"What?!"
Marquis Voban's cold green eyes contracted instantly.
He could understand the first wave of lightning Authority being blocked. After all, he had not used his full power just now.
But now, when he was going all out, not only had his attack been blocked, it had even been pushed back?
Could the Authority that brat had distributed actually exert its full strength?
"Ena!"
Erica gave another order.
"Understood!" Seishuuin Ena had long since been unable to hold herself back. She drew the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi at her waist, and the divine blade released an excited hum.
"Here, Susanoo-no-Mikoto led a thousand unruly gods in rebellion, seeking to seize this nation. A thousand swords stood upon the earth, becoming fortress and banner against the foe. Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, unsheathe!"
"Answer! This is what is called the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi! It is the steel that breaks a thousand blades! Now is the time to annihilate the barbarians of south, north, east, and west! Destroy the heretics!"
"Ama no Murakumo! In my lord's name, grant me the Thunder Ancestor's myriad bolts!"
A dark gleam flashed across the blade of the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi. A wave of energy extremely similar to the purple lightning summoned by Marquis Voban spread out in an instant.
Immediately afterward, Ena swung her sword toward the heavens.
"Slash!"
A purple lightning dragon in no way inferior to the one Marquis Voban had summoned roared from the tip of the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, charging upward into the sky and striking one of the main thunderbolts Marquis Voban controlled with perfect precision.
Boom!
Two bolts of purple thunder from the same source collided violently in midair and annihilated each other. Using the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi's ability to "imitate" Authorities, Ena had copied Marquis Voban's lightning power and returned his own method against him.
With Ena joining in, Liliana's pressure eased once again.
She and Ena coordinated flawlessly, one focusing on defense while the other attacked. Azure and purple lightning intertwined, collided, and exploded in the sky, faintly forcing back Marquis Voban's violent thunder offensive.
"Damn it! How is this possible?!"
Marquis Voban was both shocked and furious. He had never expected that these women he regarded as "little girls," after receiving Akuto's Authority empowerment and that shrine maiden's support, could unleash such astonishing power and even contend with him on the level of Authorities. This was nothing less than trampling on his dignity.
"Dead Servants!"
A sharp light flashed through Marquis Voban's eyes, and he decided not to continue clashing with them through Authorities. He suddenly waved his hand.
Countless cracks split open across the ground, and skeleton warriors clad in tattered armor and wielding decayed weapons crawled out.
Ghostly green soul fire flickered in the Dead Servants' eye sockets. They radiated dense death energy and resentment, silently howling as they surged toward Erica and the others like a tide.
This was another of Marquis Voban's signature Authorities: summoning the strong opponents he had personally killed while they were alive, transforming them into the absolutely loyal undead army known as the Legion of Dead Servants.
Individually, these Dead Servants might not be a match for a Campione, but they were numerous and utterly fearless. They were more than enough to interfere with, or even severely injure, the girls currently doing everything they could to resist the thunder.
However, Marquis Voban's calculations failed again.
"Hmph. A petty trick."
Lucretia Zola gave a lazy snort and exchanged a glance with Diana beside her. The two raised their hands at the same time and began chanting ancient, obscure spells.
"Rule the pulse of the earth. Gather the radiance of the stars."
"In my lord's name, construct the sighing wall that divides life and death."
The two great magi joined forces, and magical power surged out like rushing rivers.
A massive magic circle covering the entire edge of the plaza lit up in an instant. Its patterns were complex and profound, radiating heart-shaking spatial fluctuations and an aura of annihilation.
Countless spells emerged around the two of them, like a scene of forbidden curse chanting from the world of World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman.
"Haaaaaaaah!"
As the final syllable fell, the magic circle erupted with blinding light.
An invisible divine force carrying the aura of the underworld swept outward.
The Dead Servants that had just crawled out of the ground, before they even had time to charge, were thrown into an invisible grinder. Their bodies, armor, and weapons were instantly torn apart, reduced to primordial particles, and banished into an unknown void.
In only a single breath, the undead army Marquis Voban had summoned was completely cleared away.
"What?!"
Marquis Voban was shocked again. He had not expected the opposing side to have such powerful magi. Working together, they could instantly cast such a large-scale forbidden-class spell and send his Dead Servants back to the underworld. This completely disrupted his rhythm.
And in the instant he was distracted by the Dead Servants being wiped out, an even more dangerous presence locked onto him.
It was Saint Raphael.
At some point, she had already retreated to a position slightly behind the others. Her hands gripped the two strangely shaped magic swords at her waist, one flashing with the precise cold gleam of craftsmanship, the other radiating the savage ferocity of the king of beasts.
Saint Raphael took a deep breath. Her eyes sharpened like blades, and she began chanting an ancient song filled with power.
"Sing, poem of the magic sword that rends all things!"
"Heart of the craftsman, grant thee a form forged through a thousand tempers!"
"Soul of the lion, grant thee the power to tear the heavens!"
"Here, the bowstring is drawn, and the arrows are formed!"
