At this moment, Ying was stunned by the power Idris was displaying.
She understood better than most what it meant to face a god who could don a true divine armament. She herself had crossed blades with the Raiden Shogun—and even though she won, that victory leaned heavily on the wishes of the people. Without that miracle, she never could have defeated Ei.
But right now, Idris was fighting evenly against the remnant soul of the Scarlet King. That fact alone left her breathless.
Jade was equally shocked.
"So the Golden Dreamscape really does still hold traces of the Scarlet King…
But why is Idris fighting him?"
Zebrelayl shook his head. He himself wasn't certain. Even now, he felt conflicted.
For the people of the desert, the Scarlet King was not merely a deity—he was faith itself. Even after centuries, even after many desert dwellers had assimilated into the new Sumeru, the Scarlet King's place in their hearts had never changed.
Idris had saved his life… yet he did not know who he should stand behind.
The Scarlet King was faith.
Idris was reality.
Seeing their confusion, Nahida exhaled softly. She glanced toward the sky where the battle raged and nodded.
"Because this battle is inevitable—for Idris, and for the Scarlet King."
"Both of them," she continued, "share a temperament:
A king cannot acknowledge another king."
In Sumeru, Idris was already the undisputed ruler of the rainforest. But the desert, too, was part of Sumeru—and within it remained one final obstacle, a will that had never bowed.
Even if Nahida or the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were here instead, neither would fight the Scarlet King. The Scarlet King would not challenge them.
Not because the Scarlet King lacked strength—
but because he simply did not acknowledge them as desert kings.
If the Scarlet King had even the slightest desire to revive, he might have begged to know the source of Idris's aura—why Idris carried traces of the Greater Lord—and whether Idris could revive him as well.
But he didn't ask.
Because a nation only needs one king.
To revive only to kneel? To revive only to seize back land from a mortal king? Both choices were unacceptable to the Scarlet King.
Far better to fight freely one last time.
And Idris? He was the same—
he would never bother unless the benefits were worth it.
Nahida understood him too well.
But none of that mattered now.
The only thing that mattered was victory.
"Hahaha! Excellent! EXCELLENT!"
Above, beneath a sky dyed gold by swirling sand, the Scarlet King laughed heartily.
He touched the fresh sword-mark left on his shoulder—carved by the cursed sword Frostmourne—and grinned with exhilaration.
Idris, by contrast, didn't share that battle-maniac excitement. He simply rolled his sore wrist.
"What heavy power…"
From the Scarlet King's strikes, Idris truly felt what it meant for power to be simple yet absolute—
A divine armament forged from golden sand.
A spear holding both offense and defense.
Raw strength overwhelming every clash.
No fancy elemental arts—
only pure technique.
Every collision sent shockwaves across the sky.
A single missed spear-light from the Scarlet King carved a seven-meter-deep crater in a distant dune.
Hovering in midair in full god-armor, the Scarlet King laughed:
"Idris, I must admit something.
Because this dreamscape is my territory—
and because we stand upon my desert—
my power is nearly at ninety percent of its peak.
It may be somewhat unfair to you."
Idris shrugged.
"Unfair? Not really.
I'm only disappointed you can't use the full hundred percent."
The Scarlet King barked a laugh—wild, unrestrained.
"Truly worthy of being Sumeru's new king…
You're even more arrogant than I am!"
Idris didn't reply. Instead, the dragon-blood within his veins awakened, scales faintly rippling beneath his skin—another layer of power added to his physique.
This wasn't a one-time effect.
It grew stronger with him.
Seeing Idris's aura rise, the Scarlet King grinned sharply.
"Good. Then as you wish—
I'll get serious."
"With this body… let all creation be judged!"
The golden sands froze.
Then surged behind him—
forming a massive spectral wolf's head of pure gold.
The true divine manifestation of the Scarlet King.
Nahida, watching from afar, whispered internally:
This… this is the true form of Cyno's Burst incantation.
His is but a diluted imitation… This is the original.
Now clad in full divine armament, with the golden sand-spirit looming behind him, the Scarlet King's presence rivaled the fully-unleashed Raiden Shogun of Inazuma.
"Idris of the Akademiya!
If you cannot withstand this strike—
you are not fit to be the desert's king!"
His spear descended with space-rending force.
Idris did not retreat. His hands formed a seal.
Behind him, a towering wooden avatar—
the Manifestation of Heaven-Earth—
rose like an ancient giant.
"Last time, the Fontaine Hydro Dragon couldn't withstand even a single exchange after I used this technique.
Don't disappoint me."
"Heaven and Earth Law Manifestation—
Reveal yourself!"
The wooden colossus met the golden wolf-spirit head-on.
A cataclysmic roar tore across the desert.
The impact compressed energy into a swirling black storm, devouring everything nearby.
On the distant dunes
Paimon clung to Ying in terror.
"Wahhhh! Thank goodness we listened to Nahida and ran—otherwise we'd be sand dust!"
Ying stared wide-eyed at the sky.
"So this… is a true battle with no restraints…
A real war between gods…"
She had fought the Raiden Shogun.
But this—
this was something else entirely.
This was what created the scar of Musoujin Gorge.
This was what true divine conflict looked like.
Nearby, Jade trembled.
"Will… will they decide a victor soon?"
Nahida shook her head.
"No. Not yet.
Both are fighting at full power…
And the Scarlet King is burning the last of his remnant soul.
This will not end quickly."
But then—
her expression changed.
More and more desert dwellers were gathering, drawn by the monumental commotion.
And upon seeing the golden figure in the sky—
their eyes filled with reverence, awe, worship.
Nahida's heart dropped.
Oh no… I forgot.
"The faith of the people…
will strengthen the god they believe in."
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