Are you kidding me?!
Rias knew what "Divine Possession" meant, and at that moment, her expression twisted as she screamed inwardly.
Was this some kind of joke? A beast that powerful was only a god's servant? Then what kind of being was the god behind her?
The pressure Delta gave off now was much weaker than before, yet Rias felt an invisible weight pressing down on her, as if a thousand-pound boulder were crushing her chest and making it hard to breathe.
"Who are you?"
Those words were practically forced out of her mouth. Rias wanted to know exactly what sort of being stood behind this beast, so she could make a battle plan based on that information.
You asked who I am, didn't you?
In Delta's inner world, when Cid heard Rias's question, the corners of his mouth curled upward. In reality, Delta's body followed suit, smiling as one hand covered her face.
"It really has been a long time since anyone asked me that."
Lowering her hand, Delta smiled, yet her eyes remained cold as they fixed on Rias. Then her mouth opened.
"One who lurks in darkness, who hunts the shadows. My name is... Shadow."
I finally got to say it again. Back then, I made such a huge scene that the whole world knew who I was, and I never got to use that line again. Rias, my opinion of you just went up.
"Boss, why are you crying?"
"Don't ruin the atmosphere, Delta!"
Unlike the relaxed banter between Cid and Delta, the moment Cid spoke his name, Rias and the others on the ground fell silent.
In Rias and the others' expectations, the being behind Delta was certainly powerful, but the upper limit they had imagined was only at the level of a Transcender, and probably the boss of some major faction.
In that situation, if they joined forces with the Church and arranged a battle plan, they might not be unable to stall for time until the forces behind them noticed something was wrong and came to support them. The being on the other side would likely know when to retreat. But the prerequisite for all of that was that the one behind Delta was only one of the world's top fifteen.
Calling a fighter at the level of the world's top fifteen "only" might sound insulting, but it depended on who they were being compared to. The gap between the world's top five and the world's top fifteen was that steep. Those in the top five were the true Transcenders of the world.
"Shadow-sama, our battle with your servant was purely an accident. Your servant lost control by mistake and attacked us, and we were forced to fight back in self-defense.
If your servant was injured, I am willing to offer sufficient compensation, guaranteed by my status as the princess of the House of Gremory, as well as the two heirs of the Sitri House and the Bael House beside me. I hope this unnecessary battle can end here."
Rias looked around at her servants lying on the ground, clenched her white teeth against her pink lips, and lowered her head in frustration.
"Raise your head..."
The magnetic voice came from the sky. Rias stiffly raised her head and met Delta's cold gaze.
"If the strong ones who defeated Delta only have this much courage and will, then I truly feel Delta was wronged."
Hearing Cid's words, Rias only pressed her lips tightly together. If she had a choice, who would willingly lower themselves in such humiliation? But for her own life and the lives of her companions, this was the only thing she could do.
"Why do we have to fight?"
After a long silence, Rias finally answered with that question.
"I am searching for that answer as well..."
A trace of sorrow lingered in the ethereal voice as Delta lifted her head and looked at the sky.
"Why think so much? Just treat this battle as the opening ceremony of another grand performance, an appetizer to pass the time.
Well, if you truly are strong, then defeating me should be simple, shouldn't it?
After all... I will only use the Magical Power inside Delta's body. In a sense, I am even weaker than the previous Delta with her infinite Magical Power. Heh heh heh..."
With a few soft chuckles, as though she had already begun to grow bored of the battle, Delta raised her sword toward the sky, one corner of her mouth curling upward.
"Everyone, darkness is about to devour the light. There isn't much time left..."
Less Magical Power than before, but far denser and more compressed, gathered along the pitch-black sword.
A sharp sense of danger rose in the hearts of everyone still standing on the field. This threat was even more lethal than the danger Delta had posed when she was injured.
"We have no reason to fight..."
Suppressing the fear in her heart, Rias squeezed out every last bit of Power of Destruction in her body and prepared to fight with her life on the line, yet she still tried to persuade Shadow.
They had absolutely no chance of winning against Shadow now. Whether the Underworld and the Church chose to bury the matter afterward out of fear of Shadow, or whether their deaths led to a fight to the death with Shadow, neither was an outcome they wanted to see.
