Chapter 287: Clash
Chapter 287: Chapter 285 : Clash
Meanwhile, Maya and Athena stood opposite one another.
Maya smiled faintly. “Well, it looks like I cannot avoid this fight after all.”
Athena’s golden eyes remained cold behind her veil. “You are speaking as though you have a choice.”
Maya laughed before her figure suddenly vanished with a thunderous boom.
“Then let us do this properly. I really want to see what you are capable of.”
Her voice echoed throughout the stadium as she reappeared high above the arena. A small stone rested between her fingers as she looked down at the terrified students below.
“You love your students, right?” Maya asked, her smile widening. “Then try to save them.”
She casually released the stone.
“Activate the Second Authority. Matter Transmutation.”
[ Matter Transmutation Activated. ]
[ 20,000 Nexus Points Consumed. ]
The tiny stone suddenly began expanding at an astonishing speed. Within seconds, the harmless rock had transformed into an enormous meteor, its surface burning as it descended toward the stadium.
The entire arena darkened beneath its massive shadow.
“IT’S COMING STRAIGHT AT US!”
“RUN!”
“THERE’S NOWHERE TO RUN!”
Panic spread among the students as they stared at the approaching meteor. The ground trembled beneath their feet, and the overwhelming pressure accompanying its descent made it difficult for some of them to even stand.
Arthur looked upward, his expression surprisingly calm despite the danger.
“Wow. Now that’s something,” he muttered, rubbing his aching ribs before shifting his gaze toward Athena.
‘What is she going to do?’
Athena simply raised one hand. A tiny blue sphere appeared above her palm, no larger than a marble. However, the spatial energy compressed within it was so dense that the surrounding air began to distort.
“Consume.”
With a flick of her wrist, Athena sent the sphere shooting toward the descending meteor.
BOOOOM!
The blue sphere collided with the enormous mass. For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then countless cracks spread across the meteor’s surface before the entire structure began breaking apart.
But it wasn’t an ordinary explosion.
The meteor was being dismantled.
Thousands upon thousands of fragments separated from its enormous body as the blue sphere suddenly expanded, generating a terrifying spatial vacuum.
Every fragment was dragged toward it. Rock, dust, heat, and even the tremendous force accompanying the meteor’s descent were swallowed by the expanding sphere.
Within seconds, the entire meteor disappeared.
The blue sphere then contracted until it was no larger than a speck of light before vanishing completely.
Not a single fragment reached the ground.
The students stared at the empty sky in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.
Maya’s smile slowly disappeared.
“…Impressive. Very impressive.”
For the first time, her expression became serious. However, just as she was about to speak again, the space surrounding her suddenly twisted.
Athena had already launched her next attack.
The distance surrounding Maya began shrinking as an invisible spatial pressure closed around her body from every direction.
CRACK!
“Kh—!”
Maya’s body was violently compressed. Her blood vessels ruptured beneath her skin, her muscles strained, and her bones creaked under the immense pressure.
Blood escaped from the corner of her mouth as she desperately attempted to move, only to discover that she couldn’t even lift a finger.
Space itself had become her prison.
Athena slowly raised her hand, causing the pressure to increase even further.
Maya’s expression immediately changed.
“Activate the Third Authority! Nullify!”
[ Third Authority Activated. ]
[ Authority: Nullify. ]
[ 20,000 Nexus Points Consumed. ]
[ Remaining Nexus Points: 60,500. ]
[ Caution: If all Nexus Points are consumed, access to the Nexus Frame will be locked. ]
[ All Authorities will be sealed. ]
[ Failure to satisfy the monthly Nexus Point requirement will result in life-force extraction or immediate execution. ]
The moment her Authority activated, the spatial pressure surrounding Maya shattered. The invisible force that had been crushing her simply ceased to exist.
Maya dropped several meters before stabilizing herself in midair. She coughed violently, wiping the blood from her lips as she stared at the notifications floating before her.
“Fuck…”
Her face became pale.
‘My hard-earned points…’
Her eyes immediately shifted toward Athena, filling with hatred.
‘It’s all that bitch’s fault.’
Unfortunately, Athena had no intention of giving her time to recover.
Her figure suddenly vanished.
Maya’s eyes widened.
“Already?!”
Athena appeared directly in front of her.
Reacting instinctively, Maya activated Matter Transmutation, transforming several rocks floating around her into razor-sharp metallic spears.
