[Third-Person Perspective]
"Splendid...!"
Coughing up a thick glob of blood, Razuru managed a faint, admiring smirk at the fist embedded deep in his chest. Sairaorg's knuckle—radiating a divine, blinding aura—had struck Razuru square in the center, shattering his body from the inside out.
"To push me this far... I'll admit, I didn't see it coming... Hahaha... This is my loss."
A dense red steam billowed from Razuru's skin as his transformation dissolved, returning him to his original form. As the crimson fur receded, it revealed a body riddled with deep, jagged wounds—the cumulative toll of not just Sairaorg's ultimate strike, but the relentless barrage from Rias and her allies.
Sairaorg slowly withdrew his fist and stood before his opponent. Even so, Razuru refused to fall.
"Death approaches you, doesn't it?" Sairaorg asked. "Why do you force yourself to stand?"
It was glaringly obvious to anyone watching that Razuru didn't have much time left. Not a single trace remained of that overwhelming, beast-like pressure he had radiated moments before. Yet, his legs remained planted.
As his consciousness wavered on the brink of blacking out, Razuru let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Call it... my pride as a warrior. If I'm going down, I'm dying on my feet... I don't care who I'm up against, I'm not taking a knee. I won't let myself fall... Wouldn't you do the exact same thing, Sairaorg Bael?"
"Fair point... though to be completely honest, I've been brought to my knees plenty of times."
"And yet, after crawling through endless, hellish battles, here you stand... Am I wrong?"
Razuru tilted his head back, gazing up into the crimson sky.
"I used to... doubt the Old Man's methods. I wondered if this was really the right way to do things... But now, I get it. This was the right path. Sairaorg Bael, by fighting you—by fighting all of you—I saw what was possible. I bet the Old Man felt the exact same way..."
No matter how many times they were slammed down by an absolute force of destruction like him, no matter how much blood they vomited, they kept charging straight ahead. And in the end, they brought him down. They had pushed past their limits and overcome an overwhelming gap in raw power. For Razuru, there could be no greater battle.
"I'm satisfied that I got to fight you guys. If it's you, then whatever lies beyond—"
Razuru thrust his fist high toward the heavens, a look of profound fulfillment settling onto his features.
"I'm heading on ahead. Once the rest of you settle your own scores, come find me. When that time comes... we'll do this again..."
Thus marked the end of Razuru, bearer of the 'Hakun' granted by the otherworldly god, Asem.
[Third-Person Perspective]
[Kiba Perspective]
"...I see. So you were able to pass on in peace, Razuru."
Mid-clash, the avatar of Vals closed his eyes and murmured softly.
His words made me realize something: the overwhelming pressure that had blanketed the surrounding area just moments ago was completely gone. Razuru had been defeated.
Because the sword group was fighting at a distance from where Former President Rias and the others were stationed, we couldn't see the outcome directly. But judging by the avatar's reaction, Razuru was dead.
Parrying my blade, Vals's avatar backed away to create some distance between us.
"Though I am merely a construct brought forth by magic, I share the memories and emotions of the original 'Seeker' Vals... Losing a comrade still stings."
"You were the ones who started this war," I countered. "Because of this conflict, countless people have suffered and lost their lives."
The avatar gave a slow nod, his eyes remaining shut.
"Yes, I am fully aware. People like us have no right to preach or complain."
Vals's avatar assumed a combat stance, conjuring a flickering flame in his open left hand. The fire flickered for a brief second before morphing into a solid blade of fire.
"I intend to take full responsibility for causing this crisis. Both myself, and my father."
With those words, he vanished without a sound.
Still insanely fast. His speed definitely surpasses my own right now.
Sensing a presence to my right, I used my Holy-Demon Sword to deflect an incoming strike from his fiery blade, quickly shifting my weight to drive my foot into the dirt. I was currently in my Knight Ruler form, a state that massively boosts both my physical power and speed. Pushing my mobility to its absolute limit, I lunged forward with a sharp counter-slash.
Vals's avatar flashed a subtle smile.
"To read my movement just now—impressive."
"I was trained by the Sword Saint himself! Something of this level won't take me down!"
A split-second clash of steel. Bouncing backward off the impact, we engaged in a high-speed exchange of strikes, blurring across the battlefield.
"Don't go forgetting about us!"
"That's right! Kiba's not the only one fighting here!"
Xenovia, enveloped in a bright blue aura, and Irina, radiating purifying holy light, plunged into the fray.
I parried the avatar's sword, opening a gap for Xenovia to strike. Though he managed to dodge, the combined onslaught of Durandal and Excalibur—drenched in dense, condensed aura—literally tore open the ground beneath us.
Evading Xenovia's blow, the avatar landed, only to be greeted by a hail of light arrows raining down from behind. They came from Irina, who had spread her golden wings wide. Imbued with purifying power, even a grazing shot from those arrows would sap a target's will to fight.
My high-speed swordplay, Xenovia's raw destructive force, and Irina's long-range support interspersed with her own mid-range strikes—this three-person combination was a tactic we had developed specifically to beat Mr. Maurice in our sparring matches. We were confident that this strategy, designed to cover each other's blind spots, was top-tier.
Yet, Vals's avatar dodged every single assault with a cool, unbothered expression.
"How about THIS?!"
Visible frustration painted on her face, Xenovia channeled a massive surge of aura into Durandal and swung it in a sweeping horizontal arc. Her destructive output right now carried Mr. Maurice's personal seal of approval. Even if an enemy tried to guard it, they would be flattened by the sheer weight of the impact.
And yet, facing that incoming slash, Vals's avatar—
"You're putting too much shoulder into it. Your power flow is completely disrupted."
He stopped it head-on.
And he did it... using nothing more than his fingertips.
"Wha—?!"
Even Xenovia couldn't hide her utter shock, coming to a dead stop. Or rather, she was too stunned to move.
Grabbing the frozen Xenovia by her arm, the avatar swept her through the air in a fluid arc and slammed her hard into the dirt.
"Gah...!"
"Xenovia! Why you...!"
Irina charged forward, summoning a dense ring of light arrows around her. The projectiles shot out at blistering speed, aiming to impale the avatar.
However, the arrows never reached him.
Before they could hit, Vals's avatar crushed them in mid-air with his bare hand.
"No way...?! How?!"
"Your purifying power is troublesome, I'll give you that. But as long as it doesn't make direct contact, it's harmless. If I simply crush it with superior force, this is the result."
A dense aura oozed from his open hand. He had completely overpowered Irina's magic using sheer, unadulterated force...
Just then, a terrifying surge of energy reverberated behind us.
I whipped around to see Xenovia raising Durandal and Excalibur in a crossed stance toward the sky, channeling a monumental amount of aura into the blades! The blue flame aura burned hotter and brighter by the second, piercing the sky above! The ground beneath Xenovia couldn't withstand the output; the earth caved in, carving out a massive crater beneath her feet.
Xenovia let out a roaring battle cry:
"If you can read our minds, then all I have to do is hit you with an attack you can't dodge! If you're going to overpower us with brute force, I'll just top it! CROSS CRISIS!"
In an instant, an overwhelming shockwave of holy energy unleashed! The downward slash of blue fire cleaved through the air and space itself, tearing straight toward Vals's avatar! It was without a doubt the absolute strongest attack Xenovia could muster in her current state.
Just as she had declared, the unleashed Cross Crisis was far too massive to be evaded. No matter how well he could read minds, dodging it was physically impossible.
"Impressive. Indeed, dodging this is out of the question. In that case, I will simply neutralize it head-on."
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