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Noah drew his blade, the magical edge slicing through the congealed darkness, and the compressed storm powerfully tore apart everything around him, carving out a vacuum.
The black hole in Zero's hand collapsed into a thumb-sized black dot. The surrounding light twisted eerily inward, and dark Magic Power erupted.
As the ultimate moves clashed, space trembled at the instant the two terrifying Magic Powers collided, and "Wind" and "Darkness" split the battlefield in two.
Under the immense pressure, nearby buildings all collapsed beneath the rampage of the gale and darkness, and the ground was covered in dense, spiderweb-like cracks, unable to bear the burden.
This Ancient City, which had only recently seen the light of day after a hundred years, ultimately couldn't withstand the crushing impact of the two immense Magic Powers.
The central area of the city where Noah and Zero fought collapsed with a roar, and the two Mages fell with it.
Beneath the Ancient City was another world. Under the dry, dim light, there were actually rows of decaying tombs!
Both sides of the battle merely glanced at their surroundings before focusing their attention on continuing the fight.
Noah lightly tapped his toes on the floating debris, and his Wind Slaying Blade carved a perfect arc. Wherever the blade light passed, the dark Magic Zero cast disintegrated into faint light particles.
Watching the rapidly extinguishing magical light points, Noah felt an uncontrollable surge of revulsion for Zero and his power.
All this time, Noah believed he'd had a good grasp of his emotions, not letting feelings affect his mindset, but this time, the feeling of revulsion was persistent and grew uncontrollably.
Noah quickly found the reason—or perhaps he didn't even need to search. The Devil Slayer Magic Power, restless to the point of boiling within him, was telling Noah one thing.
Zero's Magic contained the power of a demon!
Seeing Noah's gaze change, Zero knew his hidden power had been discovered. He then sneered, revealing without reservation:
"As expected, using the power of that Lord cannot be hidden from Devil Slayer Magic. You have a developed sense of smell like a dog."
Trash talk couldn't affect Noah. He was just curious how Zero managed to perfectly integrate the demon's power into his Magic Power.
Demons use an energy called "Curse Power," which is opposed to the "Magic Power" used by Mages and magical creatures. Normally, these two energies can't be compatible.
Unless it's a special and powerful Take Over like Mira's, which can temporarily maintain a balance between Magic Power and Curse Power by taking over a demon's soul and using it.
"Which demon is behind you?"
Zero had just mentioned "that Lord," and Noah instinctively believed it was one of the demons created by the Black Wizard—a powerful demon far surpassing the likes of Lullaby.
Even Lullaby was rumored to have the power to destroy the world.
A demon stronger than that wouldn't have left no trace in the world.
Hearing Noah's question, Zero's expression suddenly turned devout. "Listen carefully! The Lord who bestowed power upon me is 'Soul Scale,' one of the 'Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods'!"
Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods: Soul Scale.
His power came from a demon—no wonder Zero held such malice toward Devil Slayer Magic.
Chewing on the name repeatedly in his mind, Noah had never heard of this title before. At first listen, he knew that besides "Soul Scale," there were seventeen other Demon Gods of War of the same rank.
How many demons did the Black Wizard create in his lifetime? Noah suddenly understood why some adults in this world would use childish lies like "If you're disobedient, the Black Wizard will come and get you" to scare children.
"So, you, the esteemed Guild Master of the 'Oración Seis,' are actually a member of the Black Magic Cult?"
Noah looked at Zero with a playful gaze.
The latter raised an eyebrow in surprise and didn't deny it. "Good insight. No wonder Brain and Sawyer lost to you. How did you figure out my identity?"
Oh, it's actually true!
Noah had only guessed because of the fanatical reverence on Zero's face when he mentioned "Soul Scale," which was exactly like that of the Black Priest Dachiru when he saw Lullaby before.
That kind of fanatical belief was only found among high-ranking members of the Black Magic Cult, so Noah asked casually, but he didn't expect Zero to admit it directly.
Noah sighed helplessly. Running into the Black Magic Cult couldn't be dismissed as a "coincidence" anymore—it was an inevitable event. He'd have to go out less in the future.
