If you were to rank specific artifacts in Star Fantasy from strongest to weakest, the order would be: Holy Sword of Song and Light, Cardinal Artifacts, Urion's gear and finally Spirit Weapons. The rank below the Spirit Weapons is SS, S, A, etc…
The reason spirit weapons are so powerful is due to the fact that they were all made from the World Tree at some point in time. It could be a leaf, a piece of bark, a twig and even fruit. So long as it once belonged to the World Tree, it will grant the weapon or magic item improved abilities.
If she is in possession of such a weapon then it means that Guinevere is not a natural elementalist, but rather using the power of her artifact.
Elementalists are troublesome since they can control nature itself. She's been alive for hundreds if not thousands of years so it's possible she'd fully mastered the art of controlling nature.
Arnold thought to himself if it'll be a good idea to ask her if she knew Promethius but that will just complicate things since being so nosy will reveal that he's a player. He didn't know what kind of reaction a demigod will have to this information. If the NPCs were sentient during the beta playtesting then it's possible she might've encountered players and could still remember them.
There were definitely some bad apples among the playtesters. They were given a lot of freedom outside testing the game so it's obvious that these bad apples would cause a lot of chaos in the game, killing important NPCs, destroying big cities, enslaving people and so on and so forth. The world could be reset so they didn't care what they did outside their free time when they weren't streaming.
Depending on what happened and if the resets were always successful, Demigods—who live for up to a thousand years or more depending on species—might still remember what kind of people players are.
Rafaela didn't have that strong of a reaction but maybe she just didn't know much about them. Arnold could've asked Lyra if she knew something but it was much too late now.
This is why he kept his mouth shut. He couldn't use taunts either since there was no way his childish taunts could get through a knight like her.
Arnold charged at Guinevere again. Her form suddenly went blurry but he managed to sense where she'll end up and struck in that direction.
"!" Guinevere knocked his blow aside using the gauntlet on her sword arm.
Attacking consecutively like this will force her to lower her sword and fight him. Probably knowing this, Guinevere didn't lift her sword again, instead holding it in a stance.
A golden light had transformed the sword into a shortsword. Even though the light looked almost transparent, Arnold knew it wasn't a good idea to underestimate the durability of accumulated spirits.
Guinevere moved like an afterimage at that moment, arriving in front of him before he could even blink. She struck diagonally, which Arnold was able to dodge and strike back, only for his attack to be blocked by something akin to a brick wall. She didn't budge an inch as she pushed him back, almost making him lose his footing. He let himself be pushed back and bent down, kicking her leg in an attempt to make her lose her footing but her leg was placed firmly onto the ground, not budging an inch.
'Shit.' That kick could break an ordinary warrior's leg but his kick didn't leave a single mark on her.
She swung her fist down, aiming for his face but he managed to roll to the side before the ground—where he was earlier—was completely destroyed. She pulled out her fist and got back into a low stance.
"You're clearly stronger than me." Arnold spoke, "Why aren't you just using brute force to kill me instead of playing games?"
"This is a duel, not a competition to see who's stronger."
"You're too kind to your opponents. I might use that kindness against you."
"You say I am playing games yet you are stalling to use your full power."
That was true. The reason he didn't attempt to use Aether was because he was trying to get used to her attack patterns. It seems that unless she's at a disadvantage, she won't use any of her skills.
Arnold will only have more strength on his side if he attempts to bring Aether out. There's no telling if it will allow him to use his aura skills. Unless he was also in trouble, he didn't want to use Aether since it could be a one-time thing with a time limit and a massive kickback.
The memory of him using Aether in class one time resurfaced in his head. What will the penalty be for forcing a homunculi's Aether out?
Guinevere didn't give him any time to respond to her remark. She stomped the ground with one leg, making the surroundings rumble and almost caused Arnold to lose his footing. Taking that moment, she released an arc of golden light, aiming right for his legs.
Arnold jumped to avoid the attack but, as expected, Guinevere charged at him in mid-air.
'For a knight who is hundreds of years old, she's really easy to read.'
Her sword slashed Luxtivin's illusion that dissipated in smoke. Arnold appeared behind her and aimed right for her chest. If it's Luxtivin then he's sure it would be able to pierce a demigod's skin.
He was suddenly struck by a powerful blow right in the face. Somewhere during those two seconds that everything happened, Guinevere turned around with lightning speed and hit Arnold with her back hand fist.
The pain coursed through his head, sending shockwaves to his brain and making him go in and out of unconsciousness.
What the… A single blow…?
He crashed deep onto the ground. His face was a complete mess. His lower jaw was hanging loosely and his mouth could only make gurgling sounds. His neck was probably also broken from the shockwave of that punch.
The eye—that was on the side of his face that got punched—was crushed. Even his eyesocket suffered the same fate.
He couldn't see her eyes but he could feel her contempt.
How dare you look down on me…
No one is allowed to do that…
Not even gods.
