearing his brief answer, Kaguya's grin shifted into a battle-crazed smile.
"Then bring it..."
The moment those words left her mouth, her instincts screamed.
Judas had already appeared right in front of her, his fist pulled back and wreathed in pure lightning.
Kaguya instantly shifted into a defensive stance.
『Wrath of the Celestial Titan』
The instant his fist collided with her katana, hair-line fractures spidered violently across Kaguya's blade.
The sheer kinetic force threw her off her feet, sending her hurtling backward.
The spectators watched as their vice-captain repeatedly crashed across the ground like a skipping stone before finally slamming into the edge of the barrier hard enough to crack it on impact.
"No way…"
"Am I seeing things?"
"The Vice-Captain was sent flying with a single blow?!"
The members of the Astraea Familia cried out in shock, disbelief written all over their faces.
They simply couldn't believe what they were witnessing.
The only ones whose expressions remained unchanged were Alise and Astraea, while Lyra was still asleep inside.
It couldn't be helped that the members of the Astraea Familia were stunned.
Although they had heard tales of Judas's extraordinary exploits and knew he was incredibly powerful… even defeating Antares one on one…
But they knew that his victory over the ancient monster had only been possible because he borrowed Artemis's power, not through his own strength alone.
In their minds, their understanding of his strength was still based on what they had personally witnessed during his previous duel with Alise and Kaguya.
People naturally believed what they saw with their own eyes over rumors floating around the streets.
Back then, there had been a clear, undeniable gap in raw ability, and Judas had been the one lagging behind.
Even if he had leveled up since then, their captain and vice-captain had also leveled up.
It was only logical to assume the gap remained the same.
'I don't think they understand just how monstrous Judas truly is.'
Alise thought as she looked at the expressions of her familia members.
'Right now, excluding Silence from the Hera Familia, he's probably the second strongest adventurer in Orario in the current era… second only to Ottar.'
Alise had no doubt about that.
And she had a feeling it wouldn't be long before Judas eventually surpassed even the King himself.
A proud smile crept onto her face.
'However… Kaguya won't give up that easily.'
She watched as her vice-captain slowly stood back up, faint arcs of lightning still crawling across her body from the aftermath of Judas' attack.
Kaguya raised her right arm and wiped the blood from her lips with her sleeve while clutching her ribs with her other hand.
But despite the pain throbbing through her body, Kaguya's smile returned, fiercer than before.
She didn't speak.
Instead, she brought her hands together, forming an intricate, rapid succession of hand signs. Instantly, a massive, turbulent ocean of Mind began to rapidly coalesce around her figure.
'Don't tell me…'
Alise uncrossed her arms, her eyes widening. '
'She's going to use that?'
When an adventurer levels up, though it isn't always guaranteed… they are sometimes granted an additional skill or a new magic that fills one of their available magic slots.
Right now, Kaguya was about to use a new ability she had gained after reaching Level 6.
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