Chapter 99: Enuma Elish
The battle between the two sides gradually reached a fever pitch, but the most perilous and intense theater was the clash between Rama and Shirou.
With the "Covenant" active, Rama's divine power exceeded that of a standard "Godslayer" by more than tenfold. Merely standing still and making a slight movement was enough to cause the subterranean magma to surge and the world's temperature to spike. The melting of glaciers triggered a global rise in sea levels, and the searing atmosphere placed masks of agony upon the faces of people in cities across nations.
On the island and the sea surface beneath Rama and Shirou's feet, the temperature abruptly soared to fifty or sixty degrees Celsius. This was terrifying; ordinary humans in such high-heat environments would find life worse than death. If the world's temperature continued to rise to this degree, the resulting impact was easily foreseeable.
Currently, the magical energy within Shirou was several times greater than that of the other "Godslayers." Furthermore, the divine power he had devoured from the two Great Chief Gods placed him far beyond the other "Godslayers" in this regard. Curse power is the manifestation of the physical and mental state, not fundamentally different from magical energy.
Both azure magical energy and brilliant gold divine power erupted from Shirou's body simultaneously. The massive energy caused the surrounding air to ripple with hallucinatory distortions, making his form appear indistinct and unnamable.
Rama raised the 「Salvation Dungeon Blade」. He had already sensed that the world was suffering anomalies due to his continued manifestation. He could no longer allow the battle to drag on. This time, he held nothing back, slashing out a massive white-gold sword-qi capable of tearing heaven and earth asunder toward Shirou!
Faced with this strike, Shirou had no intention of dodging. Accompanied by a surge of magical light in his right hand, a jet-black greatsword manifested. Shirou gripped the Demonic Sword 「Dusk」 and swung it upward at an angle; the azure and white-gold sword-qis finally collided in mid-air.
BOOM—!!!
After a distorted, thundering explosion, the residual power of the sword-qi split the ocean. This stretch of sea seemed to be partitioned by a unique spatial barrier, making it difficult for the waters to converge.
Seeing that the previous strike failed to work, Rama wordlessly raised the 「Salvation Dungeon Blade」 once more. Upon it, a white-gold star began to shine, and countless white-gold spheres of light revolved around the blade like planets orbiting a star. Vast heat radiated from the tip of the blade; heatwaves swept across heaven and earth, incinerating all organic matter.
This move was none other than the "White Sword" of the 「Salvation Dungeon Blade」—the very technique Rama had used to critically wound Salvatore Doni with a single blow!
When the white-gold light reached its zenith, Rama swung these countless white-gold stars toward Shirou. It was a powerful strike akin to the fall of endless planets, capable of completely reducing the surface beneath their feet to nothingness! It was even more fierce and violent than the strike he had unleashed against Salvatore Doni.
The white-gold light illuminated the sky so brightly that even the eyes of "Godslayers" and "Heretic Gods" dared not look directly at it. The battles in other sectors paused involuntarily as everyone looked up at the "King of the End's" peerless strike intended to annihilate the Demon King. The entire sky at that moment resembled the magnificent light of a star, as grand as if a star had been detonated right there.
"Then I suppose I'll get a little serious too."
As Shirou spoke, the surrounding space rippled with blue magical energy, constructing the outlines of various weapons. The moment Rama saw those weapons, his pupils could not help but contract.
"You actually..."
Divine Tool, Divine Tool, Divine Tool... every single one was a Divine Tool.
「Ea: The Sword of Rupturing」, 「The Spear of God-Slaying」, 「Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory」, 「Fragarach: The Sword of Retrograde」, 「Gae Bolg: The Piercing Death Thorn」... a vast number of Divine Tools were spread across the sky like a celestial map.
"Heh, are you surprised? These are but a portion of all the works I have forged."
While Shirou spoke in a conversational tone, he gripped 「Ea: The Sword of Rupturing」 in his hand and held it high.
ROAR—!
Accompanied by the howling roar of a hurricane, an incomparably massive amount of magical energy erupted from the hilt Shirou held.
"Awaken, Enuma Elish (The Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth)!"
Enuma Elish—in ancient Mesopotamian myth, the gods of the "Heavens" and the "Abyss" who governed the earth and water. The "Sword of Rupturing" he addressed was the primordial blade that witnessed the feat of creation during the age of myth. The task bestowed upon its blade was precisely to cleave the chaotic heaven and earth in two, granting them definitive form.
Now, the proudly rotating blade kicked up violent gales, preparing to reenact that miracle of creation. The Demon King, wreathed in red light, swung the sword down. A surging torrent of magical energy shook the laws of the world and came rushing forth!
Following the downward swing of the blade, a red storm immediately manifested. The sword produced faults in wind pressure that became simulated spatial faults. This entire pocket of heaven and earth was torn and pulverized by this single swing!
Had Rama not exerted his full strength to block this strike, the destruction would certainly not have been limited to the few-thousand-kilometer island below.
Annie Charlton, Madame Aisha, and the others watching this peak battle were left dumbfounded after witnessing this scene with their own eyes.
"What terrifying power... it's unimaginable that he has so many more weapons of that caliber...!" Annie Charlton marveled.
"It's no wonder I lost to him so many times..." Cult Leader Luo Hao remarked with quite some emotion.
However, as the "King of Martial Arts," she did not fall into a despondent state of mind; instead, she grew increasingly excited.
"But that is exactly why it's good! Once I complete my new technique, I'll have someone to test it on!"
For over two hundred years, she had not seen an increase in her strength. Had she not lost to Shirou, Luo Hao might have continued in a state where she found no opponents and had no idea how to grow stronger. But now, she had tasted defeat at the hands of this newly ascended Demon King, allowing her to see the possibility of growth—a joy identical to the effort she felt before she ever slew a god. This was the reason Cult Leader Luo Hao was so excited; this was the joy in life she had been searching for.
Regarding Luo Hao's perspective, Annie Charlton and the others all wore expressions of total incomprehension toward this martial-idiot. Had the "King of Swords" Salvatore Doni still been here, the two of them, both having been defeated by Shirou, would likely have reached a consensus quite easily.
As the other Demon Kings discussed, Shirou, who was confronting Rama, remained calm after seeing Rama block the strike from 「Ea」. Then, as casually as one might eat or drink, Shirou pulled out another Divine Tool.
This time, it was the star-forged construct: 「Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory」!
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