"Crap!"
The moment Musashi's Niō avatar behind her released that terrifying sword pressure and brought her blade down, plunging the entire space into absolute silence and darkness, the same word flashed through everyone's mind, including Leo's.
In that instant, it felt like the world itself slipped out of alignment. One side slid upward, the other downward, and a horrible, tearing sound like a dying scream rang in everyone's ears. Their hearts nearly stopped.
"This woman is completely insane."
Even Leo, who'd thought he had victory in the bag, couldn't help but curse.
Musashi had used this slash before, but back then, she'd held back.
She had to. Otherwise, that strike, one capable of suppressing space and time, would truly split the world apart, shattering this entire pocket of space.
That wasn't something you could shrug off.
Space could repair itself, sure, but it took time.
At its core, Musashi's sword was an attack that reduced everything to "zero." It turned "existence" into "nothingness," "reality" into "void." It was the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
If she went all out, even if space eventually healed, it wouldn't be a simple matter.
If she held back, fine. But if she didn't, then at the very least, this underground chamber would be erased completely.
When that happened, Leo, Yukino, everyone present, even Musashi herself, would be dragged into the Dimensional Gap by the collapse of space.
That place was the boundary between worlds: between the Human World and the Underworld, the Human World and the Heaven, the Heaven and the Underworld. A realm of absolute nothingness.
Only things exiled from all worlds existed there, things that didn't belong anywhere. Fragments of broken subspaces, discarded existences… all of it drifted there.
Once you were cast into the Dimensional Gap, coming back was incredibly difficult, even for a Maou-Class being.
As far as anyone knew, only one existence could move freely through that place. And only because it never entered the worlds themselves and caused no real harm had the major factions chosen to look the other way. No blacklist, no ranking, nothing.
But if that thing ever appeared in the world?
It would be unquestionably the strongest existence alive. Even the chief gods and god-kings of every mythology would fear it.
Getting tossed into a Dimensional Gap where that existed?
Yeah. No thanks.
Leo absolutely did not want that.
Unfortunately, Musashi was already seeing red.
To win, the swordswoman clearly wasn't thinking about consequences anymore. Calling it "unscrupulous" didn't even begin to cover it.
"I should never have accepted this fight."
Leo sighed inwardly. Strangely enough, he didn't feel much regret.
He'd taken this battle because he wanted to beat her at least once. If that was the case, then whatever consequences followed were his responsibility.
Right now, there was only one thing he could do.
Stop her.
"Boom!!!"
As everyone stared in horror at Musashi slicing the world apart, the underground space on the verge of collapse, an overwhelming aura of pure white erupted from Leo's body.
It was vast and pristine, like untamed nature itself, limitless like the sky. The moment it appeared, the very flow of the world was forcibly altered.
Demonic power surged violently through Leo. Behind him, his ten devil wings began to split and unfold.
Ten became twelve.
Zenith Tempest: Balance Breaker!
In that instant, Leo's foundation leapt across an entire tier. From a future "Special-Class devil" with ten wings, he became a true twelve-winged existence on par with the Maou-Class!
He spread his arms.
A massive bubble formed out of thin air, instantly expanding outward and enveloping the entire underground space.
"Get back… inside!"
Leo unleashed terrifying power, compressing the space within the bubble.
The bubble began to shrink.
The shattered, collapsing space was forcibly contained, squeezed inward bit by bit, no longer able to affect the outside world.
It was as if that absolute, silent darkness, once expanding outward, had been wrapped up and crushed back in by the enormous bubble. Not only could it no longer spread, it actually began to shrink along with the bubble itself.
Naturally, the misaligned world was completely sealed off inside. The distortion was trapped, unable to reach the outside reality.
Leo slowly brought his hands together, guiding the shrinking bubble toward the center, toward Musashi.
"What?!"
Musashi's expression changed. She tried to move.
Too late.
"Rumble!"
Inside the bubble, wind howled. Rain poured down. Lightning and thunder erupted.
Raging gales. Roaring flames. Violent lightning. Extreme frost. Flying sand and stone. Torrential floods.
Every form of natural disaster descended like divine punishment, instantly swallowing Musashi. Even the Niō avatar behind her was shattered on the spot.
"...!"
She seemed to shout something, but no one could hear it.
The endless calamities completely engulfed her, and her figure vanished within the storm of destruction.
"Musashi-sensei!"
Yuuki Asuna cried out in alarm.
"What is that…?"
Ram and Rem, who had never seen Leo use Balance Breaker before, stood frozen, staring at the twelve-winged Leo and the bubble unleashing ceaseless divine punishment.
"So… so strong…"
"The distortion stopped!"
"Thank goodness…"
Ravel, Yukino, Mahiru, and the others all looked shaken yet relieved, like survivors of a disaster.
"He separated space... no, the world itself, with that bubble? That's just…"
Utaha stared at Leo's control with shining eyes, like she'd just been struck by inspiration.