“DIE!”
The spears shot forward at terrifying speeds, tearing through the air as they converged on Athena.
However, Athena didn’t even bother dodging.
Several spatial rifts opened directly in front of her, swallowing every spear before they could reach her.
Maya’s expression darkened.
“What—?”
Before she could finish speaking, Athena disappeared again, reappearing directly behind her.
Maya immediately spun around, narrowly avoiding a spatial blade that sliced through the air beside her cheek. The attack continued into the distance, leaving a terrifying fracture in space itself.
A thin line of blood appeared on Maya’s face.
‘She’s not just attacking with space. She’s controlling the entire battlefield!’
Suddenly, Athena appeared directly above her and swung her leg downward.
BOOOOM!
Maya barely managed to raise both arms before the kick connected. The tremendous impact sent her crashing downward like a cannonball.
However, she quickly regained control of her body and fired several condensed metallic blades toward Athena.
Athena tilted her body, allowing the blades to pass harmlessly beside her before opening a spatial rift beneath Maya.
Sensing the distortion, Maya immediately kicked away from her original position.
“NOT AGAIN!”
A spatial blade emerged from the rift, slicing through the exact location where she had been standing a moment earlier.
Cold sweat appeared on Maya’s forehead.
‘She’s predicting my movements.’
Athena appeared several meters away, her golden eyes watching Maya with complete indifference.
“Too slow.”
Maya’s expression twisted with anger.
“DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!”
She thrust both hands forward.
The countless rocks scattered throughout the sky suddenly began transforming. Some became metallic spears, others turned into enormous crystal blades, while several transformed into burning projectiles.
Within seconds, dozens of deadly weapons surrounded Maya.
With a furious gesture, she launched every weapon toward Athena simultaneously.
SHING!
Athena raised both hands, opening dozens of spatial rifts around herself. Every incoming attack disappeared into the openings, only to emerge elsewhere.
Some were redirected toward the empty sky, while others crashed into the deserted sections of the battlefield.
Not a single attack managed to touch her.
Maya gritted her teeth.
“THEN TRY THIS!”
She raised both hands toward the sky, causing twenty enormous rocks to appear above the stadium.
Under the influence of Matter Transmutation, the rocks expanded rapidly, transforming into twenty colossal meteors.
Their combined shadows completely covered the arena.
The students below stared upward in horror as the enormous masses began descending.
Maya smiled viciously.
“Let’s see you stop all of these!”
Athena remained completely still.
Then, with a casual movement of her fingers, dozens of enormous spatial rifts opened throughout the sky.
One after another, the descending meteors entered the rifts and disappeared before they could reach the stadium.
The sky became a chaotic battlefield of burning meteors and distorted space. Tremendous shockwaves spread across the arena as the surrounding atmosphere trembled beneath the clash of their powers.
Yet when the spatial distortions finally settled, Athena emerged without a single scratch.
Maya’s expression became increasingly grim.
“THEN I’LL BRING YOU DOWN MYSELF!”
Her figure suddenly blurred as she shot toward Athena.
In the blink of an eye, Maya appeared directly in front of her and threw a powerful punch.
Athena immediately raised her arm.
BOOOOM!
Their collision generated a tremendous shockwave that spread across the sky.
Maya followed with another punch, then another, launching a relentless barrage of attacks. However, Athena calmly blocked each strike with precise movements.
Suddenly, Maya twisted her body and delivered a powerful kick toward Athena’s ribs.
Athena bent backward, narrowly avoiding the attack before opening a spatial rift beside Maya’s extended leg.
Maya immediately withdrew her leg, sensing the danger.
However, before she could launch another attack, a second rift opened behind Athena.
Athena stepped backward into it and disappeared.
Both women subsequently reappeared hundreds of meters away.
Maya immediately used Matter Transmutation to create an enormous blade from the surrounding rocks. Gripping its handle, she swung it downward with tremendous force.
Athena simply raised one hand.
The massive blade stopped less than an inch from her face.
The surrounding space had been completely immobilized.
Maya’s eyes widened as Athena casually turned her wrist, causing the enormous blade to twist sideways before shattering into countless fragments.
“You…”
Athena’s golden eyes remained emotionless.
“You rely too much on brute force.”
Maya’s expression darkened.
“Then I’ll give you something you can’t simply redirect!”
