After getting blown back by Judas, Olivas quickly regrouped with Revis who stood off to the side.
"What are you doing standing around like an idiot? If you don't want me to devour your magic stone, stop being useless this instant."
Olivas snapped, bearing down on Revis with a suffocating pressure and a gaze full of contempt.
Revis nearly choked. She took a step back, gritting her teeth.
She shot a glare in his direction.
"What? Got something to say?"
Olivas grinned.
His right arm flickered and his hand closed around Revis' throat, lifting her off the ground.
Revis struggled, clawing at his grip as she tried to break free.
Seeing that expression on her face gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.
She already knew what this was.
Olivas was petty and vindictive... and this was his way of getting back at her for how she had treated him before all of this.
"No... I will... do what... you ask."
She forced the words out with difficulty.
For now, the dynamic between them had shifted, and she had no choice but to swallow her pride.
Olivas snorted and released her, shoving her roughly aside.
"Good. While I deal with Judas Spade, go handle the rest of them and take back the jewel they've stolen."
Revis steadied herself, biting down the anger that surged up her throat, and picked up her sword.
Her gaze swept over Alise and the others.
"Captain, what do we do?"
A member of the Hermes Familia asked as Revis began to close the distance.
Asfi felt a bead of cold sweat trail down her back.
"We fight. Everyone, provide support to Scarlet Harnel and Yamato Rindou."
She said as she drew her weapon.
"Lulune, if you can manage it, try to wake Vanargand. We need every bit of combat power we have for this."
She added, glancing toward the brown-skinned therianthrope, who responded with a sharp salute.
『Physical Boost』
『Strengthening Magic』
Judas cast both spells without a word.
A soft glow washed over the group as the magic took hold.
It felt as though strength had been poured directly into their bodies.
'This magic...'
Asfi clenched her fist once and felt the difference immediately.
She gave Judas a quiet nod of appreciation.
Alise and Kaguya, already familiar with the feeling, offered brief words of thanks.
Lefiya turned to look at him with open admiration in her eyes... but by then, Revis had already arrived and the two sides collided.
"Everyone, battle formation!"
Asfi shouted and threw herself into the fight alongside her familia.
While that side erupted into chaos, Judas hadn't once taken his eyes off Olivas.
Olivas stared back with a wide, crooked smile.
"Ah... while the weaklings sort each other out, I hope you won't mind me returning the favor and ripping you in half... just like what you did to me earlier, Judas Spade."
"You can try."
Judas replied without changing his expression.
"But you will fail."
"Heh... let's see how calm you are when I'm finished with you."
Olivas said as his figure vanished.
The speed he displayed far outstripped anything Judas had seen from a Level 6 up to this point.
Even so, Judas read the trajectory and stepped clear of the punch Olivas had hurled at him.
"You caught me off guard the last time. That won't happen again."
He raised his arm as a crimson magic circle blazed to life in front of him.
『Infernal Barrage』
The circle expanded violently as torrents of compressed fire erupted forward like a volley of meteors, each blast tearing through the air and warping the space around it.
The terrain behind Olivas was reduced to ash and splintered debris in seconds.
"Tsk!"
Olivas clicked his tongue and twisted mid-motion, his body blurring as he threaded between the explosions with inhuman agility.
Even so, he wasn't fast enough to clear all of them.
The left half of his body was swallowed by the flames.
When he emerged on the other side, the scorched half of his body looked no different from charcoal.
Burns that would have made anyone else scream and crumple had barely drawn a reaction.
He was grinning.
"Hahaha! Is that it!? You'll have to do better than that!"
He drove his foot into the ground, shattering the stone beneath him, and closed the distance in an instant.
Judas' eyes narrowed.
Olivas' fist came down with the weight of a mountain.
Judas threw up a barrier and crossed his arms, bracing.
BOOM.
The impact detonated outward.
A shockwave tore across the battlefield as Judas was driven back several meters, his boots carving deep grooves into the floor before he found his footing.
"Oh? You didn't break. Impressive."
Olivas cracked his neck.
Judas exhaled slowly.
"Your strength is unstable. And it's not just your body... your mind is deteriorating as well."
He said, his voice completely level.
Olivas' grin twitched.
"...Hah?"
The muscles in his face spasmed.
Black veins pulsed violently beneath his skin.
"Deteriorating?"
He repeated, his voice dropping for a split second before climbing back up into unhinged laughter.
"You think I don't know that!?"
His aura erupted chaotically.
His right arm ballooned at an alarming rate and one side of his face began to bubble and shift beneath the skin like something was pressing outward from within.
His body was growing more grotesque by the second and it was plain for anyone to see.
"I don't care... as long as I crush every last person who ever looked down on me beneath my feet!"
He screamed and launched himself forward.
'At the very least, he has without a doubt reached the realm of Level 7.'
Judas thought as he assessed his opponent.
'Even so... compared to the death knight and Alfia, he is nowhere near the same league.'
Olivas reappeared from above, both fists driving down in a devastating overhead smash.
Judas met him head on.
Fist met fist.
Shockwave after shockwave tore outward from each exchange, the pantry shuddering around them as the two clashed without letting up.
---
+15 chapters at patreon.com/drdedot