Finn knew he had evolved, yet even he hadn't fully anticipated just how utterly absolute his metamorphosis would be. Through his connection to his alternate self—the Suzuki residing in the Tensura universe—he had tapped into the fundamental laws of that world, acquiring the unique trait of transcendent evolution.
Still, as majestic as his True Satan form was, the massive, asymmetrical horns and the heavy crown were a bit too cumbersome for casual conversation.
With a simple thought, Finn retracted his overwhelming Demonic Power. The terrifying raven wings folded and vanished into his back. The obsidian horns melted away, and his burning amber eyes cooled back to their normal, lazy state. As his aura receded, the localized solar eclipse that had plunged Kuoh Academy into suffocating darkness finally shattered.
The first warm, golden rays of the morning sun broke over the horizon, washing over the blood-stained courtyard.
The night of the summit had been impossibly long, filled with slaughter, betrayals, and apocalyptic standoffs. Feeling the gentle warmth of the sunrise against their cold skin, the surviving faction leaders and Finn's peerage finally let out a collective, shuddering sigh of relief. It was over. The nightmare was finally over.
"Oh, right."
Finn casually clapped his hands together, suddenly remembering a lingering piece of business. He turned his lazy gaze toward the silver-haired Heavenly Dragon. "Thank you for watching my back earlier, Vali. As promised... do you want to have that fight now?"
"....."
Oh, God! Please, no!
Every single onlooker, from Azazel to Sirzechs, instantly paled. Their faces contorted in absolute misery. They practically prayed to the heavens that Vali wouldn't do something astronomically stupid right now.
But Finn was a man of his word. Vali had stepped up to protect him while he was vulnerable in the shadows, so Finn was fully prepared to grant the battle maniac his requested duel. Frankly, Finn considered it a good warm-up. He hadn't truly tested the absolute ceiling of his new capabilities yet.
He knew perfectly well that if he had fought Lord Indra, he had a very high probability of winning. However, the collateral damage would have been apocalyptic. According to Hindu mythology, deities like Indra wielded weapons capable of casually wiping out the earth—such as the Brahmastra, a celestial weapon eerily similar to modern nuclear warheads. In fact, when J. Robert Oppenheimer invented the atomic bomb, he famously quoted the sacred Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Compared to Indra's indiscriminate, nuclear-style destruction, Finn felt his own power was much "kinder." He didn't need to physically obliterate a country to win a fight. But that didn't make him any less dangerous. His evolution had granted him access to something that broke the fundamental laws of the DxD universe: an Ultimate Skill.
"Give me your all," Finn said smoothly, raising an eyebrow at Vali. He fully intended to use his new abilities to honor the Heavenly Dragon's resolve.
"Wait! Wait!"
Vali suddenly threw his hands up, taking a hurried step backward. His draconic instincts were screaming at him. Even though Finn had retracted his True Satan form, Vali could feel a terrifying, bottomless singularity of energy brewing just beneath Finn's skin.
"What's wrong?" Finn tilted his head, a teasing smirk on his lips. "Don't you want to taste exactly what I've cooked up?"
"I mean... I just want to see how huge the gap between us is right now," Vali backpedaled smoothly, desperately trying to salvage his pride without sounding like a coward. "Look, I'm entirely drained from fighting Cao Cao. This isn't my optimum state. When I'm back at one hundred percent, that is when I will officially challenge you. But for now... just show me a glimpse of your new power. That way, I know exactly how much of a gap I need to close."
Vali definitely wasn't terrified. He was just being... highly pragmatic. He needed a visual benchmark so he could train efficiently and eventually defeat Finn! Yes, that was it.
"..."
The courtyard was dead silent.
Azazel, however, let out a massive, highly exaggerated sigh of relief, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead. Thank God the kid actually grew a brain, the Governor thought. As Vali's foster father, Azazel was just incredibly grateful he wouldn't have to scrape Vali's pulverized remains off the concrete this morning.
But Vali's request also sparked a burning curiosity among the faction leaders. Exactly how strong had Finn become? Was there a way to measure the power of a True Satan?
Finn thought about it for a moment, then shrugged lazily. "Sure. That works for me. I'll show you just a fraction of my new power, then."
"Go ahead," Vali said, dropping into a defensive stance. "I'm ready!"
Vali took a deep breath, violently urging Albion and the lingering consciousnesses of the past White Dragon Emperors to flood his veins with Demonic Power. He reinforced his body and his mind, fully prepared to resist whatever catastrophic physical attack or blinding magical burst Finn was about to unleash!
Everyone knew Finn's standard combat profile: incomprehensible physical strength, god-tier durability, and absolute stealth via presence concealment. The third was the most troublesome. If you couldn't perceive him, you couldn't fight him.
But now that he had evolved, what terrifying new form did his stealth take?
Finn didn't move a muscle. He simply whispered two words.
"Absolute Deprivation."
It was a sub-skill born from his newly acquired Ultimate Skill: [Erebus, Lord of the Void].
As a descendant of Balaam, Finn was supposed to eventually evolve into a standard Devil Lord. But by ruthlessly consuming the souls of the Old Satan Faction, the infinite void energy of Ophis, and the essence of the Khaos Brigade, he had violently transcended into a True Satan.
When Finn activated the skill, he didn't just turn himself invisible.
He instantly, completely erased the very concept of senses from the surrounding world.
SNAP.
For every single person on the battlefield—Maous, Archangels, and Heavenly Dragons alike—the universe simply ceased to exist. Except for the women belonging to Finn's peerage, who were deliberately bypassed by the skill, everyone else was violently plunged into an absolute, inescapable sensory void.
There was no light. There was no darkness. There was no sound, no feeling of the wind, no sensation of the ground beneath their feet. They couldn't feel their own bodies. They couldn't detect a single drop of magic or demonic aura.
They were trapped in a suffocating, soundless, sightless abyss of absolute nothingness. They were entirely powerless, stripped down to bare, floating consciousnesses waiting for an executioner they couldn't even perceive.
"What do you think?"
Finn's casual, lazy voice suddenly echoed in their ears, instantly shattering the void.
The morning sun flooded back into their retinas. The sound of the wind returned. Sirzechs, Azazel, and Michael stumbled, gasping for air as their equilibrium violently snapped back into place.
Even though the skill had only been active for less than a microsecond, the sheer, primal horror of existing in an absolute void was vividly branded into their souls.
Vali stood perfectly still, his eyes wide, a single drop of cold sweat rolling down his cheek. He slowly let out a trembling breath, lowering his fists.
"I lost."