Minerva had been stuck in a perpetual state of battle for over a year now. She had slayed Gods and waded through rivers of blood. At this point, the sight of her own blood was like the air she breathed and the food she ate. It fuelled her, making her body stand at attention and her hair flow wildly in the air.
At that moment, she released a delicate roar as Leonel unleashed another arrow.
Her sword formation exploded and suddenly several more golden feathers came from her sword.
In fact, just saying that they were just several more didn't do the gorgeous scene justice.
It was as though thousands of golden-winged angels had fluttered their wings, spare feathers falling down from the skies like a touch of a golden sun's dew.
Nine sets of 108 golden feathers bloomed in the skies, each one forming a formation of their own before coming together to form an enormous magic circle of twinkling feather swords.
By this point, the golden sword in Minerva's palm had become nothing more than a thin needle, and yet the aura it gave off felt countless times more oppressive.
The arrow that Leonel released was shattered by a rain of sword light before it could even get close.
Minerva rose high into the skies, her wings only gently flapping, and yet the strength of its winds leaving long trenches in the tough ground below.
Beneath the high concentration of Fire Force in the region, the wind fueled forest fires and entire mountains were melted down.
Standing there, she didn't even bother to wipe the blood from the corners of her mouth, let alone the rest of her body. She didn't seem to care that her carefully selected dress was riddled with holes.
Her gaze sharpened as she met Leonel's gaze.
The Minerva Lineage Factor was known as Touch of Creation. It could be said that the Minerva were destroyed because they flew too close to the sun, trying to replace the hole left behind by the God Beasts of Creation.
And one of the pillars of that destruction was the very same Touch of Creation being used here.
However, two of these Stars were entirely different from the rest, looking as though they had entire worlds contained within them.
Leonel couldn't remember the last time he had summoned his Stars, but the moment he did so this time, power flooded his body and his Forces took another massive leap forward.
His Scarlet Star Force roared, springing to life as he pulled his bow back again.
Universal Force descended from the skies at the same time, wrapping him in white silver light.
The arrow took shape, having a tip of blackened teeth, a body wrapped in gorgeous white leather, and a spiralling spring of red-gold flames quickly flashing around it.
A low, deep rumble came from Leonel's chest as his large heart beat just a single time.
BOOM.
It sounded as though a giant as suddenly awoken from his slumber and the world was torn apart as his arrow was released.
The enormous sword-shaped formation of golden feathers met the spiralling arrow.
The sight was both glorious and gorgeous, yet simultaneously fear-inducing and shocking.
Gold, red and silver flew in all directions, and a battle for the ages rocked the skies.
Leonel released arrow after arrow, and Minerva, as elegant as ever, almost carelessly drew her golden needle sword across the skies.
Both of them seemed to look as though they were the pinnacle of indifference, and yet their strikes were capable of flattening worlds.
Mountains collapsed and rivers dried up, their auras continuing to grow stronger and stronger.