Azazel-sensei blasted a massive hole in the wall facing the parking lot to initiate the assault from the vanguard—only for Ophis to unleash an attack first, extending her palm outward toward the open space.
We'd asked her to take the first strike to check how unstable her powers were… and well—
"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"
Holy crap! That blast just carved out half the parking lot—along with a bunch of Grim Reapers!
Still, it seems her aim was way off. If the explosion had been centered on the Uroboros statue, this might've ended right there. As it was, only the shockwave hit… not that it didn't do enough damage on its own.
"Couldn't control power well."
"Figured. Ophis, just curious—how much power were you trying to put into that shot?" Azazel asked.
Ophis responded plainly.
"Same as Ddraig's power shot."
…You're kidding. I mean, even if Issei's been boosted, his total magic output isn't that crazy. A regular Dragon Shot would maybe take out a few mid-tier Grim Reapers.
If that much power caused that much damage, then yeah—her powers really are unstable.
"Got it. Just stay put like we planned. If you go out of control, you could blow this whole place from the inside out. You might survive, but the rest of us—enemy and ally—would be dust."
Ophis nodded obediently and plopped down in a crouched, arms-wrapped-around-knees pose.
By then, the Grim Reapers had recovered from the shock and were flying at us with their creepy scythes drawn.
The vanguard dashed outside to intercept before they could reach our position.
This time, the rear guard included President Rias, Akeno-senpai, Ravel, Shirone, Asia, and the under-the-weather Vali—plus Ophis holding the line.
To put it bluntly, we were a fixed artillery squad geared toward maximum firepower. Smash the enemy before they reach us—offense is the best defense!
Rias and Akeno may be more magic-specialists than attackers, but their demonic power and lightning magic are more than enough. Add to that a relentless barrage of spells, Vali's Norse magic (surprisingly more effective than in the source material), and our Grim Reaper attackers are dropping like flies before they even get close.
Shirone stayed nearby as our all-rounder, ready in case anything broke through. She didn't have much to do—yet—but she was using senjutsu detection to keep us from getting ambushed.
Still, this was a pure brute-force blitz: break the enemy's defense, overwhelm their evasion with sheer numbers, intercept their ranged attacks head-on, and crush anyone hiding in the backline. It was gloriously brainless—and ridiculously effective.
Honestly, when the power gap gets this big, the fight turns into a musou game.
Maybe that's why Georg decided that low-level Reapers weren't enough—he spread more mist and summoned another wave. These felt like mid-tier Reapers, probably on par with high-class devils. Quite a luxury.
Siegfried appeared among them, and Kiba stepped up to challenge him. They're evenly matched now, so I focused on the swarm of new enemies.
That said, I was still bleeding and didn't want to move too much. So—time to unveil a new anti-mook move. I haven't only been developing secret sword techniques, you know!
I released pale-blue flames from my palm, mixing them with aura to create an immense blue blaze and incinerated the Reapers in front of me.
"Ikki! Is that foxfire!?"
Issei called out, surprised by the flames I summoned.
"You bet! I've temporarily possessed myself with Izuna to borrow the powers of a fox spirit!"
I didn't need it here, but with this possession, I also gained the ability to fly—solving the problem I had when we were guarding Odin.
"A human using foxfire… Ikki, have you gone full youkai now?"
"What kind of loaded question is that?! I haven't given up my humanity!"
It's not like I'm clinging to being human or anything—but I'm not ready to be labeled "non-human" while I am still technically human!
Anyway, just like with my foxfire and secret techniques, I've added more tools to my arsenal. It's not like my total aura suddenly increased. Training has boosted it a little, but… it's still a slow process.
As I was mulling that over, we'd taken out half of the incoming Reapers—when two figures appeared, radiating pressure unlike anything we'd felt so far.
"Hmph… Even if they're just mid-tier, it's frustrating to see our comrades fall so easily."
"It can't be helped. The Great Satan's sister and her crew might still be green in some areas, but the ones backing them are no joke. Let's give credit where it's due."
The newcomers were cloaked in ornate robes, holding pitch-black scythes wreathed in ominous dark energy. No doubt—very bad news.
"You two…"
Azazel-sensei had cleared the lesser Reapers and landed near us, glaring at the new arrivals.
