Even as Rhode felt his strength being siphoned off, Vali's offensive did not slow down. He swung his free arm, his fist breaking the sound barrier as it whistled toward Rhode's face.
Having landed his initial "Divide," Vali moved to press his advantage.
This time, Rhode didn't take the hit head-on. A moment before the fist connected, he exerted a sudden burst of force to break free from Vali's grip, dodging the heavy punch and putting some distance between himself and the White Dragon Emperor.
However, Vali wasn't about to let him go. Beating his wings, he gave chase, steadily closing the gap.
The power drain had even weakened Rhode's "Super Acceleration" state.
In truth, Super Acceleration wasn't invincible. In the original series, even Kamen Rider Kabuto had been countered several times while in Clock Up. It wasn't until Tendou gained the ability to transform into Hyper Kabuto that he stopped being pushed around.
One of the powers of the Divine Dividing—the White Dragon Emperor's wings—was "Divide and Absorb." It could halve an opponent's power every ten seconds and add that power to the user. It only increased raw power, however; it couldn't restore physical stamina.
The recent "Divide" hadn't stripped away half of Rhode's power, but it had taken at least a fifth. That was enough to put Rhode at a disadvantage.
In a way, both the White Dragon's "Divide" and the Red Dragon's "Boost" were borderline broken abilities. The original story never explicitly stated their limits, and every time a protagonist went berserk, the multipliers seemed to stack infinitely without any regard for a "maximum capacity."
Rhode had no intention of testing the limits of Vali's ability.
He quickly retrieved a Senzu Bean from his storage space and popped it into his mouth. As he bit down, a savory, plant-like flavor filled his mouth.
In that instant, Rhode's siphoned strength returned to its peak.
Rhode accelerated again, leaving the pursuing White Dragon Emperor in the dust.
Vali, who had been tailing Rhode while firing "Divide" beams from his hands, was stunned. How did he recover his strength after I stole it?
Nothing like this had ever happened before.
"Vali! Don't just stand there, watch out!" Albion's voice rang out.
"What?!"
Because Rhode had instantly returned to his peak strength, Vali—who had always been successful with this tactic—was momentarily paralyzed by confusion.
Rhode seized the opening. He came to a dead stop in mid-air, defying all inertia. His core muscles exploded with power as his body twisted like a compressed spring, launching a vicious whip-kick aimed straight at Vali's head!
Vali instinctively tried to replicate Rhode's earlier move—attempting to catch the leg to trigger another "Divide"—but Albion's frantic warnings in his head forced him to change tactics. He crossed his arms in a desperate defensive block.
CRASH!
In that moment, Vali felt as though he had been struck by a runaway freight train. A massive force rattled his arms, and the armor he used for protection began to show fine, spider-web cracks.
The onlookers saw what looked like a white shooting star falling from the sky, slamming into the earth and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
With a searing pain in his back and his brain feeling like it had been stuffed with smog, Vali was left utterly dazed.
What the hell was this guy raised on?
A human... possessed a physical body even stronger than his, a Devil?!
"Vali, the situation is against us. Regroup immediately; we need to leave," Albion's relatively calm voice echoed.
Katerea had defected, Creuserey was dead, and as for those magicians—without high-level leadership, they were just a disorganized mob. They would be wiped out by Azazel and the others in no time.
He and Vali weren't here to help the Old Devil Faction rebel; they were only here to fight the strong. Now that the tide had turned, staying any longer meant risking capture.
However, Vali refused to listen.
His mind was consumed by a single thought: how to defeat Rhode, the man standing next to Lavinia.
Furthermore...
Vali stole a glance toward the school building.
Lavinia—the woman who haunted his every thought—was currently standing at the jagged opening of the damaged New School Building, watching the fight.
Therefore, Vali had a reason he absolutely could not lose!
He quickly regrouped, the azure wings on his back spewing a massive amount of light particles as he narrowly dodged Rhode's descending knee strike.
"Still not running?"
Rhode looked at Vali, who was maintaining his distance and panting heavily, and spoke with a touch of exasperation.
"I have no grudge against you. I don't really want to fight you."
I don't want to fight: False. No mission has popped up: True.
Rhode was being honest. In the absence of a mission, he preferred doing things that let him relax. He wasn't some battle-crazed lunatic; he only ground out missions to gain power for self-preservation.
But those words seemed to ignite Vali's rage. The aura emanating from him became even more violent than before.
"Don't compare me to you! Don't think for a second that you've won!"
A savage glint flashed in Vali's eyes. How could a guy like this be worthy of standing by Lavinia's side?!
Hearing this, Rhode suddenly burst out laughing.
"Give you an inch and you take a mile, huh? You're really puffing yourself up now.""Forget it. Lavinia asked me for a favor anyway, so since you won't listen to reason, I'll just knock you unconscious and drag you in front of her."
At the mention of Lavinia's name, Vali's temper flared. He was just about to snap back with more bravado when Albion, dwelling within him, suddenly issued a frantic warning.
"How is this possible?! This guy...!"
"Vali! There's a Longinus signature coming from him! Careful, here it comes!"
Albion's voice was more urgent than ever. Vali himself felt an extremely ominous aura radiating from Rhode.
It was a sensation he was intimately familiar with.
A Sacred Gear.
But judging by Albion's reaction, the Sacred Gear Rhode held seemed to be a Longinus—one even more potent than the Divine Dividing.
Sensing the shift in the battlefield, Rhode called upon the Purple Flame Overlord's Crucifix (Shiden Seishu no Takudai).
A deep purple cross emerged from his chest. Unlike the previous user, Augusta, who would transform into a colossal fire giant, the artifact settled against Rhode's chest like a pendant. From that center point, a tide of deep purple radiance swept outward, instantly enveloping his entire body.
When the light dissipated, a humanoid figure clad in violet armor stood upon the ground.
"This is..."
Vali let out a breathy whisper before falling silent.
The armor reflected the moonlight with a faint lavender hue, possessing a sleek, humanoid silhouette. The visor featured split eyes similar to Vali's Balance Breaker state, but colored a piercing purple, with two V-shaped horns extending from the forehead.
At the center of the chest plate sat a large crucifix emblem, glowing with a brilliant golden light.
From the back of the armor, two pairs of metallic, golden wings sprouted.
A sense of divinity and mystery washed over the area. The sheer majesty of the form made onlookers feel as if they were beholding a supreme being, exerting an indescribable pressure on everyone who saw it.
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (320 Chapters – Ongoing)
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