In this battle, Rias truly went all out. She even pushed past her limits.
She knew exactly what kind of opponent she was facing. There was no way she could afford to hold back. The moment the fight began, she unleashed everything. Her demonic power exploded outward, and the Power of Destruction surged like a dam bursting open, transforming into a relentless barrage of demonic bullets that shot toward Leo.
The scene looked a lot like when Vali Lucifer had overwhelmed Leo with his own barrage. The difference was scale. Vali's blasts were like artillery shells, raining down densely enough to level a city. Rias's, on the other hand, were only softball-sized, but there were countless of them, fired like a machine gun.
Each bullet carried the Power of Destruction. In sheer presence, her assault was even more overwhelming than Vali's. Every single shot contained terrifyingly concentrated demonic power. One alone would be enough to put an ordinary High-Class Devil on the defensive. With this many concentrated into a single attack, anything below High-Class Devil level would be wiped out in an instant.
Unfortunately for her, Leo was her opponent.
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!"
Explosions tore through the sky above the wasteland.
Leo's response was simple. Several magic circles unfolded before him like the muzzles of cannons, firing demonic bullets of their own. His shots collided with Rias's midair.
Each impact triggered another explosion. The sky filled with continuous blasts like a string of firecrackers. The atmosphere trembled, shockwaves and fierce winds whipping across the battlefield.
The turbulence didn't stay in the air. It crashed down to the ground, stirring up thick sandstorms. For a moment, the entire wasteland looked like it had been swallowed by a natural disaster.
"Haah!"
Rias cried out, spreading her hands. Several magic circles spun into existence, stacking atop one another. A staggering amount of demonic power gathered within them before erupting into a roaring torrent. It devoured the incoming bullets and blasted straight at Leo.
Even he raised a brow.
"Well, damn. The Power of Destruction really is something."
Wherever the torrent passed, everything vanished. The demonic bullets it swallowed were erased. Even the air, the sand, the debris, everything in its path was obliterated without a trace, as if it had never existed.
That was the tyranny of the Power of Destruction. It didn't matter what the target was. Without sufficient strength to resist, it would be destroyed instantly, leaving nothing behind.
It was because of this trait that Sirzechs had risen to the position of the strongest Maou. His very being was a manifestation of Destruction. In his true "Destruction Form," the quality of his demonic power surpassed that of the former Maou Lucifer tenfold, enough to intimidate even chief gods.
Rias wasn't at that level. But she had inherited the same trait. Even a tiny demonic bullet from her could completely annihilate a powerful opponent in an instant. Among High-Class Devils, she was almost unmatched.
Sona Sitri was no match for her.
And before awakening Zenith Tempest, the second-strongest Longinus in the world, Leo himself would have been crushed if he had faced her.
In the original story, anyone on Rias's level could hardly defeat her in a one-on-one battle. Even Riser only survived by relying on his Immortal Body to ignore the effects of Destruction. Without cheating abilities or a higher rank, no one stood a chance.
Sirzechs had even said that purely in terms of destructive power, Rias might surpass him in the future. He was a technique-oriented devil. She was pure power.
Her future ultimate technique, Extinguished Star, was something even Maou-Class beings would avoid. If it weren't so difficult to control, she would've already risen beyond High-Class Devil.
She hadn't reached that level yet, but Leo could already tell.
If he didn't increase his output, didn't raise his demonic bullets to a level that threatened an Ultimate-Class Devil, he wouldn't be able to stop hers. That alone proved how overwhelming Destruction was against opponents of the same tier.
But if your level surpassed hers?
Blocking it became much easier.
Take Kokabiel, for example. He had blocked Rias's full-powered attack with one hand, even when she had been boosted by Issei's Boosted Gear.
Leo's strength far exceeded Kokabiel's. Even without using a Sacred Gear, he stood on the same level. Facing Rias without Boosted Gear enhancement, there was no way he would perform worse.
So he simply raised a hand toward the incoming torrent.
"Boom!"
The massive stream of demonic power slammed into his palm, its force raging like it meant to burn him to ashes.
The scarlet energy lashed wildly, like a ferocious beast trying to devour him whole.
To withstand it, Leo's output rose fully to the level of an Ultimate-Class Devil.
Then he clenched his fist.
"Bang!"
The enormous torrent shattered in his grasp, as if a dragon made of demonic power had been crushed effortlessly.
"What?!"
Rias's expression shifted.
Leo gave her no time to react. The magic circles before him rotated and overlapped just as hers had. A massive torrent of demonic power roared toward her.
