"What do you want!?"
Riser's voice cracked with a sudden, overwhelming dread as he struggled against the golden chains binding him. No matter how hard he thrashed, the legendary Chains of Heaven held firm, denying even his immortal flames a path to freedom.
"Let's test the mental endurance limits of a High-Class Devil Phoenix," Takeyo said with that same calm, unsettling smile.
The words alone made Riser's blood run cold.
Takeyo's confidence wasn't unfounded. Thanks to his human origin bloodline, he possessed magical power that could only be described as infinite, an inexhaustible wellspring that made prolonged battles trivial. Even better, using this particular effect wouldn't consume one of his precious incarnation slots, meaning he could deploy another avatar simultaneously if needed.
Originally, achieving the same result would have required activating his World Dragon Kurimo incarnation, but now? He had one more trump card to play.
"First!" Takeyo announced.
A small sphere of water materialized in his palm. Riser's eyes widened with fear as the innocuous-looking orb drifted slowly, inexorably toward him.
The moment it made contact with his body, an unprecedented burst of blinding white energy erupted outward!
[Mass Burst! Matter-to-Energy Conversion!]
The most fundamental transformation in the universe, pure mass converted directly into devastating energy!
The white inferno instantly engulfed Riser's entire form, spreading from his position toward the edges of the isolated battle dimension. The sheer output of energy caused the fabric of the alternate space itself to warp and destabilize, reality groaning under the strain.
Takeyo had already moved beyond the attack range, watching impassively as the purest form of destructive energy annihilated everything in its path. He yawned, waiting for the energy to dissipate.
When the light finally faded, he stepped forward gracefully and approached a mass of flickering flames hovering where Riser had been.
Yes, those flames were Riser, barely reformed from his Phoenix regeneration.
As the immortal bird struggled to reconstitute his body from the dancing fire, Takeyo spoke words that would haunt Riser for the rest of his existence.
"The first."
"What?" Riser asked reflexively, not yet understanding the significance of that cold number.
But he was about to learn.
Takeyo drew forth a magnificent golden divine bow!
[Divine Armament of the Beast King, Destruction's Mighty Bow (Shiva)!]
A divine arrow transformed into countless beams of annihilation and bombarded Riser's reforming body!
"BOOM!"
Amidst the roaring flames, Riser's form appeared broken and shattered.
Then he saw Takeyo cough up a mouthful of golden blood before saying, "The second..."
'Yes! He's weakening! Just hold on! If I can outlast him...' Riser desperately encouraged himself, clinging to hope.
Takeyo looked at the Phoenix still bound by the Chains of Heaven and silently produced another divine weapon.
[Divine Armament of Narayana, The Strike of Redemption (Vishnu)!]
"BOOM!"
In Riser's eyes, filled with equal parts terror and desperate hope, another devastating attack struck him down!
"The third..."
Numbers were always cold and unforgiving. Only Riser could truly comprehend the horror behind each clinical announcement.
[Indestructible Piercing Raksha!]
"The fourth..."
"Ugh..." Throughout the isolated battle dimension, the sounds echoed endlessly: divine weapons calling their true names, the agonized screams of the Phoenix's resurrection, and Takeyo's intermittent coughing as golden blood stained his lips.
Time passed with merciless indifference.
[Return to Heaven, Brahmashira!]
"The fifth..."
Riser clung to the illusion that Takeyo's demonic power would run out first, or that his injuries would force him from the field. Both were impossible fantasies.
[Auspicious Radiance, Sudarshana Chakra!]
"BOOM!"
Within the flames, the Phoenix was reborn once more. Riser's aura had weakened considerably, yet his eyes still blazed with stubborn determination.
He believed the glory of the Phenex Clan rested on his shoulders. He would endure until victory came!
What he didn't know was that even this hope had been deliberately fed to him by Takeyo.
