Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Countless hurricanes spread across the sky, rushing away in all directions.
But whether it was Athena or Ayato,
Their directions were completely opposite, and they were getting closer and closer to each other.
The next moment,
Ayato's fist and Athena's scythe collided.
Boom!
It's like the collision of sun and moon!
The entire world began to shake.
The vast ground began to sink, soil and sand continuously disappeared, as if forcefully erased by some force.
An earth-shattering explosion shot straight into the sky.
Countless air currents carrying dust and smoke formed a giant mushroom cloud, like a blazing star.
Then,
A vast shockwave, like a wave that destroys everything, rolled in all directions.
Seeing this,
Rias stepped forward, golden flames seeming to burn on her body.
At this moment,
She used the power of blessing, transforming into an invisible wall, shielding herself, and also Koneko and Akeno behind her.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Terrifying explosions rose and fell.
Akeno and Koneko watched with horror.
They knew that if Rias didn't have the power of blessing, they would probably be in danger.
Unaccountably, their gazes toward Ayato became slightly more complex.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then,
Two figures flew out simultaneously.
Athena rode a black tornado, soaring through the sky.
Ayato flapped his Devil wings and landed steadily on the ground.
At least on the surface,
This collision was evenly matched.
Neither side gained any advantage.
"Campione, you actually made me feel pain?"
Athena looked at her slightly trembling hand holding the black scythe, then realized. "I see. You possess divine power that can kill serpents."
"Something like that."
Ayato shrugged.
One of the powers he had seized from Melqart was the power against dragons.
And Athena's essence was a winged serpent, which could also be classified as a dragon.
So to some extent, he had a certain advantage against her.
"But, even with that advantage, before me, who has regained my divine power, it's still nothing special."
Athena spoke proudly, her ancient, weathered incantation echoing slowly through the sky.
"Praising death, guiding death, dancing with death... Messengers of death in the underworld..."
Hum!
Impossibly deep darkness had already obscured the entire sky, as if the world had fallen into true eternal night.
Behind Athena, nine black serpents of unknown height and size materialized in the sky.
Their bodies swayed, as if causing hurricanes, toppling mountains, creating endless natural disasters.
As if their appearance was meant to bring equal death to the world.
"As expected of Athena."
Looking at the nine black serpents, Ayato finally felt a hint of danger after a long time.
'As expected of the queen who controls war, death, and darkness.'
'Having regained her power, she was unimaginably powerful.'
"But, this suits me just fine."
The corners of Ayato's mouth curled up, his cursed power surging.
Incarnation: Boar.
Cracks seemed to appear in the sky.
A behemoth descended from the sky, crushing the earth beneath it.
Ayato stepped on the divine beast, riding it in a charge as powerful as a collapsing mountain.
The entire ground shook with earthquakes, everything around rumbling.
The next moment,
The two sides clashed again.
Rumble!
The moment they collided, it was as if the sky and earth were splitting apart.
Countless visible air currents, as if sensing fear, fled into the distance.
Amidst the endless smoke,
The nine black serpents surrounded the Boar, their massive jaws seemingly ready to swallow it whole.
Facing this,
The Boar rampaged, madly unleashing its power, ramming away the black serpents one by one.
As a divine beast,
The stronger its master, the greater its power.
At the same time,
The clash between their masters grew increasingly intense.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ayato and Athena were evenly matched.
Their speed had exceeded the range of what the naked eye could capture.
In an instant, they would clash several times.
Wherever they passed, earth-shattering explosions occurred.
The destructive aftermath completely destroyed everything around them.
This was also why they had deliberately chosen this battlefield.
If it were at Kuoh Academy, not just Kuoh Town, probably dozens of surrounding cities would have been leveled.
Bang!
With another collision, the two sides flew apart once more.
"Excellent. I recognize you."
Athena's face was wild, her fighting spirit high. "But how about this?"
As her voice fell,
The nine giant black serpents began to converge, forming a single towering black python that reached to the sky.
Roar!
It roared skyward, and the black mist symbolizing death poured down like a heavenly river from its mouth.
At this moment,
The world seemed to have fallen into pitch-black darkness.
The dense power of death could kill even intangible things like air.
Everything had been swallowed by darkness.
"Not impressive."
Ayato smiled gently. Red light flashed all over his body, and he was clad in crimson armor.
Though he was fully developing his Subspecies Balance Breaker,
Having completely mastered this Longinus, Ayato could easily use the orthodox Balance Breaker at will.
Transfer · Boost!
In an instant, red light continuously flashed on the Boar.
Its already world-shaking power increased more than tenfold in an instant.
Bang!
The ground collapsed. The Boar shot into the sky, carrying unparalleled power, shattering the darkness in an instant.
And it did not stop, crashing heavily into the towering black python.
Rumble!
As the world shook,
Countless air currents rose high like stormy waves.
Rias and the others looked up.
They saw the power of the Boar and the black python madly erupting, like a planet about to explode, eventually turning into a vast light that shot straight into the sky.
In all directions,
Countless mountains and rivers were all leveled.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
But soon, a spirited white horse broke through the sky, as if tearing through the darkness.
"Athena, it's my turn now."