The wind blew, carrying thick ash and scents across the eastern wing of the Great Plains. On the scorched earth, eight fighters stood in a row, connected by the same golden glow. The miracle of Heith Velvet's Zeo Gullveig and Haruhime's Uchide no Kozuchi Kokonoe had reset the chessboard of battle, transforming despair into the most deadly lineup of power in all of Orario.
However, behind the euphoria of that resurrection, a bitter reality enveloped the minds of the five Orario pillars who had tasted the coldness of defeat.
Finn Deimne gripped his spear tightly. The Pallum captain glanced at Leon Vardenburg and Ottar standing on the frontline.
"Listen to me," Finn said, his voice sharp and accepting no argument. He activated his Command Howl skill, ensuring his voice pierced the roaring wind and was heard by his seven comrades. "If we attack with individual ego and pride like before, the end result will be the same. We will be defeated."
Gareth Landrock wiped the dried blood on his chin, nodding in agreement. Riveria Ljos Alf closed her eyes, focusing her Mind to immediately weave strands of magic through Chant Chaining.
"That man is the absolute embodiment of the past era," Finn continued, staring straight at Zald. "Level 8, Level 9... those numbers mean nothing if we don't unite them. From this second on, there is no more Freya Familia, Loki Familia, or School District. We are one unit of adventurers. Move in unison, cover each other's blind spots, and destroy the Gluttony!"
Leon Vardenburg, who usually fought like a Knight, sighed softly and readied his sword. "I leave the command of the rhythm to you, Braver."
Ottar, the King holding the highest pride, merely snorted softly but did not object. He was well aware that activating his beast form, Vana Arganture, when his status had already reached Level 9 thanks to Haruhime's magic was a ridiculous, suicidal act. If he did that, he might touch the realm of Level 10, but he would lose his sanity, ruin the formation, and run out of stamina before Zald truly fell.
Instead, Ottar focused his mind on his passive skill, Stortus Ottar, ensuring the healing circuits for his stamina and energy flowed perfectly.
Before them, Zald stood with a posture radiating absolute dominance. His dark brown hair fluttered wildly, while his sharp gray eyes locked onto his eight targets. The transverse scar on his face wrinkled as he grinned widely. His pitch-black armor and dark red cloak seemed to absorb the remaining sunlight.
Thick veins bulged on Zald's neck and arms, pumping the essence of Deus Ambrosia's power within his veins.
"A fine formation!" roared Zald, his voice shaking the air. "Don't let your blood cool down! Come forth, and show me how you tear down this wall of absoluteness!"
Like a bursting dam, the peak battle exploded.
Ottar was the first to charge. Instead of rampaging blindly, his movements were now far more measured yet still carried apocalyptic destructive power. He chanted Hildis Vini with a super-short incantation. A brilliant golden light enveloped his massive black sword, multiplying its destructive power exponentially. With pure Level 9 power, Ottar lunged, scraping the earth, slamming his sword straight at Zald's chest.
Zald raised Grattor, blocking the impact with both hands.
BAMMM!!!
The physical collision between the two monsters created a shockwave that leveled the remaining rocky hills around them. A new crater was formed beneath Zald's feet. The Gluttony groaned softly; for the first time, he felt the truly balanced weight of his opponent's sword swing.
"Good! Very good weight, Boaz!" Zald laughed, trying to twist his sword to repel Ottar.
However, before Zald could counterattack, Leon Vardenburg darted in from the air. Utilizing the opening held by Ottar, the Level 9 knight swooped down. Five of the ten Blaze of Round light swords were fired consecutively at Zald's blind spots—his shoulder, knee, and waist. Leon himself followed right behind his projectiles with a main sword slash.
Zald was forced to use his Strong Body skill to withstand the two light swords that pierced his defense, letting his black armor be scratched in order to repel Leon's slash.
The teamwork of the two frontliners was immaculate, giving Zald no room to breathe. As Zald tried to jump back to keep his distance, Gareth Landrock locked down his movement.
