"Incredible…"
As a horrific explosion reverberated around us, Yaegaki-san muttered the words beside me.
A single blow of sword aura unleashed by old man Morris, and a strike from Durandal delivered by old man Strada. The joint attack swallowed Asem in an instant. Their seamless, waste-free combination caught him off guard, leaving him no chance to even defend.
Having absorbed Trihexa, Asem was currently suppressing the monster's consciousness, so he was likely far from top form. Even so, there was no changing the fact that he was a formidable threat. In his current state, an ordinary god-class opponent wouldn't stand a chance. Yet against such a foe, those two fought as equals—or better.
This was their true strength. The power of battle-hardened veterans, the absolute strongest swordsmen!
In a head-on clash, Asem would hold the advantage. But through predictive skill forged in endless battles, techniques refined over long years, and a combination built on deep mutual respect, they had slammed a decisive blow into him. If the grandest swordsmen from our world and Ast-Arde joined forces, could they really unleash this level of combat? Without a doubt, they were the ultimate duo.
As Yaegaki-san and I stared wide-eyed at the scene before us, old man Morris descended in front of us.
"Tch… I knew it, flying just doesn't feel right. How do those guys make it look so easy?"
"Ah, so even you have things you're bad at, old man."
"I'm allowed a weakness or two. It's not like I'm some flawless superhuman. …More importantly, don't drop your guard, you two."
"Huh?"
Prompted by his warning, Yaegaki-san let out a confused squeak.
Before we knew it, old man Strada was standing beside us, his voice grave. "It means the battle is far from over. Naturally, we swung our blades intending to settle this. However, he is not an opponent who would fall to something of this level."
The old man followed up on his words, his gaze fixed intently on the dancing veil of dust. "That god is still alive. And from here on out, the real fight begins. Issei, you've fought him directly—you probably know that better than anyone, don't you?"
I nodded in silence at his question.
The blow delivered by those two would instantly take out almost anyone. But Asem was different. He had taken my fists again and again, only to keep coming back. It wasn't just his sheer power—his mental resilience was completely off the charts. That's why Asem wasn't done yet.
And if my instincts were right, Asem was—
"Hahaha… Ahahahahahahaha!"
Suddenly, laughter echoed from within the dust cloud. A joyful, amused voice, as if he were genuinely enjoying the fight.
Then came Asem's voice. "Incredible. Simply incredible, you two. To think there are humans capable of landing a blow like that on me. You're far stronger than the run-of-the-mill god-class. That strength comes from having lived a far denser existence than anyone else. I have to admit, that actually hurt."
Rumble, rumble… Thunder began to roar. Lightning generated within the dust spread outward, scorching the surrounding ground. At the epicenter of the sparks, a burst of wind blew away the dust obstructing our vision.
And then, he appeared before us.
"Hey, hey… Are you serious?"
Asem revealed himself. A deep slash was carved diagonally across his body, stretching from his right shoulder across his torso. The wound was wide enough that you could see the scenery behind him through the gap—his upper body looked on the verge of tearing right off. It was proof that the old men's attack had landed.
Yet, despite that state, Asem stood there entirely nonchalant. Far from being panicked, he even wore a smile. As we stared in shock at the grotesque sight—
Gurgle, squelch. Meat swelled from the severed surface of Asem's body, reconnecting the upper half that had seemed ready to fall apart. In less than a few seconds, his body had completely restored itself.
Seeing the wound close without a trace, old man Morris narrowed his eyes. "Regeneration, huh… Talk about a total cheat."
Old man Strada added, "That is not all. During his fight with the Red Dragon Emperor boy, he did not possess such an ability. In other words, slowly but surely, he is making Trihexa's power his own."
Asem didn't have regeneration before. And regeneration was an ability that belonged to Trihexa. Just as old man Strada said, it was proof that Asem's control was beginning to swallow Trihexa's consciousness and power.
Caressing his healed wound, Asem spoke. "It seems fighting strong opponents like you serves as great stimulation for Trihexa. I can feel its interest shifting toward you all. If this continues, perhaps it might even become a little more cooperative."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't," old man Morris replied dryly, swinging his blade.
A single black arc was unleashed. A strike from a Sword Saint capable of severing anything, even space itself.
Asem… flicked it away with a single hand.
He swatted that away?! Asem's power was visibly surging!
Clicking his tongue, old man Morris dashed forward immediately. Strada ran side-by-side with him, closing the distance to Asem and swinging his blade.
An imperceptible flurry of slashes from the two master swordsmen rained down upon Asem. Yet, Asem met them with an unfazed expression. He was taking Morris's twin swords and Strada's Durandal head-on…!
What's more, his movements seemed even sharper than before. If he truly was assimilating Trihexa's power, no matter how much of a cheat those two were, holding him off was going to be tough. If Asem managed to gain total control over Trihexa's power, what would become of everything…?
Morris's blade parried Asem's sword, throwing him off balance, and Strada immediately slashed with Durandal. Wrenching his waist to dodge, the tip of Durandal barely grazed Asem's shoulder. Yet in the very next instant, smoke rose from the wound, sealing it up in the blink of an eye.
Morris muttered, "That healing is a real pain. Doing it with zero stamina drain is just absurd."
Strada nodded in agreement. "Seeing how he can heal not just grazes, but deep wounds like the one earlier, it seems we have no choice but to erase his physical body entirely."
"Erase him, huh… Isn't the difficulty a bit high? He's constantly powering up. At this rate, the two of us definitely won't be able to hold him back."
It seemed that even the cheat-level old man could only muster a dry laugh at Asem's sheer absurdity.
Asem approached with his usual smirk. "Is the tactical meeting going well?"
"Does this look like it's going well to you? As you can see, we're at a total dead end. Or what, are you going to give us some advice like a proper god?"
"Ahaha♪ Unfortunately, I may be a god, but I'm a fallen one. You shouldn't expect any advice from me."
As he spoke, magic circles deployed around Asem. As they shone with a intense radiance, magic of every single attribute—including forbidden spells—rained down upon the old men!
The two used their swords to slash down the endless stream of spells, but they were being pushed back by the sheer weight of each blow and the overwhelming volume!
"Tch!"
"Guh!"
The two grunted. Looking closely, cuts were being carved into their cheeks and shoulders. With every passing second, their wounds only multiplied.
Yaegaki-san's eyes widened at the sight. "Even those two can't handle it all…!"
Raining down a torrent of magic, Asem raised the black sword in his hand. The tip was laden with a staggering mass of raw power.
"How about this?"
He swung the pitch-black blade! A massive horizontal wave of aura hurtled toward Morris and Strada!
Bad! There's no way to defend against something like that! And with an attack covering that wide an area, dodging it would be next to impossible!
Old man Morris immediately shifted into a dodging stance. But then, he glanced back at us for a fraction of a second—
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