“…Sensei, in terms of destructive power, I think Xenovia’s a notch better.”
In response to his disciple’s defiant statement, the man who was her mentor simply revealed an eloquent smile. “Well, I know that. —But, don’t just measure Excalibur by its destructive power.”
Cristaldi took out several crosses from the clothing around his chest, and threw them up into the air. The moment after Cristaldi recited a chant, the crosses in the air dispersed, and planted themselves into the ground to surround us! Then a barrier was formed by the crosses which surrounded Cristaldi and us (Me, Irina-san, Griselda-san, Dulio-san)! Noticing this, the Sitri household attempted to move closer — but a huge wave of holy energy was generated from the crosses, and they were unable to contact us or move closer. Cristaldi said
“It uses Blessing’s power to enhance the barrier of the crosses. The Sitri household’s Devils over there will be unable to get closer for around ten minutes.”
…He’s also able to use Blessing. And this barrier’s strength is quite substantial…. Even for me here, it would be impossible to escape unless I used Gram. Cristaldi smiled eloquently. “Even for Angels, it isn’t easy to break through this barrier which has been strengthened by Excalibur. Use fast movements to evade. Flying into the air to increase your distance will not be possible.”
…Although I have speed, the flying capabilities of the reincarnated Angels have been restricted. Moreover, the barrier prevents the Sitri group from providing assistance…. Irina-san recovered from the damage, and powerfully pushed her mentor’s sword back. As Cristaldi jumped backwards, he released several waves of holy energy towards us at the same time! [***] I could use this type of attack, and so could Xenovia and Irina-san! Irina-san and I each swung our swords to release waves! We intended to cancel out our opponent’s waves, but—the attack which was coming towards us evaporated like fog! Even the waves were an illusion! No, the waves also cancelled each other out. The real waves were mixed in with the illusory waves! The illusory waves of holy energy even had the same feeling as the real thing thus it was really difficult to make a quick judgement. An assault from Rapidly which is a direct attack would be better. Coming to this conclusion, we evaded and allowed several waves to go past—! But the waves of holy energy behind us changed direction, and came towards us again! Cristaldi said
“—Although I didn’t have this back in my day, I occasionally do use the abilities of Ruler.”
—Ruler’s ability! He’s able to freely control the waves of holy energy he released in mid-air! There was nothing more troublesome than having to deal with homing-type waves of holy energy! “—So be it!”
Dulio-san generated light from his palm. In the next instant, the waves which were closely following us were dissipated by the lightning strike which was released from his palm. …It was an elemental attack from his Sacred Gear. We supported Dulio-san, temporarily increasing our distance to regroup. But because we were inside the barrier, there wasn’t much space to move around freely. …He’s actually able to use Excalibur’s replica to such an extent. Within a single attack directed towards us, it combined at least two abilities. Xenovia was also learning this style of combat though… But because the opponent utilised these sorts of attacks in a completely natural way, it always caught us by surprise. When Xenovia uses the abilities, because her mentality of [Only use the ability next!] is reflected in her actions, defending against it in a mock battle is really easy for me. But this man is different. It’s as if he’s accustomed to using abilities, so he naturally implements them in his attacks. This was the power of Excalibur, and he reached this level after becoming so familiar with it. Honestly speaking, I’ve been starting to suspect that the man in front of us isn’t real, and that he was actually created by using Nightmare or Mimic. …No, perhaps letting us have these thoughts was actually this man’s tactic. Cristaldi took out a small vial of holy water, and poured it over the blade of the replica. “Even if this is a replica, as long as I’m wielding Excalibur, this kind of situation is a piece of cake.”
When he finished speaking, Cristaldi suddenly disappeared from our sight without the slightest hint of moving. Is it high speed movement? Or is it Transparency, or is it Nightmare? Damn it! After initially witnessing the abilities combined together, this sword Excalibur has turned into such a difficult thing! As we attempted to track his presence, we were also vigilant of our surroundings! Then, several of Cristaldi’s avatars appeared from the side! This kind of situation happened again! It’s Nightmare or Mimic! Irina-san and I both raised our swords at the same time in response! Both Irina-san’s and my defence — actually succeeded at the same time! Are both of them the real thing?! That’s impossible! Irina-san and I began clashing and exchanging blows with our opponent’s sword at high speed, and we then steadied our aim to land a blow on him. —In the end, the avatars vanished! So it actually wasn’t the real thing, and it wasn’t Mimic either?! There were already a countless number of avatars here, on top of which, they once again formed the appearance of Cristaldi. “—Avatars which are tangible?! Were they really made using the ability of Excalibur Nightmare? !”
I yelled out in surprise. It was incredibly hard to believe! Even avatars with substance could be created?! “—It’s a combination of Rapidly and Nightmare. High speed and illusions are used, which results in avatars that are physically tangible.”
That voice travelled here from behind! Unbeknownst to me, a third Cristaldi had moved behind me! I deactivated my holy demonic sword, and changed my Sacred Gear to Blade Blacksmith, and created an army of Dragon Knights which arose from the ground! Using the armoured knights as shields, Irina-san and I jumped backwards to retreat! Cristaldi successively cut down the Dragon Knights almost instantly, and drew closer to us. “Metaphorically speaking, even someone known as a strong Devil like you, can’t quite defend against the effects of holy water…”
Right in front of me — he threw a vial of holy water. Cristaldi destroyed the vial with a single horizontal slash! Holy water spilled out of the shattered vial — and onto my entire body! Cristaldi chanted a prayer after confirming that it was on me. —! In the next instant, there was an indescribable pain, agony — swept across my entire body! The sanctified power of the holy water was ferociously burning parts of me as a Devil! That seemed to be the body, though even my mind was burning up and with the pain pulsing throughout my entire body, I couldn’t speak at all! Did he amplify the effects of ordinary holy water several fold?! No, you could say that it might even have been intensified by a factor of ten!