My fist shattered his armor, striking his bare skin directly. Listening to the heavy impacts, I rained down blow after blow! Facing a barrage where every single hit carried lethal power, Asem—
"...Ha! Not bad at all...!"
He spat blood, a smile spreading across his face.
Asem pulled back his trapped right hand to throw off my stance, then drove his left fist directly into my face. The blow shattered my helmet, rattling my brain!
Initiating his counterattack, Asem relentlessly targeted my face. I answered in kind, striking his face with everything I had. Whenever Asem tried to weave magic amid the brawl, I used the Agios Bits to destroy his circles; whenever I tried to set up an attack with the bits, the sinister butterfly wings on his back blocked them. The instant an Agios Bit touched his wings, it crumbled like sand.
If an Agios Bit broke, I just had to reconstruct it, but the same applied to him—if I destroyed a magic circle, he simply deployed another. Amid this chaotic exchange, we continued pouring every ounce of strength into our fists to bring down the opponent before us.
"RAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"Guh...! HAAAAAAA!"
"Gah... Damn it...!"
As I gathered aura to launch another counter, Asem grinned.
"Heh... heheh... I don't mind a bloody brawl, but I suppose I prefer watching them... It's complete, Hero."
"What...?"
Just as I questioned his words, I suddenly sensed a massive surge of energy directly above us...
"What the hell is that...? When did he make something like that?!"
Looking up, a massive sphere spanning over a hundred meters in diameter hovered in the sky. It was a concentration of energy far deadlier than the one I had been trapped in earlier. If that thing dropped, everything in the surrounding area would undoubtedly be erased... including me. To think he managed to construct a mass like that while trading blows with me...! What kind of formula did he use to build it without me noticing at all?!
Taking advantage of my shock, Asem broke free from the restraint on his right hand, leaped into the air, and repositioned himself directly under the sphere. Looking down at me, he spoke:
"Heheh... This is the absolute maximum firepower I can produce. Touch it, and nothing will remain."
Asem pointed his index finger toward the sky, then swung it downward. Following his gesture, the massive sphere began its descent. The overwhelming pressure radiating from it felt like it would crush me where I stood...!
Then, as if giving me a firm push on the back, Ddraig spoke up:
"This is the climax, Issei!"
I know! Let's go, Ddraig!
"Boost Eclipse!!!!"
As the voice echoed from the gauntlet's jewel, the two cannon barrels folded on my back swung forward beneath my arms. Locking my aim onto the descending sphere and Asem himself, I channeled my power to the absolute limit.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEXA!!!!"
The gauntlet's voice chimed frantically as an absurd amount of energy charged into the muzzles! It was insane... I could feel a terrifying amount of power gathering!
With this—
"We'll blow the whole thing away!"
"Eclipse Blaster!!!!!!!!!!"
Fired simultaneously from both cannons, a colossal beam of interwoven crimson and rainbow light surged upward! The high-output torrent of light collided head-on with the pitch-black sphere! The forces were evenly matched...!
"Nnnrghhhhhhhh...!"
"To think you can withstand this! However—"
Asem raised both hands toward the sky, gathering energy above his head once more. What materialized was an exact replica of the massive sphere I was currently blocking with my blast...
"Making another one so easily is just cheating...!"
"It's hardly easy. It takes a toll on my power as well."
Glancing up through the blast, I could see Asem's face had visibly paled. He was pushing himself to the absolute limit, too.
Still, that didn't change the fact that I was in deep trouble! Dealing with one was hard enough, and now a second one was coming down! Damn it all!
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEXA!!!!"
As I pushed my power higher, I drew in the surrounding ki, rapidly compressing and circulating it through my body. The refined ki pushed far past my limits, transforming into a force that felt nearly infinite! Being able to pull off something this reckless must be thanks to the blessing of the Dragon God living in our house!
Ddraig confirmed my thought:
"Most likely. Right now, you carry Ophis's power—her infinity—within you. It's thanks to that that you can raise your power to such heights!"
Seriously?! Which means Asem is going toe-to-toe with me even in a state like this...!
Infinite power... it was reassuring, but my body wouldn't hold out much longer at this rate! Pushing past my limits caused a blood vessel above my eye to burst, staining my vision red...!
"If we're going to finish this, it has to be now! Hang in there, Issei!"
Driven by Ddraig's voice, I funneled all the power bursting inside me straight into the cannons! I had to shatter it with everything we had!
"UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
The surging aura of crimson and rainbow collided with the massive pitch-black spheres raining from the sky. Pushing beyond even the realm of the gods, the full power of both fighters clashed—and everything detonated.
~Afterword Mini-Story~
Irina: "Hey, hey! Anyone want to play the Game of Life?"
Asia: "I'd love to! Xenovia, would you like to join us?"
Xenovia: "Very well. But know this—I do not intend to lose, no matter the game!"
Irina: "Bold words, Xenovia! In that case, the loser has to do a punishment game!"
Issei: "Oh, Game of Life? Count me in!"
Xenovia: "Wha—?! Issei, you're playing too...?"
Issei: "Huh? Is that bad?"
Xenovia: "No... it's just... now I've lost all motivation to win..."
Irina: "EH?! Is the punishment that intense?!"
Issei: "Wait, WHAT?!"
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