MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 1007: A Flash

Aura Nova endured yet another indescribable surge of torment. It was as if a savage horde of advanced piranhas was gnawing relentlessly inside her, ripping through her tissues and guzzling from her bloodstream. Each nerve fiber blazed with fire. Every piece of her essence howled in protest. Yet she had no choice but to withstand it.

With gritted teeth and shaky determination, she abruptly cut off her mana stream, causing the Void Portal to implode and disappear in that very moment. As a result, the ferocious lightning formation that had been ravaging her form dispersed without delay.

However, the harm was already done.

She looked like a scorched remains hanging in mid-air. The odor of seared meat wafted heavily, sickening and dense. Her previously impeccable skin had become fragile and ashen, resembling a figure sculpted from soot. Her stunning allure and otherworldly locks were completely gone. She hovered feebly, as if reality itself scarcely permitted her survival.

The agony surpassed all limits. Her lungs scorched fiercely. Her liver seemed burst open. Her heart twitched uncontrollably. Even her mind pulsed with intense agony. All parts of her frame cried out together. She wasn't at the Apexus Mana Rank, where bodily injuries and discomfort turned insignificant, and only core essence damage carried weight. No, she hadn't attained that elevated realm. At her present stage, all hurts counted. Every gash was tangible. Each instant of pain was unbearable.

Her mana flared up again, surging out in a regulated burst. In no time at all, all wounds faded as if they had never occurred. Her body mended. Her internals steadied. Her burned shell melted away into flawless renewal. It felt like the fabric of reality had been set right.

Her eyes turned to Anthony, who hovered steadily afar with that persistent, aggravating smirk on his features. Though she stayed quiet, her thoughts churned wildly.

She recalled Lucian's caution perfectly. He had warned of a brief interval between each Command from her natural power. A tiny hesitation. A minuscule weakness. And now, it was clear—Anthony was capitalizing on that flaw without mercy. Without that pause in her Commands, she could have held the balance in this fight. But that tiny break sufficed for a figure like him.

'Quantum Manipulation...' she pondered silently, 'it appears I need further honing and advancement.'

Locking her stare on Anthony, she uttered once more, her mana extending like an infinite sea pushing at the edges of the isolated realm.

Mana and Time particles burst forth together, spreading waves over the whole isolated realm as they yielded to her control. The next moment, all motion halted.

Time halted. Mana's current stopped. Light beams froze in place. Even the breeze hung motionless. The realm turned into a quiet, static canvas.

Light gathered around Aura Nova, growing fiercer with every tiny tick. Her shape shone more intensely as a massive ray of unadulterated, focused annihilation took shape ahead of her. It throbbed with quiet inevitability.

She unleashed it without pause.

The ray shot ahead through the still scene and struck straight into Anthony's torso with immense power. But no blast followed. No tremor shook the ground. No landscape shattered. It wasn't built for show. Its intent was total obliteration.

Its goal was one: wipe the subject from being.

And upon striking, Anthony disappeared— no remains. No traces. No ripples. He just ended. Aura Nova eyed the vacant spot where he had hovered. But no victory surged through her. No ease came. She wasn't foolish. No scenario existed where Anthony fell so simply. If so, Lucian and Aaaninja would have crushed him ages ago with ease.

'A mirage,' the truth hit her right away.

Her view of reality flipped. Veils stripped back. Deceptions melted. Phantasms cracked.

She pierced the veil, but comprehension arrived a split second behind. What now met her eyes was the flash of a katana already arcing at her throat.

Her instincts fired up on reflex. Space warped sharply near her, and with a mere idea, she teleported away. But fleeing demanded a price.

She rematerialized far off, and crimson spurted from her throat. It was already sliced halfway from her frame. If she had lingered even a pulse more, full beheading would have claimed her.

This round, she skipped Perfect State. Her built-in healing rushed in, weaving meat and fibers rapidly as the injury sealed.

She regarded Anthony from a distance. As the fight dragged on, the reality sharpened: defeat was inevitable.

Now, just one path left—her ultimate, mightiest Command. She trusted even Anthony couldn't defy it. She had deployed it against Kingsley and triumphed. In her duel with Lucian, she had neared unleashing it when suddenly beheaded. If she had pulled it off then, victory would have been hers.

This time, no delays.

The instant it triggered, the world shifted.

She slipped into Root Access Mode. A divine, hypnotic exalted phase wrapped her. Her eyes turned spectral, radiant past human grasp, as if viewing all planes of being at once. She rose farther skyward. Mana howled and thundered nearby, like she birthed it. Her tresses altered, threads cycling through every hue possible, gleaming with unreal splendor.

Her sight fell on Anthony. When she voiced it, her tone held ultimate dominion, the sort that could sway even self-proclaimed deities.

Her statements were edicts. Reality yielded. Being realigned. Structure reformed to enact the order.

But... zero effect.

Anthony stayed put, drifting lightly aloft. His face unaltered. As if her decree was merely a light murmur lost in the breeze.

Aura Nova scowled. Though she had wielded this power just once in her existence, she knew its vast might. It defied resistance. No entity ought to brush it aside. Yet he lingered unscathed. Before another decree could form, a sound reached her.

Her eyes bulged in pure, stark astonishment; Anthony's tone, right behind. She hadn't felt his shift. She hadn't noted any transfer. In Root Access Mode, she should crown the heights, nearing the supreme form possible. Yet, she missed every hint of movement.

Before her skull could swivel, before her mind could grasp the outrage,

Her throat was sliced neatly from her body at such baffling velocity that the sword evaded her sight. And thus, Aura Nova fell to Null Anthony via beheading.