Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 118 The Great Attack: Minerva's Crushing Defeat

At this very moment, in that desolate ruins park on the outskirts of Tiangong City, a Ferris wheel, long abandoned and rusty, stands quietly.

Its enormous and silent form seems to bear witness to the amusement park's past glory and decline.

The atmosphere was unusually tense and solemn in the empty space beneath the abandoned Ferris wheel.

Minerva, clad in the Hollow Dragon armor, stood motionless with a disdainful expression, her sharp, hawk-like eyes fixed on the three girls not far ahead.

These three girls, led by Sesil, had come to try to reclaim Artemisia. Their faces were resolute, and their eyes were fixed firmly on Minerva, showing no sign of backing down.

"Oh dear, you all came here specifically so I could retrieve [Ashcroft], understand?" Minerva clapped her hands and mocked.

In response to Minerva's taunts, Sehir retorted, "That's not necessarily true. Perhaps you'll be the one who gets taken away."

"Are you the only ones who came? I thought that shorty would definitely come too... What a pity, it seems we'll have to make two trips."

The air was thick with tension. "The AST members won't show up, and they have no reason to be here... Mikie Okamine is probably still locked up in solitary confinement..."

After saying this, Sehir took another step forward, and Minerva also stood ready, his palms clasped together, as if he could launch an attack at any moment.

“Wait a minute…” Sehir paused, as if he had one last question he wanted answered, and asked seriously, “Before the duel, I want to ask you a question: why do you want to collect all five Ashcrofts?”

“I understand why you want to take back our weapons, but I can’t understand why you want to take back even the AST’s weapons. Is this also… an order given to you by DEM Director Edgar F. Carroll?”

When he heard Saisil's usually gentle smile turn into such a serious expression.

However, in the midst of this tense atmosphere, Minerva seemed to have been suddenly switched on by some strange switch, and she abruptly opened her arms and laughed loudly without any restraint.

"Hahahaha, you just said he's dead? Oh, I see... I see, no wonder he hasn't contacted me for so long, so that's how it is. But you guys seem to have misunderstood something, I have nothing to do with him, he's such a boring man!!"

Just then, Minerva's graceful figure flashed and seemed to disappear from the spot in an instant.

The next instant, she appeared silently behind the three of them like a ghost!

All of this happened so fast that there was no time to react.

“…Is there any need to continue? Alright…Let’s begin the battle…” Minerva said coldly.

When the three people who were still in shock finally came to their senses, they were horrified to find that a deep blade had been cut across Leonora's chest at some point!

"Ugh... Ah—!"

"Leo!!"

Sehir and Ashley reacted simultaneously and shouted, but it was too late. Blood gushed out wildly, splattering everywhere.

"This is Ashcroft...your final battle...!"

Minerva is incredibly powerful; without a doubt, in terms of sheer power, she is the fastest and most ruthless opponent the SSS trio has ever encountered.

Ashe moved like lightning, speeding towards Minerva at breakneck speed!

Her beautiful and cold face was now filled with determination and anger. She gripped the gleaming lightsaber tightly in her hand and slashed down with unparalleled fierceness!

"Aaaaaah—!"

However, facing this thunderous attack, Minerva simply shifted her body slightly and easily blocked it with one hand.

"The fastest equipment in the [Unicorn] Ashcroft series, when given to you, its speed is at its limit, Ashley..."

Following Minerva's comment, she then grabbed at the lightsaber from Ashe's hand.

Aisha was shocked, but before she could react, she felt a tremendous force coming towards her.

With a muffled thud, she was thrown violently to the ground.

At the same time, Minerva, wielding a lightsaber, mercilessly stabbed Ashe in the shoulder.

"Impossible... Aa ...

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere as the lightsaber pierced deeply through Ashe's shoulder, the excruciating pain nearly causing her to faint.

After drawing her lightsaber, Minerva turned to Cyril, who was still trying to treat Leonora's wounds, and said coldly:

“I see, you’re the only one left who can still move. Sehir…” Looking at her, who was standing next to her teammates trying her best to heal even though Ashcroft wasn’t there, an idea popped into Minerva’s mind.

"I've been thinking about it, and suddenly I've lost interest in you without Ashcroft's equipment. Get out of here quickly, and I might consider letting you go... How about it?"