She raised both hands, causing countless fragments of stone, metal, and crystal to gather around Athena.
The fragments began spinning at terrifying speeds, gradually forming an enormous storm that completely surrounded her opponent.
“Transmute!”
Hundreds of razor-sharp projectiles immediately emerged from the storm, shooting toward Athena from every conceivable direction.
Athena responded by opening an enormous spatial rift that swallowed the approaching projectiles.
However, Maya suddenly smiled.
“That’s exactly what I wanted!”
She snapped her fingers.
The fragments still surrounding Athena transformed again, multiplying into countless smaller blades that rushed toward her from every direction.
Athena’s golden eyes narrowed.
For the first time, she moved backward, allowing the first wave of blades to pass before opening several smaller spatial rifts around herself.
The remaining projectiles vanished into the openings.
However, Maya had already anticipated her response.
She immediately launched herself forward, using the countless floating fragments as cover.
Athena noticed her approach.
A spatial blade materialized beside her hand.
The moment Maya entered her range, Athena swung.
SHING!
Maya’s eyes widened as a terrifying spatial slash swept toward her.
“NULLIFY!”
The spatial blade vanished just before reaching her neck.
However, Athena had already disappeared.
She reappeared behind Maya and thrust her palm forward.
The space directly in front of her suddenly compressed, generating an invisible wall of pressure that struck Maya’s back.
BOOOOM!
Maya was sent flying across the sky.
She managed to stabilize herself, but before she could retaliate, several spatial blades appeared around her.
“SHIT!”
She immediately activated Nullify again, erasing the approaching attacks.
By now, Maya’s expression had become extremely ugly.
Every time she managed to defend herself, Athena immediately launched another attack.
And every time she attempted to retaliate, Athena simply redirected or swallowed her attacks using spatial rifts.
The battle had become a terrifying cycle.
Athena created attacks capable of killing Maya instantly, while Maya relied on Nullify to erase them. Maya retaliated with overwhelming weapons through Matter Transmutation, only for Athena to manipulate space and make them disappear.
Neither woman was willing to give the other an opening.
The entire battlefield trembled beneath their continuous clashes.
Arthur watched everything without blinking.
He could clearly see that Maya would have already died several times if not for her Third Authority.
However, Athena’s spatial manipulation was equally terrifying. Her control was so precise that Maya couldn’t land a single decisive attack.
Then, his System suddenly spoke inside his mind.
[ Athena is unbelievably powerful, Host. ]
Arthur continued watching the battle.
“I can see that.”
[ And that Maya woman possesses an Authority capable of nullifying attacks. ]
The System paused briefly.
[ It is a superior version of your own Nullifying ability. ]
Arthur’s expression became serious.
“I can see that too.”
Just then, an unexpected voice suddenly came from behind him.
“What are you doing?”
Arthur froze.
He immediately turned around, only for his eyes to widen in disbelief.
Athena was standing directly behind him.
Arthur instinctively looked toward the sky, where another Athena was still engaged in a fierce battle against Maya.
He looked back at the woman standing beside him.
“How did you—?”
Athena interrupted him before he could finish.
“Shut up and take this.”
She casually threw a small device toward him.
Arthur instinctively caught it.
“What is this?”
“Use it to get everyone out of here,” Athena replied, pointing toward the device. “Press the button on top. I already set the coordinates.”
Her voice carried an unusual sense of urgency.
Arthur looked at her before shifting his gaze toward the ongoing battle in the sky.
However, before he could ask another question, the Athena standing beside him suddenly vanished.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
The real Athena was still fighting Maya in the sky.
‘So that was a spatial projection?’
Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to investigate.
His body immediately blurred as he activated his movement ability, appearing directly in front of Layla.
He threw the device toward her.
“Activate it.”
Layla caught the device, looking at him in confusion.
However, Arthur had already turned toward the remaining students.
“EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE!”
Without wasting another second, Layla immediately pressed the button.
BOOOOM!
An enormous spatial portal erupted before them, spreading brilliant blue and silver light across the battlefield.
Within moments, the portal stabilized, revealing a passage leading away from the demonic stadium.
Arthur stared at the enormous portal before him.
‘This works in my favor.’
His gaze slowly shifted toward Karina.
Then toward Jasmine.
A cold smile appeared on his face.
‘Now, only one thing remains.’
Everything was going far too smoothly.
Exactly as Arthur had expected.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!