"Mountains of Gilboa, I pray that the rain of dew shall fall upon this day! Offer the sacrifice the dead beasts crave!"
"Cast away thyself and become the shield of the hero beyond! Shield of Saul, fill thyself with oil and devote thyself here!"
"Without drinking the enemy's blood, Jonathan's Bow shall not retreat! Without devouring the flesh of heroes, Saul's Sword shall not return to its sheath! Not until this body is defeated!"
"Bow of Jonathan, weapon of a hero swift and strong as a lion..."
"Run forth, pierce through! Rend! Completely shatter the enemy before me!"
Because she was using the words of power of Rending Silver Hand layered with Song of the Bow, Saint Raphael's spell also underwent a subtle fusion and transformation.
As Saint Raphael chanted, the Craftsman's Magic Sword in her hand melted like liquid, transforming into a massive longbow gleaming with metallic light. The Lion's Magic Sword split apart and reassembled itself into four arrows wrapped in golden lion phantoms, each radiating a terrifying aura of rending.
Even more unnerving was the indescribable power of the law of "rending" that coiled around the arrows, as if it could easily cut even space itself apart.
This was the Authority Akuto had granted Saint Raphael: Rending Magic Sword. It could bestow a conceptual "rending" property.
Moreover, because she had already absorbed Doni's fate, Saint Raphael had become the strongest among the women.
The reason she had not stood at the very front from the beginning was because she had carried the mission of being the strongest damage dealer from the start.
...
Feeling the four "Rending Bows" upon Saint Raphael's longbow, Marquis Voban's hair instantly stood on end.
There was no doubt. Those arrows had been formed from a killing move-class Authority, and he sensed a lethal threat from them.
The power contained within those four arrows could absolutely inflict severe damage on him.
Thus, Marquis Voban immediately tried to mobilize an Authority to defend or dodge.
Unfortunately, as stated earlier, Erica and the others had never intended to fight him one-on-one from the start.
...
"Don't even think about it!"
How could Erica give Marquis Voban that chance? She had long been waiting for this moment.
"In the name of the conqueror Baal!"
"Manifest! My retainer: Dragon King Yam!"
Erica raised the Sword of the Lionheart high, summoning the Authority she had obtained after slaying the Heretic God Baal: the powerful dragon king-class divine beast, Yam.
An enormous dragon phantom radiating a violent aura appeared behind her and released a thunderous roar.
"Following Operation Order Number Three, everyone attack together!"
Erica pointed her sword at Marquis Voban and issued the command for an all-out assault.
Dragon King Yam roared, its enormous claw wrapped in the force of storm and tsunami as it slammed fiercely toward Marquis Voban.
The Exile and the Pursuer flew out from behind Erica one after another, attacking Marquis Voban's slender body together.
And it was not only Erica.
Liliana, Seishuuin Ena, Lucretia Zola, Diana, and Mariya Yuri all attacked Marquis Voban at the same time.
...
Marquis Voban was forced to split his attention and respond to Erica and the others' sudden fierce assault.
While resisting the erosion of the lightning Authority descending from the sky, Marquis Voban roared and swung his massive fist after transforming into a giant wolf. His powerful curse energy became a tangible shockwave, clashing head-on against Dragon King Yam's massive claw.
Using the tremendous impact from the collision, his body rapidly dodged aside, avoiding the consecutive charges of the Exile and the Pursuer.
However, at that moment, the forbidden spell jointly cast by Lucretia Zola and Diana descended upon him once more.
Curses, corruption, freezing, burning, erosion, death. A large number of negative effects struck Marquis Voban all at once, making his agile movements freeze for an instant.
In that pause, Erica's dragon king and weapons, together with Liliana's and Seishuuin Ena's lightning, broke through Marquis Voban's blockade at the same time and struck his body together.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaah!"
As Marquis Voban released a pained roar, Saint Raphael finally completed her preparation.
...
"Rending Magic Sword: Four-Arrow Volley!"
Sharp light burst from Saint Raphael's eyes, and she released the bowstring.
Bzzzz!
The bowstring vibrated as if space itself had been torn apart.
The four arrows, wrapped in golden lion phantoms, flashing with silver rending radiance, and containing the absolute law of "rending," became four golden meteors that tore through the sky. With speed surpassing thought, they crossed the distance in an instant.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Four dull sounds of penetration rang out almost simultaneously.
Marquis Voban's body abruptly froze.
His left shoulder, right waist, left thigh, and the spot slightly to the right of his heart now bore four huge holes that went clean through his body.
The silver power of rending clung to his wounds like maggots on bone, rampaging wildly and preventing the powerful self-healing ability of a Campione from activating properly. Blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly dyeing his expensive suit red.
"Aaaaah!"
Marquis Voban released a roar of extreme pain and fury.
He lowered his head and looked at the four bloody holes in his body. Feeling the intense pain and weakness brought by the law of rending, he was overcome by unprecedented rage and humiliation.
He had actually been wounded this badly by a group of "little girls" in his eyes?
(End of Chapter)
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