Ch.179179. Duel (1)

That’s how the battle between the Dragon God Bahamut and the Phoenix was arranged.

As the two divine beasts glared at each other, gradually increasing their altitude to prepare for battle—

“Wait, wait just a moment!”

“Please stop the fight!”

The expedition members, who had been blankly watching the majestic scene, finally realized what kind of aftermath would occur if these two divine beasts fought. With faces turning pale blue, they shouted loudly at the two beings.

Considering how the Phoenix had just effortlessly annihilated monsters moments ago, what would happen if Bahamut and Phoenix fought with full power here?

Everyone in the expedition… or more precisely, everyone except the contractors—the Priestess and Alicia—would be completely wiped out just like those monsters earlier.

Humanity was well aware of the phenomena that occur when such enormous powers collide, and when they realized they would be the targets, they naturally panicked and tried to stop the fight.

“If those two fight, what happens to us down here? If such massive powers clash, the aftermath alone will kill us all! Our lives are at stake!”

It was truly a sensible statement.

As if to inform everyone that their lives hung in the balance, the expedition members simply stated the facts with terrified expressions.

At those words, even expedition members who hadn’t fully grasped the situation turned pale and began to panic as well.

While the saying goes that the most entertaining spectacle is watching a fire from across the river, this fight would be like being forcibly thrown into the fire pit!

They needed to either stop the divine beasts from fighting or ensure they wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire.

“…I see. Indeed, if we fight with full power, the surrounding area could be devastated. These people’s lives would certainly hang by a thread.”

“Y-yes, that’s right. So this meaningless fight…”

Bahamut nodded in agreement, suggesting he was fine with not fighting, and Phoenix also gave a small nod, supporting that opinion.

If they didn’t fight now, there would be no need to put on an act or push themselves unnecessarily.

This would be the best outcome for both divine beasts who didn’t want to clash, but…

“No. It’s fine. Let’s fight.”

Contrary to expectations, the Priestess, Phoenix’s contractor, insisted on continuing the fight as if there were no problems.

Her attitude suggested she didn’t care if bystanders got caught up in it, and at this stance, the other expedition members were horrified and immediately shifted their gaze toward Phoenix.

“…Priestess, what are you saying?”

‘Ah, that look. Somehow I see my past self in it.’

Phoenix could only give the Priestess a resentful look with a dumbfounded expression at her statement.

Seeing this, Bahamut felt sympathy while being reminded of his past self being dragged around by Yuna.

Though Bahamut himself had been dragged along by the Dragon Priestess and Seol-hwa’s impulsiveness, that was his own doing, so let’s just move past it.

After all, compared to the Priestess before him, those two women’s impulsiveness was relatively reasonable, and Bahamut himself could control the situation.

“There’s an uninhabited area in the sky far from here! We can just monitor their duel with drones!”

‘This person. She deliberately set this up to make us fight!’

Of course, this expedition was planned solely by the Priestess from the beginning.

As if she had already prepared a space where the two could fight, the Priestess claimed there was an uninhabited area nearby where they could battle.

Although the distance might make it difficult to see with the naked eye, they could easily broadcast the fight using drone technology.

“That makes… sense!”

“Indeed. It seems the Saint of Orleans doesn’t make unreasonable demands.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

With the Priestess’s plausible suggestion, concerns about danger rapidly lost momentum, and everyone began anticipating the battle between Bahamut and Phoenix.

Just as watching a fire from across the river is most entertaining, everyone knew this clash of legendary creatures would be a legendary confrontation that would be difficult to witness even if you paid for it.

The entire expedition showed expressions of anticipation for the battle between Bahamut and Phoenix, and Phoenix…

“Uh. Uh. Uh.”

‘Look at that. She looks like she’s about to cry. She wants to go home.’

Phoenix was left speechless by the Priestess’s assertion, unable to offer any rebuttal and just stuttering while feeling everyone’s eyes focused on her.

Even Bahamut felt sympathy watching her—Phoenix looked like she was about to cry as she glanced around and then…

“I-it doesn’t matter!”

‘Don’t force yourself! I can see you’re struggling!’

She simply accepted the Priestess’s proposal with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude.

Even Bahamut, watching from the side, could clearly see Phoenix forcing herself.

It was an absurdly comical situation—Bahamut, who was about to face Phoenix, was worried about Phoenix’s mental state. Nevertheless, Phoenix began flying far into the sky as if telling Bahamut to follow her, and Bahamut followed with a bitter expression.

“How did it come to this!”

Upon arriving at the uninhabited area the Priestess had mentioned, Phoenix immediately let out a lament to the world.

It clearly showed that this situation was not what Phoenix had wanted, and seeing this, Bahamut sighed and spoke.

“I sympathize. Being dragged around by a contractor who should be subordinate rather than superior.”

“B-Bahamut sir…!”

From Bahamut’s perspective, Phoenix, who should be in charge, was being dragged around by the Priestess, who should be subordinate.

While Bahamut himself sometimes felt dragged around by the Dragon Priestess, he still firmly maintained his position of authority. The Dragon Priestesses knew this well, so whenever they needed his power, they always carefully asked for Bahamut’s opinion and valued his intentions.

“You’ve been taken advantage of.”

“T-taken advantage of?! B-but I can’t deny it…!”

