!>> ]”
Ddraig’s and Ophis’ voices amalgamated with each other as they echoed out from the gems. The chant with Ophis and me ended. ……. …Currently, standing in front of Rizevim was something which felt more organic than the crimson armour; it was a full-body, crimson and black plate armour. There were now four wings, and equipped within them were cannons. Rizevim was astounded by this sight, and he kept shaking his head as he shouted
“Juggernaut Drive!? No, that’s completely wrong! Although it has the same organic change as the Juggernaut Drive, that ominous aura can’t be felt at all. Rather, the aura which rises out of its skin is…!”
Indeed, this wasn’t the Juggernaut Drive. But it did have the organic characteristic of Juggernaut Drive. Rizevim’s whole face was distorted. “…What kind of a joke is this, this kind of thing? You’ve already reached this stage, yet you were still able to evolve…!”
Ddraig declared to Rizevim
[—Dragon Deification. This is the absolute power that only Ophis can bestow.] “—So the reason is because you’ve obtained the power of Ophis!”
What he said was correct. Currently — I had been saved by Ophis’ power. Presently, my body was re-constructed from the flesh of Great Red and Ophis’ power. Right now, Ophis’ power had been temporarily released. Precisely because the foundation of my body was Great Red’s flesh, I was able to withstand Ophis’ power. Only because I was constituted by two dragons could I obtain this forbidden power—. Ophis spoke within me
—Ise, this state can only be maintained for a very short amount of time. I see, I only had a very brief amount of time. That could be a few seconds, tens of seconds, or even a few minutes. Regardless of that, it wasn’t long. —That’s because my body was already screaming out. There was a strange power circulating around inside my body. It felt as though my body would be torn apart if I moved even just a little bit. Well, I should hurry up and do something. Right now, I — could definitely do it. I readied my stance as I faced Rizevim. After preparing my stance, I only took a slight step forward. All of a sudden, I had shortened our distance, and was standing directly in front of Rizevim. That bastard didn’t even react. My movements just now were completely beyond his comprehension. I clenched my right fist, and punched him straight in the face. At this time, a voice rang out. “ [ D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D D∞D !!!!!!!! ]>> ”
Rizevim intended to use his left hand to grab my fist! The wings of Lucifer on his back all expanded, and increased his strength. In order to block my fist, Rizevim used his Canceller…. I didn’t use [Penetrate], but the momentum of my fist didn’t weaken, and the aura enveloping it wasn’t eliminated; Rizevim cried out in surprise ‘what is this! ?’
“First is a punch!”
Using my fist’s momentum, I drove a direct punch towards Rizevim! Struck by that single blow, that bastard was flung onto the ground. Despite that, Rizevim immediately stood back up, and felt the part of his face that had been hit. From the looks of it, that blow just now was pretty good; his nasal bridge had been knocked crooked, and he had an incessant nosebleed. After Rizevim forcefully pushed his nose back into place and stopped the bleeding, he glared at me. “……What the fuck was that just then? Why wasn’t it invalidated!? Did my ability not work!? How is that possible! ?”
In response to Rizevim who was in pure disbelief, Ddraig began to speak
[No, son of Lucifer. Your ability did work.] “Well, why wasn’t it cancelled then!? Even if that power has a share of Ophis’ power, as long as it’s the power of a Sacred Gear, my Sacred Gear Canceller should still be able to disable it, right! ?”
[It’s extremely simple. Your ability to cancel is limited. Over here, the power of the Sekiryuutei’s ability is infinite. Since it’s a power which can’t entirely be cancelled — that would make things different, wouldn’t it?] Ddraig’s remark left Rizevim stunned
“…To actually say that the power which was released is one which can’t be completely eliminated by my Canceller…!”
[That is Ophis — the so-called infinite.] After hearing Ddraig’s reply, Rizevim regretfully laughed. “…That’s basically cheating…!”
That’s right, this was basically cheating. I wouldn’t want to use this power in a fair fight. Also, to borrow such a power from Ophis who only wants to live a peaceful life…I would be reluctant. “It’s really simple isn’t it? It uses power to eliminate everything. It’s very much like what I’d do. As you said, this is the cheat which you’ve obtained by borrowing Ophis’ power. But, do you think you can protect everyone just by defeating me?”
I only needed to hit this bastard, so borrowing it a bit was fine! Facing such an outcome, Rizevim retreated a step, and revealed a nasty smile. “However, from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like you can maintain that for long. Since that’s the case—”
Seeing through my situation, that bastard shifted his hand into a chest pocket. “I’ll just drag this battle out. I’ve got many Tears.”
What he took out was a small vial which had Phoenix Tears inside them. Rizevim opened up the bottle. “Now then, I’ll use the first bottle.”
He then continued to drink it. —Damn it! He planned on healing his injuries! It doesn’t matter. Even if I can’t maintain this state for long, I’ll fight with everything I have before the time limit is up! Once again, I mentally prepared myself and made up my mind…but nothing happened even after Rizevim swallowed the Phoenix Tears. “……”
He didn’t start to recover, and Rizevim frowned. “…What’s going on? Why haven’t any of my injuries healed?”
The Champion quietly muttered. —A small magic circle was created in his hands. “…Indeed, this is reality. But, it’s already reached this point.”
Rizevim, who immediately grasped the meaning of these words, stared at the Champion. “…You’re the bastard who invalidated them…? You completely invalidated the effects of the Phoenix Tears?”
“…Originally, the Belials’ ability [Worthless] could only be used against an opponent’s ability. —But, ‘objects’ are not an exception. …As long I know about its form and substance, it can become [Worthless]. All of the Tears that you hold have already been made [Worthless].”
So that could also work huh…. As long as he knew how it worked, his ability could be used. In this situation, because he knew about the composition of the Phoenix Tears, he was able to invalidate the healing effect. Understanding all of this, Rizevim clutched all of the bottles of Tears in his hand. “…Since the battle against the House of Phoenix; you were already expecting this from the very beginning!”
I see, so that’s how it was! This is what Beelzebub-sama was talking about! The Champion knew that Qlippoth were secretly producing Phoenix Tears from the beginning. In order to invalidate them, he planned to analyse them during the match with Raiser.