With a creaking sound.
The circular door swung open once more, and the figure standing at the centre of the hall lifted its head again.
Seeing the figure standing in the centre of the hall once more, Evangeline felt her killing intent towards Vali rising infinitely within her heart.
"Damn brat!!"
Evangeline cursed angrily, shooting Vali a hateful glare that seemed capable of tearing flesh from his face.
After that fierce look, Evangeline didn't hesitate, immediately turning and leaping into her own shadow. Her face pale, she mustered her strength to use shadow-walking magic, traversing through the various shadows within the cavern.
Before Evangeline acted, Kazuma Yagami had already manipulated the raging winds, carrying Yuiyui Gokadoin's head amidst howling gusts as he swiftly made for the exit. His movements were so fast that they even created a series of faint sonic booms.
Though Kazuma Yagami moved quickly, Tatsuya Shiba wasn't far behind. Almost simultaneously with Kazuma's departure, he sharply turned and charged towards the exit.
Seeing these cowardly things escape so rapidly, Jun Tao didn't have time to curse, simply shouting to Ryōko Yakushiji:
"Follow me."
With a howl, the greyish-white leopard crouched down again, preparing to be ridden.
Hearing Jun Tao's call, Ryōko Yakushiji didn't hesitate in the slightest, quickly following Jun Tao to mount the greyish-white leopard.
Once both were seated, the leopard immediately rose, made a sharp 90-degree turn, and stubbornly charged through the sonic booms created by Kazuma Yagami, rapidly fleeing towards the cavern exit.
Only after the entire group had fled did Vali finally push the circular door fully open, raising his hand to his brow as he curiously examined the hall's guardian.
When he saw the handsome young man with black hair, black eyes, and greyish-white skin, Vali couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration:
"So this is what this world calls a Demigod? Looks pretty common to me, though the face isn't bad."
Just as Vali offered this assessment, a deep voice sounded within his mind:
'Be careful, Vali! Something's not right here!!'
The voice didn't come from outside, but from Albion, the dragon spirit residing within Vali - the Sacred Gear White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings created by the God of the Bible using an ancient dragon soul as material.
Hearing this warning from his partner, Albion, Vali immediately felt a surge of caution:
"What's wrong, Albion?"
'Look behind you,' Albion reminded with a grave tone.
Hearing this, Vali didn't turn around, because by then the Luo Shu replica within the hall had slightly raised its head, its gaze looking over.
Even without turning, Vali could sense the situation behind him:
"If you mean those fleeing guys, there shouldn't be much to say, right? Just some cowards who've never fought strong opponents before."
Hearing this, Albion snorted and directly cursed:
'Fool! I don't believe you can't see how many among those people could rival you.'
'An enemy that makes people like them retreat without even daring to fight is no laughing matter.'
'And....'
Albion suddenly lowered his tone, speaking with a voice full of trepidation:
'I sensed suppression from that puppet, suppression on the level of dragonkind....'
Vali was immediately startled, his face showing a trace of astonishment as he said:
"Something that can suppress Albion in essence? To accomplish such a thing...."
'That's right. The only ones who can suppress my draconic power are Great Red and the Infinite Dragon God Ophis....'
At this point, Albion's tone became low and grave:
'Although it's very faint, I truly sensed that feeling of suppression from the replica opposite us...'
'So, be careful, Vali. If we mess this up, we might all die here...'
Hearing this, Vali couldn't help but turn his gaze toward the grey-white figure ahead.
"Is this dragon species a dragon species resembling Ophis?"
"An enemy like this—if I don't get to throw a punch, I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life, right?"
'You'll die, Vali,' Albion couldn't help but advise.
"Then I'll die here~" Vali said, his tone brimming with excitement.
Hearing such words, Albion fell silent for a moment, then sighed:
'Vali, perhaps you are more dragon-like than I am.'
After saying this, Albion didn't wait for Vali's response and directly said:
'I estimate we'll only have one chance. Shall we go?'
"Of course!!"
Vali laughed heartily, and a vast amount of magical power surged from his body.
The intense concentration of energy even enveloped Vali in a terrifying azure flame, as endless magical power poured out from within him like tidal waves.
Moreover, Vali was still not satisfied with this; by overdrawing his life force, he forcibly increased his output.
And at that very moment, the White Dragon Emperor Albion let out a light hum: 'Divide!!'
Pure white draconic armour appeared on Vali's body, covering him entirely, and unfolded into brilliant blue dragon emperor light wings.
As the light wings spread, a certain conceptual power instantly spread out.
That was the special ability of the White Dragon Emperor Albion—White Dragon Emperor's Venom.
Its effect was to reduce all existence it touched.
Using the venom to diminish the enemy's power and enhance his own—this was the unique ability of the Longinus, the Light Wings of the White Dragon Emperor.
After gathering an immense amount of power, Vali abruptly thrust his hands forward.
An azure sphere of light that seemed to concentrate boundless radiance appeared in his palms.
Once this luminous sphere materialised, the surrounding air distorted, and faint, black-red lightning flickered around it.
As his life force rapidly drained, Vali laughed heartily and said:
"This is my full power————!!"
With those words, Vali took a deep breath and unleashed all the attacks in his hands.
The azure sphere of light shuddered violently, then transformed into a building-sized beam that pierced the atmosphere, traversed space, and slammed into the grey-white replica.
Faced with such a direct energy attack, the replica slightly raised its head, revealing one gold and one red eye.
Suddenly, the replicated Luo Shu raised his right hand, single-handedly blocking the path of that azure blue light beam.
Like an ocean crashing against a continental shelf, the energy attack that distorted the atmosphere was instantly split in two upon encountering those greyish-white palms, scattering to the left and right while exploding into streaks of black and red lightning.
"Not done yet!!" Seeing his attack blocked, Vali burst into roaring laughter.
At that very moment, Albion continuously let out draconic roars with his deep, resonant voice:
'Divide!'
'Divide!'
'Divide!'
Crack, crack—the solid rock ground beneath the replica's feet fractured inch by inch, as if it would be blasted away by this frenzied assault at any moment.
Yet just then, the perpetually expressionless replica suddenly lifted its head, fixing its gaze intently upon Vali's face.
Before Vali could react, in the next instant, a voice he knew all too well rang out:
"Divide!"
Hearing this, Vali froze, but in the next second, the energy cannon he had desperately unleashed suddenly shrank to half its size, instantly snapping him out of his delusion.
Yet upon regaining clarity, Vali felt as though his mind was about to go mad:
"—How is this possible?!"
"Has Albion's ability been replicated?"
Just then, the grey-skinned duplicate Luo Shu opened its mouth and uttered its first—and final—words of this encounter:
"Prove yourself to the True Dragon—!!"
Vali stiffened at the sound, but before he could process it, he felt a series of weakening effects.
In the next instant, the brilliant energy pillar vanished abruptly, and a hand wreathed in black-red lightning infinitely expanded in Vali's vision.