บท 158: Eriri: Step Aside, I’m Going to Show Off!
Upon hearing Artosh's words, Eriri felt no ripple of emotion, in fact, she almost wanted to laugh.
Was this some kind of middle-school syndrome?
Even after being easily defeated, he still hadn't recognized reality. As the God of War, he should naturally be no fool, but his arrogance had blinded his judgment.
For example, he could have ended the war at any time by actively killing all the Old Deus, piercing through the planet, and obtaining the Star Grail.
Yet, due to his arrogance, he simply sat high on his throne, waiting for so-called challengers.
In the original story, it was also this arrogance that led him to ignore the actions of Riku and Schwi, eventually leading to his downfall.
"Since you're so unwilling to admit defeat, I'll give you a chance."
Eriri released Jibril and Azril, then lightly snapped her fingers. With the crisp sound, all the Flügel and Artosh regained their full strength.
Upon regaining his power and reconnecting with his God of War Divine Essence, Artosh immediately distanced himself from Eriri, leaving Avant Heim and floating in the high skies.
With his descent, time and space themselves, even causality, twisted and distorted.
It seemed as though the world could no longer bear his presence. Massive void whirlpools formed around him in midair, creating an immensely grand spectacle, one of extraordinary grandeur.
The entire planet trembled with Artosh's presence, as if the end of the world had arrived. All the races turned their gaze toward the swirling vortex in the sky.
They had a foreboding sense that this would be the end of the Great War.
Even the remaining Old Deus on the planet dared not show themselves. Although they all longed for the Star Grail, none dared challenge the God of War head-on.
However, the gods were intensely curious about who Artosh's opponent was. Even with their perception covering the entire planet, they could find no trace of them.
Outside a certain ruin, several figures, wrapped tightly in cloaks, stared blankly at the vortex in the sky, not even bothering to avoid exposure as they normally would.
The deadly black ash that normally rained down was now swept into the vortex by the surrounding storm.
"Riku, what is that?" A thin man standing next to the group's leader asked, his voice filled with fear.
These figures were Riku and his comrades, venturing out for the survival of humanity. They had just finished exploring a ruin and were preparing to return to the last human settlement when the sudden change shocked them.
"Doesn't matter. Let's take this opportunity to hurry back," replied the boy called Riku, averting his gaze from the sky and calling his comrades to action.
They were mere humans, so weak that they didn't even have a species name, like dust on the planet. They had no power to intervene in what was happening in the sky.
Rather than worrying about distant matters, they needed to focus on how to ensure their own safety.
Normally, every time they ventured out, they had to be extremely cautious. A single unfortunate encounter with another species could result in casualties.
This time, Riku judged that since the other species would surely be drawn to the anomaly in the sky, it was the safest moment to return home.
None of his companions hesitated, following closely behind him. For the last remnants of humanity, Riku was an excellent leader. It was thanks to his leadership that their settlement had gone unnoticed, preserving the last flicker of humanity.
…
Meanwhile, all the Flügel except for Jibril regained their original power and gathered beneath Artosh.
Azril, preparing to move, tried to persuade Jibril to come along, but Jibril's attention was wholly focused on Eriri. Ignoring Azril's attempts to convince her, Jibril remained unmoved.
Left with no choice, Azril gave up trying to persuade her and joined the main Flügel force. Although she dearly loved Jibril, Artosh was the most important to her.
Eriri did not stop Artosh or the Flügel. Since they had issued such a provocation and created such a grand scene, Eriri naturally had to let them know what happens when you try to show off and get smacked down instead.
She began walking forward, but after just a few steps, she stopped, turning to look at Jibril and Schwi.
"I'm off to deal with some small fries. Don't move from here, wait for me to come back."
Without waiting for a response from the two, Eriri instantly appeared in the sky, standing opposite Artosh from a distance.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself. How about I make a bit of noise too?"
Eriri's voice rang out through the sky, reverberating across the entire planet. Every living being on the planet instantly knew that this voice belonged to the God of War's opponent.
True to her word, Eriri didn't care what Artosh thought. She immediately began gathering cosmic energy from within her, preparing to show off in style.
Normally, her attacks were exceedingly understated, with no awe-inspiring phenomena—proof of her absolute control over her power. Under her control, there would be no external impact on the environment.
But now, she planned to imitate those so-called powerful beings who could alter the heavens and earth when they unleashed their power. After all, even a low-level city-destroying entity could make the sky change color. So what kind of effect would Eriri's power create?
The moment Eriri revealed her aura, the surrounding void shattered like glass, opening countless massive space rifts. Each rift connected to different coordinates in the cosmic void, and through them, one could see stars being effortlessly destroyed by the leaking energy.
In mere seconds, countless stars were obliterated in silence.
Thanks to Eriri's deliberate restraint, the planet beneath her was spared from immediate destruction, but the immense tremors it experienced couldn't be avoided. Even the Spirit Corridor trembled, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Beyond this planet, far out of sight, countless stars were being annihilated by the mere release of Eriri's aura, leaving not even dust behind.
As for Artosh, the phenomena he had created collapsed the instant Eriri released her aura.
Because Eriri had spared the planet, both Artosh and the Flügel, including Azril, weren't killed outright by the burst of her aura.
At that moment, every sentient race was speechless, staring in disbelief at the unfolding scene. The chat group members weren't much different.