Faced with Minerva's insults, Cyril, who would not give up on saving Artemisia and his teammates even to the last moment, immediately flew towards Minerva and attacked with all his might.

Seeing that she hadn't gotten the scene she wanted to see where her partner would abandon her, Minerva just smiled coldly and said, "Then I'll give you your 'last moment' now."

"Ah..."

As the Hollow Dragon swung its long, powerful tail, the sharp, gleaming spikes at its tip struck Cyril with lightning speed!

Just as this fatal blow was about to mercilessly pierce through Cyril's fragile heart, a cat-paw-shaped weapon appeared at the last second, blocking her way.

Minerva and Sehir both looked at the newcomer in shock. Just now, Miki had arrived, deflected the tail, and scratched Minerva's body.

“You’re the one who called everyone here. Isn’t it a bit premature to announce the end before everyone is here… Minerva!!” Mikie said confidently.

血…

Why is it my blood...?

Minerva stared at herself in disbelief. This was the first time she had been wounded since arriving on this battlefield. Her face contorted in shock, and she turned hysterically to shout:

"Impossible! There was clearly only... Artemisia...!!"

Minerva was like an enraged beast, his eyes burning with fury, and a low, terrifying roar emanating from his throat.

Her muscles tensed, veins bulging, as she charged fiercely at Mikie.

Just as Mikie was still in shock and Minerva thought she was about to succeed, her surroundings were enveloped by a blue, unpredictable domain!

"What?! A specially treated defensive barrier that allows for arbitrary movement? How is this possible..."

With a loud bang, Minerva was thrown straight to the ground like a cannonball.

The impact was so tremendous that her body collided violently with the hard ground, raising clouds of dust and gravel.

Seeing all this, Cyril couldn't believe it; she never expected that Mikie would actually come.

"Sorry I'm late. The captain was hesitant to agree..."

Mikie scratched her head, still somewhat puzzled, "Why...why did you come? This is clearly just our battle, I told you you didn't need to get involved..."

"This time, she specifically named everyone to challenge her, which means she is our enemy... This is no longer just a battle for you."

Origami, who had just activated the Blue Random Domain, flew down from the sky and answered for Mikie.

Origami then walked step by step to Minerva, who was standing at the bottom of the giant pit, her expression still indifferent. "Now I will immediately detain Minerva Liddell, that is, reclaim the [Hollow Dragon]."

boom!

The powerful, unrestrained domain that had been firmly suppressing Minerva suddenly emitted a crisp cracking sound, exploding like a balloon being blown up, and instantly disintegrating.

Meanwhile, Minerva, who had been at a disadvantage, seized the opportunity to quickly get up and, like a ghost, flashed behind Origami.

Origami was completely unprepared for this sudden turn of events, and she didn't even have time to react.

Minerva stretched out his sharp, eagle-claw-like hand and, with lightning speed, grabbed Miki, who was standing to the side, equally unsuspecting, by the neck.

"Thanks to you, you made me bleed..."

The moment Minerva broke free, she looked at Cyril, the original owner of the dragon who had caused such a sensation, and who was still looking astonished.

"Hehehe... Judging from your reaction, I can tell you're completely unaware, right, Sesil? The Hollow Dragon's secret 'ability'..."

"What's the meaning?!"

"As the original owner, you really don't know, do you? Normally, the Ashcrofts are five separate manifestation devices that work together independently, and they don't originally have the ability to interact with each other. However, only the Hollow Dragon has this special ability, which allows it to unilaterally combine the power of all the Ashcrofts..."

"In other words, the power of you Ashcrofts will return to my body, and I will grow stronger without end!"

Seraphim's eyes widened, her heart filled with regret and self-blame. If she had known earlier that the Hollow Dragon had this ability, she would never have let Minerva get it.

"Do you like it? This is a special feature I had Edgar add when he made it, specifically to ensure Ashcroft can easily retrieve his abilities if they are stolen by enemies~"

Sahir gritted his teeth and angrily questioned, "The enemy...? You mean you predicted we would launch an attack?"

"No, that man just wanted to give these to Westcott's men first, and then take them back all at once through the Hollow Dragon, so that he could get rid of Westcott and become a director himself."

