One blast of Explosion Magic erased half the sky where Ruval had been!
A dozen seconds later, Ruval resurrected in Phoenix flame, staring at Akuto with lingering fear.
That strike hadn't quite killed him outright—but it was close.
Had he been an ordinary Ultimate-class close to Maou-level, he would've been flattened on the spot!
He'd thought Akuto had gone hard on Riser earlier; now he realized Akuto had actually held back.
So then… Akuto not crushing Riser with mid-tier Maou strength from the start—was that him sparing face?
"Akuto, I figured you'd seize the moment and press the attack," Ruval spread his Phoenix wings again.
"Didn't we agree to 'showcase our power'? If I just flood everything with Leviathan's Water, this fight would be boring."
Saying that, Akuto lightly raised the golden holy sword in his hand, sacred aura spreading.
"That is… a Holy Sword?!"
Of course Ruval recognized one. What shocked him was how Akuto could handle it so casually—and from the feel of it, the sword acknowledged him?!
"That's right. A Holy Sword."
Akuto lifted his left hand and dispelled the Balance Breaker gauntlet there.
Then, with a sudden force of his right hand, he drew the holy blade across his own left palm.
"Ssshhh—"
Under the sword's edge, his skin parted. Blood welled—
Yet in just five seconds, Akuto finished both "Hemostasis" and "Regeneration"!
"This—!"
Ruval's eyes widened. He wasn't shocked by recovery on par with a Phoenix.
He was shocked that—despite being cut by a Holy Sword—Akuto took no anti-Devil penalty!
"This is one of my mutations," Akuto replied evenly.
"Everyone knows I'm a Sacred Gear user, which means I couldn't be a born pure-blood Devil.
"Yes—my Leviathan lineage is mutated. Although its purity surpasses all pure Leviathans, it did come from mutation."
"That last part—'surpasses all pure Leviathans'—was unnecessary, you jerk!" —by the watching Old-Maou Leviathan faction members.
Under the Underworld's collective gaze, Akuto continued:
"This mutation didn't just grant me ultra-pure Leviathan blood. It also let me overcome the Devils' racial weakness.
"I believe—just a hypothesis—that the children I have with Rias and Ravel will inherit this trait."
He hadn't drawn the Holy Sword to beat his brother-in-law bloody.
He drew it to tell every Devil: his bloodline is the most worthy to be passed on.
He is qualified to become the one existence in the Underworld who breaks the rules.
Inside the private chamber of Maou Lucifer.
In just a dozen seconds, Serafall discussed and reached a conclusion with Grayfia.
"Akuto's right—his bloodline should be propagated."
"If Akuto and his descendants marry into other houses generation after generation, then in a few millennia, all Devils could shed our weakness to holy power!"
Serafall, rarely, showed a spark of excitement.
Decision made, she turned—"Rias, I'll have to trouble you for now."
Rias looked helpless.
She had only just accepted, under Grayfia's guidance, that Akuto would marry Ravel as well. The Phoenix clan agreed to let Ravel be the junior wife—Rias had no grounds to object.
And now… this again!
Rias knew exactly how enticing "removing holy weakness" would be to Devilkind.
[Akuto… did you do this on purpose?]
Though a bit sour, she quickly suppressed it. Her core demand hadn't been threatened.
Even if some pure-blood houses offered Akuto new wives, they wouldn't jeopardize her position.
Of course, it was still annoying.
She'd just lowered her bottom line, and now she had to lower it again—anyone would be upset.
But Rias was a good girl. After only a short sulk, she began planning for Akuto.
[Considering Akuto may take several wives ranked after me, I should help him manage the household.]
[One person's strength can be overtaxed; it's time to build a small internal group.]
Candidates flashed through her mind.
First was Ravel, then… Canna?
…But that one's the family's sole daughter, right?
Maybe not.
On the battlefield, Ravel had the same thought.
Her first instinct was to pull the senior wife, Rias, to her side.
But besides Rias, Ravel had her own little scheme.
She thought of her childhood friend from kindergarten—a silver twin-tails beauty whose looks were no less than Ravel's—Ika.
Ika, full name Ika Glasya-Labolas, was one of the strong contenders for next head of House Glasya-Labolas.
In the original plot, after the misbehaving young heir of Glasya-Labolas suffered a mental break at Sairaorg's hands, Ika succeeded as the next head.
Right now, though, the young Devils hadn't held their Gathering yet, so that delinquent hadn't had his spirit shattered by Sairaorg.
