"Ah! It's hot! It's burning!"
The violet flames clung to Kokabiel like bone-eating parasites, devouring his clothes and feathers in an instant. In less than a second, the stench of charred flesh filled the air.
No matter how he looked at it, Kokabiel had never expected this human to possess a Sacred Gear.
If that was the case, why hadn't he used it from the beginning?
Why wait until Kokabiel had lowered his guard, convinced that Rod had no more tricks left, only to suddenly unleash the Sacred Gear's power?
Ordinary Sacred Gears wouldn't have concerned him. But when the flames burned through his skin and began invading muscle and bone, realization struck.
This wasn't some common Sacred Gear.
This was a Longinus, one capable of killing even gods.
That damned human had been holding back during their fight?!
The moment Kokabiel understood this, his mentality collapsed.
Even while wrapped in violet flames, he still tried to reach out and grab Rod.
But even without activating super-acceleration, Rod could easily avoid his attacks.
To Rias and the others, the scene looked almost like mockery.
An executive as powerful as Kokabiel had, in less than ten seconds after Rod stepped in, fallen from an untouchable powerhouse to something pitiful.
Rias and Sona could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Especially Rias. She had originally assumed Rod was, at best, on par with a high-ranking devil. That was why she hadn't fully believed the words Akeno had relayed.
If we're on the same level, why should I trust you?
Even though she knew she hadn't fully devoted herself to mastering her Power of Destruction, she still refused to believe she hadn't worked hard.
But watching Kokabiel reduced to this state in Rod's hands stirred something subtle within her.
Maybe… it wouldn't hurt to believe him.
The battle, however, wasn't over.
…
"Y-you bastard!"
With his clothes gone and large patches of skin burned away, Kokabiel now looked like a horrific humanoid figure of charred muscle.
A normal person would have died from such injuries, but he still managed to stand. The power of light within him remained dense.
But in Rod's eyes, he was already at the end of his strength.
At this point, he was likely standing on sheer willpower and adrenaline alone.
"I'll kill you all! I'll drag everyone down with him!"
Kokabiel roared, his killing intent toward Rod reaching its peak.
The power of light burst forth violently, suppressing and extinguishing the violet flames. He raised both hands above his head as blinding radiance erupted.
A massive spear of light formed instantly, thick and enormous, over thirty meters long, containing far more power than any of his previous attacks.
Rias and Sona widened their eyes. As devils, they could clearly sense the terrifying energy contained within that spear.
If it struck the ground, Kuoh Town might be completely erased.
This time, they were truly afraid.
They also realized just how foolish it had been to think they could challenge Kokabiel earlier.
In his eyes, their resistance was nothing more than that of ants. In a single second, they would be reduced to ashes along with the city.
How ridiculous.
They had actually believed they could defeat him without relying on Lucifer or Leviathan's power?
"You worthless insects! Die! I am a Fallen Angel recorded in the Bible! Even God Himself has crossed blades with me!"
Kokabiel had squeezed every last drop of light from his body. His eyes were filled with madness.
He no longer cared about any future war.
All he wanted was Rod dead.
Hearing that, Rod returned the demonic sword Arondight to his storage space and drew the Holy Sword once more.
As Kokabiel's words echoed, Rod's left hand gently brushed along the silver blade. He gave a soft chuckle.
"Throwing a spear of light from eight hundred miles away counts as crossing blades?"
"You bastard!"
Kokabiel's sanity shattered. He hurled the spear of light directly at Rod.
"Rod!"
Lavinia's voice rang out from behind him. At the same time, Rod felt his body strengthened by magic, and a biting chill surged from his back.
Lavinia had sensed the danger and appeared behind him.
She summoned the Six-Armed Ice Princess, endless cold suppressing itself within that pale form.
"Wait. I'll handle it."
The world in his eyes stopped moving once more.
Pale ice flowers suspended in midair reflected faint starlight. The silver blade Rod had just touched began to glow with radiance like the stars themselves, growing brighter and brighter.
Then, just like the sword that continued to glow more brilliantly after he raised it, Rod's body also began to emit a radiant golden aura speckled with tiny motes of stardust. The aura pouring from him rapidly expanded, swallowing the surrounding area whole.
"I Gather Here the Breathe of the Stars, A Radiant Stream of Life."
"A bit too chuuni… but no one can hear it in super-acceleration anyway."
With a low and composed voice,
"EX—CALIBUR"
As his voice fell, Rod stepped out of the accelerated domain.
A beam capable of melting everything surged forth, swallowing Kokabiel's spear of light whole. After erasing the force that could have destroyed Kuoh Town, it continued forward without losing momentum and struck Kokabiel directly.
The brilliance illuminated his skinless face.
"How… how is this possible… I…"
In the next second, the terrifying energy completely annihilated Kokabiel. The torrent of light tore through the night sky, illuminating half the city.
When the pillar of light finally faded, there was no trace of the Fallen Angel executive left.
[You have successfully defeated Boss Fallen Angel Executive Kokabiel]
[Calculating damage rewards]
[Rewards: Senzu Bean ×100, Resurrection Coin ×1]
[Item: Senzu Bean (Restores all stamina and energy upon consumption)]
[Item: Resurrection Coin (Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Try again. Instantly revives you at full health upon death.)]
As the system notification sounded, the items appeared in Rod's storage space.
"One hundred Senzu Beans. Including what I already had, I can practically snack on them."
Rod was fairly satisfied.
Of course, what pleased him most was the Resurrection Coin.
With two lives, there was no need to worry about suddenly dying one day.
Not that someone as cautious as Rod would easily find himself in that situation.
Still, something like a Resurrection Coin is the kind of thing you might not use, but you definitely want to have.
After Kokabiel was eliminated, Lavinia walked up to him.
"That was amazing, Rod. You even handled an opponent like that."
A smile rested on the girl's face. She had nearly stepped in earlier.
"Yeah, sorry for stopping you from helping earlier. I needed to test some of my abilities"
Rod nodded slightly and smiled at her.
Only after they could no longer sense even a trace of the Fallen Angel executive did Rias and Sona finally react.
Rias's expression was complicated.
He really killed him.
And in a direct, head-on battle.
If it had been them, by this time next year, the grass on their graves would probably have grown several meters tall.
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