Meanwhile, Sköll and Hati were rushing toward us.
Baraqiel responded first, firing a massive lightning strike, but the two deftly dodged and continued closing the distance.
"They're fast!"
Just as Baraqiel prepared another attack, Salamander-Tomita stepped up beside him.
"I'll back you up!
Kappa Ninpo: Water Turbulence Wave!!"
Salamander-Tomita spewed a torrent of water from his mouth, flooding the area like a waterfall. Baraqiel's lightning electrified the field, shocking the two beasts who were trapped with nowhere to go.
A combo attack! Salamander-Tomita, you're amazing!
"NINPOU!? Salamander-Tomita, you're actually one of the legendary NINJAs!?"
President Rias, her eyes sparkling, forgot we were in the middle of a battlefield as she turned to him.
"Haha! Princess Rias, as much as I'd like to say yes, my master has not yet officially passed me the title. I'm just a student... But yes, NINJA exists. I only found them thanks to a lucky tip and begged to be taken in!"
Wait, seriously? Ninjas still exist in modern Japan!?
While I was reeling, everyone else reacted too:
"I've heard of NINJA! Aren't they Japan's strongest warriors?"
Zenovia... could you not just say "samurai" instead? Ninjas are supposed to work in the shadows.
"You're wrong, Xenovia! NINJA are the true rulers of history, secretly controlling Japan from behind the scenes!"
Okay Irina, now you're making it sound like a conspiracy theory... are you into that stuff?
"I also heard NINJA operate internationally... weren't they mutant turtles with shells on their backs? It must be Salamander-Tomita!"
Asia. That's the Ninja Turtles. And... okay, I guess he does look a bit like a kappa.
While the church trio displayed their wildly inaccurate ninja knowledge, Salamander-Tomita dashed between Sköll and Hati, still soaked and slightly stunned from the shock.
"Kappa Ninpo: Bottomless Swamp!"
With a ninjutsu (or youkai spell) using water and earth as mediums, he created a swamp that trapped the beasts' legs, then leapt toward Tannin.
"Former Dragon King! Fire off a huge breath! I'll match it!"
"Hmph? Kappa are water spirits. Won't your 'Water Turbulence Wave' just cancel out my flames?"
That's true. Fire and water shouldn't make a good combo.
"Don't underestimate me. I'm not just some water-spewing lizard. The name 'Salamander' isn't for show!"
Salamander-Tomita grinned, and Tannin returned the smile.
"Interesting! Don't hold me back!"
Tannin inhaled deeply and let loose a massive breath of flame. At the same time, Salamander-Tomita expelled a torrent from his mouth,
"Kappa Ninpo: Toad Oil Torrent!!"
What came out wasn't water, but oil, lots of it. The flames ignited it, turning the battlefield into a blazing hell. Holy crap, Salamander-Tomita is a god-tier support! Also, didn't he say he was a lizard? Why is it a toad technique now!?
"That's the power of Salamander-Tomita, trained in NINPOU. We must get an introduction to his master for the sake of the Underworld's military strength."
"I'd always thought tales of NINJA were exaggerated, some kind of supernatural force beyond magic... But now I'm reconsidering. Perhaps I should learn this 'KATON JUTSU' as well?"
And now the pure-blood devils are going off the rails too.
Ravel, you don't need to learn fire-style techniques! Your Phenex flames are plenty strong!
And by the way, real ninja techniques were never meant to be massive destructive attacks. They were for stealth, evasion, and tactical misdirection!
While I mentally facepalmed, Sköll and Hati managed to escape the swamp faster than Salamander-Tomita and Tannin could return. The two beasts charged straight toward me.
I don't know which is Sköll and which is Hati, but Ittoued at me on Fenrir's back, and the other used its jaws to break Fenrir's Gleipnir restraints.
WAIT! Everyone's been too busy gawking at the ninja!! I was the only one keeping Fenrir in check!!
Don't just awkwardly look away, guys!
"Grrrrrr...!"
That low, growling sound radiated overwhelming bloodlust.
I instinctively jumped away, but deep claw marks slashed across my torso. I barely saw it, but Fenrir must've lunged and attacked me in an instant. I dodged purely on reflex, maybe because my senjutsu was disrupting its movements?
I quickly numbed my pain sensors and used a vial of Phoenix Tears to treat the wound, minimizing blood loss.
Still, each of us only had one vial... Ravel had helped make extra ones at her family estate after Loki's attack, but the Sitri team got those since they don't have a healer like Asia.
Now one child-Fenrir is being handled by Vali's team, while the other and the main Fenrir are tangled with us... though,
"WHY IS THIS FENRIR TARGETING ONLY ME!?"
No matter how many attacks hit it, Tannin's flames, Kuroka's spells, Rossweisse's magic, it ignored them all and kept chasing me!
I've been dodging at full throttle for a while now, and it's terrifying!
