Vali had already equippedhis silvery-white armour.Vali said
“In the past, I used to discuss who the ‘strongest human’ was. Of those who are on my side, I would vouch for Arthur. —But it seems like I shouldn’t draw any rash conclusions.”
The God-Devouring Wolf Fenrir appeared beside Vali. Vali, Fenrir, Bikou, Arthur, and Gogmagog had already appeared on the front line. This was their standard offensive formation. Vali continued
“…The possessor of the Holy King Sword, Arthur, the wielder of the Holy Spear — Cao Cao, [Canis Lykaon]’s possessor — Ikuse Tobio, the one knownas [First Dark]Kanzaki Mitsuya who controls [Innovate Clear] and [Telos Karma], as well as — the former owner of Durandal, Vasco Strada.”
Vali asked His Eminence
“After being persuaded by Rias Gremory, you must have your own reasons for standing here. …What did the Maou’s little sister give you in return for participating in this battle?”
His Eminence stabbed Durandal into the road and laughed graciously. “Hahaha, if this was before the alliance of the Three Factions, my actions would be a betrayal of Heaven.”
After saying that, His Eminence removed a small vial from his pocket. There was a sparkling white liquid inside. “—Allow me to make use of this special technique from the very beginning. After using this, I will return to being a warrior of my heyday.”
It was a concoction that came from the holy water that had been poured out of Valerie’s Holy Grail, and then infused with Gasper’s Balor powers and Koneko-chan’s senjutsu touki. It took three days to make it, and it was a secret blend that only our team was capable of producing. His Eminence used his fingers to pop open the lid, and then he gulped it down in one go. His Eminence crushed the vial in his hand. And then his body began to change. White smoke dispersed from his entire body. After the smoke dissipated, the person standing there was — His Eminence Strada who had returned to the form that he had in his fifties. The aura that emanated from his body increased even further. His Eminence had used a secret technique to regain his youth, and this was what he looked like in his prime. His Eminence lifted Durandal up and said
“My prime wasn’t when I was in my teens or my twenties.”
Those words dispelled all of the doubts that everyone had in mind. In order to trial the effects before using it in a game in the Tournament, His Eminence had shown us the results of it during one of our training sessions. At the time, His Eminence had said
[—The so-called spirit or psyche is influenced by physical appearance and physical condition to a great extent. This is the conclusion that I have reached after fighting against so many supernatural beings and special ability users. If I return to the physical body that I had in my teens or twenties, I will return to the state where I was youthful yet immature, and all of the discipline that I’ve accumulated since then will be lost. Can that truly be called my prime? If I return to that mentally immature time, is there still any meaning in returning to the battlefield?] His Eminence, whose body had returned to its condition as it was in his fifties said
[If that’s the case, I should return to the age at which the balance between my mind and body were honed to their limits. —To me, those days were in my fifties.] To a Devil who could freely change their outer appearance, perhaps His Eminence’s words hit a sore spot. I had heard that a youthful spirit was accompanied by a youthful appearance. That was why a lot of Devils maintained their appearance to be somewhere in between their prime and their middle age. Of course, there were also Devils who preserved their youthful figures in order to maintain their youthful spirit—. Vali didn’t seem to care, and he fearlessly charged straight towards His Eminence! As a result, Fenrir pounced forth in front of him as well! The legendary wolf swiftly swiped down with its large front claws. “The God-Devouring Wolf huh. With the Hakuryuukou and Holy King Sword on top of that, there isn’t a more suitable opponent.”
His Eminence evaded Fenrir’s high-speed assault with only the slightest of movements! He had completely cleared himself from the trajectory of Fenrir’s claws and teeth! Although a portion of Fenrir’s strength had been sealed, it was still a legendary monster. It was impossible to defeat it without a considerably trained mind and body. However…His Eminence borrowed his accumulated experience to easily dodge the attack, and then counterattacked with his fist to land a direct blow on the legendary monster’s face! Fenrir was actually sent crashing backwards! “Hey, am I seeing an illusion? That old man just toyed with Fenrir!”
Upon seeing this, even Bikou’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hmph, now this is interesting!”
Vali released an incredibly powerful silvery-white aura from his hands! Any ordinary human would be defenceless against this power. —But, His Eminence didn’t show any intentions of evading, and he simply held the holy sword up in front of his chest. “It certainly is tremendous demonic energy. You could even say that it’s on the highest class that I’ve ever seen amongst Devils. —But.”
With a single strike, the silvery-white aura that Vali released was directly slashed apart by Durandal II! The aura had been cut apart, and His Eminence no longer stood there in that spot. Vali used his sight and senses to search for His Eminence’s presence—. His Eminence appeared right behind Vali, and swung down the holy sword! Vali immediately responded by swinging his fist that was covered in demonic energy across — but what he hit was just an afterimage! His Eminence roared
“—Take a good look at the skill and strength that a human has attained through only training!”
Zan! —It was the sound of a blade! Vali was unable to dodge, and he took a direct hit! “Damn it! Ruyi Bang!”
Realising that his leader had been hit, Bikou rushed forward and swung his Ruyi Bang! His Eminence managed to evade the attack with ease, causing Bikou’s expression to turn bitter. Bikou pulled out a few of his monkey hairs, and then blew on them with his breath! The strands of hair which were blown out gradually enlarged and changed shape! There were actually his clones, and there were now a countless number of them! This was the cloning technique that Sun Wukong commonly used with his hair. “Come one! Let’s go!”
Bikou and his countless clones all dashed forward with a Ruyi Bang in their hands! “—That is a technique that belongs to your ancestor. But it hasn’t yet reached the level of Sun Wukong.”
His Eminence said that as he wielded the holy sword and destroyed the clones one after the other. It didn’t seem like he was struggling or getting hit at all. And even if he was hit, His Eminence would surely be fine. “Then, how about this!”
The army of clones split into two squads. One group extended the length of their Ruyi Bangs, while the other caused them to thicken.