High School DxD: Return of the Crimson Dragon Emperor

As my posture broke from the pain, the Demon God released a blast of destructive magic boosted by its power multiplication. A concentration of magical energy exceeding even Rias-san’s ultimate move...! Taking a direct hit from that would be fatal!

I rapidly deployed layer upon layer of clear-blue barriers in front of me. It was an evolved version of the reinforced barrier that had previously bound the massive Behemoth. However, if I simply stood my ground and endured, the destruction magic unleashed by the Demon God would eventually pierce right through it.

That’s why I added a twist to this barrier.

The barrier holding back the destructive energy began to deform, stretching out like a balloon being compressed under pressure. And then—with the snap-back force of its restoration, it reflected the destruction magic right back! The reflected energy blasted directly into the Demon God’s face, halting its movement!

”It’s an elastic barrier. Taking an attack like that head-on would drain all my power, no matter how much I had.”

At my words, Vika let out an admiring whistle.

”Not bad♪ But that precious barrier of yours won’t work on me!”

Vika closed the distance in an instant, sweeping her divine sword in a horizontal slash! The tip of the blade cut into my skin, tearing open my flesh!

I immediately counterattacked with magic, but her movements were overwhelmingly faster. Constructing a magic circle to release a spell took fundamentally more time than simply swinging a sword or thrusting a spear. Even though the time between my spell deployment and activation was near instantaneous, Vika’s sword speed surpassed it.

I dodged Vika’s sharp thrusts as they grazed my cheek. I countered the Demon God’s massive sword strikes by blasting them with magic. While matching Vika’s blade, I also had to keep an eye out for the Demon God’s incoming attacks. I couldn’t hold out like this much longer...!

”Starting to get a bit tight, isn’t it?”

”You could say that! The wounds you gave me are stingin’ pretty bad!”

As we traded blows, a strange sense of discomfort nagged at me. Belle hadn’t made a single move for a while now. Did she think Vika and the Demon God were more than enough to finish me off...? Yet, she wasn’t even making a move to target Alice-san.

Could it be... summoning that Demon God consumed too much of her power...? Come to think of it, hadn’t Vika mentioned something like that?

I had been fighting under the assumption that it was a three-on-one battle. But if that wasn’t true... if Belle couldn’t move, and this was actually a two-on-one———

I deployed a new magic circle. It was a complex array stacked with multiple geometric patterns. Since this was my first time constructing it, even I didn’t know how much power it could unleash. Still, I had to try!

”You’re assembling something pretty dangerous over there. That’s the kind of spell you can’t stop once it goes off, right?”

Sensing the danger of the magic circle I was building, Vika ramped up her onslaught! It was so fast my body couldn’t keep up with the reactions...! The Demon God also manipulated the weather, raining down wide-area attacks of every element. Sparks of lightning were mixed into the barrage—a clear intent to finish off a Devil like me for good...! The wounds on my body multiplied, and the bleeding wouldn’t stop! My arms and legs were gradually losing feeling...!

Just a little more—just a few more seconds. I need time...!

As I barely managed to dodge the enemy’s furious assault, searching desperately for any way out, right at that moment—

”...!?!”

Something shot through the air toward Vika as she swung her spear at me! Even for Vika, it was an entirely unexpected attack; her reaction was delayed by a fraction of a second, and the projectile grazed her arm.

The object that wounded Vika was a short yellow spear—Gáe Bolg. A cursed spear that inflicted wounds impossible to heal, even with the Tears of the Phoenix.

”Hah... hah... Now’s... your chance...!”

Had Sarah thrown that spear after regaining consciousness? Even though I had applied recovery magic, she shouldn’t have been able to move... Yet despite that, Sarah had squeezed out every last drop of her strength for me!

”Thank you, Sarah... I’m sorry I’m such an unreliable older sister. But I won’t let the second you bought me go to waste!”

The magic circle I had been constructing cleared its remaining processes, completing itself in an instant.

Multiple specialized magic circles deployed, surrounding me. Each individual circle was hexagonal, shaped like a delicate snowflake—

”Activate———『Silent Starry Night』.”

———The world was enveloped in darkness. Not a complete, absolute pitch-black like Gaspard-kun’s darkness, but a world under a night sky lit by countless shining stars. The sea and sky that had been raging so violently just moments ago fell completely still beneath the starry sky. As if terrified of what was about to happen.

I couldn’t hear a thing... Not the sound of the wind, nor the waves, nor human voices, nor even the beating of my own heart. Absolute silence.

Vika’s eyes widened in shock.

”This is... Did you overwrite my barrier and Belle’s?!”

”That’s right. This isn’t your world anymore. This is my world.”

A world of night that consumes everything. As I raised my hand toward the heavens, the stars in the sky glowed with an intense, burning heat.

”No matter how strong you are, you can’t resist this night.”

Light rained down from the countless stars, swallowing Vika and the others whole———

[Miu’s Side End]

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