On the battlefield, to lose one's power is to admit defeat.
Azi Dahaka, who understood this principle perfectly, accepted this fact the moment he realized his Spiritual Status had been frozen.
Besides, his existence as a Final Trial of Humanity was a mechanism that had already been overcome. After the first time, subsequent challengers faced little difficulty. He could accept this outcome.
What he could not accept was being defeated in a way he could not comprehend.
Su Mo's subjugation back then had been an open and overwhelming crush. In fact, considering the existence of the Mother of Evil Gods and her subservient attitude toward Su Mo, even calling it a "crush" would be an understatement that belittled Su Mo.
To be precise, that great being had merely wanted to come down and play for a bit. Even with his power, capable of single-handedly fighting the million-strong pantheon of Little Garden, he could only play the part of a child's game when facing that great being with all his might.
It was precisely because he knew this gap that he could accept his defeat wholeheartedly. After reawakening, he showed Su Mo infinite respect, addressing him as "Your Majesty."
This time, however, these fledgling savior candidates clearly did not possess power like Su Mo's.
Azi Dahaka could sense their immaturity and was willing to follow Su Mo's command to help temper these brats.
However, now that he was defeated, Azi Dahaka was still very curious. How had they managed it?
The three of them fell together, but they didn't crash a crater into the ground.
Under the protection of a gentle breeze, they landed safely. The one who created this breeze was, naturally, Kasukabe Yō.
After landing, Azi Dahaka assessed his current situation.
The weapon that had pierced him was a sword, a longsword.
The longsword had thrust from Izayoi's direction, piercing through Izayoi's abdomen, then his own abdomen in the middle, and finally Typhon's abdomen, skewering all three of them in one go.
"A reckless tactic!"
Azi Dahaka gave his assessment.
He immediately understood. Izayoi and Typhon's actions were merely to hold him in place, using their own bodies to shield the attack from the others. They had paid the price of their two great champions suffering the same injury to run him through.
It was an extremely dangerous tactic. If Azi Dahaka hadn't been so confident and had tried to escape from the start, he would never have been caught. He might have even turned the tables and killed them.
Therefore, calling it reckless was not an exaggeration.
Having said that, he paused for a moment before adding.
"...However, it was also an act of courage."
Good or not, it worked.
At the very least, they had indeed achieved their tactical objective and successfully pierced him.
Such an exchange would normally be commonplace in battle. The only thing Azi Dahaka hadn't expected was that he would completely lose his power from a single blow.
Even Avesta hadn't reacted.
"This sword is...?"
Azi Dahaka looked at the bloodstained blade in his abdomen, his expression puzzled.
"Ame-no-Murakumo!"
Kudou Asuka, holding the hilt alongside Kudou Ayato, let out a long sigh of relief, a triumphant expression on her face.
"This is the divine armament Lord Su Mo bestowed upon me before he left. It can seal the Spiritual Status of any existence, even a Full-Authority Domain is no exception."
"It is with this power that we could seal your Spiritual Status and make you lose all your strength."
Ame-no-Murakumo. It was part of Queen Halloween's collection and is now Su Mo's possession.
Previously, after the Absolute Demon King and Typhon had their audience, the Kudou Sisters were also summoned by Su Mo.
Among them, the gift Kudou Asuka received was this divine sword, capable of sealing the Spiritual Status of all things in the world.
To speak of Ame-no-Murakumo's value, one need only introduce its rank. It is an existence that ranks among the seventeen Full-Authority Domains of Little Garden.
In other words, the weapon itself is a two-digit being.
In Kudou Asuka's eyes, she had won by borrowing the authority of this divine sword to seal Azi Dahaka's Spiritual Status.
However, in Azi Dahaka's eyes, that was not the case.
"Ame-no-Murakumo? The divine artifact from Japanese mythology? Impossible!"
He shook his head decisively.
Putting aside the fact that at this point in history, a power from the mythological side should not be able to alter history.
Even disregarding that, with the effect of Avesta 5.0, a power from the mythological side could not possibly affect him.
Even if Ame-no-Murakumo could seal any Spiritual Status, Avesta would have nullified it before the seal could be deployed.
Therefore, the essence of the longsword before him was definitely not some divine artifact.
Thus, there was only one answer.
Star-forged!
"This is... the Star Sword of Extreme Phase?!"
Finally, Azi Dahaka identified the true nature of this power.
(TL: Again, Everyone know star = Planet right? ah i just lazy to change these, Star sounds cooler, accurate translation? what is that?)