-1473- The most powerful enhancement technique

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Rozen and Real Nua shaking hands, Freon, Cris, and Elis became puzzled.

That's because Rozen and Real maintained their handshake without letting go, simply staring at each other—one with a playful smile and the other with an increasingly crazed expression, giving off a sense of madness.

In fact, Real Nua was indeed a bit unhinged.

After all, while others might not notice, Rozen was very aware that despite the seemingly warm handshake, Real's grip suddenly tightened as if trying to crush Rozen's hand, applying tremendous force.

A relatively unknown researcher in the Medical Science Division was secretly challenging the strongest Sky Wizard, hailed as the "Hero of Humanity," using such a method. If anyone else knew, they would surely be shocked.

What was even more surprising was the immense strength in this researcher's grip, strength that seemed beyond what an ordinary human could possess.

That kind of arm strength, if measured using the abilities of a servant, would likely be at least C-rank or higher.

Such power emerging from a researcher who spends most of his time working indoors in a basement is truly unbelievable.

But from another perspective, what might be even more incredible is Real's current behavior.

Not only was this researcher relentlessly increasing his grip strength, but his gaze toward Rozen also became more frenzied, filled with a madness that was almost mesmerizing.

It was as if Real held some deep-seated grudge against Rozen.

In this situation, when it came to magical ability, Real was naturally no match for Rozen. But in terms of physical strength, Rozen was indeed outclassed.

If Rozen hadn't reacted in time, his hand bones might have already been crushed by now.

That is, if Rozen hadn't reacted in time.

Unfortunately for Real, Rozen, with his unparalleled Mind's Eye, had already sensed the instant Real's arm muscles tensed upon contact.

As a result…

"Buzz…"

At almost the exact moment Real gripped Rozen's hand, high-grade mana within Rozen began to flow imperceptibly, circulating through his arm.

In just that brief moment, Rozen activated a magic spell.

But it wasn't just any spell.

In Rozen's mind, there were numerous techniques capable of enhancing the body, but if one were to ask which is the most powerful, excluding those requiring significant sacrifices or involving dark arts like living sacrifices, the answer would undoubtedly be Kongouriki.

That's right.

Kongouriki.

In the world of automaton, this technique is embedded in the magic circuit of the greatest creation of Karyusai Shouko, the highest masterpiece, the Moon puppet, Yaya, and is known as the hardest magic circuit in the world—Kongouriki.

It allows the solidification of any atoms within one's field of influence, drastically increasing muscle strength by over a thousandfold. By paying close attention to each atom and adjusting their sequence and arrangement according to the situation, it can even completely block any attacks, achieving true invincibility.

Even now, Rozen still considers this the pinnacle of all body-strengthening techniques.

When this spell falls into the hands of Rozen, who can observe the activity of any atom thanks to Mind's Eye and can instantly react and control them, it becomes the ultimate body enhancement technique.

That's why Rozen had been coveting this technique for a long time, eager to implement it on himself.

It wasn't an impossible task.

Rozen, being Yaya's puppeteer, was extremely familiar with Yaya's magic circuit. Having also gone through all of Karyusai's secret books, which included the knowledge of Kongouriki's magic circuit, implementing this spell wasn't overly difficult.

The difficulty lay in the fact that Rozen wasn't an automaton and couldn't be equipped with the magical circuit of Kongouriki. To activate the spell on his own was incredibly challenging.

Automatons were created for the purpose of quickly and efficiently using magic. Without Yaya by his side, Rozen would need to create another automaton and install the magic circuit of Kongouriki within it. Otherwise, casting the spell would be far too difficult and slow.

But Rozen did not give up. Thanks to his astounding knowledge and continuous attempts, refinements, and enhancements over the years, he has now finally succeeded in casting Kongouriki on his own.

At this moment, Rozen was using this top-tier enhancement spell—Kongouriki.

In other words, at this moment, Rozen's muscle strength had been increased by over a thousandfold, and he could freely manipulate the atoms within his field, combined with the power of Mind's Eye, to become truly invincible, just like Yaya.

So, what would happen to Real Nua's provocation when faced with this strongest enhancement spell from the automaton world?

Simple…

"Ugh…!"

At some point, Real's face suddenly twisted.

The reason was simple: Rozen had started to apply force as well.

"Is something wrong?"

Rozen asked as if nothing had happened, looking at Real with the same playful expression.

"Ugh… Ugh…!"

But Real could no longer speak.

Feeling the terrifying force coming from Rozen's hand, Real felt as though his own hand would be crushed at any moment, the pain distorting his expression even further.

Seeing this, the people around them started to sense something was off.

"You two…"

Freon was about to say something.

But it was already too late.

"...!"

As Real's face twisted, not only did fear fail to appear in his eyes, but an unprecedented hatred, resentment, and madness surged forth.

In the next moment…

"Buzz!"

Power suddenly surged in Real's hand.

However, unlike Rozen, Real was not nearly as skilled in controlling this power and couldn't keep it hidden.

At the very least, two people in the room noticed Real had used some sort of power.

But…

"What is this…?!"

Cris's pupils shrank as an expression of disbelief appeared on her face.

"...!"

Even Elis, who had seemed uninterested before, had her expression change and swiftly turned her head to look at Real.

As for Rozen, the moment Real unleashed his power, the high-grade mana within him reflexively exploded.

"Boom—!"

Accompanied by a terrifying muffled sound, the two powers clashed where Rozen and Real's hands met, sending shockwaves rippling out.

"Ah…!"

A scream rang out instantly.

The source of the scream was none other than Real Nua.

Under the collision of forces, Rozen stood unmoving, while Real was sent flying as if struck by a massive blow, tumbling across the ground before finally coming to a stop.

Immediately after…

"Ro… Rorelai Arneet…!"

A voice, like that of a wounded beast's furious growl, echoed through the entire laboratory.