[Demon King Vallion].
The ultra-short-chant "voice magic" that Alfia possessed carried destructive power of a wholly different class — there were even rumors it surpassed Riveria's "Gunfire of Heaven."
That was probably true.
At Lv. 7, it was perfectly natural for Alfia's magic to be stronger than the Elven Princess's, who was still Lv. 5 at this point in ti.
More importantly, this magic was extraordinarily "complete."
On the offensive side.
It had no physical form — it could not be blocked, could not be dodged. The mont you heard that cool, clear voice intone "Evangelium," you were already within its range of devastation.
And on the defensive side.
Though the magic itself was intangible, it could repel anything with a physical form.
As Ryuu-senpai had once described it, back when they fought Alfia, simply getting close to her was nearly impossible. Even magical attacks, when launched at her, would simply collide against it — and detonate.
In a certain sense.
Alfia's magic was a "perfect magic."
Zard, who had been on a collision course with the farmstead, was simply repelled — cleanly, without ceremony. It was as though so enormous force had slamd into him mid-air, sending him hurtling back the way he ca. He crashed down not far in front of Isagi, cratering the earth — already scorched black and now pitted and gouged from the corrosion of the toxin — into a massive hollow.
He rose to his feet with so difficulty.
Alfia's magical assault was sothing Zard was well-acquainted with, so that part was fine.
What had genuinely stunned him was the "magical cannonade" Isagi had just unleashed.
Pure. Overwhelming.
It had even shattered the armor that had accompanied him through countless battles across the ages — armor that had once withstood a clash against a Behemoth. Right now, along one side of Zard's body, from his chest down to his right arm, the plating was not rely riddled with dense networks of cracks — whole sections of it were simply gone, exposing the scorched, magic-burned flesh beneath.
The pain — a sensation long unfamiliar — made him close his eyes, just slightly.
Ahh —
Good. Quite good. So then — could he fire off another strike like that one?
Obviously not.
Zard had ntally filed Isagi's attack away as so kind of "finishing move" — the sort you could only use once, after which the user would be left in a state of total exhaustion. A last resort, burned only when your back was against the wall and you were gambling everything on a single throw.
"For a Lv. 5, that was more than good enough," he acknowledged.
That last cannonade had, in fact, landed slightly off-center. Had it struck him clean in the head or the chest, the damage it dealt might have been considerably worse.
But Zard was no training dummy.
He certainly wasn't going to stand there and let Isagi take pot-shots at him without moving. So, in a sense, what had just happened was a "killing blow" — it simply happened to be one he'd managed to dodge.
Zard acknowledged it.
And for that very reason, he found himself genuinely moved by the boy's excellence.
Truly a gifted junior.
The re fact that he could stand before Zard at Lv. 5 and hold his ground already spoke to his strength. And to have actually crossed blades with him — with his only loss last ti being entirely down to the weapon — spoke even more clearly to the depth of his potential.
A run-of-the-mill Lv. 6 adventurer would, in all likelihood, already be unable to stand against him.
Back in his ti, Zeus Familia had no shortage of first-tier adventurers, so Zard knew with certainty exactly where Isagi's power level currently stood.
Even within the strongest male-god Familia that had ever existed, this boy would surely have been recognized as a junior worth acknowledging by that man — the captain, Maxim.
Not bad.
Zard gave a nod.
But even so — it still wasn't enough. Still not enough!
If he wanted to save the world, if he wanted to bear everything upon his shoulders — if he even dared aspire to surpass the forr Zeus Familia and Hera Familia at their peak — then this still wasn't enough!! He needed to be stronger still — he had to be stronger!!
Zard was not satisfied.
The man who had once sworn to swallow everything whole was nowhere near full.
He had to be stronger!
He even had to——
Suddenly, Zard's eyes went wide.
Because the image that ca into focus — the boy standing not far away, calm as you please, returning his gaze with a pair of ice-cold eyes — was utterly composed. The expression of an adventurer in the thick of combat: everything stripped away, attention anchored to the imdiate mont alone, no thought spared for anything else.
But that wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was this: Isagi, in this mont, from every angle — the pressure radiating off him, the very nature of his presence — showed not a single trace of having been "deflated."
One glance was all it took. Every ounce of Zard's adventurer's instinct was screaming at him — the fight wasn't over. Not even close.
The boy standing before him had nowhere near reached his limit.
No — it was more accurate to say he hadn't even lost a single point of HP. He was completely intact. Not even slightly worse for wear.
"?"
His read had been wrong?
Of course it had.
Zard watched as Isagi raised the chain blade in his hand once more.
Then his vision, his hearing, his perception — just as before — all began to warp and distort.
Everything returned to exactly how it had been monts ago.
The only difference.
Was that with sections of the armor now shattered, the chain blade Isagi was controlling began targeting the exposed areas more deliberately — homing in, again and again, on his hands.
[Underhanded bastard!]
Zard clicked his tongue.
But he had precious little ti for thinking, because the chain blade's attack speed was relentless — like a howling storm that never let up, striking from every direction simultaneously, without pause.
But that wasn't the critical part.
Because even with the gaps in his armor, even with his light wounds, this slender, nimble chain blade still couldn't deal any aningful damage to him.
So what actually mattered was this.
Isagi was simply exploiting its high attack rate to keep accumulating energy gauge — nothing more.
And then.
Once the energy gauge was full again, the boy raised the hunting rifle in his hands once more, leveling it at the hulking mass of a figure not far away.
Zard was a close-quarters swordsman whose strengths lay in his [Strength] and [Endurance] stats. In a lee, Isagi was no match for him — but with the [Moonlight Greatsword] throwing his senses into disarray, maintaining distance had beco effortlessly simple.
With that premise in place.
Use the chain blade to build the energy gauge — then charge the hunting rifle and unleash a "heavy strike."
That was Isagi's loop. Simple as that.
[Critical hit!]
As the silent magical cannonade detonated again, Zard — fully focused this ti — once more threw himself clear of the devastating blast.
The surging torrent of magical energy grazed past him.
It shattered the armor plating along one side of his waist, carving several deep gashes across his flesh.
The damage was slightly less than the last hit — but Isagi didn't care.
Because right now, the montum of the fight was entirely in his hands.
He just had to keep going.
Keep going — build the energy gauge — raise the hunting rifle.
Fire!
Fire!
Shot after shot after shot!!
Endless, relentless — sooner or later, there would co a mont when this man was brought down!!
____
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🔥 New history: Danmachi: Summoning Ruri Gokou, And other Chuunibyou Brats
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