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Their primary objective on this outing was preventing this knockoff "Leviathan" from crashing into Itogami Island.
And Serafall had indeed executed that goal admirably.
Using her overwhelming magical power as a high-ranking Satan, she'd frozen the entire ocean in one fell swoop. The problem was that Leviathan happened to be an aquatic creature—something like a mantis shrimp.
It might be able to come ashore, but with that massive body, operating in water was obviously far more suitable.
And now, with the entire ocean instantly frozen solid, it was like people living on land suddenly discovering that air—normally colorless, odorless, and only noticeable as wind—had abruptly become solid.
Whether it would suffocate to death was debatable, but moving was definitely off the table.
This was no different from being encased in concrete as a human pillar.
Leviathan's current state was exactly that. And because of its enormous size, despite only its head floating above water, that alone matched an island's dimensions.
With proportions like that, as long as you had halfway decent depth perception, you could hit the target blindfolded every time.
Which was precisely Serafall's thinking.
"Ice make—!"
The Satan girl rose into the sky on her tiptoes, raising high the five-hundred-yen plastic star wand she'd bought from a supermarket toy section. Magical power befitting a high-ranking Satan—sufficient to dominate the entire demon realm—surged wildly.
An iceberg comparable to Planetary Devastation formed instantly in the sky, plummeting downward like a meteor under magical guidance.
Full acceleration combined with incomparably terrifying mass—was this ice magic originally designed as a space-based weapon...?
Bokue held the nightmare girl's hand beside him, watching the massive iceberg accelerating downward toward Leviathan below while thinking to himself.
Then he thoughtfully snapped his fingers, raising a barrier capable of enveloping all of Itogami Island.
The next moment, as the falling iceberg from above collided with the frozen ocean below, the entire sea instantly boiled.
Like a planet shattering an entire continent, glaciers crumbled, the sea surface collapsed. Snow waves a hundred meters high surged outward, crashing directly into the barrier before being blocked and split to either side.
The tremendous spectacle was isolated outside the barrier. Like a movie scene so overwhelming it became silent, it conveyed even more visceral, terrifying impact.
Safe to say, if Bokue hadn't timely enclosed the entire island with a barrier, that single blow would've sent all of Itogami Island on a roller coaster ride.
Whether it would be simple shaking or complete capsizing... hard to say.
On the other side, Serafall floated slowly in the sky, gazing down from above at the ice-mist-shrouded ocean surface at the collision's epicenter.
True, her strength among the demon realm's Four Great Satans wasn't the absolute strongest, but she was still a legendary Satan!
That single iceberg strike just now—Serafall was confident it could flatten any enemy below Satan-class without the slightest resistance.
However—
Bzzzz!
Beneath the ice layer, the pitch-black oceanic behemoth's crimson compound eyes opened once more.
The next instant, a thick beam cannon formed from highly concentrated magical power pierced through the ice surface, blasting away the crystalline mist lingering across the ocean and shooting straight into the clouds—aimed directly at Serafall in the sky above!
The Satan girl dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the magical cannon that could sink a small island in one shot. She couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly.
When the ice mist finally cleared and Serafall could see the ocean surface clearly, she couldn't help but gasp softly.
"How is that possible..."
Below, upon the glacier-shattered ocean surface, the black behemoth remained deeply trapped and unable to move. Yet its entire head gleamed with black luster—not only was there no injury, there wasn't even a single scratch visible. Its round, octopus-like maw gaped open, revealing rows of crisscrossed fangs inside.
Clearly, that magic cannon just now had been shot from its mouth.
Moreover, across that black armored shell capable of withstanding Satan-class attacks, a faint red carapace phantom had manifested.
"That's... a magical barrier?"
Serafall suddenly understood.
So-called magical barriers were defensive magic specifically created to counter magical attacks. They could drastically reduce magical attack damage while absorbing magical energy and converting it for self-use.
Though her iceberg strike had superficially resembled a physical attack, the entire iceberg was fundamentally composed of magical power.
At the moment of impact, Leviathan's magical barrier activated, causing a significant portion of her dropped iceberg to be directly "consumed."
Combined with the barrier's inherent damage reduction, this resulted in the current "all smoke, no damage" outcome.
The simplest analogy: like playing Lissandra with pure AP against full magic resist Galio in League of Legends—no way she'd one-shot him.
"This is getting a bit troublesome..."
Serafall scratched her cheek with slight embarrassment.
After all, just seconds ago she'd been boasting boldly before the young man about severely punishing this big black mantis shrimp. Yet after all that flashy operation, her damage output was a measly two-point-five.
A bit hard to save face here.
Of course, if she really wanted to power through, she definitely could—but that would fall into brute force territory, requiring considerably more effort.
Though not quite as completely ineffective as Ground-type moves against Flying-type Pokémon, it was still a type disadvantage matchup.
Emm, whatever—power through!
With pride on the line, there was no time for further consideration. Serafall raised her star wand once more. In the blink of an eye, she summoned three icebergs twice as large as before, instantly forming them in the sky before bringing them crashing down with a wave of her staff.
Everything resembled an apocalyptic natural disaster.
Simultaneously, Leviathan below had completely enraged. It swung its terrifying four-thousand-meter body, shattering all the frozen ocean surface, then tilted its head back as ultra-high-concentration magical power gathered in its mouth once more.
Direct fire!
BOOM!!!
Under temperatures high enough to instantly melt steel, the first iceberg vaporized in an instant. The second barely lasted a few seconds before being pierced and shattered.
As for the third iceberg—it crashed down heavily, driving Leviathan back beneath the ice surface.
But obviously, this alone couldn't possibly kill it in one go.
Serafall understood this, which was why she was literally stomping her feet in midair while cursing furiously.
"Mou~ Why is this thing so annoying?? Just get flattened by the iceberg obediently! Damn it, if that's how it's going to be...!"
Her fury spiked along with her blood pressure, and the magical power surging through the atmosphere was rapidly approaching critical mass alongside it.
Not good.
Watching this scene from shore while accompanying the nightmare girl as they ate popcorn and spectated, Bokue thought darkly to himself.
Clearly, Serafall was preparing to get serious for real. But that would create a major problem—Itogami Island's temperature couldn't handle it.
There was a saying: coastal areas have mild winters and cool summers. That was because water had high specific heat capacity, and the ocean was the world's largest body of water.
But now the entire ocean had frozen into solid ice. What specific heat capacity remained?
If this dragged on much longer, setting everything else aside, at least Rias and the others still at school would definitely catch colds.
"Forget it, I'll handle this..."
Shaking his head and muttering softly, Bokue snapped his fingers once more.
The next moment, the Satan girl who'd been charging up in the sky, preparing to unleash a ultimate technique for a serious battle with Leviathan, was directly teleported back to ground level.
Eh?
As the scenery before her eyes abruptly shifted, Serafall froze momentarily.
Bokue gently patted her shoulder from behind.
Without additional words, the young man vanished from his spot. The next instant, he'd already appeared before Leviathan.
Man and behemoth stood facing each other at nearly nose-to-nose distance. From a size perspective, Bokue looked as tiny as a speck of dust.
Then the young man reached out, grabbing one of the spiky protrusions extending from Leviathan's shell. With one hand, using pure physical strength, he forcibly ripped the beast's four-thousand-meter-long, tens-of-millions-of-tons body entirely from the frozen ocean surface below, lifting it into the sky like grasping someone by the throat.
From horizontal four thousand meters to vertical four thousand meters—from a distance, it resembled a pitch-black celestial river descending to the mortal realm.
At the top of this celestial river, Bokue faced Leviathan nose-to-nose. He silently raised his fist.
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