Chapter 266 The Evil Dragon’s Fist and Dreams of Space

“Ku ku ku… I see. A counter technique that uses the force of my own strength against me. You made it look like a desperate attack so I would throw my punch without restraint, didn’t you? However… that right leg of yours is already useless now, isn’t it?”

Damn. He hit the sore spot perfectly.

Just as Crom Cruach said, the bones in my right leg had already shattered from that kick.

I’d focused my aura around my skull to guard against the punch, then instantly redirected it into my right leg the moment I counterattacked, but I hadn’t made it in time.

Against this monster in close combat, my ability to shift aura instantaneously still wasn’t fast enough.

Since my opponent surpassed me in raw physical ability, the counter-based fighting style I’d relied on until now was falling one step behind.

Crom Cruach immediately resumed his relentless close-range assault, striking like a raging storm.

With my right leg broken, I was steadily pushed into a disadvantageous position in less than ten seconds.

Even if I numbed the pain, an injury was still an injury.

There was no way I could maintain one hundred percent performance.

Then—

Tawrich was blown aside by an aura-infused strike.

But the recoil opened a tiny bit of distance between us.

Seeing Crom Cruach come in with a right-handed punch, I instantly swung Zarich horizontally, aiming not for the fist but for his fingers.

At least, that was the plan.

In the next instant, his right hand transformed into a gigantic dragon claw and grabbed the blade itself with crushing force.

At the same time, Crom Cruach’s left palm thrust toward my right arm, aiming to shatter it together with the Sacred Gear trapped in his grip.

Normally, if your Sacred Gear was restrained, the obvious answer was to abandon it.

But my hesitation lasted a fraction of a second too long.

Crom Cruach had intended to chain his attacks together from the very beginning.

He was faster.

Even if I avoided losing the arm, taking that palm strike directly to the torso would’ve been even worse.

So instead—

I deactivated my Balance Breaker while still gripping Zarich.

Before entering Balance Breaker, my Sacred Gear took the form of a grotesque dagger whose blade extended along my arm itself.

I forcibly wedged that blade between Crom Cruach’s palm strike and my arm!!

…Though honestly, the result was pretty obvious.

Ignoring the blade entirely, Crom Cruach’s strike smashed through anyway.

My right arm broke instantly.

Right now, he was calmly pulling the embedded blade fragment from his left palm before tossing it aside.

Even after returning his hand to human form, his palm had clearly been deeply cut from grabbing Zarich.

But this guy was an absurdly durable Evil Dragon.

I could already imagine him saying something like, “If I clench my fist for a while, it’ll heal on its own.”

Well then.

Looks like this was as far as normal fighting would get me.

Time for the final phase.

“[Ittou Shura]!!”

Since I had the opportunity, I unleashed my strengthened state against Crom Cruach with everything I had for a few brief seconds.

Part of the training was learning to control this power properly even during battle.

And for Crom Cruach himself, those few seconds gave him an opponent genuinely capable of satisfying him.

…Though his adaptability was completely ridiculous.

On the very first day, I’d covered him in cuts and even severed one of his arms.

Now?

Compared to back then, his injuries had been reduced by nearly half.

What kind of joke adaptation speed was that!?

Only a few seconds.

Yet incredibly dense seconds.

Determined not to waste even a moment of them, I charged forward once more.

“Are you alright, Ikki?”

Yes.

I am currently a man with a broken right arm, broken right leg, lacerations all over my body, complete energy exhaustion, and who has been forcibly removed from the battlefield.

“I’m fine. Sorry as always.”

“I would prefer a ‘thank you,’ actually.”

“…Yeah. Thank you.”

And so, while flirting back and forth like that, I was currently recovering through Ravel’s Tears while resting my head on her lap.

To be honest, the lap pillow wasn’t necessary for the healing itself.

Ravel simply insisted on it.

Since I always finished my mock battles against Crom Cruach by activating Ittou Shura, Ravel’s Phoenix Tear healing was absolutely essential afterward rather than Asia’s recovery magic.

Honestly, I felt a little guilty, like I was treating her as a convenient healing item.

But when I apologized for that before, her immediate response had been:

“Then I demand lap pillows in exchange!”

With Riser’s safety still unknown, part of this was probably Ravel’s selfishness.

But another part was undoubtedly her way of easing her anxiety.

And honestly, I had no reason to refuse.

Though the stares from everyone around us were pretty embarrassing.

Kuroka and Koneko didn’t seem to object, but lately it did feel like both of them had increased their usual level of physical affection.

Deciding to simply enjoy the perks of the situation, I relaxed into Ravel’s lap—

when Dulio, who had joined the morning training session, walked over.

