Raiden Ei transformed into a streak of thunder light and followed behind Su Xuan. After flying for an unknown amount of time, they spotted a deserted island with no signs of life, and Su Xuan came to a hover in the air above it.
"This place is already beyond Inazuma's borders. The sea is vast and uninhabited. Let's test our blades here."
Su Xuan glanced downward, and Raiden Ei followed his gaze, withdrawing her thoughts. "This spot does allow us to fight without holding back."
"In the last bout, the General struck first. This time, it's your turn to make the opening move."
"This way, I can witness the superpowers you mentioned."
Su Xuan's eyes flickered slightly.
Raiden Ei was truly so adorably dense. The way she said it made it sound like once she made her move, he wouldn't get a chance to act anymore.
Fine! Arguing with Raiden Ei was just asking for trouble with himself.
Su Xuan didn't mind and smiled as he asked, "Well, are you ready?"
Raiden Ei nodded lightly. A purple gleam flashed by, and Nagamasa no Inazuma was gripped in her hand. "I'm ready. Come at me with everything you've got."
The next second, Su Xuan simply raised his hand.
Raiden Ei's eyes sharpened, her pupils contracting sharply.
She didn't sense any surging energy rushing toward her.
But in an instant, the calm sea beneath her feet erupted into a hundred-meter wave that swallowed her whole in the blink of an eye.
Then, with a clench of Su Xuan's fist, the surging wave twisted into a waterspout, spinning at furious speed.
The women: "!?"
[Uh...]
[Raiden Ei is still the same Raiden Ei, so endearingly clueless it makes you chuckle and sigh.]
[I already told her my psychokinesis can control surrounding objects, and she still lets me strike first.]
[I've never encountered such a ridiculous request.]
[Doesn't she worry I'll just take control of her body and snap her neck?]
[Though, even if she strikes first, unless she can kill me in one slash, who moves first doesn't matter.]
[Psychokinesis is the kind of power you can't dodge, only tank head-on.]
[As long as I have a split second to react, I can seize control of Raiden Ei's body.]
[Then twist her into a pretzel.]
[Of course, if Raiden Ei's mental will and physical toughness, combined with her energy, surpass the psychokinesis I unleash...]
[Then I'd have no counter.]
The women: "!?"
No wonder he dared to raid the Yanguo Supervisory Office and challenge the Raiden Shogun to a blade test.
The properties of psychokinesis were terrifying.
As long as the opponent couldn't resist it, Su Xuan could instantly twist them to death.
Yet Su Xuan had casually lifted a hundred-meter wave with a raise of his hand, then clenched it into a waterspout in seconds.
Which mortal human could claim their power surpassed a hundred-meter wave?
If they fought Su Xuan, by the time they reacted, they'd already be twisted into a knot.
What a joke of a fight!
....
The once-calm sea churned into countless whirlpools under the waterspout's rotation.
The clear sky darkened.
Boom!
A thunderclap roared, and the waterspout shattered from a burst of lightning exploding through its center.
Raiden Ei, dizzy from the spin and drenched like a drowned rat, reappeared before Su Xuan.
No sooner had she broken free than a massive shadow engulfed her again.
Looking up, she saw a dozens-of-meters-tall boulder crashing down like a mountain.
"Musou no Hitotachi!"
Without time for further thought, Raiden Ei swung Nagamasa no Inazuma. A purple blade beam shot out, cleaving the boulder-sized rock in two.
After felling the boulder, Raiden Ei caught her breath. Seeing Su Xuan hold back, she asked, "That boulder just now was..."
Su Xuan pointed at the uninhabited island below them. "Picked it up from the island."
Raiden Ei looked down and noticed a new crater on the island that hadn't been there before.
"Moved a whole mountain?" Raiden Ei murmured. "This is indeed a terrifying power. It can move mountains and stir seas..."
"Not quite." Su Xuan shook his head. "Moving mountains and stirring seas were commonplace in the Archon War era."
"Psychokinesis controlling objects is just the most basic application."
"I mentioned earlier that psychokinesis is fundamentally energy. As energy, it has its own destructive might."
As Su Xuan explained, he pointed lightly with a finger.
A floating chunk of rubble drifted slowly before him.
Raiden Ei watched intently and saw the stone, now cradled in Su Xuan's palm, covered in a faint glow.
"For example, even a palm-sized rock like this, coated in psychokinesis, can pierce mountains."
With those words, the psychokinesis-clad stone streaked past Raiden Ei's side like a beam of light, too fast for the eye to follow.
Boom!
Hearing the explosion behind her, Raiden Ei whipped around to find the boulder she'd bisected earlier reduced to dust by the passing pebble.
Gazing at the rubble behind her, all shimmering with that glow, Raiden Ei broke into a cold sweat.
If even one piece fell into Inazuma City, its power could obliterate an entire bustling street.
If all of them rained down, Raiden Ei didn't dare imagine what would become of Inazuma City. It'd probably vanish from the continent in an instant.
"But to beat you, psychokinesis has a more direct and convenient effect."
"Want to try it?"
Su Xuan's voice snapped the alarmed Raiden Ei back to reality.
She slowly refocused, her gaze settling on Su Xuan once more. "An even more direct method?"
Su Xuan nodded lightly. "Actually, just applying psychokinesis directly to you would use twisting force to deal massive damage."
"But that's hard to control. Unless I intend to kill, I don't want to risk it."
"A slight lapse in focus, and it'd be broken arms or missing legs."
"But there's another method that's even better."
"Like this..."
With that, Su Xuan flicked his finger.
Before Raiden Ei could react, a ring of light snapped around her fair neck.
"What is this?!" Raiden Ei exclaimed in shock.
She couldn't detect or trace the energy flick, yet a energy ring had locked onto her neck.
This was too bizarre.
Instinctively, Raiden Ei grabbed the ring with both hands, straining to break free.
But no matter how hard she pulled, the ring stayed clamped like an iron vice.
"Let's call it a psychokinesis ring for now. It's a loop conjured from psychokinesis that binds the target."
"Fully adjustable."
As Su Xuan explained, Raiden Ei felt her breath hitch.
The ring around her neck began constricting with unstoppable force.
"Hah... breathe..."
Now, Raiden Ei dangled midair like she was caught by a glowing ring in the sky.
Her legs kicked wildly from the obstructed breathing.
Her strength faded rapidly from the strangling asphyxiation. In moments, she went still.
Su Xuan: "....."
[Isn't Raiden Ei the Thunder Demon God?]
[I remember she's a god born from lightning. How could she have breathing issues?]
[Unless gods born from lightning are pure lightning, and Raiden Ei is a shadow-born god from lightning.]
[That doesn't add up either. You're a god. Do you even need to breathe?]
[Damn!]
[I just wanted to test if you could break free from my psychokinesis, and you pull this?]
[Big sis, please don't actually die.]
[....]
The women: "!?"