"Buzz..."
Amidst the buzzing atmosphere, an astonishing pressure emanated from Rozen's body, as if a tangible force, weighing heavily.
Noel witnessed with her own eyes as the mana around Rozen gradually compressed, condensed, and strengthened, becoming even more potent than her own compressed mana, ultimately reaching a level far superior to the compressed mana she had refined.
As a Sky Wizard, Noel naturally understood that Rozen was finally beginning to show his true power.
Rozen's development of High-Grade Mana was a milestone achievement for this world's magical technology, something no one was unaware of.
However, the fact that Rozen could refine High-Grade Mana purely on his own might not be universally known.
Noel didn't know this but had long suspected that even if Rozen couldn't refine High-Grade Mana purely on his own, he could undoubtedly compress mana far more effectively than she could. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to develop High-Grade Mana that surpassed this.
Moreover, Rozen was known as the "Mage King," and his true strength lay in his mastery of techniques and magical prowess. Close combat was merely an incidental part of his overall power, something optional, yet Rozen could still suppress her with just his close-combat skills to this extent. He probably hadn't even revealed a fraction of his true strength.
Even now, Rozen had only refined 20% of his compressed mana. His real limit was undoubtedly far beyond this.
How much of his true power had he revealed?
One percent?
One-tenth of a percent?
One hundredth of a percent?
Or maybe he hadn't even used one hundredth of his strength yet?
Thinking about this, Noel felt not humiliation but a complex mix of emotions rising in her heart.
Noel knew that this wasn't Rozen intentionally belittling or humiliating her.
If Rozen truly unleashed his full power, he could easily finish her off.
A year ago, in Mistgun, Rozen had dealt with Noel in this exact way.
As a result, it had caused Noel to transform her humiliation into motivation, and she developed an excessive fixation on Rozen.
Realizing this issue, Rozen naturally wouldn't ignore it.
So this time, Rozen chose to engage Noel in her area of expertise, rather than finishing her off instantly like before. If he did that, Noel might never recover from the blow.
After all, Noel had grown to her current level in just a year, all to defeat Rozen. She must have put in a tremendous amount of effort.
If all that effort only resulted in another instant defeat, Noel would absolutely be unable to bear it.
In other words, the current outcome was merely Rozen's mercy.
This man, who once didn't even want to look at Noel, had now recognized her effort and responded in this way, showing her that he was taking her seriously now.
But...
"Show me your full power!"
Noel couldn't help but shout.
"If you truly want to respond to me! Then show me your full power!"
This was Noel's true desire.
Defeat wasn't a problem.
Being finished off instantly wasn't a problem either.
What Noel truly wanted to know was just how much of a gap still existed between herself and Rozen, and she wanted to show the man who once refused to acknowledge her all of her strength.
In the end, all Noel truly wanted to do was one thing.
And that was to have Rozen's gaze squarely fixed on her, to see her current power, and to wash away the past where she couldn't even earn his recognition.
Rozen was an object of admiration for most Sky Wizards.
And Noel was no exception.
The fact that the person she admired wouldn't even look at her was the real reason Noel became so fixated on Rozen. In just a year, she had grown to her current level, determined to face him no matter what.
Therefore, now that Rozen was acknowledging her, Noel's wish had already been fulfilled.
With that in mind, what Noel now wanted was not Rozen's mercy or kindness but for Rozen to prove himself.
"Show me that you're still the strongest in my heart!"
Noel expressed this sentiment with all her might.
Upon hearing this, Rozen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then...
"Boom!"
The mana fluctuations that had just settled down erupted once more.
In that moment, Rozen no longer held back, compressing and condensing all of his mana to its absolute limit.
30%.
50%.
80%.
100%.
In the blink of an eye, Rozen compressed his diluted mana to the limit again, surpassing that limit, and elevating it into High-Grade Mana.
Even after reaching High-Grade Mana, Rozen didn't stop. He continued compressing the High-Grade Mana, pushing it to its absolute extreme.
This was Rozen's level.
"Boom...!"
In an instant, the atmosphere wailed in agony.
Rozen's entire body radiated a magnificent spiritual energy as he gazed at Noel. To Noel, it felt as though she was being stared at by a divine being, and every cell in her body howled in despair.
Yet, in contrast, Noel's heart surged with an unprecedented sense of joy.
If this was Rozen's true strength...
"Then you haven't disappointed me!"
As soon as she said this, Noel's entire being charged toward Rozen, carried by a whirlwind.
All of the compressed mana she had just refined gathered into the alchemical weapon in her hand. On the blade of her magic sword, the compressed mana surged in a spiraling force, forming a lance as tall as Noel herself, emitting an astonishing energy.
Noel unleashed everything she had at that moment.
"Battle Skill: Spiral Dragon Gale Breaker!"
In the next moment, the terrifying spiral lance was unleashed, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward Rozen.
This attack stirred up winds so fierce that the surrounding trees were blown away.
The aftershock of this strike shattered the earth below.
Noel had unleashed her strongest battle skill, with power no less than Chloe's Aurora Cannon.
In response...
"Come forth..."
Rozen whispered.
A burst of blood mist surged around him.
...
On that day, countless people witnessed a scene they had never seen before in their lives.
Whether it was the representative teams from various floating cities in the Ninth Artificial Sky Island, or those observing through drones, they all saw the scene in that brief instant.
A towering monster, hundreds of meters tall, slowly rose from the forest, emerging from the blood mist.
The creature's entire body was made of diamond, crystal clear and pure, resembling an immaculate ram.
It roared to the heavens, shaking the earth.
It stood tall and unyielding, like a divine being.
The spiraling dragon gale of light struck its body, only to be fiercely deflected by a gem-like crystalline barrier.
Thus, the Spiral Dragon Gale was sent back at a speed faster than when it had been unleashed, obliterating everything in its path and engulfing a small figure.
After that, the diamond ram disappeared.
Its appearance lasted less than a second.
During that second, many people thought they were hallucinating.
But for some reason, none of the witnesses could forget that scene.
They couldn't forget the sight of that pure and immaculate diamond ram, standing like a god.