His scream reverberated throughout the surroundings; his voice so loud that it made his throat bleed. He tasted iron in his mouth but didn't stop.
"Screaming and letting out all your rage will not give you the power to fight against me, Evil." After saying so, she pulled back her arm and shot it out as if to punch air.
Arnold felt an overwhelming amount of pressure sending him even deeper into the ground and crushing his bones at the same time.
"Kaek!" it was a simple punch and nowhere near as powerful as the one that blew away the [Core Destroyer] spell but it was enough to make him feel powerless.
She pulled back her fist again and punched air. Again.
Arnold was buried so deep underground that he couldn't see the sun, only Guinevere's divine figure. She lifted her sword again in the same stance to gather spirit.
The air crackled and the clouds parted above, revealing a golden beam of light being sent down to her sword.
A thought surfaced in his mind to compare their strength stat.
Name: Guinevere
Race: Demigod
Strength: 42 750
"….."
Arnold just laid there in silence as he looked at the status screen.
He didn't look at her entire status window earlier since he only wanted to confirm his thoughts but now it made it clear to him. Even with a hundred of him fighting her at once, there would be no way to win.
He looked at her other stats as she walked up to him, confirming that all of them were in the five digits.
All his energy to resist left his body.
Is this what it feels like to give up?
Where did his determination to continue fighting go? Where is the motivation to obtain that pure martial arts book?
A small, almost imperceptible spark flickered in the depths of Arnold's mind. It was a memory, faint and blurred, of someone he saw within a vision, his armor as radiant as the power he unleashed upon the armies of enemies daring to stand up to him.
His manifested dragon could kill hundreds in one attack, and thousands in mere minutes.
King Arnold.
Another memory surfaced—one of endgame Arnold von Berkley fighting in a battle to the death against the God of Death to obtain the power of the [River of Souls].
Yet another memory came forth—this time showing how Arnold was fighting against an army of Olivia's divine beasts during a major war between the countries.
In all of them, he had a confident smile on his face—no, it was a smile of arrogance with the power to back it up. It didn't matter how many times he was hit, he always got back up, no matter how bloody he was.
What made him so powerful? Was it truly just aura? What made him more powerful than even Luke?
Sebastian's voice suddenly echoed in his mind. He recalled this moment being back when he finished his training with Sebastian.
--"Remember that if you ever find yourself up against a warrior who attained [State of Equilibrium] or mastered Aether or even both—run. You are not facing a man; you are facing a martial god."
Guinevere swung her sword down without a word, the power of the sun sent down on her command.
Arnold could hear her powerful voice before the golden power swallowed him up:
"Death by the power of the divine realm is a fitting death for one tainted by evil."
…
…
Villagers gathered around the front entrance of their village when they saw the golden pillar of light descending from the sky.
"Has she descended?"
They knew what that pillar of light signified. Of course, it was just their guess, but surely someone as powerful as the goddess who saved their world from the tyranny of those fearsome monsters was capable of the simple feat of using the powers of the heavens?
"Yeah. It's way closer this time."
"I wanna see who she's fighting! I heard one swing from her sword can cut a moon in half!"
"Stop exaggerating. Yeah, she's strong, but there's no way she can do that!"
Eager to see what was going on, they all ran towards a nearby hill that gave them a better sight of the battle taking place. They couldn't see the goddess since a forest was in the way, but they could feel her power in the air. It made them shiver, thinking how there exist beings out there with such overwhelming strength.
Suddenly, another energy surged into the sky, this one brilliant white, clashing violently with the golden pillar. The sky itself seemed to tremble as the two forces collided, their power radiating outward in waves that shook the ground beneath the villagers' feet. The air crackled with raw energy, and for a moment, the entire world was bathed in the blinding light of their struggle.
"What's happening now?" one villager gasped, shielding his eyes from the brightness.
"Is someone… fighting her power?"
The villagers could barely comprehend the sight before them. The golden light, once so dominant, was now locked in a deadly dance with the white energy, neither willing to give an inch. The sky roared as the forces battled, and the villagers could feel the tension mounting, a pressure building that was almost unbearable.
Then, in an instant, the tension snapped. A blinding explosion erupted from the point of collision, a deafening boom that echoed across the land. The shockwave tore through the surroundings, flattening the forest that had once obscured their view. Trees, rocks, and anything in its path were obliterated, leaving nothing but scorched earth in its wake.
The villagers were thrown to the ground, shielding themselves from the violent aftermath. When the light finally faded and the ringing in their ears subsided, they dared to look up. The once-vibrant landscape was now a barren wasteland, the remnants of life erased by the sheer power of the explosion.
"Nothing could have survived that…" one villager whispered, his voice trembling with fear and awe.
The goddess's power had been met by an equal force, and the result had been catastrophic. There was no victor here, only devastation.
When they got up, they could see a gigantic crater in the distance, caused by the explosion that even destroyed the entire forest.
Though they were sure that nothing came out of that alive, a flickering golden light—so small that they could barely see it—hovered over the destroyed region.