The dwarf activated Ardigalea to harden his body to an absolute degree. He ran towards Zald's right side and slammed his great axe into the ground.
"Ardigamma!"
Gareth's attack magic split the tectonic plates. A seismic shockwave exploded right beneath the soles of Zald's feet, ruining the veteran's solid footing. Zald stumbled slightly, his stance wavering for a fraction of a second.
Utilizing the millisecond opening created by the earth's tremor, a green and a white silhouette darted in from both of Zald's sides like bullets.
Ais Wallenstein, now operating at Level 7 speed, unleashed her full-scale Ariel magic. A wind storm enveloped her body, sharpening her instincts and agility. Ais slashed Desperate in an incredibly tight rotational trajectory, targeting the gaps at Zald's neck and armor joints.
On the opposite side, Bell Cranel pushed his Level 8 status with terrifying precision. Relying on his Initiative skill, Bell's red eyes read the shifts of the large muscles in Zald's arms. He didn't attack with full power randomly; Bell used a small-scale Afterglow at the tip of the Hestia Knife like a scalpel, piercing defensive gaps while Zald was busy parrying Ais's sword.
Clang! Clang! Clink!
The clatter of clashing metal occurred at a speed untrackable by the naked eye. Zald blocked Ais's barrage of slashes with his arm guard, while tilting his head with inhuman reflexes to dodge Bell's thrusts. The passive Hunter ability within Zald's body worked at maximum, recording the attack rhythm of these youngsters and adjusting its sharpness.
"Fast! But your attacks are too light!" Zald praised. He twirled Grattor with one hand, creating a sweeping windstorm from residual kinetic energy that forced Ais and Bell to jump back to avoid being cleaved in half.
However, right behind Bell's retreat, a golden-blonde elf had taken over the stage with deadly elegance. Ryuu Lion gripped her wooden sword, Alvs Iustitia, with freezing eyes.
"I will show you," whispered Ryuu, activating Mind Load and Aero Mana simultaneously. "The shadow of justice that once burned!"
Ryuu chanted her unique magic, Astraea Record.
The Elf dashed forward. Her first movement was absolutely not her own fighting style. Ryuu lowered her body posture until she nearly touched the ground, sliding forward and launching a lightning-fast slash from bottom to top—a highly precise Eastern swordsmanship style belonging to Kaguya.
Zald was surprised. He twirled Grattor to parry, but before the greatsword touched Ryuu's blade, the Elf canceled her attack flexibly. Ryuu leaped into the air, imitating Lyra's acrobatic style, and threw three pellets of Asfi's custom explosive dust right into Zald's face.
Bamm!
The small explosions obscured Zald's vision for a moment. From behind the smoke, Ryuu charged again. This time, her sword was cloaked in fiercely burning red fire—the deadly magic of her late captain, Alise Lovell, Agaris Alvesynth.
The impact of Ryuu's sword shifted from incredibly fast to incredibly heavy. Zald blocked the flaming slash, flinching as the heat licked part of his red cloak. Ryuu gave him no pause; she continuously changed the rhythm, stance, and element of her attacks within seconds.
Zald's eyes widened, pressured by the barrage of attacks changing so extremely. For a moment, a terrifying illusion shadowed Zald's vision; he felt as if he wasn't fighting one elf, but was being ganged up on simultaneously by an entire Familia squad.
"What kind of fighting style is this?!" Zald exclaimed. His eyes widened as he parried the barrage of attacks whose rhythm, stances, and elements changed drastically within seconds. As a war veteran, he sensed an extraordinary anomaly—the girl in front of him fought as if she were borrowing techniques from many different swordsmen at once. "You've combined so many martial arts disciplines into one body!"
"Take this! Luminous Wind!"
Without stopping her sword swings, Ryuu fired a dozen glowing wind stars directly at Zald's chest from point-blank range. The consecutive explosions of wind and light elements finally managed to completely ruin Zald's balance. The Gluttony's massive body was dragged backward for five steps, carving a long trench in the dirt.