[Kaguya Shinomiya (Level 1, Stage 3): Um… Am I seeing things? I think I saw a bunch of planets explode...]
[Arifureta (Level 4, Stage 2/Group Leader): No need to doubt it, that's exactly what happened. As expected of my Eriri. She's strong and awesome!]
[Luo Cuilian (Level 5, Stage 4): Eriri is truly amazing. I wonder when I'll reach such a level.]
[Haramura Nodoka (Level 1, Stage 2): ???]
[Kaguya Shinomiya (Level 1, Stage 3): If Eriri-sama were to do this in our universe… scared.jpg]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 3, Stage 5): scared.jpg]
[Ruri Gokou (Level 2, Stage 9): scared.jpg]
[Yuuki Asuna (Level 3, Stage 3): scared.jpg]
[Jibril (Level 3, Stage 9): Master is the best! excited.jpg]
[Rias Gremory (Level 2, Stage 8): …Is this the power of Level 8? I can't even imagine it!]
Sitting in the luxurious room of the Occult Research Club at Kuoh Academy, Rias Gremory was utterly shocked. Her eyes remained closed as she focused on the livestream, but the immense impact of the scene had reached her face.
Although she had known about the power rankings and the corresponding levels of strength across the multiverse, those were mere descriptions. Seeing it with her own eyes was an entirely different experience.
The most intense battles she had witnessed had only been on the scale of Devil King-level conflicts, and she had never even seen battles between beings stronger than that.
Fights between transcendents were exceedingly rare. Even her own brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, a transcendent, had never gone all out in her eighteen years of life.
Based on her understanding, the most she had seen was on the scale of a peak Level 3 battle, and she speculated that transcendents would probably be around Level 4. However, the gap between Level 4 and Level 8 was an unfathomable chasm.
Her perspective had expanded immeasurably in that moment. Her dream had always been to catch up to her brother and become a powerful transcendent herself, but now, her goal had shifted.
At that moment, even the arranged marriage she had been fretting over didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. As long as she became stronger, breaking off an engagement would be a trivial matter.
Of course, it would be even easier if she could get help from one of the powerful members of the group.
[Arifureta (Level 4, Stage 2/Group Leader): This was probably just Eriri playing around. A Level 8's true power is much stronger than this.]
[Kiss-Shot (Level 4, Stage 4): Haha, exactly. If Eriri really went all out, it wouldn't just be a few stars blowing up. Forget stars—even wiping out galaxy clusters is nothing compared to what she's truly capable of.]
[Rias Gremory (Level 2, Stage 8): …]
…
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
These were the thoughts running through Artosh's mind. Unlike before, he could now sense Eriri's aura.
But even the slightest bit of pressure from that aura made him feel like his God of War Divine Essence was about to shatter.
At this moment, Artosh couldn't help but question whether his "grows stronger against stronger opponents" concept was real or not.
"All of you, leave. This is my battlefield now."
Seeing the Flügel floating beneath him, scattered and disordered, Artosh gave up on having them use a Godly Smite to start the battle.
While the Flügel were mere tools to him, after living with them for thousands of years, he had developed a slight attachment. Since their attack would be useless, there was no need for them to sacrifice their lives.
"No, Lord Artosh, we were created as god-slaying weapons by you. At this moment, how could we retreat? Please, give us the order!"
Azril knelt in midair, her expression resolute. Even in the face of a terrifying enemy like Eriri, she was willing to risk her life.
"We are your weapons. We were born to fight for you!" the other Flügel echoed in unison. Their expressions were identical to Azril's, all kneeling in midair behind her.
To them, dying for Artosh would be their greatest happiness—it was the very meaning of their existence!
Looking at the group of Flügel he had personally created, sensing their determination, Artosh gave up trying to persuade them otherwise.
Artosh quickly composed himself, formally declaring war against Eriri.
"All Flügel, prepare for a Godly Smite."
"As you command!"
Upon receiving Artosh's order, the Flügel obeyed enthusiastically. Led by Azril, they flew rapidly ahead of Artosh, evenly spreading out in midair.
All the Flügel began gathering every ounce of their spirit power, preparing to combine their strength for a Godly Smite capable of piercing a planet.
A terrifying aura erupted from each Flügel, then converged, amplifying the force by hundreds of times.
"Godly Smite!"
At Azril's soft incantation, a blinding white light erupted from every Flügel, forming two massive white wings spanning thousands of meters, illuminating the grey sky as bright as day.
In that instant, all the Flügel's energy was drained. The surrounding energy was pulled together, condensed into a beam of annihilation, and shot toward Eriri.
"Hmm, the power of this strike barely reaches high Level 6. Not bad."
Watching the energy beam approach her, Eriri showed no concern. She even stroked her chin, critiquing the attack.
For over a hundred Level 3 peak Flügel to produce a high Level 6 attack was already quite impressive, and Eriri couldn't help but praise them.
However, for Eriri, this level of attack was far too weak. Even if she did nothing and just stood there without defending, this Godly Smite wouldn't even scratch her.
Still, Eriri didn't plan on simply tanking the attack. That would be a bit too unrefined, and it wouldn't have the desired effect for showing off.
So, Eriri raised her right hand, gathering cosmic energy at her fingertips, condensing it into a pink energy orb about the size of a dozen centimeters in diameter. She then casually shot it toward the oncoming attack.
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