[Rias's POV]
"Lisha!"
My scream echoed through the battlefield. Everyone's eyes widened in horror, breathless at the sight unfolding before us.
—Lisha's left arm flew cleanly into the air and hit the dirt.
It was a horrific, unbelievable sight. Her combat prowess was proven; we had all witnessed her deadly precision firsthand. How could someone like Lisha have her arm blown off without even a chance to react…?
"I-I'll heal you, Lisha!"
Asia gathered a pale green aura around her hands, rushing toward the standing girl in a panic.
However—
"There is no need for that, Asia."
The voice echoed from above. Looking up, we saw Lisha—the one who should have just lost her left arm—hovering gracefully in midair, gazing down at us. Yet, another Lisha was still standing right before our eyes, her left shoulder spouting blood where her arm used to be.
"Wh-What is going on…? There are two Lishas…?"
Before I could process the confusion, the answer presented itself.
Cracks suddenly spider-webbed across the body of the armless Lisha on the ground, spreading across her entire frame until she shattered into countless glistening fragments.
"Is that… ice?" Rossweisse muttered.
Above us, Lisha offered a cool, faint smile.
"Yes. The 'me' down there was merely an ice clone created using Fina's magic—a simple puppet. Though, if not for Maurice's warning a moment ago, I truly would have lost my arm and been forced off the battlefield early."
—!
To swap herself with an ice decoy in that split second! Her rapid tactical judgment was nothing short of extraordinary… and her synchronization with her contracted fairy, Fina, was breathtaking.
Lisha narrowed her eyes as she turned her gaze toward the transformed Razul.
"I certainly didn't expect to be forced into using one of my trump cards right out of the gate. Your speed and offensive power are monstrous. In your current state, you are an even greater threat than before."
"Gahahahaha! That's my line!" Razul laughed boisterously. "I didn't think anyone could dodge that attack. But don't expect the same trick to work on me twice."
"I am well aware. Which is why I intend to defeat you before you get another chance."
Lisha trained her muzzles directly on Razul, unleashing a barrage of high-density laser fire. A single one of those beams was capable of vaporizing an Ultimate-Class Devil in an instant, yet now a storm of them rained down on him at once. Back at Agreas, she had pierced his shoulder by striking the exact same coordinate over and over.
Yet, the moment the torrent of holy light hit Razul, the beams shattered into harmless sparks and vanished.
Lisha's brow furrowed. "I see. Your defensive capabilities have increased exponentially as well. A worst-case matchup indeed."
"Then allow me to take the vanguard!"
Gaspar's booming voice echoed first. Swathed in a towering frame of darkness, he closed the distance with explosive speed and swung a colossal fist. His punches and kicks hit Razul with deafening, thunderous cracks. His raw hand-to-hand combat—honed directly under Issei's ruthless tutelage—was built to utterly pulverize anything it touched.
Yet, even under that barrage, Razul's massive frame didn't budge an inch. He didn't even bother guarding, casually taking Gaspar's furious strikes head-on.
"…Ngh! He's taking my direct hits without even flinching…!"
A horrified Gaspar opened his shadowy maw and unleashed a concentrated orb of dark energy, but Razul merely took the blast with a wide grin.
"Not bad. Good, heavy fists. Most opponents would be turned to paste by a single hit like that. However—"
Razul clenched his massive fist—and drove it straight into Gaspar!
The gigantic blow tore straight through Gaspar's shadow armor, slamming his massive form deep into the dirt! The sheer force of the impact tore a massive crater into the earth, sending gigantic slabs of bedrock floating into the air!
"What terrifying destructive force…!"
As the dust settled, Gaspar lay embedded in the ground, his shadow mantle fading to a frail whisper.
"Gah… cough…"
Gaspar spat out a mouthful of blood. The shockwave had penetrated all the way to his true body…! Asia immediately funneled a surging aura of recovery toward him, sealing his physical wounds, but…
"You guys are next."
Ignoring the downed Gaspar, Razul blasted toward us at blind speed! If any of us took a direct hit from that, we wouldn't survive!
We desperately tried to find a way out, but any defensive barrier we threw up would be shattered like thin glass. That left dodging as our only option. Yet, Razul's speed was far beyond anything we could outrun.
What do we do…?!
Right then, I noticed a distortion in the space around us. The air shimmered, and dozens of dark shadows began rising from the ground.
