Looking at the hand sign Kaguya was making, Judas paused as he sensed the movement of magic power gathering around her.
This was definitely something he had never seen from her before.
'A new spell from ranking up?'
He deduced silently, watching as brilliant motes of light coalesced around her.
Of course, he could just blitz forward and interrupt her chant right now to end the duel in a fraction of a second.
But he chose not to.
Instead, he intentionally embraced the classic shonen trope... standing around like an idiot and letting his opponent power up to their strongest state before fighting back.
'I used to think characters who did this in anime were as dumb as bricks.'
Judas mused inwardly, a faint smile touching his lips.
'But now that I'm standing here… I finally get it. The sheer thrill of taking an opponent's full power head-on.'
Judas didn't have to wait long.
Within seconds, a giant dark-rose-colored avatar made entirely of magic power manifested around Kaguya, slowly assembling itself into a humanoid shape.
'Wait, this looks a little too familiar…'
Judas thought, his eyes widening slightly as the shape fully solidified.
'Wait a minute! That's literally a Susanoo.'
A demonic, samurai-like warrior now towered over the arena, standing a menacing five to six meters tall.
Kaguya sat perfectly encapsulated at its dead center, looking down at him with a proud grin as if she were piloting a giant magical mech.
"This is the new magic I gained upon reaching Level 6."
Kaguya announced, her voice echoing with a slight, resonant distortion.
"It's called [Yūkan'na Senshi]... the Brave Warrior."
On her command, the gargantuan avatar reached down and slowly unsheathed the massive spectral blade resting at its waist.
On the sidelines, the younger members of the Astraea Familia watched in absolute awe.
"Again! We get to see it again!"
"The Vice-Captain's cool new magic!"
During the chaos when the Dungeon became agitated after sensing Artemis' Arcanum and catastrophic wave of monsters to ravage the surface world...
Kaguya had unveiled this magic for the very first time.
On that day, she had achieved a kill count that wasn't inferior to the Sword Princess empowered by Ariel.
'No wonder she kept so quiet about her own achievements during that battle… she wanted to keep this a complete surprise for me, huh?'
Judas looked at the giant construct with a battle-crazed grin.
"So this is the trump card you were relying on, Kaguya?"
A vibrant magic circle erupted beneath his boots, activating every single one of his self-buffing spells at his disposal to their limits.
Just from the pressure radiating from Kaguya's avatar, he knew this wasn't something he could afford to underestimate.
"Well then… let's see what it can do."
He raised his hand.
『Light Cannon』
A massive beam of light erupted from his palm, tearing through the air directly toward the avatar's chest.
"Let me wipe that grin off your face first."
Instead of dodging, Kaguya stood her ground.
The giant avatar raised its sword and split the beam cleanly in half before charging forward through the scattered particles.
'It's fast...?'
Judas noted, surprised to see a construct of that size sprinting toward him with the explosive speed of a track runner.
Normally, one would assume a massive magical armor would sacrifice mobility for defense.
Like when someone sees something that large, they would naturally expect it to be slow.
But Kaguya's new magic completely shattered that expectation.
The moment it entered striking range, the giant avatar swung its sword toward him.
Judas immediately reacted.
If that attack landed, there was no doubt several of his bones would shatter.
He leapt upward, narrowly avoiding the blade as it sliced through empty air beneath him.
While airborne, he raised one arm.
A magic circle manifested in front of his outstretched hand.
『Earth Missile』
A barrage of impacts thundered across the arena, explosions engulfing Kaguya's avatar in dark smoke.
When the dust finally began to settle, Judas narrowed his eyes.
The surface shell of the dark-rose armor showed nothing more than a few hairline fractures, which were already rapidly knitting themselves back together.
It was as though the attack had never happened.
'Not only is it fast... its defensive capabilities are top-notch too.'
Although he hadn't poured maximum power into that spell, his earlier attack possessed enough force to punch holes through adamantite armor.
Then Kaguya's avatar made a downward slashing motion.
Judas looked up.
A sword slash descended from above.
He vanished in a blur.
The blade tore through his afterimage before crashing into the arena.
'I have to keep that thing in place.'
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a vibrant, frost-blue magic circle materialized above his palm.
He swung his arm upward.
『Ice Surge』
A massive, jagged wave of glacier-thick ice erupted from the floor, racing forward like a line of spears toward Kaguya's position.
However, the avatar simply leaped high into the air.
Judas looked up as the massive shadow of the giant warrior cast a momentary darkness over the entire arena.
'Oh damn.'
He moved immediately.
The giant avatar crashed back down and swung its sword.
The training grounds split cleanly in half.
While still airborne, Judas glanced at the perfectly bisected arena as rocks and debris exploded outward, continuously battering the barrier surrounding them.
'I guess it's time to finish this.'
His eyes sharpened.
His feet touched the ceiling of the magical barrier, sticking upside down.
From that position, he watched the giant avatar like a hawk preparing to dive upon its prey.
『Energy Blade』
He launched himself downward like a rocket.
A radiant purple blade of concentrated energy materialized over his right forearm.
'Compress it… denser… sharper… stronger…'
He funneled a massive reservoir of Mind into the spell, forcing the energy to compact until the purple hue shifted into a deep, ominous violet, humming with a high-frequency buzz that vibrated through the air.
"!?"
By the time Kaguya noticed, it was already too late.
SHIIING
Judas's hyper-accelerated figure flashed past her, landing on the ground in a crouched position without looking back.
A fraction of a second later, a thin, glowing diagonal line appeared across the chest of the massive samurai.
A tense beat of silence followed before the top half of the magical construct smoothly slid off its axis and violently detonated.
BOOM!
The giant avatar collapsed piece by piece as fragments of magical energy scattered into the air.
'It's not over yet.'
Judas heard the unmistakable sound of a katana being unsheathed.
From the smoke, Kaguya emerged.
Already mid-swing.
Her blade cut toward him with a lethal strike that had no place in a friendly duel.
But Kaguya knew exactly how strong Judas was.
She believed he could handle it.
Yet Judas didn't dodge.
He didn't move at all.
He simply stood there.
'He's not dodging?'
Kaguya realized with a jolt of panic and instinctively slowed her attack at the last second.
The moment her blade connected...
Judas dissolved into water.
His body collapsed into a puddle that splashed onto the ground.
'That was a fake?'
The realization had barely formed when she felt something cold press against her neck.
"Stealth magic becomes really effective when the battlefield is covered in smoke."
Judas stood behind her.
A familiar dagger rested lightly against her throat.
"Is that the dagger I gifted you?"
Kaguya asked as she stared at her reflection on the blade.
"Yeah. Though I don't use it much, so I thought it would be a fitting way to finish our match."
Judas replied with a faint smile.
Kaguya let out a defeated sigh, releasing her tight grip on her katana and raising her hands in the air.
"It is my loss."
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