"Then I'll give you a reason right now..."
Delta raised the pitch-black sword high. Silk-like strands of Magical Power swirled around her, and the corners of her mouth lifted sharply. That crazed smile instantly shattered the cold, aloof aura she had possessed moments ago.
"I hid the method to break the Black Spot Curse somewhere. Want to know where I put it?"
She said those words softly, then swung the pitch-black sword down. A massive black sword aura appeared without a sound and flew toward Rias and the others. Just passing through the air, it stirred visible ripples in its wake.
"Boom!"
A vast surge of thunder appeared in an instant, spreading like a sea of lightning as it blocked the fatal strike. And at the center of that sea of lightning stood Dulio, the source of the thunder, ignoring the wounds still bleeding across his body as his bloodshot eyes locked onto Delta in the sky.
"You did this?"
"Who knows?"
Delta shrugged casually, a frivolous smile on her face as she met Dulio's gaze with playful eyes.
"Everything in this world is connected. It's just a matter of whether you can discover the connection.
A butterfly flapping its wings in the Southern Hemisphere can stir a breeze that becomes a tornado in the Northern Hemisphere weeks later.
Maybe I'm the mastermind behind this incident. Maybe I gave a tiny, insignificant bit of help in creating the Black Spots. Maybe I was the spark that led them to steal Excalibur...
Of course, from my personal point of view, I'm nothing more than a passing Eminence in Shadow. After all, even without me, would this incident truly not have happened?"
"So... you're the reason tens of thousands of people were cursed and stained with Black Spots, their lives hanging by a thread.
You're the reason hundreds of thousands of people unknowingly had curse seeds planted in them. Children having their lives drained away, crying out for their parents from their sickbeds, yet only able to wait for death as time passes..."
Dulio rose from the ground, his fists clenched tight. He spoke each word through his weakened body, and the arcs of lightning in the sea of thunder around him seemed to leap even more violently with his rage.
"If that's how you want to understand what I said, then go ahead."
Cid spoke lightly, using Delta's body to take on this earth-shattering blame.
"Then... among these Devils, is there one who stole Excalibur during this incident?"
The last trace of reason made Dulio suppress his anger and ask that question. Since he had already found a way to deal with the Black Spots, he now needed to shake off the matter of their attack on the Devils.
The moment he said that, the expressions of Rias, Sona Sitri, and the others changed. They stared nervously at Delta in the sky, waiting for her answer. They had all guessed what Dulio was thinking.
Under everyone's gaze, Delta merely curled her lips slightly. The Magical Power around her gathered into threads once more and flowed into the sword aura below, slowly overpowering the thunder locked against it.
"Why do you think my adorable dog attacked you for no reason?"
That rhetorical question made Rias and the others' faces darken completely. Wonderful. Now they had no standing at all. Not only did they have to think about how to survive Shadow, they also had to consider how they would submit a report afterward and deal with the Church.
There were several hundred Devils on the island, and their group had only a little over forty. How could it be such a coincidence that the culprit was among them?
And those forty or so Devils were basically among the weakest on the island. That much was obvious from how Dulio had taken down more than twenty of them right at the start. Otherwise, they would not have come to them for protection so quickly.
Since the person who stole Excalibur would need a certain level of strength no matter how they looked at it, the suspicion on the heirs of the three great Houses and their servants shot straight up. But they truly knew nothing about this.
"Thank you..."
Dulio, standing within the sea of thunder, thanked him, because Cid did not have to answer.
"No need to thank me. After all, weakening your condition this much with just a few words is quite a bargain for me."
Besides, I didn't actually answer anything. You imagined all of that on your own. I'm just a passerby, as harmless as air.
A wicked smile appeared on Delta's face, and in the inner world, Cid wore the same smile. That was the value of a level-ten riddler.
For the sake of completing the Eminence in Shadow achievement, "This, too, was done by XX," even if the real mastermind jumped out now, Cid would slap them dead on the spot. He was taking this blame no matter what. Not even Jesus could stop him.
"Mm. I'll satisfy you. So die."
