Chapter 332. The Sin Archbishop Instantly Slain
「Standing alone to block a Sin Archbishop and steadily maintaining the upper hand—the lovable Emilia and the arrogant Priscilla displayed a combat prowess that was truly heart-shaking.」
「Although he had no spare capacity to specifically check the battle status of the others, Garfiel's peripheral vision still allowed him to sense Priscilla's assured victory.」
「"Dammit…"」
「From between his teeth, from his throat, from his heart, from his soul, from his promise.」
「"Dammit…"」
「The wish to reunite with his mother; the desire to defend the reputation of the Shield of the Sanctuary; the longing for the General to clap him on the shoulder, give him a thumbs-up, and say over and over that he is indeed the best, Garfiel; the need to be worthy of his name; the drive to live up to the trust of Hikigaya Hachiman, who was like an elder brother to him.」
「"Dammit…"」
「From every fiber of his being, he wanted to carry out his promise to the General.」
「His blood... was already boiling, unstoppable!」
「"Dammit... how can I, how could I possibly lose—I am the General's strongest shield, a man among men, Garfiel AHHHHHHH!!"」
「A roar pierced the horizon, shaking the surroundings. His clothes were shredded, blood flowed freely, but the bellowing Garfiel ignored the pain throughout his body. He stepped forward with a crash, taking the initiative to attack the enemy looming before him.」
「The floor tiles beneath his feet crumbled into powder, new wounds were added to his body, and the shields on both arms were on the verge of splitting—yet, in such a state.」
「"OHHHHH!!"」
「The Garfiel who was no longer alone, the Garfiel who had crossed the eternal night—that single punch, imbued with intense power and emotion, rose up like a roaring dragon and struck Kurgan heavily on the chin.」
「Staggering, Kurgan's technique showed a flaw. This deep, vast, and most terrifying enemy in history was actually shaken by the valiant Garfiel.」
「"…Splendid…"」
「A spark of light appeared in the eyes of the corpse-soldier. Kurgan opened his mouth and murmured with sincere emotion—a murmur that was immediately drowned out by Garfiel's meteor-like barrage of consecutive punches.」
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Wilhelm, Julius, the entire Knight Order, and even the martial-spirited soldiers of the Sacred Vollachian Empire all felt a heartfelt sense of solemn respect. They honored this Shield of the Sanctuary who broke through his limits in battle and was able to defeat the previous generation's War God. Even if he wasn't the War God at his absolute zenith, Kurgan was still exceptionally powerful.
"My little brother..." Frederica, who was praying, felt a surge of pride.
"Did you see that, General..." Looking up at the sky, Garfiel trembled with excitement.
"Our Garf-boy..." Not just the Ryuzus, but the demi-human villagers in the Sanctuary who had looked after the young Garfiel were moved.
"My son..." In the Water Gate City, within that happy family, the mother smiled through her tears, while the father and children all felt a profound fondness for Garfiel.
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"La-la~ You meat-scraps, wallowing in your pointless sentimentality—enjoy my Great One's grand gift!"
The tens of thousands of citizens, who had been shocked and inspired by Emilia, Priscilla, and Garfiel, were suddenly jolted by Capella's voice and the sight of the approaching black dragon.
However, they were no longer the cowards Hikigaya Hachiman spoke of, terrified by the Sin Archbishops. Their weapons were all pointed at the culprit, rather than at their own kind in brawls.
"Even if it costs us our lives!" Those who looked up to Garfiel, those who admired Hikigaya Hachiman, and those who dreamed of Reinhard—they roared in unison.
Courage blossomed under Liliana's singing. Though they were afraid—terrified to death, utterly horrified by Capella—courage nonetheless overrode their fear.
"Useless! Useless, useless, useless! Even if you have resolve, you waste-meat scraps still can't scratch a single hair of mine. If you want to blame someone, blame that meat-male, hahaha~ All of you, give me—"
"This ends here."
Capella's sadistic expression and words froze in an instant. Her pupils constricted violently. Almost without thinking, she flapped her wings, intending to squeeze every drop of potential and stamina to turn and flee at maximum speed.
And that was Capella's final thought.
"How... is this possible..."
The last thing she saw was a deluge.
A torrent of scalding, white-hot temperature—because the energy was so expanded and active, it presented as a visible, scorching flood. It filled the entire world, and in an instant, it struck down, melted, and sliced the black dragon into ten million pieces of shredded meat within half a second, before melting them until even ash no longer existed.
There remained only the figure standing in the sky, having drawn the Dragon Sword—the World's Strongest, whose wrath had been ignited by the Sin Archbishops' acts of harming tens of thousands of citizens at will.
Reinhard van Astrea.
Directly in front of him, the sky was clear for miles; the clouds had been melted away. A hollowed-out zone tens of thousands of meters long and at least a hundred meters wide had been carved out, looking as if the world and space itself had been nearly eroded away. Even the surface of the great river outside the Water Gate City had been lowered by a layer from the aftershock.
A standard strike from the World's Strongest holding the Dragon Sword was gifted here to the Sin Archbishop Capella.
Clack.
The Dragon Sword returned to its sheath. Utilizing a Divine Protection he had just requested to lower his speed, Reinhard's toes touched the ground as light as a feather.
This acted as a signal, sending the entire Water Gate City into an uproar. Having survived the disaster, people howled and embraced one another, shouting the name of one of their saviors: Reinhard.
Reinhard only shook his head slightly, then looked up to watch the future.
The moment Hikigaya Hachiman or Lady Anastasia cracked the secret of Regulus's Authority, he would immediately rush to kill Regulus, whom he was currently tracking in real-time using
a new Divine Protection. Until then, he stayed here, waiting to see if Batenkaitos or Sirius would deliver themselves to his doorstep like Capella had.
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「The aged Wilhelm was no longer as powerful as the "Sword Demon" of old, but his wife as a corpse-soldier was also not at her peak. With the assistance of the formidable Ricardo and the three Mimi siblings, Wilhelm pushed forward layer by layer, advancing toward his goal of breaking his wife's limbs to capture her alive.」
「Hikigaya Hachiman, Crusch, Julius, and Al—who had arrived at the City Hall after hearing the broadcast—were the four responsible for holding back the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Batenkaitos.」
「Compared to the other battlefields where the situation was looking excellent, this was currently the only one where Batenkaitos held a complete advantage, leaving the candidate camp struggling merely to survive.」
「Hikigaya Hachiman's relatively weak physical condition meant he couldn't face Batenkaitos head-on. Crusch had the physical stats but lacked the technique. The amnesiac Julius had forgotten his swordsmanship and could only communicate with spirits from a distance to release magic, which couldn't hit Batenkaitos at all.」
「Al's partial-looping Authority required a closed space to function, but he had no ability to lure Batenkaitos into a building. Merely staying alive under Batenkaitos's hands was already difficult enough; he couldn't execute any schemes.」