What caught everyone's attention more than the sword, though, was the third arm growing from Siegfried's shoulder, a grotesque limb covered in silver scales.
"Ah, this thing? It's called 'Twice Critical', a Dragon Arm. Normally it takes the form of a gauntlet like the Red Dragon Emperor's Boosted Gear, but mine's a Valit. As you can see, it grew an extra arm!"
With that, Siegfried began pressing Yuuto back with a fierce offensive.
Yuuto, having absorbed the essences of his fallen allies' sacred swords, held his ground.
"Huh. You're better than I expected. Then I guess I'll raise the stakes too."
Siegfried's movements suddenly sharpened, Yuuto began losing ground fast.
"Twice Critical doubles its wielder's strength. Nowhere near the Boosted Gear's power, but plenty for me."
"Kiba! I'm joining in! Arima, sorry, but I'm jumping in as a fellow swordswoman!"
"I'm a swordswoman too, you know! I can't just sit by!"
With Xenovia and Irina joining the fight, I swapped into their position guarding Asia and Kunou. I can use a sword, sure, but I don't cling to the "swordsman pride" thing like they do.
Together with Issei, I helped disrupt the Anti-Monsters' energy flows using ki blasts, breaking down their forms until they couldn't hold shape anymore. It was then that Azazel-sensei and Cao Cao returned from Mount Arashiyama, having utterly wrecked the landscape along the way.
"Oh dear. Seems we lost a few members while we were distracted. Georg got most of them out before they were fatally wounded, though. No big deal, we'll just recruit more."
"Cao Cao! What's your faction's goal?!"
Azazel-sensei demanded answers. Cao Cao lowered his spear slightly and looked to the sky.
"Governor of the Fallen Angels, our motives are simple. We want to know, how far can a human go? Devils, dragons, fallen angels, Youkai, and other supernatural beings have always been brought down by heroes. We want to see how close we can get to those legends, or maybe even surpass them, as mere humans."
Azazel muttered, "Hmph. Sounds like a twisted version of Vali's ideology."
Before they could clash again, the ground trembled. Something enormous rose from the riverbed, a giant, golem-like structure.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"That's Gogmagog! A weapon of destruction created by ancient gods! It was supposed to be deactivated in the dimensional void, how the hell did it end up here?!"
As Issei and Azazel gawked, a blonde girl with curled hair appeared near Gogmagog, riding a broom and exuding all the vibes of a stereotypical witch.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Le Fay Pendragon, the magician of the Vali Team. My brother Arthur mentioned you before. Pleased to make your acquaintance Also, I'm a huge fan of the 'Oppai Dragon'! Can I shake your hand?!"
Flashing a huge smile, Le Fay stepped up to Issei and held out her hand. Overwhelmed by her energy, Issei muttered, "Uh… sure," and returned the handshake.
"Yay! Thank you so much. Oh, can I take a picture with you? I think I still have that camera I bought to make an Ophis photo album, ah, found it Now then…"
She pulled out an expensive-looking camera and glanced around uncertainly.
"Oh! Cao Cao, could you take the photo, please?"
Beaming, she forced the camera into Cao Cao's hands, posed next to Issei, and threw up a peace sign.
"Come on, peace sign! Like this!"
"…Right, okay."
Click!
"Thank you, Cao Cao! And thank you, Oppai Dragon! I'll be going now"
With that, she activated a magic circle and vanished.
Gogmagog stood motionless, but somehow gave off a feeling of melancholy.
"Cao Cao… what just happened?"
"Don't ask me, Red Dragon Emperor… though I can confirm she's your fan."
Moments later, the same magic circle reappeared, Le Fay popped back in.
"Sorry! I got carried away and forgot the message. Vali-sama says: 'I told you not to interfere.' So yeah, this is your punishment for spying on our team!"
She grinned as Gogmagog suddenly brought down its giant fists like hammers. Cao Cao barely dodged, retreating toward Leonardo's group.
And just when things couldn't get weirder, another person joined the scene.
"Geez! I was trying to nap, and all I hear is boom, crash, kaboom! You know what?! I'll blow everyone away so I can have my peace and quiet!"
A drunk Rossweisse-sensei stumbled in, somehow having broken through Azazel's barrier. Slurring her words and babbling like Ophis, she unleashed a full magical burst, reducing everything nearby to rubble.
"Quite the party crashers. But for a festival opener, it's perfect. Tonight, we'll be conducting a major experiment at Nijō Castle using the power of Kyoto and the Nine-Tails. You're all welcome to join our little celebration!"
A heavy mist spread across the battlefield.
"Everyone! The space is about to reset! Disarm yourselves!"
Seconds later, we were all returned to our original location.
No matter how hard we fight, they always slip through our fingers. It's infuriating.
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