Chapter 770: Azi Dahaka, Awakening
A massive number of magical beasts surged in all directions like ocean waves. Tiamat, far surpassing Her strength in the original work, was exceptionally enraged after being punched into the earth's core by that violent child of man.
She even began to feel resentful because, for a brief moment earlier, She believed She had reached a mutual understanding with humanity.
Roar!
The demonic dragon roared at the sky. The Sea of Life rapidly expanded outward from beneath Her feet, moving at a speed far exceeding that of most humans with 6-Digit or 5-Digit strength.
Furthermore, with every passing moment, new magical beasts churned out from the Sea of Life, their strengths varying. This tide of monsters could easily destroy a world.
Merely by standing on the Sea of Life, this Beast—who wasn't considered particularly troublesome in terms of pure combat power—exuded a world-ending threat.
This pressure instantly caused Mori-Summer, who had just exchanged a mid-air slash with Artoria, to frown deeply.
Sensing her hesitation, Satoru Gojo instantly appeared behind Mori-Summer and threw a punch. His cursed energy instantly transformed into a pitch-black flash in front of his fist.
Black Flash!
Mori-Summer turned abruptly. She moved so fast that an afterimage remained in her previous stance of pressing down with her sword, while her true body had already swung her blade upward. The sword light sliced straight through Satoru Gojo's cursed energy and Limitless technique.
Satoru Gojo twisted his body, evading the strike, and instantly returned to his original position the next moment.
His eyelids lowered. This woman above him was indeed very troublesome. That sword in her hand possessed the trait of ignoring his Limitless technique, and it could even slice directly through his cursed energy.
Artoria, possessing only one arm, also wore a stern expression. The overall strength of Reincarnators wasn't considered particularly powerful.
Only the absolute top-tier individuals could fight them.
But the speed at which these people improved was frightening. Often, in just a few dozen days, their strength would undergo earth-shattering changes.
The swordsmanship of the woman before her completely surpassed her understanding. It was the ultimate realm of the sword, theoretically unreachable by a mortal of her age.
Yet, this woman had inexplicably reached it.
Even though Artoria clearly held the advantage in absolute power, magical energy output, and even weaponry, every time they clashed blades, it was Artoria who fell into a disadvantage.
If not for her extraordinarily strong Intuition, she would have likely shown signs of defeat by now.
Satoru Gojo's eyes turned sinister. Usually arrogant, he couldn't accept a situation where he and the equally powerful Miss Swordswoman were being suppressed by the same person.
The Six Eyes quickly locked onto another location. The next moment, with a bang, Satoru Gojo displaced space and teleported straight toward Reinhardt's departing group.
Sensing his intent, Mori-Summer abruptly sheathed her sword. A terrifying killing intent spread instantly.
In that moment, Artoria felt a familiar sensation. It was the same terrifying feeling she had when the swordsman calling himself Sasaki Kojirou used that technique, [Tsubame Gaeshi], at the gates of Ryuudou Temple.
Entering the Realm of Law through technique, the ultimate peak of the sword...
Artoria immediately swung her sword, but having lost an arm, both her power and accuracy were affected. She could only watch helplessly as the woman drew that terrifying strike.
Screech!
In this instant, a figure appeared out of nowhere. The suddenness of its appearance was even more terrifying than Satoru Gojo's teleportation, and it came with almost no warning signs.
Clang!
Mori-Summer's expression changed. Her [Shinga Musou Ittou] was only halfway drawn when a white tachi struck the blade.
That rhythm of entering the Realm of Law through technique was instantly interrupted.
Two sword lights erupted from their sides, shattering into countless stray beams.
"You actually didn't go to protect Mercenary Tao?"
The reason Mori-Summer didn't choose to slay Mercenary Tao, who was currently like a candle in the wind, was partly because she was unwilling to do so. Although they were currently enemies, her hostility towards Mercenary Tao wasn't actually as intense as outsiders believed.
In fact, she even knew that Sousuke didn't harbor the absolute resolve to kill Mercenary Tao either.
Call it arrogance, call it conceit, but they in [Azure Sky] indeed always considered everything from an extremely high vantage point.
Personal likes and dislikes simply weren't that important.
Although Mercenary Tao was unlikable, he had ultimately become a crucial combat asset for that world and that Space.
Mori-Summer stared intently at the bizarre humanoid creature less than a meter away from her. The creature had dense black markings on its face and exuded a special pressure entirely different from a human's.
It wasn't merely the trait of having a soul essence far stronger than a normal human's; it felt more like... the characteristics of a god.