If Takeyo had simply used his World Dragon's Sacred Heart incarnation from the start and unleashed everything at once with the holy sword, Riser would have been utterly obliterated in seconds.
But where was the point in that?
The battle continued.
No, this could no longer be called a battle. It had become nothing more than the cold repetition of a single brutal cycle.
Annihilation... rebirth... accompanied by Takeyo's blood and Riser's screams... on and on it went.
[Sacred Heaven, Apollo's Sigh of Nun Addiction! (Aparjita)]
"The seventh..."
One divine armament after another was liberated in Takeyo's hands! Among them were sacred implements from Shiva and Brahma themselves, weapons forged by the gods and Buddhas of Hindu mythology!
After activating his Black Sky Krishna incarnation, Takeyo had gained knowledge previously beyond his reach at lower power levels: namely, how to properly wield these legendary divine tools.
"Ahem..."
"The eighth..."
Golden blood spilled once more from his lips, making Rias's heart clench with anguish from outside the battlefield.
"Takeyo! That's enough! Please... don't go on!" Rias's voice finally broke through to the isolated dimension, courtesy of Grayfia granting her speaking privileges.
Tears streamed down her face. Every time Takeyo coughed up blood, she felt an invisible hand crushing her heart, drowning her in worry and pain.
"I'm just fulfilling my promise," Takeyo replied while casually wiping away the blood stains.
Maybe helping Rias was a significant motivation, sure. But what Takeyo truly wanted right now was to test these mighty divine weapons he'd learned about through Black Sky Krishna and see their effects firsthand in actual combat.
Before Riser gave up or broke down, this was his perfect opportunity for research.
Didn't Riser think he could win by holding out? Then let him hold out forever.
When his mind finally shattered or his regeneration failed, Grayfia would automatically end the match anyway.
"Promise..." Rias whispered, eyes wide.
She remembered what Takeyo had said to her. There had been such a promise, and Takeyo had genuinely expressed his desire to defeat the Phenex heir.
But... but didn't he understand his current physical condition?!
Although Takeyo kept insisting he was fine, Rias refused to believe it. She was convinced he was only saying that to keep them from worrying.
Meanwhile, the spectators could see something else entirely. Sirzechs and Ajuka both recognized that Takeyo possessed vitality at the level of the highest-class devils, no, even slightly beyond what should be possible at that tier!
"BOOM!"
At that moment, Takeyo combined celestial arts with battle qi techniques, elevating his body's vitality to an even more exaggerated level!
Ajuka's mouth twitched repeatedly at the display.
"The forty-eighth..."
In everyone's astonished eyes, Takeyo had now used forty-eight completely different methods to kill the Phoenix!
That's right, no technique had been repeated even once!
"That lord is truly terrifying!" A High-Class Devil in the audience pulled out a handkerchief and frantically wiped the sweat from his face.
He could feel it instinctively: if any of those attacks hit him, he'd be reduced to ash instantly.
"As expected of Lord Ajuka's disciple! Perhaps it really is true that he couldn't be successfully reincarnated even after consuming all thirty-three pieces of a Devil's Evil Piece set!"
Those who had doubted before now found their skepticism crumbling.
Indeed, if a human possessed such an arsenal of divine weapons and Buddha armaments, each essentially functioning as an artifact in its own right, then consuming even the full complement of thirty-three valuable chess pieces without successful reincarnation made perfect sense.
Actually... that wasn't quite accurate.
What Takeyo truly relied on were merely his Ten Incarnations.
At Vali's stronghold.
Kuroka had been lazily licking her paws while watching the broadcast. She hadn't known about this match initially, but Le Fay had dragged her over to watch.
Now her eyes gleamed with peculiar interest.
"Hey, Vali? Are you sure you don't want a baby with me?" Kuroka asked the white-haired youth beside her.
Vali was also watching Takeyo's broadcast with intense focus.
"Nah, I don't want one. I'd rather spend that time challenging the strong," Vali replied without blinking.
