"Vmmm!"
The air vibrated with a low hum. Dozens of massive magic circles spun to life around Leo as he hovered midair, each one aiming downward like the barrel of a cannon—locking straight onto Miyamoto Musashi.
Demonic power surged within the magic circles and instantly condensed into bullets hot enough to boil the air. A barrage of enormous demonic power shots rained down.
Each one was massive—nothing like the casual blasts Leo used before. Even the smallest was over two meters across, bigger than Leo himself.
A single shot could flatten a mountain or tear apart a building. Asuna, witnessing that kind of terrifying force for the first time, could only stare wide-eyed in shock.
"What incredible demonic power."
But the one being targeted—Miyamoto Musashi—only voiced admiration.
Then the blade resting on her shoulder moved.
"Boom!"
The moment her sword flashed, the air itself roared.
In Musashi's hands, the blade became a strike that seemed capable of cutting through time itself. A burst of white light swept out, slashing straight into the falling demonic power bullets.
Each shot crashed downward—only to be swallowed by that single, simple cut. The brief flash of her blade erased them completely.
Yes—erased.
The instant the sword light touched the bullets, every one of those mountain-shattering blasts dissolved like frost dropped into fire.
"What…?!"
Leo's expression tightened, eyes sharpening.
He had opened his demonic power detection the moment the fight began, sweeping the entire battlefield to catch every detail. In that instant when Musashi swung her blade, the space itself seemed split open. His demonic power bullets had been sucked into those cracks in space and banished somewhere else entirely.
How was that even possible…?
"There's nothing impossible, Leo-sama."
As if reading his thoughts, Miyamoto Musashi spoke lightly.
"I'm stubborn. Once I decide to accomplish something, I throw everything I am into it. I will reach my goal."
"In the past, when dueling others, I pretended to be dead so I wouldn't lose. I lied through my teeth. I ran away in disgrace, recovered, and came back again for another challenge."
"Pretty shameless, right? But that's who I am. Once I have a purpose, I stake my entire being on it. I see nothing but that goal."
"So after reincarnating as a devil—after gaining demonic power that can turn imagination into reality—my sword changed."
Musashi lifted her blade and pointed it at Leo.
"For example: if I decide I want to cut off your right arm and I'm willing to use any means to do so… then my next strike will become the most logical way to achieve that outcome."
"All those possible methods collapse into a single action: swinging my sword. The countless futures narrow down into only one result."
"When that happens, no defense works. Dodging becomes impossible. You can only take it head-on. There is no second option."
It was a sword that severed karma, fate, curses, and tragedy—a Buddha's blade. The single cut that transcended excess, binding time and space themselves.
"Just now, when you fired your full-power attack, I had only one thought: swing a blade that erases them. And so the result was the same—I cut away the bullets and the space containing them."
Musashi showed a pure, childlike smile, as if proudly presenting a beloved creation.
"This is my blade—my sword—after becoming a devil."
Reducing existence to its ultimate form, breaking through infinity to reach zero—that was Miyamoto Musashi's swordsmanship.
"You'd better get serious, Leo-sama. Otherwise, my next strike might just take your head."
Her tone sounded playful, but nobody took it as a joke. Beneath the smile was unmistakable sincerity.
Leo felt it too.
So he didn't hesitate. As Musashi said—he revealed his true strength.
"Rumble—!"
Thunder cracked overhead as thick storm clouds materialized from nowhere.
The clouds surged across the chamber, replacing the underground ceiling in less than a second, becoming a sky completely under Leo's dominion.
"Boom!"
Lightning writhed inside the clouds and then crashed downward, gathering into Leo's slowly rising hand. He clenched the mass of lightning tightly.
In that moment—not just Musashi, but Asuna also felt a familiar power from him.
That was…
"A Sacred Gear?"
Asuna gasped.
"That energy… is that a Longinus?"
Musashi too was surprised. She had never expected Leo to possess a Sacred Gear—let alone one at the level of a Longinus.
Sacred Gears were powers created by the gods for humans. Only humans could be chosen.
Yukino and Asuna had both been ordinary humans before becoming devils, which was why they had been chosen as Sacred Gear wielders.
But Leo was born a devil—a pureblood devil descendant. There was no way he should—
"No… Leo-sama is only half pureblood devil. The other half is human exorcist blood!"
Musashi finally understood.
Because he carried half-human blood, Leo could be chosen by a Sacred Gear. Becoming a Sacred Gear user was completely possible.
The only question was…
"A Longinus that governs the sky and the forces of nature… could it be…?"
Musashi's centuries of experience as a devil—her time as a Maou's servant—made her insight sharp.
But before she could say it aloud, Leo swung down the hammer of lightning in his hand.
"Rumble!"
Thunder split the air as countless lightning bolts twined together, forming the furious hammer of a god. Blazing with ten thousand meters of lightning, it crashed toward Miyamoto Musashi.
"Good!"
Instead of fear, Musashi's eyes lit up. Roaring with excitement, she dashed straight toward the incoming thunder, her speed breaking like a storm.
"Shhhk!"
She unleashed a breathtaking slash. Her blade shone as brilliantly as the lightning itself. In an instant, she sliced apart the mass of thunder. The intertwined bolts exploded into scattered sparks.
"Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!"
Leo clearly hadn't expected to end the battle in one strike. When Musashi cut through his attack, he immediately summoned more lightning from the sky, unleashing bolt after bolt without mercy.
Musashi had already drawn her second blade. Dual swords flashing, she cut down the lightning as fast as it fell, carving a path through the storm.
Seeing that, Leo continued calling down thunder—but also raised his other hand, activating the power of Zenith Tempest. The ground shook violently.
The earth swelled. Dust exploded upward. Dirt and stone gathered, forming a massive earth dragon that roared as it charged toward Musashi.
The sight confirmed her suspicion.
"As expected—the second-ranked Longinus, Zenith Tempest!"
Now she understood why facing this junior devil stirred her fighting spirit.
"One of the thirteen Longinus—ranked second among them. As an opponent, you're more than worthy!"
Her battle lust ignited completely. Laughing wildly, she spun and slashed the incoming earth dragon with a swift, clean strike.
The blade passed through it. The dragon's head shattered, collapsing into dust and rubble.
But then explosions of flame and howling winds erupted on both sides.
A tidal wave of fire surged in from the left, while a spiraling tornado burst up from the right, drilling skyward as it closed in on Musashi.
"Fwoom!"
Musashi burst out of the flames and storm winds, her clothes singed and torn, but her twin blades moving even faster—cutting the attacking firestorms in half, splitting them cleanly.
"I'm not done!"
Leo pressed the assault. Pouring out his demonic power, he pushed Zenith Tempest to the highest level he could control. Blizzard winds and floods erupted throughout the underground chamber.
The vast space became a scene of pure calamity. Bolts of heavenly thunder fell from above. Earth dragons roared across the ground. Flames surged like a sea of fire. Storm winds tore through everything. Blizzard and flood joined the chaos.
It looked like a glimpse of the world's end.
"T-This… this is Leo-san's power…?"
Outside the barrier, Asuna stared in disbelief. Her gaze fixed on the man standing alone amidst the storm, awe mixing with something softer she couldn't quite identify.
Leo didn't notice her at all—his mind wholly consumed by the fight.
He was pouring everything he'd learned into this battle.
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You can read up to chapter 80 on patreon.com/NiaXD.