Black Face's sword pressure was accompanied by incredibly intense spiritual pressure. But that spiritual pressure, which was enough to suffocate others, had little effect on the powerful human before him.
Hearing Mori-Summer's words, Black Face's voice remained muffled, yet it sounded as if it echoed from beyond the heavens.
"How could mere mortals like you possibly fathom my Lord? Mere magical beasts cannot affect my Lord in the slightest!"
On the other side, pitch-black lightning exploded out of thin air. Mori-Summer knew that was likely Satoru Gojo catching up to Reinhardt's group. But as long as this powerful entity remained in front of her, the pressure on Reinhardt's group facing a single Satoru Gojo wouldn't be too immense.
Thump!
The world seemed to fall silent for an instant. A sudden heartbeat echoed, causing even Mori-Summer's own heart to skip a beat along with it.
In that instant, her expression changed drastically. Having followed Sousuke into so many high-risk worlds, Mori-Summer understood that this phenomenon, where the world seemingly paused, was a very clear omen.
It meant an entity with a presence strong enough to pose a complete threat to the world had appeared, or rather... awakened.
Pfft!
Sword light flared. While Mori-Summer was distracted, she was struck and sent flying by Black Face. Blood spurted from her shoulder, but she felt no pain. She simply twisted her body, closing the distance toward Sousuke and her comrades.
Simultaneously, she shouted loudly to Artoria and Black Face below, "Go warn Mercenary Tao! We must call a truce! Something terrifying is coming!"
Thump! Thump!
This time, a sound like two hearts beating simultaneously echoed.
Below, the endlessly spreading pitch-black Sea of Life... starting from a certain point, a massive number of magical beasts suddenly shrieked in terror, then scattered and fled in all directions.
This group of life forms, just created by Tiamat, felt some sort of unsolvable malice right beside their Creator. Driven by that fear, they broke free from their Creator's command and began to flee in chaos.
Pitch-black malice rose from somewhere in the ocean like smoke, like rays of light.
Mori-Summer received no reply, nor did she have the desire to continue fighting. She was about to leave, but Black Face once again tore through space and appeared before her, using a special footwork that resembled neither Shunpo nor Sonído.
He raised his blade and slashed straight down.
Mori-Summer accurately blocked it. In terms of pure swordsmanship, she was far superior to Black Face. But at this moment, she couldn't understand why he was doing this.
Then, Black Face's voice rang out, high and resonant, as if announcing something momentous.
"My Lord... is awakening!"
On the other side, tens of thousands of meters high in the sky, Satoru Gojo blocked Reinhardt's group. His entire body was covered in Six Eyes. That usually frivolous, handsome face now looked incredibly demonic.
Evil cursed energy and malice continuously spilled from him. The Six Eyes all over his body stared with malice at the woman in the white robe.
"Miss, are you reduced to hiding behind your teammates now?"
"It's a pity, but everything is ultimately useless. That guy is about to wake up..."
Reinhardt clutched his chest. He felt some regret over why he had used [Crystal Wall] to block the aftershocks of those two's attacks earlier.
Even though he made that choice with the intention of preventing the aftershocks from destroying too much territory and killing too many humans...
Because of the impact he suffered then, his teammates were now in a predicament. This caused his thoughts to become somewhat chaotic.
Brynhild stood in front of Roman and Reinhardt, coldly looking at Satoru Gojo, who was now virtually indistinguishable from a Cursed Spirit. She said, "The choices between people... a guy like you will never understand."
Roman, who had previously prepared to shoot Mercenary Tao but was instead hit by the aftershock of his attack, was the enhancer in the group whose abilities countered Satoru Gojo the most. She forcefully gathered her spiritual power, the blue and white energy surging wildly once more.
Spears materialized one after another, circling around their group.
Roman took a deep breath and grasped one of the spears.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Three heartbeats echoed once more. Roman's face turned pale. She sensed something utterly terrifying. She gripped so tightly that one of the spiritual spears shattered completely.
Bang!
Spiritual fluctuations burst outward like ripples. Brynhild's attention instantly shifted to Roman.
Satoru Gojo grinned widely at this moment. His hands seemed to grab onto something invisible, and he violently tore it apart.
The next moment, Brynhild, Roman, and Reinhardt were separated, instantly pulled hundreds of meters apart from each other.
Satoru Gojo teleported in front of Reinhardt and threw a punch at his face. The Black Flash appeared once again.
Brynhild immediately tried to activate [Cover]. But in that instant, Reinhardt's mind raced. He raised one hand, condensing divine power, while raising the other to stop Brynhild's action.
