Durandal making such a judgment now was naturally not because the opponent had piqued her competitive spirit.
The strength Aaron displayed at this moment, in Durandal's view, was actually only 'a bit dangerous.'
Claiming "Even I might be defeated by his hands" was partly due to Durandal's relatively humble personality. On the other hand, she was also using these words to remind her companion of something.
*This guy is indeed hard to deal with. Rita, you'd better not act rashly.*
If possible, Durandal actually didn't want Rita to intervene in this battle. But if she spoke too plainly...
Well, Durandal often caused awkward truths to slip out because she couldn't read the room.
So recently, she had wanted to change this flaw of hers.
If she spoke plainly right now, Rita would inevitably obey Durandal's instruction to retreat.
But if she really did that... she felt it would hurt Rita's pride as a Valkyrie.
Because of this reason, Durandal very rarely chose not to speak too clearly.
*Since asking Rita not to interfere isn't quite appropriate right now, I'll have to take the main offensive and try to take him down quickly.*
*Strange. Usually, even people from Anti-Entropy would talk some trash when remotely controlling Titans, or try to probe for intel with words.*
*But this guy seems to have had no such intention from the start, choosing directly to fight.*
*Is it because he has no interest in Schicksal's intel?... Forget it, thinking so much is really annoying.*
*This isn't something I should be thinking about anyway. I'll leave intelligence analysis to Rita.*
*Right now, I should think about how to take down this guy!*
On the other side, the sense of constraint Rita felt was far more intense than Durandal's.
Her strength was far inferior to Durandal's, so this situation was inevitable.
But after feeling the binding sensation on her soul, Rita suddenly remembered something.
The attack Aaron had just launched using Magnetic Field Rotation carried special effects similar to magnetic fields and electric currents.
In Rita's eyes, the appearance of this effect instantly gave her a very subtle feeling.
An enemy capable of generating powerful pressure on her, and who could also use Authorities similar to the Gem of Conquest holder...
Plus, the Herrscher of Thunder's whereabouts were unknown... Wait, was the Herrscher of Thunder really missing?
The Hyperion's detection equipment hadn't fully recovered. In other words, if the Herrscher intended to hide her existence, escaping the Hyperion's 'eyes' while the equipment wasn't fully restored... was not an impossible task.
Furthermore, the Hyperion's detection equipment was malfunctioning precisely because of the Honkai energy shockwave caused by the Third Eruption... If it was the Herrscher of Thunder actively interfering with the Hyperion's detection equipment, then everything made sense.
"Lady Durandal, please be careful."
Rita, believing she had analyzed the truth, ignored boring things like a Valkyrie's pride this time and actively took two steps back, handing the main battlefield over to Durandal.
"This gentleman... might be the Herrscher of Thunder we are looking for."
"Oh? So he is the Herrscher of Thunder."
Originally, Durandal was having a headache about whether she should watch her force during the fight.
It wasn't that she was arrogant, but mainly regarding force application... fighting strong opponents, if she used too little force, she could slip up. If she used too much... she might accidentally beat the person to death.
Although Durandal claimed she would use her full strength when training with comrades, full strength and *full strength* were different.
So-called 'full strength' depended on the situation. The 'full strength' Durandal used daily was clearly a different matter from her 'full strength' in combat.
However, now that the opponent was a Herrscher... that made things easy.
*If I don't go all out, I might actually slip up.*
*In that case, I can't be careless!*
Listening to Rita's prompt, Aaron felt his face could no longer form any expression.
Although the Herrscher of Thunder could indeed use Magnetic Field Rotation, the problem was... forget it, let the misunderstanding stand.
Earlier, Aaron had inadvertently mobilized the [Power of Dominance], causing a certain degree of pressure on the two.
At the same time, Aaron also sensed that if he used the Power of Dominance to mobilize so-called soul power, and then combined that soul power with the power of Magnetic Field Rotation, he could condense a tangible force.
Although this force couldn't perform complex movements, it could already execute simple actions according to Aaron's instructions.
Of course, this force was something Aaron condensed by combining soul power and Magnetic Field Rotation, so if the force was breached, it would cause a certain degree of damage to his soul... In a sense, this move Aaron suddenly learned was a double-edged sword.
But in any case, a double-edged sword was better than no weapon.
As long as it could hurt the enemy, it was a good move.
He was already using [Ittou Shura]; how could he care about dangers on this level?
"What terrifying spiritual pressure."
Looking at the massive figure forming behind Aaron, Durandal dared not hesitate any longer and directly initiated an active assault.
Meanwhile, although Rita had retreated a few steps, she hadn't truly chosen to give up the fight.
She knew very well her strength was far inferior to Durandal's, so while Durandal engaged Aaron, she naturally moved away from the battlefield.
But judging by the current situation, both sides were still in the probing phase.
Once both sides reached the deciding moment, if Rita could ambush the opponent then and force him to reveal a flaw, Durandal's chances of winning would increase by a few points.
Of course, the time to ambush wasn't now.
And Rita also understood that making this move was equivalent to putting herself in danger.
She wasn't afraid of injury or death; she had prepared herself for these things the day she became a Valkyrie.
But if she fell into danger, it would inevitably be when the enemy threatened her. Once Durandal judged that Rita couldn't actively escape danger, Durandal would inevitably abandon the offense to protect Rita.
She was doing this to make the enemy reveal flaws, not to cause her important superior to be caught off guard by the enemy because of it.
So for now, she would observe for a bit.
