"Is that the 'Zenith Tempest'?"
Feeling the fluctuations of a Sacred Gear permeating the entire space, Ram's expression grew uncharacteristically grave as she stood far from the center of the battlefield.
"W-What incredible power—!"
Rem couldn't help but take a few steps back, a bead of sweat trickling down her face.
The two sisters had never seen Leon use the "Zenith Tempest" before. Even Ravel had only seen him demonstrate its power once when she first became his subordinate, but at that time, Leon had mainly shown the ability of the Balance Breaker and hadn't actually engaged in combat. Therefore, this was effectively the first time Ravel had witnessed Leon using the "Zenith Tempest" in a real fight, and the shock it caused the three of them was significant.
After all, even without using the power of the "Zenith Tempest," Leon was now a genuine ten-winged devil. When dealing with Rem in her demon form, he didn't need a Sacred Gear at all; he could take her down with a single finger. Such strength was already astounding.
But now, facing Miyamoto Musashi, the strongest devil swordsman, Leon had released the power of the "Zenith Tempest" without hesitation. This naturally caused deep ripples in the hearts of Ravel and the others as they saw him give his all for the first time.
Only Yukinoshita Yukino and her group immediately and keenly sensed a change the moment Leon unleashed the power of the "Zenith Tempest."
"Is it my imagination?" Kasumigaoka Utaha said with some hesitation. "Why does it feel like his 'Zenith Tempest' is completely different from before?"
Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuuki Asuna, and Shiina Mahiru immediately looked at each other.
It wasn't an imagination. In fact, they had all detected an unusual change.
One of the abilities of the "Zenith Tempest" was to dominate the weather. Every time Leon used the power of this Sacred Gear, the sky would always be the first to react, being altered by the power to become thick with dark clouds and crackling with lightning.
By leveraging the altered weather, Leon's momentum when releasing natural forces would increase several times over. Whether performing pinpoint strikes or area-of-effect attacks, he could execute them swiftly in tandem with the changing climate, achieving an effect where one plus one was greater than two.
In the past, Leon could at most use the "Zenith Tempest" to dominate the weather in the sky; he couldn't achieve a total, fundamental change of the atmosphere.
But now, Yukino and the others keenly felt that it wasn't just the ceiling—which had replaced the sky—that was being dominated, but the climate within the entire space was shifting, becoming turbulent and oppressive.
"This is—?"
What Yukino and the others could perceive, Miyamoto Musashi naturally could as well, causing her expression to change slightly.
She found that the air currents had become irregular, and the temperature was dropping rapidly without her noticing. Her body heat was dissipating fast, her breath was turning into white mist, and her breathing was actually becoming labored.
"Something's wrong!"
Sensing the anomaly, Musashi's heart tightened. She abruptly raised her blade, preparing to strike.
"Don't even think about it!"
However, Leon had been watching Musashi's movements closely. Seeing that she had noticed something, he immediately stopped concealing his intent and activated a power he had been holding in reserve.
Crackle, crackle, crackle—
In the next second, accompanied by a bone-chilling sound of freezing, Musashi was horrified to find that ice was appearing on the surface of her body at a visible rate. Frost began to cling to her, and a thick layer of ice gradually formed over her limbs, binding her body.
Seeing this, how could Musashi not understand?
The climate of the space she inhabited had been completely seized by Leon. He had quietly altered the atmospheric temperature, secretly draining her stamina while laying a trap to silently freeze her body, nearly causing her to lose the battle through a moment of negligence.
"Boom!"
Having understood the situation, Musashi released a powerful sword pressure without hesitation, causing a Nioh statue to form and loom behind her.
"Evil be smitten!"
With Musashi's shout, the Nioh statue behind her raised its blade and slashed down, blowing away the frost and ice from her body.
"Good lad! I almost fell for your trick!"
Musashi shook out her body and, with the Nioh statue on her back, charged toward Leon, who was flying in mid-air with outspread wings.
"Isn't this what you taught me? All's fair in war!"
Leon retorted while extending both hands, directly releasing two bolts of lightning. The electricity pierced through the air with incredible speed, lashing toward the charging Musashi.
Musashi raised her blade to strike, intending as always to break Leon's attack with a slash. Unfortunately for her, Leon had long since learned his lesson and wouldn't let her have her way so easily.
Under his control, the two lightning bolts suddenly curved the moment the blade struck, acting like two thunder serpents to nimbly bypass the edge of the blade and strike the stunned Musashi squarely.
"Bang!"
The lightning struck Musashi's body directly, sending her flying.
During this interval, Leon pressed his advantage and extended his hands again. This time, he didn't release lightning but two streams of flame. As they were projected, the flames twisted around each other, instantly transforming into a vast sea of fire that shrouded Musashi from all sides.
"Ugh—!"
Musashi was still enveloped by streaks of electricity, making her feel as though her entire body had been numbed; every movement brought agonizing pain.
But her stubborn willpower allowed her to endure. Ignoring her physical damage, she raised her blade high and slashed down.
"Boom!"
A single strike capable of subduing time and space instantly severed the incoming sea of fire, cutting the massive flames in two—a truly spectacular scene.
To Musashi's shock, the severed fire did not dissipate as it had in the past. Instead, it suddenly distorted, rapidly shrinking into a ball before exploding right in front of her.
"Boom!!!"
A terrifying firestorm bloomed in the basement like a solar flare, sweeping through the entire space. The girls who had already retreated far from the battlefield couldn't help but scream as they were blown back by the oncoming wave of fire.
"This is way too dangerous—!?"
Utaha shouted while unhesitatingly deploying a barrier around her group. She didn't stop at one layer but stacked several, protecting all the girls within.