"Now, Riveria!" shouted Finn from the rearguard, seeing that an absolute opening had been created.
The Elf Queen opened her eyes. The skills Fairy Anthem and Alf Regina had amplified her long incantation to the bounds of impossibility. Thanks to the perfect orchestration of the seven fighters holding off Zald, Riveria cast her ultimate magic without hindrance.
"Burn in the wrath of the earth... Rea Laevateinn!!"
A wide-area sea of annihilating fire swept the land, surging like a red tsunami wave boiling the air, devouring everything in its path straight toward Zald.
Seeing the fiery apocalypse approaching, Zald smirked. He knew he couldn't just casually deflect it. Zald gripped Grattor with both hands. The veins on his neck bulged tightly, pumping Deus Ambrosia until his aura exploded into a pillar of dark pressure.
"Rea Ambrosia!"
Black and blood-red hellfire erupted from Zald's greatsword, turning his weapon into an instrument of hell. Zald twisted his body, swung his sword, and cleaved Riveria's sea of fire with a giant-scale Afterglow technique.
The shockwave from Zald's slash split Riveria's fire into two massive halves that swept the outer edges of the battlefield, leaving a safe path right down the middle.
However, that was exactly where the commander's trap lay.
Finn Deimne had predicted that. Realizing that in the face of this Level 9 monster Orario needed a killing spearhead more than a commander standing in the back, the Pallum captain made an extreme decision.
He chanted his super-short spell. His left hand was instantly enveloped in a dense, dark blood-red glow as magical power gathered tightly in his palm. Once the incantation was complete, Finn pressed his thumb to his forehead, forcing all that magical energy to seep into his soul.
"Hell Finegas!"
Both of Finn's eyeballs turned a blazing blood-red. Wild battle lust and bloodthirsty instincts exploded within his mind, suppressing his cold judgment as a commander and multiplying all his physical abilities until they surged almost an entire level equivalent.
Transforming into a cold-blooded combat monster, Finn darted through the remnants of fire in the middle path at a speed beyond reason. Using his Dia Fianna skill which maximized his spear's penetration, Finn thrust right at Zald's armpit—a tiny gap in his black armor exposed for a brief moment after he unleashed the Afterglow slash.
Craassh!
Zald winced as Finn's spearhead managed to pierce the gap in his armor, scratching the veteran's steel-like skin, and splashing a drop of fresh blood into the air.
"Absolutely perfect teamwork, Braver," Zald praised, his voice sounding heavy, deep, and filled with absolute satisfaction. "You managed to unite your fangs beautifully. But..."
Zald's chest muscles expanded, his killing intent exploding.
"...you forgot, I absorb everything!"
Zald roared, releasing a wave of pure physical pressure from within his body that blew Finn into the air before the spear could pierce any deeper. The Gluttony looked up, gathering insane power for an unavoidable counterattack.
The Rea Ambrosia fire on his sword swelled uncontrollably, creating a dark energy vortex that blotted out the sky's light. The air pressure dropped drastically, making it hard for anyone nearby to breathe.
"Don't let him unleash that slash!" Commander Finn's authority took over as he twisted his body in the air to balance himself. "Stop him now!"
They couldn't evade. If Zald unleashed that slash, the entire Great Plains would be leveled to the ground.
Leon Vardenburg took the highest risk. He activated his secret skill, Dvergr Rebellion. Forcibly, the knight shattered all ten of his light swords consecutively. Every time a sword broke, his strength and speed parameters skyrocketed uncontrollably. When the last sword shattered, Leon's autonomous protection vanished completely, triggering the Supreme Light skill.
Leon's body radiated absolute holy light, ready to convert his entire life force into one ultimate attack.
Beside him, Ottar roared. Stortus Ottar worked frantically, healing the King's muscles that were beginning to tear from holding back overflowing Mind. Ottar refused to use his beast mode; he preferred to compress all his remaining Level 9 power into one deadliest Hildis Vini slash.