And, relying on the abilities of [Argent Knight: Artemis], even far from the battlefield, she could still complete a certain degree of attacks.
*Phew, the Third Herrscher... I really didn't expect to meet one of the mission objectives here.*
*And judging by the situation, the Third Herrscher knows how to hide, holds extreme malice toward humanity, and while being a Herrscher, is also a warrior of no small skill...*
*Those people at Anti-Entropy, what exactly were they thinking to actively create an adversary so difficult for humanity to deal with?*
Thinking of the intel she got from the intelligence department this time, Rita felt that Schicksal's opposing force, Anti-Entropy, really had brain damage this time.
Herrschers, these 'Apostles of God', inherently possessed absolute power and uncontrollable characteristics. Even Otto Apocalypse only dared to attempt controlling the Second Herrscher, Sirin, whose power couldn't be fully liberated.
Anti-Entropy, on the other hand, actively catalyzed the Third Herrscher. And judging by the current situation, after catalyzing the Third Herrscher, they didn't even suppress the Third Herrscher's power.
Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, the First Herrscher, was currently missing.
And Anti-Entropy without the First Herrscher now gave Rita the impression of... being senseless.
Watching the two people fighting, Rita was completely speechless toward Anti-Entropy.
*Since you don't have the ability to control a Herrscher, why release such a terrifying demon...*
*Sigh, the organization known as Anti-Entropy feels increasingly outrageous to me now.*
*If they keep up this level, I really can't understand why the Overseer hasn't exterminated them, but instead left them to cause trouble in the world.*
..............
Meanwhile, after preparing for battle, Aaron directly took out the [Red and Yellow Brushes] stored in his inventory.
He couldn't fully control the Noble Phantasms of Diarmuid, Artoria, and Lancelot yet.
But after the Power of Dominance dominated the Noble Phantasms in his storage space to a certain extent, Aaron could feel that using [Gae Dearg] and [Gae Buidhe] for a short time was no longer impossible for him.
As for why he didn't use those two Holy Swords...
Setting aside the massive mana burden of the two swords, although Excalibur's release time required less than a second, in a battle with an opponent of extremely high physical specs like Durandal, one second was already too long.
If the Holy Sword's release speed could be faster... well, it wouldn't be Aaron's turn to consider how to use the Holy Sword now. Artoria would have instantly released her Noble Phantasm and blasted Aaron away the moment she encountered danger back then.
As for Arondight... using the Noble Phantasm release to buff physical stats... there wasn't much special necessity.
Plus, after getting used to wielding Neuntote, it wasn't hard to understand why Aaron, accustomed to spears, would choose these 'Red and Yellow Brushes' which could release their power constantly.
"Those two spears..."
Looking at the energy fluctuations on the two spears, Durandal frowned.
The energy fluctuations on the spears weren't weak, but... they seemed to give her a very subtle feeling.
Combined with the six runes on the spears, this feeling seemed to tell the girl that these two spears were not creations that should exist in this era.
Durandal wanted to observe the opponent's weapons further, but unfortunately, facing Durandal who came charging in, Aaron had no intention of staying put.
Thrusting out a spear, Aaron relied on the little bit of [Basic Weapon Usage Technique] he had mastered, combined with his previous experience using Neuntote, to stab at Durandal's body.
However, upon seeing this thrust, Durandal instantly fell into confusion.
This enemy felt extremely powerful, and the pressure on him was constantly rising, but...
*Why does this move look so full of holes?*
*Is it my illusion?*
*Or is this move a deliberately exposed flaw, a feint to trick me into attacking?*
Carrying such thoughts, Durandal very carefully parried the strike with the Abyss Flower and didn't launch a pursuit against the enemy.
Meanwhile, Aaron, having his spear parried, figured it out.
He didn't know how much force the opponent used, but seeing how effortlessly she parried his strike...
*The gap in experience and technique is still there, isn't it?*
*Damn, even with the Perfect Realm, my technique is suppressed. is this guy too strong, or is my technique too trash?*
"Sir, let's dispense with these boring probes and feints."
Seeing Aaron stop his offensive, Durandal, having made her judgment, spoke coldly to Aaron.
"Please do not treat me like a fool."
*...So this guy actually thinks I'm feinting.*
*Great, I'm so bad that people suspect I can't be this bad... The 'delusional over-analysis' disease has spread to other worlds, hasn't it?*
*Sigh, forget it. In the end, it has to be a speed battle.*
*Did my power improve too fast, causing my technique and experience to lag behind my power's progress...*
*Whatever.*
*Since I can use multiple Teigu simultaneously now, then...*
*[The King Of Beasts Transformation: Lionelle], activate!*
*[Lion Never Perishes], open!*
In an instant, detecting a change in Aaron's aura, a look of astonishment suddenly appeared on Durandal's face.
Naturally, Durandal couldn't see that beneath the armor of Aaron, who was wrapped in Incursio, extremely high-coverage Honkai Beast transformation phenomena had appeared.
But for reasons she completely didn't understand, at this moment, she actually felt a sensation from the opponent before her.
This feeling, on one hand, gave her a certain degree of disgust toward him, but at the same time, Durandal actually felt... *is this guy connected to me by blood?*
Durandal, who still didn't know her true identity, only knew she was an amnesiac girl right now.
Although the current her believed she didn't care that much about her past anymore, when this feeling of blood connection appeared within her, she realized she wasn't as detached as she imagined.
*This feeling... cannot be wrong.*
*Could it be...*
*Could it be, you are my long-lost... brother?*