“Man, Issei-don’s one thing, but Ikki-kun too? You guys are seriously loved by your cute wives, huh? I’m jealous.”

Well… yeah, I was aware of that.

Though hearing Joker of Heaven casually say something approving of my polygamous lifestyle made me wonder whether this was religiously acceptable or not.

Then Dulio looked toward the distant mock battle still raging elsewhere.

“Seriously though, not just you, but Vali-don too… how do you guys willingly fight that Evil Dragon one-on-one?”

That’s right.

The one currently sparring with Crom Cruach was Vali.

Vali occasionally joined training sessions, and today he’d happened to show up, spotted Crom Cruach, and immediately challenged him to a match.

Naturally, Crom Cruach accepted without hesitation.

Even now, the two were blasting away at each other violently in the sky.

Vali had started in his silver armor from the beginning, and even from far away, the space around him warped strangely from the power of Dividine Diving.

“How about you, Dulio-san? As the leader of D×D, shouldn’t you give it a shot too?”

“Haha, I’ll pass. If I took one of his punches head-on, I feel like I’d get blasted all the way into outer space.”

The scary part was that it sounded less like a joke and more like a genuine possibility.

…Outer space, huh.

A random thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“Hey, if you used Zenith Tempest to manipulate the atmosphere, wouldn’t you maybe have a chance at becoming a ‘Space Angel,’ Dulio-san?”

“Ueeeh!?”

Sure, he’d need techniques to protect against cosmic radiation and stuff.

But honestly, if he just brute-forced it with aura reinforcement, couldn’t Dulio genuinely fly into space?

“Certainly… Considering that Dulio-sama can fly, possesses immense holy power, and freely controls weather phenomena… if we’re speaking strictly in terms of possibility… then perhaps it actually is possible?”

“Eeeeh? Ravel-chan, don’t analyze it with such a serious face! Besides, if that counts, then Ikki-kun should qualify too, right? You use Senjutsu to control nature, so doesn’t that make you a ‘Space Human’?”

Dulio-san.

Why is the star in the middle black-colored!?

“That would probably be difficult for me. Even if I brought air from Earth into space, I’d only be controlling it manually, so eventually the oxygen would run out. Dulio-san’s Sacred Gear bends physical laws to a certain extent, but Senjutsu doesn’t have that kind of flexibility.”

“Hmmm… I see… Wait. Doesn’t that still mean you could survive in space temporarily with your bare body?”

Please stop focusing on weird parts of the conversation!

If we seriously start discussing whether this is feasible, everyone’s going to stop treating me like a human being again!

“If anything, I still lose to Dulio-san, who might legitimately be able to reach the moon physically if he packed enough food.”

Honestly, if he just created a strong spherical barrier while sleeping and filled it with air…

…it actually sounded weirdly possible.

Hearing that, Dulio burst into cheerful laughter.

“Well, when you put it that way!”

“”Ahahahahahahaha!!””

I ended up laughing too—

partially out of desperation—

before the atmosphere abruptly fell silent.

“……Maybe this conversation is bad for our mental health. Should we stop?”

“…Agreed.”

“…I believe you are both equally ridiculous.”

And just like that, the great discussion between me and Dulio about going into space came to an end.

========

A few days later—parent-teacher meetings.

The Occult Research Club gathered with their parents in the clubroom.

It was technically unusual, but considering the… special population density in our club and student council, this arrangement made sense.

Right now, Ravel’s mother, Kuroka, and I were all chatting.

“Lady Phenex, it’s been since New Year’s greetings.”

“Oh my, Mr. Arima, how lovely to see you again.”

And so on.

The atmosphere was… weirdly domestic.

Then—

The door opened.

“Irina! Papa’s here!”

“Dad!? Why are you in Japan?!”

Father-child reunion.

Then immediately—

“Actually, I came because I heard my daughter’s future was being discussed~”

“Liar. That’s definitely not just work…”

And then—

Griselda arrived.

Right on time to drag Xenovia away by the collar.

I swear, even the background events are exhausting here.

Eventually, my turn for the meeting came.

University plans, future career—

I said I’d likely work through connections in Kyoto.

The teacher looked like they didn’t know how to process that.

Yeah, same.

Then I started thinking too far ahead—

Kyoto housing, devils, angels, fiancées, teleport arrays—

…This is not a solvable problem alone.

So I stopped thinking.

And then the next day. Azazel-sensei walked into the clubroom.

“I’ve confirmed it. Riser Phenex is safe.”

For a moment, the entire room brightened at once.