A torrent of shimmering stars swirled in layered currents. Light circled Alice like a meteor shower, manifesting alongside a surge of magic power so immense it made the very atmosphere tremble.
This magic did not belong to this world. It was a power from the world where Alice had been born and raised—the Magic that Turns a Strong Heart into a Weapon. It was her ultimate trump card.
Shrouded in a veil of starlight, Alice appeared before Kaito in an instant, leveling her blades at the Earth God.
"Alice..."
Kaito muttered her name, his voice trembling. He wasn't even conscious of why he had spoken; he simply saw her radiating an aura unlike anything he had ever felt. She was exposing her raw emotions for the first time, and the sheer abnormality of her state forced the name from his lips.
His voice did not reach her. At that moment, Alice’s heart was consumed by a single, solitary drive: to protect Kaito until her last breath.
"...Insufficient... Still..."
The Earth God observed Alice as her magic power raged like a hurricane, yet it made no move to intercept her. It simply watched her in silence. It was the ultimate "wait-and-see" approach, a luxury afforded only to the absolute strongest. Its stillness was backed by the unshakable conviction that it could neutralize any attack she might muster.
Alice was well aware of this. Even at her full strength, the Earth God before her was on a completely different level. But to her—or rather, to the person she used to be—facing a far superior foe was nothing new.
"Go back... back to then..." she whispered as if chanting a spell, sinking into a low crouch. "Back to the me that was a weakling. Every enemy I faced was stronger than me. Every fight was a lost cause! But even so... I want the me that protected everything back!"
Then, Alice unleashed it. She unsealed her true self—the girl from the ancient past she had long since buried as a dead memory.
Suddenly, the magic power that had been howling like a storm fell still. It became as quiet as a waveless sea, enveloped in an eerie silence. The aura of intimidation vanished from her. Only then did the Earth God finally take a combat stance.
Its wings spread wide, and the Earth God’s body was propelled toward the far reaches of the white void.
"Speed: exceeded projections. Threat: recognized. Intercepting!"
The Earth God muttered indifferently. It stopped in mid-air, ignoring the laws of physics, and spread its twenty wings wide. Light gathered at the tips, firing a barrage of dazzling flashes at Alice at ultra-high speeds. Alice pressed the knives in her hands against the incoming beams, parrying the lethal light without losing a shred of momentum.
"Volume: insufficient. Attack: increasing."
Judging that twenty shots were not enough, the Earth God instantly recalculated her velocity and unleashed over ten times that number. It was no longer a mere attack; it was a rain of ruin, a deluge of destruction falling at the speed of light.
Alice immediately shifted her trajectory, weaving through the gaps between the rays. However, the rain of light pursued her, saturating every coordinate she moved toward. The Earth God remained stationary in the air like a heavy battery, firing an endless stream of light bullets.
Every single projectile carried enough power to vaporize an island. A single direct hit would end the fight instantly. Yet, even in this unavoidable net of light, the beams could not touch her. Alice moved as if guided by an invisible thread. She wove through the torrential rain without slowing, closing the distance until she was within reach. She lashed out with her knives.
"...Admiration."
Even as a shallow cut opened on its arm, the Earth God’s expression remained one of genuine fascination. It clapped its hands.
"Thou. Combat. Art."
As it continued to fire a massive number of light bullets, an emotion welled up within the Earth God’s heart: unstinting praise. In terms of pure ability, the Earth God was far superior. If even a single one of those previous shots had hit, Alice would have been defeated.
Yet Alice had parried them all and managed to land a blow. Her combat technique was something even a god found moving. Just how many countless battles had this girl survived? How many deaths had she overturned to be standing here now?
If her parry had been off by even a few millimeters, she would have been hit. If she had made a single error in the sequence of her movements, she wouldn't have made it in time. If a moment of hesitation had entered her heart for even a fraction of a second, she would have been swallowed whole.
In the Earth God’s estimation, the probability of Alice reaching it had been less than one percent. Yet she had navigated the miracle with effortless grace. The Earth God understood now. This was the threat she posed: no matter how slim the odds, she would never fail to grasp the optimal path.
"...Beautiful."
She was the embodiment of miracles. To execute such a feat against an opponent who far outclassed her in every basic stat was the pinnacle of martial prowess.
"Density: increasing."
The Earth God multiplied the number of light bullets by several hundred times. Hundreds of millions of beams converged on her, leaving no room for even an insect to pass. Evasion was impossible. Defense was futile.
Alice absorbed one of the lights surrounding her. Her hair changed to reddish-purple twin-tails; her eyes turned gold.
"They'll miss!"
"Causality: generated," the Earth God observed. The approaching light bullets veered away as if repelled by destiny itself. The Earth God spread its wings and unleashed a bombardment that filled her entire field of vision, focusing on quality over quantity.
Another light was absorbed. Alice transformed into a woman with leafy green hair. Massive trees erupted from the void, acting as a shield against the concentrated bombardment.
From the smoke emerged a girl with ash and black hair, wielding a staff several meters long. Her magic power spiked explosively, condensing at the tip.
"Devour it! Violent Beast - Apocalypse!"
A massive cannon of jet-black energy roared toward the Earth God. For the first time, the Earth God actually moved its arm to swat the attack aside.
"Astonishment. Thy power: difficult to quantify."
"How long are you going to stay that cocky?" Alice spoke with the sharp, cold eyes of a predator. "I don't know who you are, but you're not the first god I've killed!"
She reverted to the tone of her past self as she delivered the threat. The Earth God looked at its right arm and noticed the wound had not healed.
"...Inexplicable. Regeneration: inhibited?"
"I have weapons that can do that," Alice replied.
"Acceptance... Handling: easy."
"Wha—!?"
Without a second of hesitation, the Earth God tore its own arm from its shoulder. It vaporized the discarded limb with a flash of light and generated a brand-new arm in its place.
"Combat: continuing."
Alice, the God-slaying Hero who held the secrets to slaying the immortal—and the Earth God, whose depths remained unplumbed. The battle between them only grew more ferocious.