Chapter 373: Libra Crushed

Two Star Disciples gathered on a road paved with dilapidated asphalt, while opposite them were Jiang Xia and Ruyue Xian Tairan, already prepared to attack.

"Are the glows of Scorpio and Virgo intertwined?" The awakened Libra fell into thought upon seeing the glow displayed by Jiang Xia.

After Libra awakened as a supernova, it gained the ability to see through others' zodiac destinies, but after merely glancing at Jiang Xia, it felt it saw a completely different scene, with various zodiac signs overlapping so that nothing could be made out clearly.

Jiang Xia smiled; it was somewhat useful, at least it could quickly identify the candidates of the Twelve Constellations.

He stood before Libra, raised his arms and gently spread them, and the cross-shaped starlight flickered, emitting a shining sound.

The constellation cape slipped off his body, which was covered head to toe in white scales, as he moved; the crimson in his eyes became as viscous as blood, and merely moving his pale, bony frame lightly struck the wind, producing a sound like metal clashing.

"At least for now I am Scorpio; as for my other identities, I doubt you'll ever get to see them." After slightly twisting his body, Jiang Xia spoke.

He eyed Libra, poised like a formidable foe; the pincers on the outer sides of his hands turned into streams of light that covered his already slender, elongated fingers, joints thickening like claws. Scorpio had no corresponding weapons—no staff like Virgo's, no scepter like Libra's—only a body born for slaughter.

"Swish!"

The scepter and claws swung simultaneously, tearing the air; when the two opposing figures launched their attacks at the same moment, their silhouettes suddenly vanished.

This time, Libra gripped the scepter tightly with both hands, a defensive stance—not because it didn't want to attack, but because it had no chance to do so; relying on the Laplace's Eye, it could barely make out Scorpio's attack.

It was merely a simple claw strike—just grabbing at the enemy with claws, a move even a child could use—but Libra could not block it.

Because the speed was too great, the Laplace's Eye combined with its innate instant‑movement ability actually found itself at a disadvantage in the speed duel—this simply defied common sense, since instant movement ought to be faster than mere acceleration, and Libra thought the same, but it focused all its attention on the instant of Scorpio's body, believing its vision had blurred.

Countless illusory shadows surrounded it, as if it had suddenly entered a frozen world; relying on the eyes alone made it nearly impossible to keep up with such unattainable speed—Scorpio's form vanished, leaving only a black mass, and the remnants lingering around it together formed a hazy phantom in the air, a ghost existing only in dreams.

Scorpio's claws also lost their traces due to extreme speed; the black claws' marks in the torn‑apart air instantly elongated, as if countless black blades were continually encircling Libra as it performed instant transfers; those thin blades made no sound in the near‑time‑stop domain, but once speed returned to normal they would scream like a storm.

Libra gathered all its strength into the scepter gripped in both hands, muscles tensed, and the Laplace's Eye, whose blood was even brighter red, suddenly blazed with brilliant starlight.

It made out Scorpio's attack range; in one‑tenth of a second, Scorpio's claws would strike its chest and then slash across to the right thigh.

At the moment Scorpio's body solidified, Libra lifted the scepter in its hands and struck forward with all its might, aiming for the head; simultaneously, the antennae on either side of its forehead turned into two electric chains, and a hit would unleash a tremendous current—this time it had to defeat the traitor and become the most loyal subordinate of Lord Wang Guangming.

"Screech!"

At the moment of contact on both sides, an unbearable piercing scream erupted, and a gale swept over the area.

Libra exerted all its strength, hoping to turn defeat into victory, but its swing hit nothing.

The next instant, countless claw marks resembling phantoms solidified, encircling it.

"No…" Hayami Kohei's face showed despair; he could only utter a single word.

Having just felt its power greatly increase, Libra thought it could gain an advantage over Scorpio, but now it seemed it had overestimated itself; before gaining the supernova it had no chance to retaliate, and after awakening it merely shifted from being unable to resist to clinging to life.

Its abilities were not limited to illusion; it could also instant‑move, and the antennae on its head could discharge electricity, but when it realized that even after exhausting all these tricks it could inflict no harm on Scorpio, the battle became one‑sided.

"Boom!"

Libra was blown away.

Rather than the simple term "blown away," a detailed description would be that countless black claw marks sparked on its body, finally reaching the limit a Star Disciple's flesh could endure, and then it was swept into the explosion.

Libra's body tumbled unknown numbers of times in midair before completely disintegrating; the explosion's flames lit the faces of the group bright red, and the scorching impact left the Kamen Rider squad drenched in sweat.

"It seems detonating the energy bodies of the Twelve Constellations can't be done on Earth, or it would destroy the surrounding environment."

Jiang Xia gazed at the explosion sweeping the sky and muttered, "How could I forget such a basic setting?" He likewise recalled that the last time he defeated Scorpio, he had actually used a synthetic toxin to knock her out; otherwise that attack would have merely been seen as fireworks blooming.

It's a pity that Virgo redirected the attack; otherwise the students of Heavenly River High would have seen brilliant fireworks.

"Impressive, teacher—I'll have a go too."

Ruyue Xian Tairan gave a compliment; on his side he hadn't even started when the other side had already ended.

Ruyue Xian Tairan plugged the connector hanging beneath the Bili staff into the left‑hand triangular socket.

Wait—how does one activate the Ultimate Smash? He momentarily forgot to ask how to operate it.

"Insert the power switch beneath the staff," Ge Xing Xian Wu's voice said, perfectly filling the blank in Ruyue Xian Tairan's mind.

"Okay, Xian Wu," Ruyue Xian Tairan replied, inserting the power switch and then flipping the switch on the right side of his belt.

The Bili staff resembled a lightning rod in a storm, golden electric arcs continuously dancing along it; the wind's screech and the flames blanketing the sky vanished, leaving only a raging golden current that surged from all directions.

Ruyue Xian Tairan gripped the staff brimming with golden thunder in his hands, looked at the Unicorn Star Warrior resembling a warrior, and shouted loudly:

"Knight 10‑billion‑volt Smash!"

The next second, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Two meters away, Ruyue Xian Tairan retracted the Bili staff, swiftly disengaging the golden Fourze form; the familiar fire‑light explosion behind him sounded again, but this time its power was greatly reduced and would harm nothing.

"Hah." Xian Taro exhaled, smiling at Jiang Xia: "Teacher, we won."

Some rejoiced, others lamented; on the other side, Hayami Kohei, who had been fished out by Virgo, was faring no better.

(End of chapter)