As a barrier specialist, her perspective was different from everyone else's.
To her, Leo's Balance Breaker was fundamentally similar to her own Sacred Gear. Bind the enemy first, then attack within the confined space.
The essence was the same.
Aside from differences in form and raw power, her barriers and Leo's bubble worked on identical principles.
Which meant...
Anything Leo could do with that bubble, she could theoretically do with her barriers.
The realization hit her hard, flooding her with new insights.
Leo, however, had no idea. Nor did he have the mental bandwidth to care.
He focused solely on compressing the space within the bubble, controlling the distortion and preventing it from spreading.
As for Musashi?
He couldn't worry about her anymore.
She'd caused this mess herself. Dealing with the consequences was on her.
Thankfully, Musashi's strength had its limits. Her swordsmanship was terrifying, but her overall power still hadn't reached the Maou-Class.
Meanwhile, after activating Balance Breaker, Leo's demonic power had fully reached Maou-Class levels. A genuine twelve-winged devil, supported by Zenith Tempest's Balance Breaker at full output.
At any cost, he managed to stabilize the situation.
Gradually, the darkness trapped inside the bubble dissipated. The split world slid back into alignment. The space stopped breaking apart.
Only then did Leo disperse the divine punishment within the bubble. The raging disasters calmed and vanished.
When the bubble finally burst...
A charred figure fell out, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Musashi-sensei!"
Asuna rushed forward immediately, with Yukino and the others following close behind.
"Damn… she's tough."
Leo descended from the air as well, looking at Musashi's blackened body. He quietly let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, then muttered under his breath.
He'd honestly thought she'd end up exiled alone into the Dimensional Gap.
Instead, she'd held on, barely. Still, the damage was brutal. After getting hammered nonstop by divine punishment, she looked like she was hanging on by a thread.
Asuna and Mahiru immediately released their demonic power, converting it into healing energy to treat Musashi's wounds.
"No good. Her injuries are too severe. This level of healing won't be enough."
Ram spoke after a quick examination.
She was an expert in magic. Even though she specialized in wind magic, her knowledge and insight weren't limited to that.
It was obvious to her: Asuna's and Mahiru's healing couldn't save Musashi.
Even a top-tier healer specializing in recovery Magic Formula would struggle to pull Musashi out of danger in her current state.
Honestly, surviving that level of divine punishment at all was already her limit.
"Is she… going to die?"
Rem asked quietly.
"You're kidding, right?"
"She's a Maou's servant!"
Yukino and Utaha exchanged uneasy looks.
"Use this!"
Ravel hurriedly pulled out a small bottle and thrust it into Asuna's hands.
"This is…?"
Everyone froze for a moment.
"Phoenix Tears!"
Mahiru recognized it instantly.
The legendary item said to heal any injury.
After the Old Maou Faction incident, Mahiru and the others had an especially deep impression of it.
"You actually had Phoenix Tears on you?"
Leo, who'd been ready to take Musashi back to the Underworld for help, looked at Ravel in surprise.
"It's my personal stash," Ravel said softly. "They're extremely difficult to make, so I only carry one bottle."
Creating Phoenix Tears required a special ritual, and a pureblood devil of House Phenex had to drip their tears into a specially prepared vessel.
Those tears had to be shed without emotion.
If there was emotion involved, they were just ordinary tears, shed for oneself, not others, and they had no effect.
Because of that, even pureblood devils of House Phenex could rarely make Phoenix Tears. Ravel almost never did. If it weren't for emergencies, she wouldn't have bothered carrying a bottle at all.
She hadn't expected it to be used here.
I should probably find a way to make more, she thought quietly.
"Hang in there, Musashi-sensei."
Asuna pulled out the stopper and poured the Phoenix Tears onto Musashi.
The liquid rippled like a drop falling into a lake, spreading outward from the point of contact until it washed over her entire body.
The charred skin began to flake away, her wounds healing at a visible speed.
After a long moment, Musashi let out a pained groan and slowly opened her eyes.
"Are you okay?! Musashi-sensei!"
Asuna asked urgently.
"…So I didn't die?"
Musashi stared blankly at the people surrounding her, murmuring the words after a long pause.
"What?" Leo looked at her with a stiff smile that wasn't really a smile. "Were you hoping you would?"
"Of course not!" Realizing what she'd almost caused, Musashi shrank back, laughing awkwardly. "Hey, surviving this is pretty great, right? Guess I got lucky~~~"
Everyone's veins practically popped.
"Lucky my ass!"
"Do you have any idea we almost died because of you?!"
"And she's still smiling?!"
"Just because you're a Maou's servant doesn't mean you can go that far!"
The group tore into her without mercy, and Musashi curled into a tight ball under the verbal onslaught.
Leo shook his head with a wry smile, turned around, and walked away, deciding not to get involved.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You can read up to chapter 206 on patreon.com/NiaXD.