Razul targeted Akeno. His giant fist surged forward, threatening to crush her slender frame—except it didn't. The moment his fist made contact, the space around Akeno warped, and Razul's attack struck empty air.
"This is… I see. So that's how it is." Razul looked around, nodding in understanding.
Surrounding him were hundreds of duplicates of us—an army of illusions. But Akeno and I hadn't cast a single spell.
Lisha explained: "A mirage. An atmospheric illusion created by manipulating the air density across the field. With Sally's power, it is a simple feat. Combined with Koneko's Senjutsu… or rather, her mastery of Linked-Aura Energy Circulation."
"It's a technique I developed by combining what Issei-senpai taught me with what my sister showed me," Koneko added calmly. "Every clone carries a faint trace of our true aura, making it impossible to single out the original."
It was a joint technique devised by Lisha and Koneko—a deception layered with real life force. One of our hidden trump cards honed in that grueling training dimension, specifically crafted to counter Asem's peerless senses.
Yet, facing this phantom army, Razul merely flashed a fearless, savage grin.
"It sure is tough to spot the real deal… but against me, that crap doesn't mean a thing!"
Razul slammed his fist into the ground.
A localized earthquake ripped through the earth, sending shockwaves tearing through the air. The sheer kinetic force dispersed the delicate atmospheric mirages created by Lisha and Koneko in a single instant.
"That's just absurd…!"
Sweat poured down our faces, but we forced ourselves into formation and launched a synchronized assault. Yet Razul took every spell and projectile head-on, walking through our attacks completely unscathed with a look of pure thrill.
Koneko entered Shirone Mode, deploying multiple flaming spirit orbs around herself. She launched the burning wheels in curving trajectories, closing in on Razul from all sides. But Razul simply reached out and caught the spirit flames with his bare hands.
Koneko's eyes widened in utter shock. "No way…! Purification energy isn't working on him…?"
"I'll freeze his movements!"
A restored Gaspar flared his crimson eyes, attempting to lock Razul in place with his time-stopping power. But with a flex of his muscles, Razul shattered the temporal binding effortlessly.
Razul cracked his neck with a slow, heavy thud. "That trick won't work on me. You know why? Because the sheer gap in our raw power is too wide."
Determined, Koneko channeled her Ki directly into her fists. If external physical attacks couldn't pierce his hide, she would destroy him from the inside out using internal striking!
"Yeah, I figured you'd try that."
Razul brought his massive fist down toward Koneko—but mid-swing, his arm jerked to a sudden halt.
Glowing, red-hot chains were wrapped tightly around his arm, burning into his flesh. Following the chain led back to Walkyrie, while Lisha stood on the opposite side, anchoring him down. The two had coordinated seamlessly to bind his movement.
Taking advantage of the opening, Koneko drove an open-palm strike directly into his abdomen, driving her Ki deep into his internal organs.
The internal impact momentarily paralyzed Razul's frame.
"Now!"
The second he froze, I unleashed a concentrated burst of Power of Destruction! Akeno fired a torrential dragon of lightning, Rayner threw a spear of pure light, Rossweisse unleashed a full magic bombardment, and Ravel summoned a soaring phoenix of fire! Coupled with Lisha's relentless bit-rifle barrage, a storm of absolute annihilation swallowed Razul whole.
Lisha shouted over the roar of artillery: "Do not stop! A target of this caliber won't fall to just this!"
"I know!"
I compressed my Power of Destruction down to its absolute limit, shifting its magical structure. Amid the non-stop bombardment, I finalized the new ultimate technique I had forged during our hellish training!
The moment the spell completed, I yelled to Lisha: "It's ready!"
"Understood!"
In an instant, all twenty-eight of Lisha's Rifle Bits and Shield Bits aligned in front of her in a complex geometric formation.
"Rias! Together!" Lisha shouted. "Bipolar Annihilation: Double Delete!"
"Everyone, get down! Enhanced Ruination: Scarlet Demonic Star of Destruction — Ruin Extension Star!"
A sweeping torrent of absolute light from Lisha merged with my dense star of annihilation. Two distinct forms of utter destruction collided and fused, swallowing Razul in an overwhelming flash—
▽
A tempest of annihilation raged across the field. My technique and Lisha's had synthesized into an absolute force, vaporizing everything in its path. Even as seconds passed, the cataclysmic energy continued to churn, endlessly grinding away at the space within.
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