Takeyo loaded both the Star Holy Sword and the Devil-Slaying Holy Sword together!
When combined, they could break through the original restrictions of the Star Holy Sword and liberate all thirteen seals regardless of circumstances, no more tedious requirements like "This is a battle stronger than oneself" or similar nonsense.
Normally, the opponent Takeyo faced would only warrant releasing five or six seals at most. But today? He casually liberated all thirteen.
[Acknowledge, this is a battle against evil!]
[Acknowledge, this is a fight to save the world!]
[Acknowledge, we must fight for the pursuit of truth!]
"We can't let him continue!" one of the original Satans shouted to his fellow demon lords.
Whether or not Takeyo was connected to the God of the Bible didn't matter at this point. The sheer sacred power condensing around him made one thing crystal clear, he was their enemy!
With this level of holy energy gathering, there was no possible scenario where he stood on their side!
"Too late," Takeyo said calmly.
A golden halo materialized above his head. The entire area fell under restriction almost instantly.
Beyond simply amplifying holy power for offense and defense, the Heavenly Realm Formation possessed abilities to restrict, purify, and even transfer matter. When fully deployed, it could relocate an entire celestial domain if needed.
Now, Takeyo used the formation's power to pin all four original Satans in place!
"This is... You really do belong to the God of the Bible!" Satan Asmodeus strained against the invisible bonds, but found himself completely immobilized.
Moreover, his body suffered with every passing second. This sacred power was terrifying, like facing the God of the Bible himself!
His instincts weren't wrong. The Heavenly Realm Formation wielded power capable of resisting Dragon God-level entities. Suppressing four Satans was child's play.
Except for Takeyo, anyone else attempting to use the Heavenly Realm Formation or its counterpart, the Underworld Formation, would need at least Dragon God-level power. But those with such strength rarely needed massive formations anyway.
For beings below Dragon God level, a more practical approach involved several Transcendent-class individuals leading groups of Satan-class fighters. This kind of deployment typically occurred only during racial extinction events or catastrophic crises.
Takeyo was probably the only person who'd deploy a Transcendent-tier formation during peacetime.
Under the Heavenly Realm Formation's suppression, mere Transcendent-level beings had zero chance of resistance!
As the seals lifted, the fierce magical energy circulating through the holy sword distorted the surrounding space. Under this radiant blade, all evil would be annihilated!
[Acknowledge, this is the battle of kings!]
[Acknowledge, this is the sword to save humanity!]
Thirteen voices agreed to unlock the seal and acknowledged, this was the Sword of Promised Victory!
"Ex~calibur!"
"That light is, !"
The four great Satans sensed a massive fluctuation tear through the world, then vanished from existence entirely!
This was their destiny. Even if Takeyo hadn't destroyed them, they would have fallen to the God in the original timeline. How unfortunate.
Shaking his sword, Takeyo watched as both holy blades dissolved into white and golden particles of light.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for completing the plot check-in! Sign-in level: Gold!]
[Sign-in plot, The End of the Four Great Satans!]
[Plot: The Four Great Satans? Sounds impressive, right? In reality, they're just a group of weaklings who haven't even reached Transcendent level. Time to show them real strength! Kill the four original Satans with your own hands.]
[Congratulations to the host for the reward: Awakening Stone!]
[Awakening Stone: Weapon-specific item that can trigger unknown evolution in weapons, potentially producing completely new evolutionary directions!]
There was more detailed information in the description, but Takeyo didn't bother reading it. His policy remained simple: got a weapon enhancement item? Just throw it to Est.
What? You received something to strengthen your weapon? As long as it's harmless, give it straight to Est.
[Ding!]
[Awakening Stone fusion begins!]
[...]
[Fusion complete!]
[Awakening successful!]
Hearing the successful awakening notification, Takeyo summoned Est again. The moment he touched her, he felt the obvious difference!
Spirituality, as if touching not metal, but an actual living being! Examining her carefully, there was warmth, life...
"Should I call it... a metal life form? Or perhaps... living metal?" Takeyo murmured.
He checked Est's system description again and found significant changes from before.
"Able to absorb other metals and weapons for evolution... So basically, I can feed Est various magical artifacts?"
[Devil-Slaying Holy Sword, Est (Awakened): Perfectly inherited and sublimated the attributes and characteristics of the original Holy Sword. Can absorb other metals and weapons for evolution, perfectly displaying, and even surpassing, the abilities of absorbed weapons!]
"Master... feels so good..." Est's soft voice reached him.
"Okay, okay, I get it." Takeyo smiled.
"By the way, Est, can you still handle my full strength now?"
Previously, when combining with his Thunder power, Est could bear his full output. However, after awakening his Holy Path and Formation Path, she'd shown clear strain. She could still manage, but the discomfort was obvious.
The Star Holy Sword had experienced similar issues, but lacking sentience, it couldn't communicate problems like Est could.
