Chapter 423: My Lord, Times Have Changed!
Luke and Sara's exchanges were so fast that the surrounding audience could barely keep up.
One second they were immersed in an incredible battle, and the next it had turned into a blood-soaked slaughter. Before anyone could even scream, the situation changed again.
The stunned spectators could only sit there wide-eyed, instinctively chasing Luke and Sara's movements with their gaze.
Then they witnessed something that completely overturned their common sense.
"What… is that?!"
As Sara completed her final stroke, a painting appeared before everyone.
It depicted a massive gate of white bones radiating an eerie and horrifying aura.
The painting was unbelievably lifelike…
No, "lifelike" was no longer enough to describe it.
Because it was completely real!
A physical gate of white bones stood behind Sara.
What she had painted had become reality.
"Noble Art: Purple Caricature—Army of the Dead!"
Sara's voice echoed across the arena.
At the same time, the bone gate behind her abruptly opened, and undead skeletons began walking out one after another!
"W-What?!"
"What is happening?! Sara has actually materialized her painting!"
The commentator's shocked cry spread through the entire venue.
The scene before them was terrifying, almost as though hell itself had descended into the arena.
Most importantly—
"This Noble Art isn't recorded anywhere in her official data!"
"Sara's registered ability should be the manipulation of concepts related to color!"
"This is a hidden technique she has never shown before!"
It was not only the commentator who was shocked.
Cries of disbelief erupted throughout the audience.
However, as Luke watched the undead skeletons emerging from the gate, he smiled instead.
The appearance of "monsters" immediately triggered the effects of Falna.
Every one of Luke's ability values received an enormous boost.
Feeling the power surge through his body, Luke tightened his grip on Starfall Sword.
If Sara intended to defeat him with an army of undead, then she was truly unfortunate.
In the previous world, Luke had encountered far more than ordinary skeletons.
Skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, skeleton mages—he had fought every kind imaginable.
He had killed so many monsters of this type that he had long since stopped counting.
He had even fought skeleton-type Floor Bosses.
Against ordinary cannon fodder like this, Luke would not need much effort at all.
He could wipe them out with ease.
That was what Luke thought, and naturally, that was what he intended to do.
However, just as he prepared to charge, his expression suddenly changed and he immediately dodged sideways.
Then—
Boom—!
A deafening explosion erupted where he had been standing.
A violent shockwave swept outward from the blast!
"Noble Art: Purple Caricature—Cruise Missile!"
Luke looked at the enormous crater blasted into the arena.
Then he looked at the massive weapon Sara had just finished drawing beside herself.
Finally, he looked down at Starfall Sword in his hand.
Luke blinked.
He was genuinely dumbfounded.
No matter how you looked at it, asking him to fight a cruise missile with a sword was going too far!
She could casually create something that dangerous?!
This could not continue.
Luke immediately understood the situation.
He had never expected Sara's ability to be this terrifying.
She could do more than manipulate the concepts of colors.
She could directly manifest the concepts contained within her paintings!
Her creations were almost like the works of a god.
Demiurge—the Brush That Creates All Things.
The name truly deserved itself.
However, the "surprise" Sara had prepared for Luke was far from over.
The moment the cruise missile interrupted Luke's advance, the skeleton warriors surrounding Sara suddenly threw their bone swords onto the ground.
Mana flashed.
One machine gun after another appeared in their hands and was mounted in place.
Under Luke and the audience's dumbfounded gazes, they opened fire without hesitation!
Ratatatatatatata—!
A storm of metal carrying an aura of destruction tore apart everything in its path.
Even Luke chose to temporarily avoid the barrage.
Although Sara's Purple Caricature had manifested modern weapons, one important detail could not be forgotten.
They were formed from mana.
The overwhelming storm sweeping toward Luke was not composed of ordinary metal bullets.
They were genuine mana rounds.
Sara's mana capacity and mana control were both A-rank—and exceptional even within that rank.
She could achieve maximum destructive power with minimal mana consumption.
At the same time, she had no need to worry about exhausting her reserves.
She could unleash attacks like this almost without limit!
Sara alone was an entire army!
With the undead army providing suppressive fire from every direction, Sara completed a second cruise missile almost instantly.
Boom—!
In the next moment, an eruption of light and heat once again engulfed the entire battlefield!
...
Boom—!
Ratatata—!
Boom, boom, boom—!
Ratatatatatatata—!
Hell on earth.
For spectators watching missiles explode practically before their eyes, no other phrase could better describe what they were witnessing.
"A-A direct hit from the cruise missile!"
"The explosion has created an enormous shockwave! The stands are protected by numerous Mage-Knights, but the arena itself is completely covered in flames and smoke!"
"C-Could Luke have been hurt?!"
The commentator's voice trembled.
Clearly, even he had not recovered from the battle's sudden transformation.
The spectators stared anxiously into the arena.
Most people would never witness a battlefield filled with this much gunfire and bombardment even once in their entire lives.
"D-Did the Sword Emperor just… die?"
"No matter how strong he is, can a human really survive something like this…?"
"N-No! Luke-sama couldn't possibly… He couldn't…"
"If he really died, there might not even be a body left."
It was difficult to blame the audience for thinking that way.
Even the smallest cruise missile was not a weapon designed to kill a single human.
Judging by the explosion, Sara had certainly not manifested one with the lowest possible yield.
An ordinary person struck directly by such a weapon probably would not even leave ashes behind.
And that was before considering the endless storm of mana bullets from countless machine guns.
No matter how they thought about it, Luke should not have been able to survive.
Strictly speaking, that assumption was not entirely wrong.
Even with mana protecting his body, taking attacks of this scale head-on would hurt Luke despite his monstrous physique.
He would not suffer serious injuries, but some damage would be unavoidable.
However, that was only if Luke relied solely on mana.
The bombardment continued.
The machine guns kept firing.
Unlike the spectators, Sara understood Luke's terrifying nature better than anyone on the outside.
Her attacks had accomplished absolutely nothing!
The proof came in the form of an enormous pressure that suddenly descended upon the entire arena.
"Even after all this…"
"He still hasn't gotten serious?"
Then Sara saw it.
A streak of blue starlight instantly pierced through the gunfire and black smoke!
…
…
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