Izumi stared at the colossal battleship before him.
There was no hesitation.
"Fire."
The moment the order left his mouth, every cannon aboard his fleet began to glow.
Light gathered at the muzzles—
Then—
A barrage of devastating beams erupted, tearing through the dimensional fissure as they blasted toward Ruma Idola.
The massive warship immediately reacted.
A gigantic defensive barrier unfolded around its body.
The beams collided with the shield—
And the entire dimensional rift shook.
BOOM.
An explosion of blinding light swallowed everything.
For the students watching from the fleet, the world turned white.
The destructive force rivaled a nuclear detonation.
But when the light faded—
Gasps filled the bridge.
Ruma Idola remained completely unharmed.
"Y-You've got to be kidding…!"
"It's perfectly intact?!"
The students were stunned.
Izumi sighed.
"As expected. That kind of firepower won't cut it."
"Guess I'll have to handle this personally."
He sent a telepathic message.
"Ophis. Avrora."
"Protect the fleet."
"I'm not losing everything before we even reach the destination."
He had pride, after all.
Ophis gave a silent nod.
Avrora, however, grinned confidently.
"Leave it to me!"
"My little lion has been starving for battle!"
Ever since receiving the Sun Authority from Izumi, Avrora had been overflowing with confidence.
…Except when it came to Ophis.
After provoking the Infinite Dragon God once and getting thoroughly suppressed, she had learned that lesson the hard way.
Izumi chuckled, stood from his command seat—
And stepped forward.
In the next instant, he appeared outside, suspended in the dimensional void.
Everyone saw him.
Natsuki Minamiya and Shizuka Hiratsuka watched intently.
Was this finally it?
Would they see his true power?
Ruma Idola immediately locked onto him.
Its central processing core analyzed the target.
Conclusion:
Extreme threat level.
It attempted to initiate spatial escape.
"Space jump failed."
"Hostile preparing high-output attack."
"Activating all shields."
Mechanical layers of barrier formations unfolded across the warship's hull like glowing magic circles.
Izumi smiled faintly.
"You're not running."
The space around them froze.
Then—
Dark shadows surged behind him.
The Dragon's Afterimage manifested.
Black, wing-like silhouettes spread from his back.
In a flash—
He vanished.
He reappeared behind the enemy vessel almost instantly.
The shadow-wings sharpened—
And sliced across the battleship's surface.
The shields shattered like paper.
Alarms echoed throughout the dimensional rift.
"Energy shield fully compromised."
"Commencing counterattack."
Gun ports opened across Ruma Idola's hull.
A rain of destructive beams fired toward Izumi.
Each one possessed enough force to obliterate a city.
But to him—
They were nothing.
He weaved through the storm like someone dodging bullet-hell patterns in a game.
His black afterimages streaked across the void.
After evading the barrage, he arced through space—
And accelerated.
BOOM.
He pierced straight through the battleship.
From starboard to port—
Cleanly through its massive frame.
Izumi came to a halt in the void, watching silently.
Explosions began erupting along the ship's body.
He nodded in satisfaction.
In the past, defeating this opponent might have been troublesome.
Now?
It was effortless.
But he wasn't careless.
Ruma Idola was one of the Four Generals under Rezo Roald.
Its true body wasn't just the battleship.
It possessed a core capable of manifesting in humanoid form—
And wielded an attack that transcended space-time itself.
This wasn't over.
As if on cue—
A violent explosion erupted.
The entire warship detonated.
A massive mushroom cloud of energy bloomed within the dimensional rift.
Students aboard the fleet trembled.
The scale was unreal.
Izumi's classmates stared in disbelief.
They had known he was strong—
But not like this.
It felt like watching a being from another dimension.
Yet—
Before anyone could relax—
Izumi moved again.
The Dragon's Afterimage flared as he vanished from his position.
At that exact moment—
A blinding white beam erupted from the center of the explosion.
It tore forward—
Heading straight toward the fleet.
Panic spread.
Some students shut their eyes, convinced they were about to die.
Then—
A terrifying magical presence erupted from within one of the ships.
A gigantic golden lion materialized in front of the fleet.
ROOOAR!
Golden lightning gathered in its jaws—
And fired.
The lightning beam collided head-on with the white destructive ray.
BOOM.
Energy rippled violently across the rift.
It was Avrora.
For the first time, she controlled her Star Beast in real combat.
And she was absolutely thrilled.
The battle—
Was far from over.