Even Kuroka dropped beside me, sensing danger.
"Greetings, Governor of the Fallen Angels. I serve Lord Hades. You may call me Pluto. A pleasure."
"Likewise. I am Thanatos. I wasn't originally scheduled to be here, but since you all 'stole' Samael, I was dispatched as backup."
"Stole!? He attached himself to my Sacred Gear!"
"I've been informed. So you're Ikki Arima, huh? Honestly, I'm surprised you're still alive—but it works out. We'll retrieve both you and Samael. In the Underworld, we lack the means to separate you two, so you'll be sealed together in Cocytus."
Hell no!
"Pluto and Thanatos, huh? Two of the strongest Reapers straight out of legend… that damn skeleton geezer really pulled out all the stops."
"You aligned yourself with Ophis, a known terrorist, and sought to undermine the peace between factions from within. That's reason enough for your execution… or so we'll claim."
"Give me a break. This is Hades we're talking about—he just hates devils and fallen angels, so he helped Cao Cao's group and released Samael as a screw-you to the rest of us. And now that Samael randomly ended up inside Ikki, he wants to bury him in the lowest pit of hell? Is that really how a god in charge of souls should act?"
"Hmph. As the humans say: 'If you don't get caught, it's not a crime.' Your friend was just unlucky."
Unlucky, my ass! This is straight-up malicious!
"Pluto, enough chatter. If we don't hurry, the rest of the Reapers will be wiped out. We don't have the luxury to lose more numbers."
"Fair point. Then I'll go collect the drained and unstable Ophis. Even in this state, I should be able to capture her if I act carefully."
"Issei! Go into True Queen form! We're taking down Pluto together! Ikki, Kuroka—you take Thanatos! You two should be able to sync, and he seems interested in you, Ikki. Give him a warm welcome!"
…He says that like we're not about to fight a god-level opponent. Oh well, can't complain when Sensei and Issei are in the same boat.
I trust Kuroka will sync up just fine for our first real team-up.
"Hmm… My opponents are a human and a former youkai-turned-devil? Not exactly A-listers like the Governor and Red Dragon Emperor, but decent enough. Might be a good warm-up."
Looks like he doesn't have much intel on us. Good—arrogance and overconfidence are my favorite weaknesses.
"Lord Thanatos! Ikki Arima can temporarily become god-tier by burning all his aura! He also has a Sacred Gear that reflects damage! Don't underestimate him!"
GEORG YOU SNEAKY RAT! You're seriously my worst enemy!
"Well, guess I've got no choice. Time to get serious, nyan~"
Kuroka's aura flared—and then something new happened.
A fourth tail sprouted behind her.
"Let's just call this 'Four-Tails Mode,' shall we? No need to keep naming every new tail. Simplicity is best~"
"Impressive. Even among top-tier devils, you were strong—but now you're easily on par with a Maou. This should be fun!"
Oh, he's the type who enjoys battle, huh? Alright—let's do this.
Since my stamina's limited, I'll go for a short, decisive fight.
"Forbidden Balance Break!!"
Seventeen years of work—finally, I've achieved Forbidden Balance Break!
First off, the appearance changed drastically.
My usual warped daggers, Zahriel and Tawrich, had transformed into massive, single-edged swords—still red and black, but now with thick blades and almost organic textures, as if veins pulsed under the surface. The spines looked like feathers, giving off an eerie, alive feeling.
Basically, it's like an evil version of EMIYA's Kanshou & Bakuya from Fate—call it Overedge: Alter. Dip the original in the Holy Grail's mud, and boom—done.
More importantly, aura now flows better than ever, and the knowledge of how to use them flows straight into my mind.
And the ability?
While in Forbidden Balance Break, I can now use Retribution against the same target multiple times.
…But it has a 24-hour cooldown.
Still, fair trade.
Sure, wounds from Retribution heal if I heal—but there's one more ability I haven't even mentioned yet… and it's terrifying.
Kuroka and I entered high-speed combat. With her Four-Tails giving her temporal acceleration and my own limiters fully removed, we tore through the battlefield—yet Thanatos kept up effortlessly.
I'd love to use Ittou Shura right now—but first, I want to test this Sacred Gear's new power.
If it works…
We might just win this.