Dulio spoke with a gentle smile. The wings on his back spread as he shot into the sky, his eyes filled with killing intent.
Almost instantly, Dulio, wrapped in thunder, broke through the obstruction of the sword aura and arrived in front of Delta.
"Smack!"
"Lightning, is it? I can use that too."
Delta caught Dulio's fist in one hand and said those words gently. Lightning stronger than Dulio's own surged along Dulio's arm, ran through his body, and exploded.
"You said my dog was nothing but a beast who fights on instinct. But right now, you seem even worse than my dog.
After all... a beast that fights on instinct can still see the present, while a human ruled by anger can only see the past."
Along with that mockery, Dulio was sent flying by the shockwave from the lightning explosion. The wounds he had temporarily suppressed with anger and hatred burst open all at once.
But Dulio only flapped his wings like a madman and rained fists down on Delta.
...
"How is that possible? That's Akeno's lightning!"
Recognizing Delta's ability, Rias could not stay calm. How could Akeno Himejima's racial talent be used by an outsider?
"Rias, can you still use Power of Destruction?"
Having witnessed the battle with the Beast God and having already been beaten once herself, Natsuki Minamiya was not particularly surprised. She simply turned and asked how much fighting power Rias could still bring out.
"I can, but it's nowhere near enough against her. I need time."
Recovering from her shock, Rias sensed the state of the Magical Power in her body and gave her answer.
After the continuous battles, and after that magic sphere compressed from all of Rias's Power of Destruction, the current Rias could only say that if she forced herself, she could squeeze out a little Magical Power.
"Then I'll go support him first. Tell me when you can fight."
As expected, Natsuki Minamiya said that while watching the two figures clashing constantly in the sky. Then her figure vanished from where she stood.
Left in place, Rias could only sigh helplessly and work hard to recover the Magical Power in her body, preparing for the killing blow to come. Her gaze unintentionally drifted toward the Church warriors.
"Where did you hide it?"
"Just enjoy the battle. There's no need to concern yourself with that question. After all... darkness is about to devour the light. There isn't much time left."
Cid answered Dulio's roar in a relaxed tone while using senjutsu and demonic abilities at the same time to strengthen Delta's body. Then he drove a heavy punch into Dulio's stomach.
In an instant, the force of the punch passed through Dulio's body and blasted a large hole through the clothes on his back. His body was dragged along by the force and smashed toward the ground.
Delta descended several meters, then suddenly rose again, dodging the chains that reached out from the void. A scythe appeared in her hand, and with a casual swing, it tangled around the golden chains. Then she looked toward Natsuki Minamiya, who had appeared to the side, and smiled.
"Hello, Witch of the Void. I thought we would never meet again after last time."
"I never expected Shadow-sama to remember the name of a small fry like me. I'm both honored and terrified."
Natsuki Minamiya forced out a smile while constantly exerting strength with her hands, trying to pull Laeding back.
"I remember strong people wherever they are. Just like you, and you."
Facing Dulio as he came charging over again, ice abruptly appeared beneath Delta and turned into an ice shield, blocking the Spear of Light flying up from the ground. She caught Dulio's fist with one hand, then turned sideways and kicked him in the face.
Delta glanced down at the Church warriors below and let out a sneer.
The Church warriors below had gathered together. The three in the lead were glowing, resonating with the Devil being held by the other Church warriors.
The reincarnation item of the Heavens' Reincarnated Angels was playing cards. So if the reincarnation cards used by the people on the field could form a straight flush, they could use a certain unusual ability.
The Church warriors clearly did not have enough playing cards on the field. They were missing one person and could not activate the formation. Unable to meet the standard with Church warriors alone, they chose to use a Pawn from the Evil Pieces as a substitute. In other words, Saji Genshirou, one of Sona Sitri's Pawns. They were all reincarnation items anyway, so it could still work in a pinch.
"I'm very interested in seeing your full power, but letting you recover to full strength right in front of me doesn't really suit my combat aesthetic..."
Delta's face looked as if she were truly troubled by it, but her hand showed no mercy as she swung her blade toward the Church warriors on the ground.
...
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