Now that Est had evolved again, with future evolution possibilities remaining, she should function perfectly as his primary weapon.
"Bzzz!"
As enormous power circulated through Takeyo, a holy light seemingly capable of piercing heaven and earth erupted from Est's blade!
Crack, crack, crack!
The white holy sword emitted a series of sounds, not of impending collapse, but of drastic transformation!
The entire sword body became gorgeous and magnificent! Takeyo felt his own power flowing through it without obstacles, even undergoing subtle, wonderful changes!
"Looks like we've got some fun new tricks," Takeyo said with a smile.
After communicating with Est briefly, he returned her to his soul. While Est had gained new functions, there were no suitable targets here to test them on.
"So... starting from today, you'll disappear from this world?" Takeyo addressed the God within him. "Don't you find that lonely?"
Earlier, the God had already informed him of her decision. When Takeyo asked if she'd return to his timeline, she chose to refuse.
She would create a separate dimension or find an uninhabited plane, simply waiting for time to pass until Takeyo returned.
This was for the best.
Two reasons drove her decision.
First, she didn't want to exist solely as Takeyo's dependent. Though she highly approved of Takeyo's existence and significance, that didn't mean she was willing to be a subordinate.
The God shared the same origins as Takeyo. They were a natural pair in certain senses. She even thought offspring born between them would be extraordinarily powerful.
But that didn't mean she wanted to be the weaker party.
Second, she wanted to attempt a breakthrough. Her strength hadn't improved in ages, even with faith power at her disposal.
If she remained in this world, she'd have enough time to try reaching a new realm. Even if that failed, she could use accumulated faith power for another breakthrough attempt upon Takeyo's return.
"This is necessary to welcome the future," the God said softly. Though her voice was quiet, it held unwavering determination.
"Really? Then let's prepare for what comes next," Takeyo sighed.
On this point, they were aligned. He hoped the God would return with him, not out of possessiveness, but because of something else entirely.
But the God needed to go back with him!
Under the God's singular operation, the war of the Three Factions finally ended.
Similar to the original timeline, the God and the four original Satans died, and the rest of the participants fell into deep slumber or recovery.
Several months passed. Neither the God of the Bible nor the Four Great Satans returned. From news announced by both factions, it became clear: both the God of the Bible and the Four Great Satans were confirmed dead in extra-dimensional combat.
Of course, the news from Heaven was false, while the Underworld's announcement was true.
On Heaven's side, only the Four Great Seraphs knew the God still lived.
Today, after completing her final Longinus, the God let out a satisfied sigh.
[Holy Spear of the Setting Sun!]
According to the original timeline, after the battle with the four original Satans ended, she would have dragged her dying body to complete this final Longinus. The completion method involved embedding her will within it.
Now there was no need for that. Simply injecting sufficient power accomplished the same goal, without sacrificing her will to increase its strength.
"So? Don't you want it? This thing is incredibly useful," the God said, showing off her Holy Spear of the Setting Sun to Takeyo.
"I've got Est. That's enough for me." Takeyo smiled and shook his head.
If he accepted the Holy Spear of the Setting Sun, he'd probably just feed it to Est eventually. That would definitely anger her.
"Hmph!" The God turned away, her cheeks puffing slightly.
She'd put tremendous effort into this Longinus. Couldn't he at least offer some praise?
The God might share nearly identical origins with Takeyo, but their development paths diverged. The God excelled at creating artifacts and formations. Takeyo, thanks to the Three-Phase Blessing Tool, specialized in formations.
What he needed wasn't well-rounded development, but specialization, raising his strength to higher levels first. Well-rounded development came after hitting bottlenecks.
"They should be arriving soon," Takeyo stretched.
During this period, he'd learned an enormous amount.
"Is it time for parting?" The God seemed momentarily dazed.
During this time, she'd learned many useful ideas and techniques from Takeyo. He was the first person she'd met who could explore this level of knowledge with her and investigate higher paths together.
In the entire DxD world, only the God of the Bible, the Beast Emperor, Great Red, and Ophis reached Dragon God level. Only one existed beyond that tier.
Is this what it means to have a natural partner with the same origins? she wondered.
It would be better if he also enjoyed researching artifacts, but that was fine. She could research them herself, use them, or request his feedback.
"Are you really not going with me?" Takeyo asked seriously again.
He could already feel this time-space's rejection of him gradually intensifying. For some time after the Great War, the rejection had been increasing steadily.
Perhaps because the God was gradually becoming someone this time-space no longer recognized, someone in a state similar to Takeyo himself.
Based on what Kurimo had mentioned before, Takeyo was almost certain the God was falling into a state similar to his own.
Before gaining power to fight against the world itself, the time-space Takeyo jumped to would inevitably develop toward the point in time when he first arrived, no matter how much he interfered.