In that instant, the gap between them became painfully obvious.
Watching from the sidelines, Sona immediately noticed the difference. Leo stacked multiple magic circles with casual ease. Rias had needed to shout and charge up. He did it like lifting something light.
That made sense.
Before awakening the trait of Servant Conversion, Leo had known his talent wasn't on the level of prodigies like Rias. He had only barely become a High-Class Devil at eighteen. So he had poured his efforts into refining his control.
If Rias was power-oriented, Sirzechs technique-oriented, and Cao Cao ultra technique-oriented,
Then before awakening Servant Conversion, Leo had also been technique-focused. Now, he possessed both power and technique in equal measure.
Especially after repeatedly receiving reinforcement and technique feedback from Zenith Tempest, his control over his own strength had reached a level of effortless mastery.
This exchange wasn't just power domination.
It was technical domination, too.
"Boom!!!"
The torrent smashed into the magic circles Rias hastily raised in defense. One layer after another shattered before the blast struck her directly.
She was flung backward from the explosion, smoke rising from her body. Her skin was scorched gray-black, and she coughed up blood.
Her clothes fared no better. Burned and torn apart in an instant, they left far more exposed than they should have.
"It's not over yet!"
Rias ignored her appearance entirely. Scarlet demonic power burned in her eyes as red aura erupted around her. With a sweeping motion, she hurled two massive demonic bullets, one after the other, twisting together as they spiraled toward Leo.
He moved to catch them the same way.
But just before reaching him, the two bullets collided midair and exploded right in front of his face.
"Trying that, huh?"
He spread one of his devil wings in front of himself, shielding against the blast and the chaotic shockwave of demonic power. Then he reached toward the heart of the explosion.
"Whoosh!"
A tiny demonic bullet shot out from within, aimed straight at his head, subtle and almost impossible to detect.
If he hadn't activated Magic Detection beforehand, he might have missed it.
But since he had noticed it,
He caught it in one hand and crushed it without harm.
"Even that doesn't work...?!"
Rias bit her lip.
Before she could rally herself for another attack, Leo moved.
He stepped forward as if walking on air.
The next instant, he vanished, like he had dissolved into the atmosphere itself.
Rias's heart lurched.
Before she could even react, he stepped out from the air behind her, as though emerging from nowhere.
"All right. Let's call it here for now."
Leo patted her shoulder lightly, smiling.
She went completely silent.
Sona was just as stunned.
"What... was that just now?"
As an observer, Sona could say with certainty. It wasn't speed. It wasn't teleportation through a magic circle.
He had truly merged with the air. His demonic power blended into the atmosphere, as if his entire body had dispersed and fused with it, only to re-form behind Rias.
It wasn't a Magic Formula. It wasn't some unknown technique.
And it definitely wasn't something Leo had possessed before.
Even Sona, who knew quite a bit about him, was shaken.
Rias fell silent for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
"As I thought. Beating you right now is nothing but a pipe dream."
"You already knew that, didn't you?" Leo replied bluntly. "You were prepared for this. No need to sigh."
"That's true."
She steadied herself and turned to face him.
"So that was...?"
"More or less." Leo didn't go into too much detail. "Zenith Tempest has two fundamental abilities: control over weather, and control over natural attributes."
"In the past, I mostly used it to manipulate earth, water, wind, and fire. But that wasn't Zenith Tempest's limit. It was mine."
"Its ability is to dominate natural attributes, not just release natural power. So as long as my mastery is high enough, merging myself with the wind attribute like I just did is possible."
That was how he had blended into the atmosphere and appeared behind her.
Sona's instincts had been right. He had dispersed into the air itself, more precisely, into the wind.
Wind was part of the atmosphere. The two were inseparable.
If he wanted to, he could now merge with fire, sink into water, or disappear into the earth.
He had developed this technique while training alone in the harsh environments of the Ancient Battlefield at the border of the Eligos Territory, fully experiencing the ever-changing nature of the elements.
The original host of Zenith Tempest, Dulio Gesualdo, had created a technique called Speranza Bolla di Sapone, which evoked precious memories in others. Leo hadn't managed to replicate that.
So he created something new instead.
He named it:
"Nature's Hope."
When activated, he could transform into natural energy itself.
In simple terms, it was elementalization.
"That's seriously impressive."
Rias let out a breath of admiration after hearing his explanation.
Leo cleared his throat. His gaze flicked over her once before he spoke.
"You might want to change your clothes first."
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You can read up to chapter 227 on patreon.com/NiaXD.