Whoa! Its fang just grazed my nose! If it hadn't flinched from Tannin's breath, I'd have been bitten for sure!
Well... I guess it's good that everyone else is landing clean hits while Fenrir's fixated on me? (Except for the me part!)
Did I do something to make you this mad? I just kicked you hard enough to dislocate your jaw, made fun of your looks, shoved your sibling into your mouth, and beat you up while you were immobilized! And it was all in the name of combat, not bullying!!
...Okay yeah, if I were you, I'd probably try to kill me too.
I must've aggro'd Fenrir too much. Now it's dead set on me.
Eventually, the strain of dodging its full-power attacks got to me. I slowed down for a moment due to the limiter-release-induced headache, and that's when it got me. Its massive fangs clamped down on me.
"Gah! Guhh!!"
I tried to concentrate my defense where the fangs would strike, but they pierced through me anyway. I spread my aura too thin across multiple spots, probably should've focused on just one.
"Ugh... gahh!"
My internal organs are damaged, I'm coughing up blood. If I hadn't reinforced my body, I'd have been ripped in half!
"Kuroka: Let him go, you mutt!!"
"Hang on, Ikki-senpai!! We're coming!!"
Kuroka unleashed her firewheel, and Koneko followed right behind.
"I'll help too!"
"Know your place, mongrel!!"
Ravel slammed down a fire tornado, and Tannin blasted it with another breath.
All the attacks hit Fenrir's body, but I was right next to it, surrounded by fire!! I'm going to get roasted alive too!!
Yet even then, Fenrir refused to let me go... is it biting harder to ignore the pain!?
I could hear my bones crack as its jaw tightened, at this rate, I'd die in seconds!
"[Verg Avesta!!]"
"!!? GYAAOOO!!"
Multiple holes suddenly burst open in Fenrir's torso, probably from an unexpected attack. It let go, and I was thrown to the ground.
Even though Fenrir had taken massive damage, I needed healing now or I'd die.
Ravel, who was closest, caught me in midair.
"Koneko-san! Do you still have any Tears left!?"
Ravel, being a Phenex and rear guard, didn't have any herself. But Koneko shook her head.
"I used mine earlier."
Just then, Asia's long-range healing reached me. She was doing her best to heal everyone from the far rear, but she couldn't restore my wounds fast enough. Ten more seconds and I'd be okay, but I kept bleeding out.
"Then use mine!"
Kuroka hadn't taken major damage yet, so she pulled out her Phoenix Tears and ran over.
But before she reached me, a triangular barrier formed around Ravel, Koneko, and me, multiple layers of it.
"Fwahahaha!! So it really is you, human! You're the most dangerous one here! I'll kill you now and retreat. With those wounds, you'll bleed out in moments! Human frailty will be your undoing!"
Because of Loki's barrier, Asia's healing couldn't reach us.
He was now vulnerable to the Two Heavenly Dragons' attacks, but he wasn't letting the barrier down.
"Ikki-senpai!! Don't die!!"
Koneko desperately used senjutsu to slow my bleeding, but the fist-sized hole in me rendered it nearly useless.
Ravel, unable to heal like Asia, just trembled, her eyes brimming with tears. Phoenix Tears require a complex ritual, so hers couldn't heal me either.
I... this is bad. I'm fading. If I pass out, even my self-healing senjutsu will stop, and I'll die.
Still, I won't give up. Not when I have people like Kuroka and Koneko. I have a reason to fight.
Then, through my blurred vision, I saw Ravel's face change, she made a decision.
"Koneko-san. Please keep healing him. I'll take care of Ikki-sama!"
She gently lifted my upper body and leaned in.
"Ikki-sama. What I'm about to do is both a treatment... and a bold declaration. We haven't known each other long, but I believe we're compatible."
Even through my dazed thoughts, I saw her take a deep breath.
"Ikki-sama!! Please make me your wife!!"
"'WAIT, YOU'RE PROPOSING NOW!?'"
Everyone mentally screamed in unison, just as Ravel kissed me in the middle of the battlefield!
The battle finally came to an end about thirty minutes later.
Immediately after the fighting stopped, everyone remained frozen in tense silence. But gradually, sighs of relief began to fill the air.
Those who had been injured were quickly carried to the rear for treatment.
There were many wounded, but, miraculously, not a single casualty.
"…We're alive. We fought on this massive scale, and no one died…"
Azazel muttered as he looked up at the sky.
Indeed, it had been a battle worthy of the mythological era, yet not a single soul had been lost.
"The Phoenix Tears helped, sure… but more than that, their coordination was insane…"
His gaze drifted into the distance.
There, a boy sat on the ground, completely exhausted.
Standing beside him, a blonde girl gently rested her hand on his shoulder.
Arima Ikki and Ravel Phenex.
The two heroes who sealed today's victory.
The battle was over.
But the war… was far from finished.
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