The purple-black greatsword came crashing down in a furious strike, while the hellhound desperately poured all of its demonic power into resisting it.
But no matter how much power it used to struggle, the massive blade continued its unstoppable descent!
Already battered and covered in wounds from its prolonged battle with Ryuya, the beast had long exceeded its limits. The power of this strike was far beyond what it could endure!
The enormous sword struck the monstrous hound. Pitch-black blood sprayed out, only to be instantly vaporized as overwhelming energy erupted outward.
The torrent of demonic power tore through the ground, shattering the stone pavement and carving a deep trench nearly five meters wide and over a hundred meters long.
When the light finally faded, everyone saw that the hellhound had been split cleanly in two. Its massive body slowly tilted before crashing heavily to the ground.
Rias and the others couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. The combat strength Ryuya had displayed was already on par with a high-class devil.
"Let's push harder and finish it off."
The remaining hellhound possessed incredible regenerative abilities. Unlike Ryuya, they lacked a decisive finishing move, so they could only grind it down through continuous attacks.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"I'll help too."
As the words fell, a graceful figure flashed into the battlefield, wielding a greatsword yet moving with remarkable agility.
It was the Holy Sword wielder, Xenovia.
The blade in her hand was the Durandal. In a single swift movement, she appeared beside the hellhound and cut off one of its heads with a clean strike.
"Excellent!"
Rias's eyes lit up with delight. All seven Holy Swords were forged from fragments of the original Excalibur, and each one held tremendous destructive power against devils. Xenovia's sudden attack had dealt severe damage to the beast.
Just as the girls were about to finish off the hellhound in fierce succession, before Ryuya could even breathe a sigh of relief, a terrifying aura erupted from the pillar of light in the distance, so overwhelming it made one's breath catch.
Ryuya snapped his head around.
The four Holy Swords had completely faded away, and within the central magic circle, a radiant and beautiful greatsword slowly materialized!
"It's complete!!"
Valper's excited voice rang out.
"Oh? Not bad. The four Excaliburs have finally merged into one," Kokabiel remarked with a smile, lounging leisurely upon his throne in the sky, enjoying the spectacle below.
He appeared utterly unconcerned. With his overwhelming power, everyone beneath him seemed like nothing more than ants he could crush at any moment.
On the field, the sacred light continued to expand, and the newly formed Holy Sword was finally born!
It radiated an intensely brilliant glow, so dazzling that everyone instinctively narrowed their eyes. As the blinding light gradually subsided, a beautiful sword wreathed in blue-white flames hovered in the air.
"With the power of the Excaliburs united as one, the magic formation has been fully activated. In less than twenty minutes, this entire city will be completely destroyed by the spell. If you want to stop it, you'll have to defeat Kokabiel."
Valper spoke cheerfully to Rias. Having just slain the hellhound, Rias and the others were instantly struck with shock.
"To think… you would go this far…"
Rias gritted her teeth. Kokabiel truly was a war maniac, intending to obliterate an entire city. If that happened, it would be a catastrophe of unimaginable scale. Even if the Demon Kings arrived, it might already be too late.
"Heh, if you want to stop me, then come and wage war against me."
Kokabiel spread his arms wide, laughing arrogantly without a care in the world.
"Stop right there!"
Rias immediately launched an attack at the fallen angel. A torrent of destructive demonic flames surged toward the throne in the sky, as if to swallow it whole.
However, in the face of such an attack, Kokabiel merely raised one hand lazily, showing little interest.
Divine power erupted, instantly crushing Rias's magic and dispersing her attack into nothingness.
"How boring. You're ruining my mood while I'm trying to enjoy the show."
He waved his hand casually, and a surge of divine power rushed toward Rias. Akeno reacted in time, joining forces with Rias to block the fierce attack.
"Heh, how dull. I suppose I'll play with you a little."
Kokabiel remained seated on his throne, acting almost absentmindedly, yet even so, Rias and the others could only struggle to defend against him.
Meanwhile, Valper lightly clapped his hands.
"Now then, perhaps it's time to test the power of this new Holy Sword."
As he spoke, a spatial gate opened beside him, and a girl with long black hair stepped out expressionlessly.
"Let me introduce her. She's a Sacred Sword wielder I painstakingly trained."
Ryuya narrowed his eyes, recalling the Number Two he had defeated before.
So this girl… had also been created through the extraction of souls?
"That experimental facility in that alternate space last time… it really was for cultivating test subjects for you."
Ryuya spoke quietly, remembering the humans sealed inside containers in that lab. Who knew how many people had died at the hands of this mad scientist?
"Hehe, because using a Holy Sword requires a certain kind of factor, I created that facility. I searched for people who possessed that factor, extracted it, crystallized it, and thus created Sacred Sword wielders like this. Well? Isn't it wonderful?"
Valper excitedly explained his results, as if eager to show off after finally achieving success.
Even Ryuya had heard of the Holy Sword Project from Rias before. It was truly a horrifying and inhumane experiment.
He let out a slow breath.
There were less than twenty minutes left.
The situation was extremely dire.
There were still many people in this city that he cared about. There was no way he would let them destroy it.
He tightened his grip on the Kings' Sword. He knew that if he didn't take down this girl called Number One first, they wouldn't even be able to break the magic formation, let alone deal with Kokabiel.
At that moment, Valper gave his command with a smile.
"Number One, take that sword… and kill them."
The girl known as Number One moved like a puppet, obediently picking up the newly formed Holy Sword.
Whoosh!
Her figure vanished instantly, her target being Ryuya!
Ryuya raised the Kings' Sword to counter her attack, but the girl's speed was astonishing!
This was the ability of the Sword of Light, granting its wielder terrifying speed.
Fortunately, Ryuya himself possessed the enhancement of a Knight piece. His speed was no less than hers, allowing him to block her strike with his Sacred Gear.
But in the next instant, the Holy Sword in her hand transformed, shifting shape as if it could track its target, turning into a whip that lashed toward Ryuya!
This was the ability of the Sword of Mimicry!
As expected, this newly fused Holy Sword possessed all the abilities of the previous four blades!
…
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