"Hmph! Well, I wouldn't have a baby with you even if you begged, nya! I'm going to have babies with a man Shirone loves! Just imagining Shirone crying because I stole her man sounds delightful, nya!" Kuroka purred seductively while licking her paw.
This man possessed not only the aura of dragons surpassing even Vali but also an incredibly powerful immortal essence.
He was practically the perfect breeding target for their Nekomata bloodline!
"Sister Kuroka! I've decided! The next time I see Brother Takeyo, I'm getting his autograph!" Le Fay announced, pressing her small chest out proudly.
As the first person to discover that all the Underworld's broadcast channels had suddenly switched to this program, she felt quite accomplished.
"No way! I'm going to challenge Takeyo to a fight right now!" Vali's eyes blazed with battle lust.
"Vali, have you forgotten what happened last time? Perhaps we should wait until we have adequate preparation..." Arthur pushed up his glasses with a quiet sigh.
Managing these problem children was genuinely exhausting.
A similar situation was unfolding on Cao Cao's side.
There, Zhuge Liang's loli form had been the first to notice the broadcast.
"Takeyo..." Jeanne whispered, her eyes misting with tears.
'Is this what he meant by "dealing with it"? But... there's no need to push yourself so hard like this!'
Meanwhile, Cao Cao was frantically scribbling in his notebook.
"Zhuge Liang... why didn't you tell me about this in advance? I've only managed to record ninety-seven weapons so far, and we're already at number one hundred and six!" Cao Cao complained with unusual excitement.
After spotting the broadcast, he'd immediately pulled out his notebook and begun documenting everything obsessively.
"How is any of this my fault?" the miniature Zhuge Liang muttered under her breath.
"HAHAHAHA! Is this the hero who defeated Cao Cao?!" Hercules laughed boisterously, slapping Georg on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock him to the ground.
The demigod didn't realize he'd almost just been teleported to Hades's underworld for a wrestling match with Death himself, one of Georg's favorite tricks for dealing with overly enthusiastic allies.
"Ah yes, I was defeated. Quite thoroughly, in fact. And he was clearly holding back significantly. That's precisely why I need to collect his combat data. Otherwise, I won't even understand how I lost," Cao Cao said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
'I thought I was the strongest descendant of the heroes. It seems I was nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.'
"The result appears to be decided," Zhuge Liang observed, fanning herself gently.
"Oh? It's over already?! How many times did he hold out?" Hercules asked eagerly.
"One hundred and eight," Zhuge Liang replied simply.
Back in the Underworld, within Demon King Ajuka's isolated battle dimension, Takeyo swung down the holy sword in his hand.
[Ex, calibur!]
Though he hadn't accumulated even a fraction of its potential power, the Holy Sword of the Star still erupted with unprecedented force!
Because Takeyo's own fundamental strength had evolved!
"SLASH!"
"Cough... cough..."
"The one hundred and eighth."
After completely annihilating Riser's body, Takeyo couldn't suppress another mouthful of golden blood.
"Whoosh..."
A faint flame flickered weakly where Riser had been, the Phoenix fire, dimmed to its absolute limit.
In the later stages, each resurrection had taken Riser longer and longer to complete. This time... even after dozens of seconds, he remained trapped in flame form, unable to fully manifest!
"Lord Riser can no longer continue. Lord Takeyo is the victor," Grayfia declared with perfect composure.
At the same moment, Takeyo heard the familiar chime of his sign-in system.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing a Plot Sign-in! Sign-in Level: Gold!]
[Sign-in Plot, The Phoenix's End!]
[Plot Description: Someone dared to interrupt while the Host was preparing to tear apart the Supreme God? How could such insolence be permitted?! Defeat Riser Phenex and teach him that certain hairstyles invite karma!]
[Congratulations to the Host for receiving the reward: Mithra Incarnation of Origin, The Warrior Wielding the Golden Sword!]