Watching Kevin clear out the minor enemies with a single strike of Heaven’s Fall, Enoxia raised one finger.
“First move.”
Although it didn’t hit her, Wendy felt the scorching heat in the air and was utterly terrified. Forgetting everything else, she manipulated the storm to sweep toward Kevin. Even if she couldn’t kill him, as long as she could blow him beyond New Zealand, Kevin would at least be unable to affect her for the time being.
Kevin didn’t have anything like a Wind-Fixing Pearl, so naturally, a gale several times the speed of sound could blow him away too.
However, Kevin’s reaction speed was faster than Wendy’s. Before Wendy could make her move, flames that seemed capable of burning everything to ash split the storm swirling above New Zealand from the ground up, cleaving it in two.
Seeing this, Enoxia calmly extended a second finger:
“Second move.”
About fifteen minutes later, the fierce winds finally subsided across both the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
In the South Island, which had suffered relatively less damage, many survivors, like startled little animals reacting to a sudden change, cautiously peeked their heads out from nooks and crannies. After furtively looking around to make sure nothing was wrong, they finally moved their entire bodies out of the rubble, a wave of joy from surviving a disaster washing over them.
Storms don’t appear from nowhere, so naturally, they don’t just vanish into thin air either. Although Kevin’s attack had resolved the crisis in New Zealand, much of the original gale-force winds crossed the Tasman Sea and reached eastern Australia.
In Australia, already extremely dry, withered trees had begun to burn due to various reasons.
Now, countless embers, carried by the fierce winds, rapidly ignited wildfires across Australia. Forget about helping New Zealand; Australia was already overwhelmed dealing with the escalating blazes breaking out in multiple locations.
Kevin clearly wasn’t going to slow his assault because of Wendy’s panic and anger. As the storm dissipated, the next slash from Heaven’s Judgment arrived.
Enoxia, watching the battle, raised a third finger:
“Third move… Huh?”
Kevin’s third strike flew precisely toward Wendy’s body. But when it was less than a meter away, the scorching air blade seemed to be deflected, scattering into the air beside Wendy.
“How is this possible? How could she block the Lord’s attack?”
Seeing this, Jackal shot up from her chair.
Enoxia shook her head and let out a knowing smile:
“Ultimately, we were influenced by habitual thinking and stereotypes. When analyzing Wendy, we kept comparing her to the Herrscher of Wind from sixteen years ago, subconsciously concluding in our minds: Wendy’s wind control abilities are stronger than the Herrscher of Wind from sixteen years ago.”
“That’s the problem. We were so focused on comparing the two Herrschers of Wind that we overlooked the fact that a Herrscher of Wind’s most formidable ability isn’t actually creating storms.”
Hearing Enoxia’s words, Jackal gradually calmed down:
“You’re right. From the perspective of breaking the rules, a Herrscher of Wind’s greatest strength is creating an ideal fluid…”
“I see. It must be that the Lord’s previous attacks made her realize that if she tried to confront him head-on, she would at least be severely injured, if not killed. So, when the Lord dispersed all the cyclones she had created, she modified the air within a certain radius around herself into an ideal fluid, controlling its flow direction and trajectory. She made it circulate around her from different directions, effectively creating a protective shield made of ideal fluid.”
“The essence of Heaven’s Judgment’s attack is to make surrounding molecules move at high speed and direct these high-speed molecules to impact the enemy. But an ideal fluid surface has no friction, so the high-speed molecules don’t actually strike the shield; instead, they’re repelled the moment they contact its surface.”
“Theoretically, an ideal fluid can deflect any attack. If the Lord can’t do it, then Schicksal and Anti-Entropy are even less likely to succeed. So…”
Enoxia waved her hand:
“No rush. Otto has always been extremely arrogant. Only when Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie also suffers a setback will he realize his own weakness and incompetence.”
Schicksal Headquarters.
“Bishop, the mysterious person who appeared suddenly has, for some unknown reason, ceased their attack.”
“Immediately deploy Durandal to the battlefield. Regardless of who that enigmatic figure is, if Durandal can accomplish what they could not, it will give us better leverage in subsequent negotiations.”
“But…”
The Valkyrie on the other end of the communicator wanted to say something, but hearing Otto’s resolute tone, she swallowed her words and carried out his orders.
Kevin’s first strike had physically ignited flames across New Zealand’s North Island. His second strike had cleaved apart the storm blocking Schicksal. None of this required equipment to observe; it was visible to the naked eye.
If even he, at least for the moment, couldn’t deal with the Herrscher of Wind, could Durandal really fare better?
After observing that the storm had subsided, under Otto’s urging, Durandal’s aircraft immediately accelerated to full speed, charging forward amidst the still chaotic and complex weather, quickly reaching the skies above Wellington.
“Good work!”
Durandal opened the hatch and leaped out.
“Hmm?”
Sensing a change in the fluid above her, Wendy knew someone else had entered the fray and quickly repositioned herself.
Durandal acted decisively, hurling Abyss Flower.
Abyss Flower reached its intended target, but like Heaven’s Judgment’s attack, it slid off the surface of the ideal fluid shield the moment it made contact.
Durandal successfully landed on the ground and quickly located Abyss Flower embedded in the soil.
She certainly wasn’t going to give up after one failure. She immediately changed forms, shifting her Valkyrie armor from Moon Pledge to Star Anchor.
“Strike, piercing the stars!”
Durandal used both hands and feet, loosing an arrow.
But even if it could truly pierce stars, it was useless if it didn’t hit. Durandal’s attack ultimately landed elsewhere.
After deflecting two attacks, Wendy seemed to realize that, when it came to creating psychological trauma, Kevin was the tougher opponent. She decided to target Durandal instead, ignoring Kevin, who seemed to be in some kind of standby mode a few kilometers away, and charged toward Durandal at incredible speed.
Durandal raised Abyss Flower to defend, but Wendy didn’t aim for her body. Instead, she grazed past her.
Although Wendy didn’t strike Durandal, Durandal’s body was uncontrollably pulled in the direction Wendy had moved. Just as she stabilized herself, Wendy changed direction and made another pass, causing Durandal’s body to involuntarily shift again.
Durandal clearly understood the reason. According to Bernoulli’s principle, when a fluid flows at high speed, the greater the velocity, the lower the pressure. When Wendy moved at high speed in front of her, it was like a train moving at super-high speed, and Durandal was like a passenger standing just beyond the yellow line, too close to the tracks—her body was naturally pulled in.
However, after two attacks, Durandal could predict Wendy’s movement trajectory. When Wendy attempted a third attack, Durandal struck out preemptively. Without her shield, Wendy would have been kicked away.
But unfortunately, Durandal’s kick landed on the ideal fluid shield. It felt like stepping on an extremely slick sheet of ice. She lost her footing and fell flat on her back.