Upon hearing this, Syhill clenched his fists. "So what exactly are your ambitions?! Is it that after helping Edgar become a director, you, as his direct subordinate, can also be promoted?"

"Hehehe, don't misunderstand, I'm not interested in those things. My goal has always been the same..."

Minerva's eyes gleamed with an almost frenzied obsession, as if she had conjured up some intoxicating treasure: "To become Artemisia..."

Then his expression suddenly turned extremely ferocious, "That's right! The person who caused Artemisia to be targeted and then become a model of the new manifestation device... is me!"

As Minerva raised her sword to slash at Ashley on the other side, her eyes were filled with excitement. "Hahaha, is there anything better than this? Destroy Artemisia... and at the same time gain Artemisia's power, this is my plan!"

After saying that, she punched the seriously injured Leonora again, tearing open the wound that Leonora had been inflicted with earlier.

"Why do you hate Artemisia so much?!" Sehir asked angrily, unable to bear it any longer.

But Saisil's words were met with the response that his neck was lifted up and then he was shoved to the ground.

"I don't hate her... No one in this world admires Artemisia more than I do!!"

Seraphim felt short of breath, his face was being grabbed and repeatedly lifted and slammed to the ground, and his consciousness became blurred. He could only hear the incredibly sickly Minerva telling him about her love for Artemisia.

"Ahh~ I love Artemisia the most... She's incredibly powerful and respected by everyone!! I want to be like her, no, I should say I really want to become her!!"

Sahir's eyes were glazed over from the blow, but Minerva continued talking non-stop.

“That’s right! As long as I obtain five Ashcrofts, I can completely become her…”

Just as Minerva was lost in her fantasy, Origami quietly approached, a sword pressed against her neck, but it couldn't pierce her skin at all; she was like a monster.

"I completely disagree," Origami said rationally.

A flash of annoyance crossed Minerva's face. She swung her arm forcefully, and the origami behind her flew backward.

"No, you will definitely agree. Once I become Artemisia, everyone will agree with my choice!!"

Origami's hair was grabbed, and Minerva stared into her eyes with a sickly gaze. "In this way, Minerva Liddell's power will also become stronger..."

Meanwhile, Mikie was kneeling on the ground, feeling powerless.

“Bell…can you hear me…Bell?” Mikie tried to call out to Bell, who had Artemisia’s consciousness in her mind.

Yes, Master.

"Could you sever the Hollow Dragon's connection to our side?"

No. It's impossible to access the Void Dragon's data from here, because that's how the system is designed.

"Will I be able to stand up and continue fighting?"

Miki struggled to her feet, her heart breaking as she looked at the origami being repeatedly tormented before her.

[That's not impossible. Your current state is very weak, but it's not impossible for you to maintain your self-repairing ability and conscious state...]

"I won't allow that to happen!"

Miki shouted loudly, but Minerva only slightly raised her hand, and the heavy pressure of her casual domain almost crushed her.

“The last one!” Minerva’s expression grew even more frenzied. “Then, I’ll take Ashcroft. I’ll start with…”

Before she could even speak, Miki, who had been lying on the ground, bravely got up again, and the magic power brought by [Akaguri Neko] helped to repair her injuries as much as possible.

"Damage handling, huh... But that way, the more you use my abilities, the more my abilities will improve!"

"Have you forgotten?!"

Minerva vanished from her spot like lightning. The next moment, she appeared before Mikie like a ghost.

“Minerva, I should have said… if you hurt my companions again…” At this moment, Mikie seemed like a different person, and her way of speaking became serious.

They calmly assembled the standard lightsaber they had taken from the fallen Cyril.

She raised her lightsaber and unleashed a strike using a fighting style that was not originally hers.

Mikie's sword strike was faster than she had imagined. Even as Minerva dodged, the sword still struck her, sending her flying with immense force.

"how is this possible?"

Minerva's eyes widened in disbelief. In her mind's eye, Mikie's image seemed to overlap with Artemisia's, and she was all too familiar with that sword technique—it was a sword technique that could never be imitated.

"Artemisia!!"

Feeling the spot where she was struck years ago, a sword strike that was almost fatal, Minerva looked on with resentment as Mikie's consciousness became increasingly scattered.