If he hadn't been able to sense a unique aura, Sathanael would have thought it was a haunting! But ghosts were completely beneath him; they wouldn't just be unable to fight him—they would vanish into thin air the moment they stood before him!
Hum—!
Sensing danger from behind, Sathanael reflexively swung his sword backward. The pitch-black magic sword instantly unleashed a massive crescent-shaped shockwave, destroying everything behind him. The shockwave's momentum didn't slow; it even sliced the Okunoin mansion clean in half, dealing a devastating blow to the century-old building.
But Sathanael knew he hadn't hit the thing hiding in the shadows.
Boom—!
A sound of air breaking came from Sathanael's side. Due to the impact of the explosion and the opponent's excessive speed, he failed to react in time. With a loud crash, Sathanael's side was struck by a massive force, sending him flying instantly into the ruins!
Suzaku leaned against the debris to stand up, her eyes somewhat blank as she watched the flying Sathanael. What exactly had happened? In her perception, everything had occurred in an instant. Had reinforcements from the Five Principal Clans arrived? But no matter how she thought, she couldn't imagine who in the Five Principal Clans could force a Fallen Angel leader to this extent.
Even more confused than Suzaku was Sathanael. He knew the strength of the Five Principal Clans very well. Aside from the Four Gods and Four Fiends, the greatest threat was the gods they worshiped. But as a Fallen Angel leader, he had already made contact with some of those gods after arriving in Tokyo. They had indicated that as long as he didn't cause trouble within their shrines, the local gods wouldn't care what he did.
In contrast, it was the Five Principal Clans who worshiped the gods that were incredibly harsh toward outsiders.
Sathanael stood up. Although the hit to his side was painful—perhaps two ribs were broken—it wasn't a particularly heavy injury. Compared to this, the wounds he suffered during the Great War of the Three Factions were much worse; he had been on the verge of death once but survived.
"Come out! Hiding like a rat in the sewer."
Although the injury wasn't heavy, Sathanael felt he had lost all dignity. As a grand Fallen Angel leader, he was being beaten so miserably by a guy whose face he hadn't even seen.
Despite his success, Rhodes wouldn't be foolish enough to actually show himself. The opponent was a high-level Fallen Angel, likely an old monster who survived the war against Heaven; fighting such an enemy head-on was not a good habit. Therefore, Rhodes relied on "Clock Up" to continuously add injuries to Sathanael's body.
The battle process was roughly as he expected. Even though he was in a state of super acceleration, a Fallen Angel of Sathanael's caliber—even if he couldn't see the figure—could rely on battle intuition and aura perception to let his body react accordingly. While Rhodes had landed several hits, they were mostly light injuries.
Of course, Rhodes didn't think Sathanael was "just okay." The battle had only just begun. With his current physical condition, Rhodes could support a longer duration of Clock Up.
The time to think was only an instant. In Rhodes' vision, the world remained in a slowed state. Sathanael had just stood up, but his eyes had turned blood-red, seemingly looking toward where Rhodes was standing.
Super acceleration wasn't an invincible ability. Even in the Kamen Rider world, there had been monsters or Riders who didn't have super acceleration but could crack an opponent who had it. Of course, there had also been "Kings of Time" who were stopped in time or kicked into the roadside by accelerated enemies.
One advantage of super acceleration was numerical suppression, and the other was the information gap. An endurance match was clearly disadvantageous for Rhodes, so he decided to end the fight as quickly as possible.
In the slowed world, Rhodes appeared beside Sathanael again. He saw from Sathanael's blood-red pupils that the opponent had distinguished his figure. In this slowed world, Sathanael raised his magic sword, barely blocking Rhodes' strike toward his abdomen, but simultaneously, his face took a solid punch from Rhodes.
Since Rhodes didn't hold back, the punch lifted Sathanael's body into the air. But because his time was accelerated, Sathanael was currently flying into the air very slowly.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Rhodes didn't use the Desert Eagle anymore. Against a Fallen Angel leader, the kinetic energy of ordinary firearms could no longer pierce their skin and flesh; even hitting a weak spot would only cause light injuries. Unless it was laser weapons like those used by the mechanical lifeforms in the Ex-Aid world. The technology of the Evil God Legion was much higher than Earth's; compared to the DxD world which developed mythological civilizations, the technology developed by the Evil God was not inferior at all.
Sathanael, launched into the air, had regained his consciousness. He had even clearly seen the person who attacked him. However, while his mind reacted, his body was a full beat behind. In less than a second, aside from blocking lethal blows, countless wounds appeared all over his body. Even a few wings were torn off by Rhodes.
Rhodes, sensing his body reaching its limit, had to end the duration of Clock Up. Although he could push through, it would clearly cause his body to collapse.
"Tch. As expected, without that layer of armor for protection, I'm still too weak." The Rider armors in Kamen Rider Kabuto allowed an ordinary person to endure long periods of Clock Up without effect, which was much easier than Rhodes tanking it with his own body.
Ending Clock Up, Rhodes felt the normal flow of time return. The thick smell of gunpowder and dust permeated the air. A cold night wind blew, dispersing the discomfort caused by sweat.
At this moment, Suzaku—who hadn't been able to see the battle at all—finally spotted the figure who had saved her. He wore an unknown combat suit, had black hair, and wore a pair of plain glasses that added a touch of intellectualism. In his hand, he held a silver sword. The silver blade emitted faint specks of silver light, swirling around him like fireflies. The aura flowing from it felt somewhat holy, yet slightly different from the rumored Holy Swords.
Suzaku fixed her gaze on Rhodes' face, but she completely failed to recognize him. She had never seen this person in the clan. Could he be a hidden powerhouse of the Okunoin?
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (102 Chapters – Ongoing)
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