"Bang!!!"
Chaser and Exile crashed down violently, instantly shattering the altar.
The sea crystals from which the altar had been made exploded under this strike into countless tiny fragments, falling into the ocean like raindrops.
"Hmph? He dodged?"
Raising Chaser and Exile, Melqart snorted coldly as he looked at the altar, which had already been reduced to ruins, yet showed no trace of Yu, and muttered.
"Your speed isn't bad, but do you really plan to fight me like this?"
At that moment, Yu's voice sounded from above Melqart's head.
As for Melqart's sudden attack just now, Yu had to admit that strike had been extremely fast.
Moreover, there had been no warning before the attack, and even he had almost failed to evade it.
Fortunately, Yu had reacted at the last moment, directly activating his Phoenix form and barely avoiding Melqart's attack.
"Oh? Phoenix."
Hearing the voice, Melqart looked up.
He saw Yu holding Joyeuse in his hand, while the Twelve Radiant Blades floated behind him and brilliant golden light burst forth from his body.
At a glance, Melqart recognized that the power on Yu originated from Phoenix.
No wonder this fellow had managed to evade his surprise attack just now without suffering even the slightest scratch.
"It seems you know something?"
Seeing that Melqart had immediately recognized the power on his body, Yu felt that something was wrong.
Melqart was not like Prometheus, the God of Wisdom.
It should be known that Phoenician mythology worshipped power.
Even Melqart, as the supreme god, did not possess particularly vast knowledge.
However, among the mythologies of the world, the existence of Phoenix was not unique.
Many divine birds from various world mythologies were extremely similar to Phoenix.
For example, Garuda from Indian mythology.
Or Yatagarasu from Japanese Shinto mythology.
And even the Immortal Bird from Greek mythology.
All of them were almost identical to Phoenix according to the descriptions in their myths.
With so many similar beings capable of causing confusion, why was Melqart so certain that the power on him belonged specifically to Phoenix?
Moreover, Yu had always felt that Melqart displayed a certain sense of familiarity toward him.
It was not that Yu knew Melqart.
He was completely certain that this was their first meeting.
The familiarity Yu referred to was Melqart's familiarity with him.
He did not give long and tedious speeches like other Heretic Gods before beginning a battle.
Melqart's actions were direct and decisive.
His attacks were aimed straight at him.
But Yu knew that attacks of that level could injure him, but only to a limited extent.
It was absolutely impossible for them to kill him.
When he thought about it carefully, his battle with Melqart did not even resemble a real fight.
It felt more like... sparring?
"Hahahaha, this old man won't tell you much!"
Melqart clearly had not expected Yu to suddenly say such words.
A trace of surprise flashed across his grayish-green face.
But it quickly disappeared.
Then Melqart burst into loud laughter.
When his laughter subsided, the expression on his face became serious.
Gripping Chaser and Exile in his hands, Melqart roared:
"Honorable warrior who hunts lions and slays dragons, ascend through the heavens!"
The moment his words fell, Chaser in Melqart's hand suddenly shone with cyan light.
Then violent Winds began swirling around Melqart.
Afterward, a gigantic cyan cone composed of Wind formed around Melqart's arm.
"The power of Wind? I possess it as well!"
Seeing that Melqart intended to use the power of Wind against him, Yu, who possessed the Gale Fury authority, naturally felt no fear.
On the contrary, an expression of excitement appeared on his face.
Yu focused his thoughts and immediately began mobilizing the Winds around him.
In an instant, violent Winds began raging above the sea.
These were the violent Winds raised by Melqart.
These were the tornadoes created by Yu.
"Show me what difference the power of Wind can make!"
After finishing his words, Yu swung his hand.
Suddenly, a tornado appeared from nowhere and rushed toward Melqart with a howling roar.
"Your control over Wind has indeed reached a very high level by now, but the power of Wind must be concentrated into a single point in order to explode!"
Facing the incoming tornado, Melqart's lips curled into a smile.
After finishing his words, the cyan cone tip composed of countless violent Winds in his hand thrust forward.
"Bang!"
The instant the cone tip touched the tornado, an explosive detonation rang out.
Countless Wind blades scattered and shot off in every direction.
On a distant island, the peak of a mountain was directly sliced off by the aftermath of this collision.
"Hahaha! Campione! It seems your tornado is on the verge of collapse!"
Seeing that most of the violent Winds being scattered originated from Yu's tornado, Melqart suddenly burst into laughter.
But just as his laughter reached its peak, it abruptly stopped.
At that moment, his eyes widened.
He stared at the tornado colliding with the cyan cone, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"Hmm? What is this?!"
At that moment, the cyan cone and the tornado were in direct collision.
Like a heated knife cutting through butter, the cyan cone pierced through the wall of Wind that made up the tornado and continuously destroyed it.
At first glance, it appeared that Melqart's cyan cone held an absolute advantage.
But was that really the case?
If some sharp-eyed Heretic God or God Slayer had been present, they would certainly have noticed that in this clash of authorities—Wind against Wind—it was actually Yu who held the advantage.
Indeed.
Yu's tornado was being continuously destroyed.
Faced with Melqart's cyan cone, it could not even reassemble itself.
But was that truly the reality?
In fact, it was not.
A closer look would reveal that the color of the cyan cone created by Melqart was continuously fading.
At the same time, the speed at which it pierced through the tornado was also steadily decreasing.
The reason was simple.
From the very beginning, Yu had never intended to use Wind as a means of attack.
The moment his tornado came into contact with Melqart's cone, it began actively extracting Wind from it.
Step by step, it undermined Melqart's control over that Wind.
Yu's idea was very simple.
By the time Melqart's cyan cone broke through his tornado, control over the Wind would already have passed into his hands.
At that point, if Yu wished, he could instantly mobilize the Wind and catch Melqart off guard.
After all, this fellow had caught him off guard when they first met.
But now that Melqart had discovered it, nothing could be done.
Yu lightly shook his head.
With a wave of his hand, the tornado and cyan cone that had been locked in battle a moment ago directly dispersed.
He could have seized control of that Wind much earlier.
But if he had done so, Melqart would certainly have noticed.
That was why he had undermined it gradually.
Since he had already been discovered, there was no point in continuing the act.
"You truly are terrifying when it comes to Wind. Come, let me see what you can do with thunder!"
After having his control over Wind stolen, Melqart's face darkened.
The moment his words fell, a purple radiance suddenly flickered across the gloomy sky.
They were serpent-like bolts of lightning leaping through the dark clouds!