Simultaneously, Bell Cranel stepped forward, standing parallel to Ottar and Leon. The clear chiming of a bell—Heroic Wish: Argonaut—echoed for a few seconds amidst the roar of the battlefield. Bell focused his Mind absolutely. He coated the Hestia Knife with white light particles, injected the red fire from Firebolt, and compressed the space around his blade with the Afterglow compression technique.
The three spearheads of Orario readied themselves.
"Chaaarge!!" roared Ottar.
"Argo Vesta: Ignis Zankou!" shouted Bell.
Three attacks of Orario's highest power were unleashed simultaneously. Leon's holy Sword of Light, Ottar's earth-shattering golden strike, and Bell's hero-fusion pillar carrying hope—all three hurtled toward the exact same epicenter.
Across from them, Zald swung Grattor, which had been coated in a black-red apocalypse.
"Afterglow: Maximum!"
The four absolute energy impacts collided dead center on the Great Plains.
Time seemed to truly stop ticking. The sound of the explosion wasn't heard for a full second because the sound intensity had surpassed the frequency limits of mortal hearing. After that momentary silence, a giant dome of brilliant light erupted, sucking the oxygen around it before exploding outward into a shockwave that leveled mountains and hills within a radius of hundreds of kilometers.
Ais, Ryuu, Gareth, and Finn were forced to plant their weapons into the ground. They stood huddled together, with Riveria creating a double-layered Liv Ilusio magic shield just to ensure their bodies weren't swept away by the repulsive effect of that apocalyptic collision.
The clouds in the sky above Orario were split into two perfect halves, revealing a dark, terrifying red hue.
When the extreme radiance finally subsided and the battlefield dust slowly settled to the ground, a gripping silence once again took over the stage.
In the center of the crater, which was now three times larger and deeper, Ottar knelt on one knee, panting heavily; his black sword cracked in the middle. Leon Vardenburg staggered backward, his holy light completely faded, leaving the knight in a state of extreme exhaustion.
Bell Cranel stood with both legs trembling violently. His right hand was numb, his skin blistered from withstanding the conceptual pressure of the explosion just now, but his eyes remained burning, staring straight ahead.
And before them, Zald still stood tall.
However, for the first time since his feet touched the soil of Orario fifteen years in this future, the impenetrable appearance of the legend from the Zeus Familia had finally crumbled.
The pitch-black armor on his chest was shattered, revealing his steel-hard chest muscles. His dark red cloak was burned to a crisp without a trace. A stream of fresh blood flowed heavily from his left shoulder and dripped slowly from the corner of his lips.
Even the sword Grattor, which had always been his soul-reaping machine, was now full of long cracks glowing red and emitting hot smoke.
The eight pillars of Orario stared at Zald with bated breath, no one daring to move an inch. They didn't know if the monster still had the energy to unleash another counterattack, or if his physical limits had finally been reached.
Zald raised his free left hand, then wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand. He stared at his palm, stained with his own fresh blood, for a few seconds.
Then, slowly, Zald's massive shoulders began to shake.
A low chuckle slipped from his throat. The sound grew louder and deeper, until it turned into uninhibited laughter that echoed and boomed, filling the entire ruined plain.
"HAHAHAHA! Fantastic! Truly fantastic!!" Zald laughed, looking at the eight fighters in front of him with a gleam in his eyes filled with deep respect, pride, and happiness.
The Gluttony took a long breath that sounded like the roar of an engine. He planted the cracked tip of his Grattor sword into the ground as a support, then looked at Bell and the others. Even though his body was covered in burns and blood, the intimidating aura he radiated didn't fade in the slightest. On the contrary, Zald now looked more alive, more spirited, and more dangerous than ever.
The second round had proven that Orario's future generation, if united, was capable of tearing apart the absolute dominance of the past era. However, the feral smile on Zald's face and his tightening grip on his weapon signified one absolute thing:
The curtain of this show had not yet closed, and the peak of the battle was just about to surpass its final limits.
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P - Gem_Blanks
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