A massive impulse erupted, triggering a wide‑scale collapse that stretched across an unbelievable range.
Even though they were close to the cliff on one side of the gorge, the force of the quake was potent enough to leave the entire slot in ruins.
Outside the range, Cosmo dropped the other four after managing to pull them out simultaneously and just in time.
"Why'd you go and piss him off?"
"I thought you lied the first time because you were up to something. What was that?!"
Cosmo didn't respond. He simply turned back toward the source of the rumbling, where Artoria was now breaking his way out of the rubble and flying up toward them.
He didn't speak because he had nothing to say for himself. Even he couldn't explain the impulse that had driven his earlier decision.
Ah, screw it. No point dwelling on the unchangeable. Let's test the waters with that barrier of yours.
As he advanced to meet his opponent, spears of soil tore free from the ground, compressing until they glowed molten. They fired at Artoria in rapid succession, like machine‑gun rounds.
When the spears reached him, they shattered harmlessly, doing nothing to slow him down.
That's fine. I just confirmed that my Authority perceives the matter in this zone the same way it does the authentic ones.
Suddenly, Artoria charged at extreme speed, ready to strike with his signature blow.
The punch that carried weight supplied by his Authority, making it far more lethal than a typical strike. It was definitely not something one could block on a whim.
In response, Cosmo's palm snapped into its path, releasing a shockwave from the clash.
All he did was create a stress‑dispersing pocket of air between them, reducing the force of the strike just enough for him to escape unharmed.
"I'm still wondering why you even bother using this move! Wouldn't it be better to keep your distance from an Authority that ridiculous?!"
Cosmo redirected both their arms upward, then drove a straight kick through the opening, which Artoria blocked with his free hand.
KRRRR!
"Ah…"
Cosmo launched himself away the moment he sensed a shift in his surroundings.
The space he had occupied twisted in on itself before bursting.
He was trying to squeeze me like a rag. How dangerous!
After that, Artoria didn't begin by closing the distance again.
Cosmo suddenly felt his body being pressed downward.
"I think I get it a little. You can only control the gravity around yourself, unless you attach your intent to someone who gets close enough."
He grinned as he was forced down, but he didn't panic.
"Funnily enough, I had the same idea."
A bright light illuminated the ground before several bolts of lightning struck Artoria, forcing him to release his skill for a moment and freeing Cosmo.
"How? Weak natural phenomena like that shouldn't be able to harm me." He asked as he touched the scorch marks left on his armor.
"Maybe. But those aren't natural at all."
Another round of lightning struck Artoria, but this time, he managed to deflect them.
"You couldn't find a way to break through my defense, so you made it my responsibility instead. How clever."
It took only one attack for Cosmo to understand the intent that was maintaining Artoria's barrier. Which made him settle for this method of attack.
Gravity alone wouldn't be enough to offset superbolts attracted by the artificial electrical charges Cosmo had generated and attached to the warrior's vicinity.
To willingly stop them, Artoria would have to concentrate his Authority specifically against the attack, enough to bend the space the bolts traveled through. This would force him to rescind his assault on Cosmo and also momentarily switch off his all-consuming barrier.
However, the reason they could damage him at all, despite his overwhelming level, was simply because Cosmo had to prematurely narrow the conductive path the bolts of lightning traveled, making them potent enough to melt anything at the point of contact.
"What now, servant of desolation? We only just started, and I've already figured out your signature defense. You might want to step it–"
WHAM!
"Don't be so conceited."
Cosmo was slammed from both sides by an invisible force, then crushed into the ground by another.
He burst out of the rubble with brute force, only to be met by a palm that crashed into his chest and dragged him through the air until he was hurled into a wall, which shattered behind him.
That might have been deserved.
He chuckled.
I wanted to stall, but it came off a little cocky.
He thought as he shook off the damage, but a voice followed.
"Rigid Shower."
Several boulders hurtled toward him, accelerated by Artoria's push.
"A bit much, no?"
WHAP!
Cosmo clapped his hands once, and the boulders instantly lost their form, collapsing into dust that rained around him.
When he thought about it, Artoria's translation was a more ruthless version of his own.
Cosmo's reach was limited to elemental composition, narrowed further to a single element at a time. Artoria, meanwhile, had limitless control over their surroundings, even more so over the things Cismo wished to manipulate.
He had always imagined how versatile he could be if he could indeed access the world's atomic composition. But that kind of ability only remained in his power fantasies.
He couldn't access what he couldn't physically observe. If he tried, every other function of his body would cease immediately; his brain and his gift could only handle so much.
It was safe to say he was at a disadvantage, but not so much that defeat was guaranteed.
Artoria's figure dropped toward him, and Cosmo vaulted aside. But the warrior gave him no room to breathe after he crashed into the ground.
He lunged with blow after blow, and even with the occasional lightning bolts interrupting his chain of attacks, Artoria refused to slow.
If anything, he was beginning to overtake the frequency, reducing the time Cosmo had to counter.
"Will he be alright?" Blue asked as the Nebula officers watched from afar.
"He seems to be struggling, but I'm sure he can keep up."
"Are you? Because to me, it looks like he's losing ground."
Tyson responded to Red's assurance with doubt.
"I don't blame you for feeling that way, but I still want to have a little faith," Yon said, "Still… watching him fight gives a whole new outlook, especially after those seven days."
His mind drifted to a single moment between them.
When he had jokingly asked how many soulless covenants it took for Cosmo to reach Captain level despite his age, Cosmo had answered with a strange but simple "Yes."
It might have sounded like a joke, but it etched fear into Yon's mind.
The drawback of the soulless covenants Cosmo had manually implanted through them was that they remained effective even outside battle, limiting other aspects of an Eminent's life at all times, as long as it related to the covenant's broad theme.
While the punishment for breaking them varied, it was always unwanted, so the host had no choice but to obey.
To Yon, this meant the Cosmo they knew might just be an assembly of different shackles, conformed into one personality.
It was a sad thought, so Yon chose instead to believe that if the karma that made him fear death so deeply was real, then it would grant his Captain the victory he desired enough to ruin himself for.
"Is defending all you can do?" Artoria complained as Cosmo narrowly escaped his brutal attacks.
"You don't really give me much of a choice, do you?"
WHIZZ!
Artoria dodged an artificial channel of plasma that sliced through the air and nearly decapitated him.
The window to attack him is narrowing. But it's only a matter of time before I gain access to 'that'. I'll just have to keep stalling.
Suddenly, Artoria stopped moving.
He seemed to have given up on trying to bring Cosmo down, so Cosmo slowed as well.
I'm not dumb enough to attack just because of that. Still… I want to know what he's plotting.
Artoria said nothing. He simply stood there, clearly awaiting a reaction.
Would it hurt to check it out?
Cosmo lunged toward him without warning, staying alert for the trap he assumed was coming.
In response, Artoria raised his fist to the sky and declared–
"~Realize.~"
Cosmo's legs skidded to a halt, and he immediately leaped toward his officers.
It looked as though he intended to shield them from something.
But they couldn't begin to guess what before he shouted–
"Cover your eyes and ears and prepare to scramble!"