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"Be careful!"
Tobio Ikuse's first thought was to warn Lavinia Reni.
Attacking the weaker opponent first was perfectly normal. In his previous battles with Lavinia, Tobio had always held the advantage.
"Jin!"
The enormous black hound beside Tobio unleashed an unprecedented surge of spiritual power.
As another Longinus, [Canis Lykaon] felt no fear even when facing the empowered Albion.
On the contrary, it only became more excited.
[Sever the mortal world, let a thousand ages cry out!]
In an instant, both Tobio and Jin became enveloped in darkness that corroded everything around them.
[Sever all creation, let all things sing my praise!]
[My name sinks into the darkness beneath shadows, distorting the eternal night and becoming a false god...]
[All of you shall sleep beneath my black blades!]
[Become fools, creators of the supernatural!]
The enormous black hound transformed into a black-bladed dog god clothed in the night itself.
[Balance Breaker: Night Celestial Slash Dogs of Shining Blade!]
The Slash Dog was similar to Susanoo from the Akame ga Kill world.
It could communicate with its master's thoughts, but it was not merely a piece of equipment. It was an independent being with a will of its own.
Besides carrying out its master's commands, it could make its own judgments and fight independently.
Realizing the severity of the situation, Tobio quickly drew a scythe from the darkness.
Jin also pulled a sword from the shadows and held it between its jaws like a three-sword-style swordsman.
"Hmph!"
Lavinia was not naive either.
She reacted immediately, summoning a wall of ice in front of herself.
She understood Tobio's intention.
He wanted her to endure the first attack while he counterattacked Anos.
After all, intercepting Anos before he reached her was clearly no longer possible.
Ice shields condensed to their limit and surrounded Lavinia's body.
The moment the shields finished forming, a violent impact erupted.
Crack!
When the white dragon-like figure collided with the ice barrier, an ominous sound came from its surface.
"It is surprisingly sturdy."
Anos smiled.
The White Dragon Emperor was indeed a rather good toy, but whether in its Balance Breaker stage or the stages beyond it, its versatility seemed inferior to Savior Star Dragon.
However, Anos had only chosen to play with [Divine Dividing] because he did not want Ingvild's efforts to go unanswered.
He understood its functions perfectly.
This was merely a small test of the toy's abilities.
Otherwise, one activation of Savior Star Dragon would have left both opponents lying on the ground.
But if he did that, completing the treasure chest conditions might become troublesome.
"Defeating Absolute Demise with ice is still quite simple."
Anos smiled.
Without using Divine Overlimit Mode, he might genuinely be unable to match [Absolute Demise] in terms of pure ice manipulation.
However, completing the task did not necessarily require him to become stronger.
He only needed to make his opponent weaker.
[I...]
[Am the awakened one, the White Dragon Emperor who casts the absolute law into darkness.]
Silver radiance erupted instantly.
[I shall reach the ultimate realm of the Heavenly Dragon!]
[I shall walk the tyrannical path of the White Dragon!]
[We shall overcome the infinite and devour the dream!]
[We shall pass through infinite destruction and the dawn dream, and walk the path of domination!]
[I shall become the pure Dragon Emperor!]
[And lead you to the silver fantasy and the ultimate path of magic!]
[Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive!]
[Silver Dragon Emperor's Supremacy!]
"Compress."
[Compression Divider!]
[Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!]
Even through the ice barrier, Lavinia's demonic power was instantly compressed dozens of times.
Each compression reduced it by half.
After dozens of reductions, the weakening became exponential, instantly draining every trace of power from Lavinia's body.
At the same time, an ice sword appeared in Anos's hand.
It was merely an ice sword created through the simplest form of magic.
However, when combined with Anos's strength, the ice shield that had lost its source of power had no possibility of resisting.
Crack!
The ice barrier shattered instantly beneath the ice sword.
[Ding.]
[Purple Treasure Chest opened.]
[Congratulations, host. Reward obtained: Ice-Type Character Summoning Card.]
[Ice-Type Character Summoning Card: Randomly summons one ice-attribute character.]
[Note: The summoned individual will exist in a state similar to a Heroic Spirit.]
Without examining the reward further, Anos appeared beside Lavinia the moment the ice barrier shattered and restrained her.
"What?"
Seeing Anos capture Lavinia in an instant, Tobio stopped.
His scythe halted directly in front of one of the jewels embedded in Anos's armor.
With Lavinia currently in Anos's hands, he absolutely did not dare act carelessly.
"A wise choice. Relax, I am not the kind of person who threatens someone using the life of their friend."
Anos smiled.
Of course, despite saying that, he did not return Lavinia to Tobio.
If that was true, then give her back first.
Tobio complained silently in his heart.
"If you agree to one condition, how about I return her to you?"
Anos asked with a smile.
"What condition?"
Tobio did not lower his scythe.
Even now, he had not abandoned the idea of finding an opening to rescue Lavinia.
However, he had discovered an extremely frustrating fact.
No matter how he searched for a weakness in this man, he constantly felt as though Anos had already seen through everything.
If Tobio alone had felt that way, perhaps he could have dismissed it.
But Jin felt the same thing.
That meant there could be no mistake.
In truth, this also demonstrated Tobio's strength.
Most people facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent would not even realize that all of their intentions had already been seen through.
"My condition is quite simple. You only need to pass my trial."
Anos smiled as he spoke.
"A trial?"
Tobio frowned.
He had known Anos would not return Lavinia so easily.
"What is wrong? Are you afraid?"
Anos traced his hand through the air.
A large golden gate appeared before them.
"As long as you keep your word."
Tobio did not waste any more time.
He rushed directly through the golden gate.
His speed even caused Anos to pause for a moment.
"It seems he really is decisive."
Anos sighed in admiration.
However, Tobio had truly made the wrong choice.
To ensure that Jin would at least lose a layer of skin, Anos had not created a combined formation.
He had directly released Forbidden Heaven.
The previous person to enter Forbidden Heaven had been a god with transcendent-level power.
And that god...
Had never emerged again.
"Tobio certainly has courage."
Anos dismissed the White Dragon Emperor's Balance Breaker and spoke to Lavinia.
"Hmph..."
Lavinia gave a cold snort, then lowered her head in self-reproach.
She understood that Tobio had fallen into this difficult situation because she had been defeated too quickly.
"Would you like to watch the live broadcast?"
Anos asked with a smile.
He did not particularly mind.
He merely wanted to test Forbidden Heaven's power once again.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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