Satoru Gojo clicked his tongue. His attention had actually been entirely on the woman in the white robe the whole time. Her abilities heavily countered him; even if he used Domain Expansion, it would be shattered in an instant.
He pretended to attack the person in front of him, waiting for the woman to activate her ability to cover him. Then, he would teleport in front of the white-robed woman and kill her using physical combat.
He didn't expect that even in this situation, these people maintained such strong combat discipline and didn't panic.
However...
"Hah, as expected of top-tier Reincarnators. It's just a pity that none of it matters now..."
Satoru Gojo turned and floated upward, completely giving up on attacking the group.
He turned his head, waved his hand, and said, "The Demon Lord has awakened... Everyone, try your best to protect this world~"
Hum!
Satoru Gojo vanished instantly.
Reinhardt breathed a sigh of relief. His condition was very poor. Although the Primordial God bloodline granted him strong adaptability to Authorities, this bloodline lacked regenerative capabilities.
It belonged to the category of high defense but low recovery.
His condition was poor, Brynhild lacked offensive capabilities, and Roman...
The magic array lit up above his head, and Reinhardt instantly returned to the other two. Just as he was about to ask what happened, Roman spoke, her face pale.
"Azi Dahaka... It's Azi Dahaka!"
"No, it seems it's not Him either... Something has appeared..."
Roman had extremely high spiritual perception and was very sensitive to soul power. She could sense changes that most Reincarnators couldn't.
At this time, the negative effects of this high spiritual perception also manifested. When certain highly dangerous and powerful anomalous entities appeared, Roman was very easily affected.
Seeing that it was difficult to communicate with Roman, Reinhardt could only prepare to take the two away first. He looked down at the world below. The pitch-black Sea of Magical Beasts had already covered a vast expanse visible to the naked eye.
Only a few human cities hundreds of kilometers away were still resisting.
But in the blink of an eye, the lights of two cities extinguished; they had already been swallowed by the magical beasts.
Outside those cities, those humans had absolutely no chance of survival.
This world was truly facing an apocalyptic disaster.
Tiamat's world-ending threat was no joke. This endless swarm of magical beasts was enough to destroy any civilization.
And right now, the few who could resist Tiamat were all tied up.
Beneath the eastern sky, the light of the Concussive Pulse of the Spiritual Light tangled with the soul-charming Light of Depravity. [Beast: The Great Whore of Babylon], riding the beast with seven heads and ten horns, had already summoned several Kings to suppress Sousuke together.
Sousuke stood atop the world, every strike seemingly accompanied by the howling of the world, barely maintaining his defense. Furthermore, Sousuke's Concussive Pulse of the Spiritual Light blocked the Great Whore of Babylon's Authority, preventing the others from being corrupted by that depraved power.
If Sousuke were defeated, it was likely that everyone, including Reinhardt's group, would soon face wave after wave of suppression from the Authority of Depravity. Amidst the continuous checks, they would gradually lose their mobility.
Beneath the western sky, spatial rifts appeared one after another. The terrifying aftershocks had destroyed the Sea of Life in that area.
That was also the only direction currently uncontaminated by magical beasts.
The battle between [Primate Murder] and Izayoi Sakamaki was incredibly intense. Anyone below 4-Digit basically had no ability to intervene.
Even he and Mori-Summer would likely be instantly killed if they got involved.
Izayoi Sakamaki had clearly entered the zone. His speed grew faster and faster, his power increasingly terrifying. But the Beast of Comparison he faced was also growing correspondingly based on his power.
The two sides tore everything apart.
The natives of Underwood, caught up in the chaos, were already completely panicked. Fortunately, within those Communities, there were still some 5-Digit individuals who stepped forward to block the magical beasts and did their best to gather other survivors.
Reinhardt constantly thought about how to break this current deadlock. Almost instinctively, he immediately realized that there was one more high-end combatant who had entered this world!
Mercenary Tao!
As long as he could persuade Mercenary Tao! He also had the ability to stop Tiamat...
He could mimic other healing abilities to save Mercenary Tao from that state!
He turned his head to look north. The next moment, he froze in place. Pitch-black flames of light shot into the sky, the aura identical to when Mercenary Tao activated his Kaio-Ken earlier.
But there was no resplendent impact; it just burned silently.
Boundless malice spread in all directions.
A tall figure, completely pale white, stood silently on the ocean. Where the head should be, three dragon heads were prominently displayed.
Azi Dahaka!
What concerned Reinhardt was that this Azi Dahaka was clearly wearing Mercenary Tao's dark green trench coat.
Had Mercenary Tao... been possessed by Azi Dahaka?!