However, the Phoenix before him seemed to have a relationship with the Priestess where the Priestess was superior and Phoenix was subordinate, unlike Bahamut’s relationship with his contractor.

This sudden fight also strongly reflected the Priestess’s will, while Phoenix’s intentions were thoroughly excluded.

“B-Bahamut sir! Please tell me how to escape from being taken advantage of!”

‘I don’t know that either. I’d like to learn from someone too!’

In truth, Bahamut wasn’t in a position to act superior to Phoenix.

While Bahamut’s will was certainly strongly applied when it was his turn to act, in all other matters, the will of his contractor, the Dragon Priestess, was strongly applied.

And Bahamut himself was quite susceptible to being taken advantage of, so knowingly or unknowingly, he was doing more than what the contract required, essentially subjecting himself to voluntary high-intensity labor exploitation.

Well, he was receiving proper treatment and protocol from the Balhut Cult, so let’s consider it a fair exchange!

Originally, heads of state received more than enough honor and protocol, but compared to the intensity of their work, their compensation was so little it could be called labor exploitation!

“But we won’t be able to talk naturally like this for long. Look around.”

However, their casual conversation was brief as they began to feel eyes on them, and this place was no longer relaxed enough for private conversation.

As Bahamut and Phoenix didn’t immediately clash but spent time glaring at each other, filming drones appeared one by one to capture their images.

In this atmosphere, it was difficult to have a private conversation that didn’t match the mood.

“Already so many drones are watching our fight. In this meeting, neither of us can fully reveal our true feelings, but…”

Even if they couldn’t express their true feelings now.

“If we meet again. Then it would be nice to talk and eat peacefully with smiles.”

He suggested meeting again, mentioning the future.

Phoenix’s reaction was…

“T-t-that’s a d-d-date?! Should someone like me, a messed-up Phoenix, accept such a thing…”

‘She has no self-esteem! And I’d say she’s starved for affection too.’

It was dangerous in a certain sense.

Bahamut couldn’t hide his bewilderment seeing Phoenix interpret his suggestion as a date and already letting her thoughts drift in another direction.

He noticed that Phoenix was craving affection from the way she took his casual pleasantry so seriously, but…

‘It’s not possible right now.’

With more drones gathering, they could no longer engage in small talk.

“Well then. Let’s begin.”

“Let’s go.”

And finally, the two divine beasts clashed.

“A light first move.”

“I’ll dodge it.”

It was a battle that showed why the Dragon Priestess who handled Bahamut was called the strongest.

The fight was so intense that no war machine could intervene even if it tried.

While Bahamut deployed numerous magic circles in the air to simultaneously activate many spells and dominate the airspace, Phoenix flew around the battlefield like an ultra-high-speed fighter jet, elegantly avoiding Bahamut’s magic while scattering her feathers. Each feather was imbued with heat and magical power, exploding upon contact and blowing away everything in the area.

To ordinary eyes, Phoenix moved at an imperceptible speed, reversely dominating the airspace Bahamut was trying to control.

In response, Bahamut also matched Phoenix’s speed and began tracking her.

“Hmph!”

With a shout, Bahamut reclaimed the airspace Phoenix had dominated, flying while deploying numerous magic circles.

Water, fire, wind, ice, lightning, and many other elemental magic circles were deployed in real-time near Phoenix, hindering her movements.

From their perspective, this was just a light greeting and no more than the first turn of a common board game.

“This is insane.”

So the Europeans watching this scene through drones could only say it was insane.

Yes, for these beings it was a light greeting, but the spectacle they were showing was beyond common sense for humans.

Humans might be able to recreate this with technology.

But if asked whether it was possible to achieve this with the bare body, they would answer it was impossible. If asked whether such actions were truly possible without any consumption, just by flicking a hand, they would shake their heads and say it was impossible.

Although the apocalypse was giving birth to increasingly powerful Awakened, even they would say it was impossible.

However, the two divine beasts before them were destroying such common sense at a tremendous speed.

“Now I understand why the Dragon Priestess herself is called the strongest weapon of war.”

“So what was revealed in the videos was just a fraction of their power.”

Watching the two divine beasts’ battle that destroyed existing common sense, they finally understood why the Dragon Priestess was rumored to be the strongest weapon of war.

Just imagine if such beings were summoned with a single spell and went on a rampage.

Would current human weapons be able to counter such beings?

“They’re so fast, with quick reaction times. And they’re tough. How could we possibly attack them?”

“Would we need to use nuclear weapons? But would thermonuclear weapons even work against them?”

“With them moving at such high speeds, would precision strikes even be possible?”

“Maybe with AI assistance…?”

Yes, they thought that even inflicting a wound with humanity’s best scientific weapons would be fortunate.

But what was most frightening was that despite their size, they were fighting at near ultra-high speeds.

And the way they responded to and counterattacked the numerous spells and attacks coming at them was simply astounding.

Even if they succeeded in developing weapons that could wound these divine beasts, it would be meaningless if the beasts simply avoided them.

After all, an attack only has meaning if it hits the target, and a fired weapon has no meaning if it doesn’t hit the enemy.

“The apocalypse is even transforming our civilization.”

“For the next few years, no, decades, it will be the era of the Awakened!”

The pre-apocalyptic era had ended, and now the apocalypse itself had become an era.

Many intellectuals participating in the expedition could realize the truth they had been inwardly avoiding.

Just one year.

It was too short a time to acknowledge that everything had changed.