At present, Ika was only a candidate.
Since she hadn't succeeded yet, to Ravel that meant she was recruitable!
And so, while her brother fought, Ravel's mind soared off, planning her future small circle.
Rias and Ravel's worries weren't unfounded.
Once they learned Akuto wasn't restrained by holy power, many pure-blood houses started plotting.
They might not marry out their next heads—but they could give other direct bloodlines in marriage, right?
And if direct lines were scarce, cadet branches would do!
While everyone was shocked and scheming over Akuto's revelation, the duel in the arena reached a fever pitch.
[Avatar of the God—Vāmana!]
Borrowing the power of the Three-Steps God Vāmana, each of Akuto's seemingly casual steps could stride across mountains and rivers!
"Slash—!"
"Slice—!"
Advance one step—thrust.
Retreat one step—evade.
Advance again—pierce with a single sword.
It was the simplest routine, yet Ruval had almost no chance to counter!
Reason: the difference in attributes and abilities was simply too vast!
Akuto hadn't suppressed Ruval's Phoenix Fire with Leviathan's Water—
But even so, the flow of battle tilted sharply toward Akuto!
There was no helping it: Holy Swords restrain Devils too strongly.
And this was a Holy Sword with its sacred attribute multiplied by the Boosted Gear—who knew how many times!
Two minutes later, Ruval resurrected again, his wounds still burning from sacred power.
His case was different from Riser's.
For Riser, Akuto had flooded him with Leviathan's Water first, dealing massive physical damage before crushing his spirit.
For Ruval, Akuto never quenched his Phoenix flame; he just kept inflicting spiritual wounds with the Holy Sword.
The body could recover in Phoenix fire—but the spirit could not heal so fast!
After hundreds of slashes, Ruval's mind grew hazy; he nearly tumbled out of the sky.
"Ruval-aniue, I think we don't need to keep this up, do we?"
Akuto only wanted to show his strength and attract more investment.
Since they were now family with the Phoenix clan, there was no need to trample their face.
After all, at this point, the Phoenix clan's face was, in a way, his face too.
A fine thought—but Ruval wouldn't have it.
"Akuto! In Phoenix duels, there's no such thing as stopping halfway!"
"And another thing—Akuto, I've been through battles far crueler than this. The one called 'Emperor'—His Majesty Belial—was nothing like your softness!"
"In future fights with true powerhouses, until you hear the defeat chime from the other side, you must never relax!"
Ruval truly took the role of brother-in-law seriously—still teaching Akuto the correct battle mindset even now.
The "His Majesty Belial" he mentioned was Diehauser Belial.
Diehauser, by sheer might, seized Rank 1 in the Rating Game and earned the title "Emperor," rivaling the Four Maou.
His ability resembled Rizevim's in some ways.
If Rizevim—who nullifies Sacred Gears—is the "Gear-User Nemesis," then Diehauser is the "Trait Nemesis."
Because Diehauser's magic trait is "Null Value."
Against Devils who've awakened special magic traits, he can null-value those traits with ease!
From Phoenix regeneration to Phoenix Tears—Diehauser can render them all worthless!
In his battle with Diehauser, Ruval's Phoenix Fire was null-valued; he lost without a single resurrection.
To him, that fight had been far more brutal than this one with Akuto.
"Alright then… if that's how you feel, Aniki, I'll respect your will." Akuto sheathed the Holy Sword.
The next instant—Akuto reached his hand toward Grayfia's location!
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!!!]
The green jewel flashed again and again, painting the sky in the Welsh Dragon's emerald glow!
Bzz—bzz—
One layer, two layers—ten, twenty—hundreds of stacks!
Akuto's Explosion Magic was the conceptualized product of the world's heroine, Megumin's Explosion Magic.
The longer the chant, the edgier the lines, the firmer the heart—the stronger the detonation.
"Grayfia-san, please vacate your current coordinates within ten seconds," Akuto "kindly" reminded.
Grayfia's charming face went dark. Good grief—aiming at her?
Without hesitation—
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!!!]
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
[Explosion!]
"—!!"
Five seconds after Grayfia blurred away, the coordinates she'd occupied were swallowed by the all-consuming blast!
The Explosion's boundary expanded, and expanded—until it reached Ruval, engulfing him completely!
"This output has exceeded Maou-class!" Grayfia's beautiful eyes widened. She hadn't expected Akuto to surprise her again!
(End of Chapter)
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