Seeing Noah remain silent, Zero thought he was unwilling to reveal how he saw through his identity, but he continued to expose himself:
"I am one of the Bishops of the Black Magic Cult. I split off a personality to create the 'Oración Seis' to better monitor the movements of those two Dark Guilds."
This statement contained a lot of information.
Noah remembered that when he interrogated the Black Priest Dachiru, the latter had confessed that the Black Magic Cult only had one Bishop, but Zero said he was one of the Bishops.
And Zero created the Oración Seis to monitor two Dark Guilds. The only two Dark Guilds that could be treated this way by the Black Magic Cult were undoubtedly the other two of the three Dark Guild powerhouses.
The strongest Dark Guild, "Grimoire Heart."
The most mysterious Dark Guild, "Tartaros."
To better monitor these two Dark Guilds, the Black Magic Cult actually fostered an "Oración Seis" that was on par with them within a few years.
It seemed what he'd understood in the past was merely the tip of the Black Magic Cult's iceberg.
Noah suppressed his thoughts. He still wanted to know more about the Black Magic Cult, but it seemed Zero wouldn't say anything more.
"It's time for this battle to end."
"Yes, it's time to end."
The fanaticism faded, and Zero's expression returned to indifference. The reason he revealed his identity to Noah was that he was absolutely confident in burying this hateful Devil Slayer Mage here.
The six-pointed star array behind Zero suddenly split and reassembled, transforming into twelve dark purple light wheels, which then formed an even larger Magic Circle.
Vast dark Magic Power and evil, viscous Curse Power surged forth.
The Curse Power characteristic of Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods: Soul Scale was "balance," which not only allowed it to perfectly integrate with Magic Power but also to neutralize the destructive power of other Magic.
Even the "slaying attribute" of Devil Slayer Magic, which almost perfectly countered demons, would become equally mediocre and harmless under the Curse Power balance of "Soul Scale."
"Wind Slayer Mage, today I'll make you understand that just because you can use Devil Slayer Magic doesn't mean you can defeat a 'demon'!"
Countless black Curses spewed from the Magic Circle, intertwining in the air to form a thorny cage, devouring Noah along with the Devil Slayer Wind Blade he'd unleashed.
The roar of Magic was incessant, but it could never break through the unbreakable dark cage. All struggles were neutralized by the unique Curse Power of "Soul Scale."
Listening to the diminishing commotion, Zero smiled slightly, and with a wave of his hand, crimson patterns instantly spread across the dark cage.
"Goodbye, Devil Slayer Mage!"
"Dark Erosion: Annihilation!"
Countless crimson spikes instantly pierced through the dark cage.
The underground battlefield suddenly fell into absolute silence.
Then came an earth-shattering explosion!
Zero turned to leave triumphantly. He remembered there was another Mage from a Legal Guild in this Ancient City, who seemed to be the Wind Slayer Mage's brother.
He'd let that Devil Slayer Mage die too easily just now, so he would let his family suffer hell.
Just as Zero was calculating how to torment Mystogan, he suddenly realized that his "Dark Erosion: Annihilation" was actually collapsing in reverse. Could it be...
Clang!
Before he could react, a Wind Devil Slayer Blade, formed from endless Devil Slayer Wind, pierced through Zero's heart.
His heart was churned to pieces by the violent Magic Power. That heart-shattering blow instantly sent Zero from heaven to hell.
Noah released the hilt, and the magical long blade instantly vanished, leaving a gruesome, bowl-sized bloody hole in Zero's chest where his beating heart should have been—now just a pile of shredded flesh.
Zero's eyes widened in disbelief, his pupils reflecting the unharmed figure of the white-haired young man. He could actually break free from the weakening Curse Power of "Soul Scale"!
"How... is this possible..."
"I am a Devil Slayer Mage, yes, but do I only know this one Magic? Fool."
With a sneer, Noah retracted his Armament Haki, and under Zero's unwilling gaze, a visually striking, gigantic deep blue whale phantom took shape.
Whale Slayer Punch!