Outside the barrier, things weren't as fortunate. First, the temperature of the entire space skyrocketed, turning everything red. Then, the atmosphere distorted, creating a phenomenon of total chaos. Finally, the floor began to smoke from the heat, and the barrier enveloping the entire basement was forced to manifest as a transparent shield, desperately blocking the exploding flames to prevent them from rushing outside.
Amidst this extreme heat and terrifying explosion, only Leon remained suspended high in the air. The flames naturally bypassed him, allowing him to soar there unaffected, his commanding posture looking like that of a god.
"Cough, cough—"
Musashi was under the protection of the Nioh statue, her body releasing sword pressure like a storm. While she pushed back the incoming flames, she couldn't help but sink to one knee, coughing up several flecks of blood.
Looking closely, Musashi's clothes had become tattered, and her skin showed traces of scorching, indicating she hadn't completely withstood the previous move. Of course, even so, it was enough to be shocking.
"She can even survive that? A Demon King's subordinate is just too ridiculous," Leon grumbled.
"Who's the ridiculous one here?" Musashi stood up with difficulty, enduring the pain as she gave a bitter smile. "It's only been a month, and yet you've become this strong. That's the most ridiculous thing, isn't it?"
She remembered that just a month ago, Leon was still her subordinate in combat even when using every trick in his book. No matter how he wielded the "Zenith Tempest"—the world's second-strongest Longinus—he couldn't avoid being suppressed by her blade, forced to admit defeat time and again with a reluctant expression.
And yet, in just one short month, he was actually able to suppress her unilaterally? This change was simply too immense.
"Did you think I only went to the Underworld for a month of training?" Leon looked down at the battered Musashi and smiled calmly. "Don't forget, the greatest gain of my trip wasn't a month of training, but three subordinates who are exceptionally outstanding in various ways."
One was the eldest daughter of the Phenex family, and two were orphans of the Oni race. The former was an elite even among mid-tier potential, while the latter two possessed high-tier potential comparable to Longinus holders. Having taken these three as subordinates, Leon had received feedback through the "Peerage" trait, making him incomparable to who he was a month ago.
Now, he was not only a ten-winged devil, but his bloodline had become purer than even a Demon King's. As a creature of the devil race, he was approaching perfection. Even the "Zenith Tempest" had undergone several enhancements. How could he still be that young master who was easily subdued by Musashi?
Perhaps Leon, who had only just broken through to the level of a ten-winged devil, still had a significant gap compared to Musashi, who was only one step away from the Demon King class—not to mention Musashi had that blade capable of subduing time and space. With that swordsmanship, Musashi probably wouldn't have much to fear even facing a Demon King-class existence, let alone a newly ascended ten-winged devil.
But the ten-winged devil level was only Leon's most superficial strength. The "Zenith Tempest," which now didn't pale in comparison to the "True Longinus," was enough to overturn the power gap between Leon and Musashi.
Thus, the strength dynamic between Leon and Musashi had achieved a reversal. Now, the strong one was no longer Musashi, but Leon.
The subsequent battle between the two proved this point.
As if to thoroughly solidify his victory, Leon launched a comprehensive assault on Musashi without showing the slightest mercy. The figure bearing ten devil wings remained suspended there, unmoving, yet every movement of his hands and feet unleashed power enough to shake heaven and earth.
A torrential rain of lightning, a sky-covering sea of flames, a hurricane that blew everything away, frost that froze all, earth and stone that blotted out the sun, and surging floods—various natural disasters comparable to the forces of nature lashed out at Musashi one after another. She was like a fragile boat in a storm, constantly struggling to hold on, teetering on the edge of danger.
It wasn't Musashi's first time facing this disaster-like power. In the past, she could easily subdue it with a single stroke, severing the natural forces. But now, she couldn't do it.
Leon had gained a very profound understanding of the "Zenith Tempest" and could control its abilities with total ease. Whether it was the dominated weather or the natural forces, they seemed as vast and boundless as divine wrath, yet Leon commanded them with a lightness and precision that rendered Musashi's sublime swordsmanship useless.
Leon focused on only one thing: avoiding Musashi's blade and not letting her hit him. Not only himself, but the attacks he released followed the same principle. As long as she didn't land a hit, Musashi couldn't suppress the power of the "Zenith Tempest" and could only be driven into a corner by the natural forces.
Therefore, whether it was lightning, flames, storms, frost, earth, or floods, under Leon's manipulation, they would all bypass the edge of Musashi's blade when she swung, striking directly at her person.
Lightning could curve, flames could be compressed before exploding, storms could dismantle into wind blades, frost could turn into invisible freezing air to strike from an angle, even the easily targeted earth and stone could turn into a sky of flying debris, and floods could transform into countless liquid spears. It was impossible to defend against it all.
"This is truly—terrible!"
Musashi was already gasping for breath, her body covered in wounds and her clothes in rags. Even a streak of blood trickled down from her forehead, staining one side of her face and forcing her to close one eye. She looked extremely pathetic.
"I've got you!"
Leon raised a single hand, lightning and flames emerging in his palm, entwining with each other and making the atmosphere wail. The entwined lightning and fire quickly surged out, roaring toward Musashi.
The light of thunder and fire illuminated everything.
"No! It's not over yet!"
An obsession with victory that had reached her very marrow, unchanged for hundreds of years, erupted in Musashi's single open eye in the form of a terrifying glint.
"Since I can't land a hit, I'll just slash through everything!"
Behind Musashi, the massive Nioh statue stood tall.
"One Strike, Three Bows! Breakthrough the Infinite to reach Zero!"
The Nioh statue behind Musashi raised its blade high, its body emitting a terrifying sword pressure.
"Shatter!"
The blade that severed all things fell ruthlessly, cutting through the entire world—