Chapter 279 The Fall of the False Dragon King

So they’re really going all out…

Xenovia was carving through the swarm of artificial Evil Dragons using Durandal and Excalibur. With Durandal fully unsealed, it had become the kind of overwhelming “just cut it first and think later” weapon, an approach that wasn’t wrong, but would’ve probably made Yuuto cry if he saw it.

“Hey, Xenovia! Try to hold back a little, would you?” Irina shouted.

“I already know that!” Xenovia replied without hesitation. “But the main dish, Rizevim, is still waiting. Besides, a warm-up is necessary for anything! And in some cases, it’s more efficient to unleash a single decisive strike than to waste energy on drawn-out combat!”

Yeah, that’s not wrong… but it sounds terrifying when she says it so confidently.

Ignoring Irina’s warning, Xenovia raised both holy swords high and flooded them with immense divine aura.

“Take this! A legendary double feature!!!”

BOOM!!

The crossed slashes unleashed a massive X-shaped blade of light, obliterating multiple Evil Dragons in a single sweep. A brute-force technique that made Excalibur itself look like it was crying in the corner.

“W-what!? Since when did you have a move like that!?” Irina shouted.

“Heh! As Student Council President of Kuoh Academy, it is my duty to protect everyone!” Xenovia declared proudly. “I’m even discussing a custom battle uniform with Azazel-sensei!”

What exactly is Kuoh Academy being protected from at this point…?

“Ugh! If I don’t stand out too, I’ll lose my presence!” Irina panicked, charging her own holy sword.

“U-um… Angel Slas—AAASH!!”

Let us explain:

“Angel Slash” is a technique where an angel concentrates power into a single sword strike.

“…Xenovia… please don’t ever use that name again. I feel exhausted just hearing it,” Yuuto muttered.

“Waaaaah! Xenovia looked at me like I was an idiot!!”

Despite the chaos, the two of them fought in surprisingly coordinated rhythm, cutting down Evil Dragons efficiently.

==========

Elsewhere, Shirone and Ravel had already chosen their targets and were dismantling enemies with surgical precision.

“Get out of the way,” Shirone said flatly.

Her fist shattered the barrier of a fake Ladon in a single strike.

By applying what she had learned from Ikki in senjutsu body control, Shirone could now compress aura into her fist at the moment of impact, combat-ready refinement that made her deceptively dangerous.

She punched through the barrier and drove her fist directly into the creature, releasing purification flames from within.

Cat-demons’ purification fire guided the dead to the afterlife. Since these Evil Dragons were essentially resurrected corpses via the Holy Grail, the effect was devastatingly effective.

“I don’t think I need to use that yet,” Shirone said calmly, watching the dragon burn away.

Ravel, meanwhile, conserved her stamina while still staying aggressive.

She held a flame sword formed from forbidden magic as a fake Grendel charged forward and unleashed fire breath.

“Too weak.”

Ravel stepped forward, unbothered. As a Phoenix, such flames were barely worth acknowledging.

She slipped through the fire, closed distance, and narrowly evaded a massive punch by releasing her limiter for an instant.

BOOM!!

It pierced the creature, and it exploded into ash from the inside out—ironically burning hotter than its own breath.

“Everyone’s just steamrolling them…” Rias said with a wry smile while observing the battlefield with Rossweisse.

“Lady Ikki excels at large-scale tactical planning,” Rossweisse replied. “If paired with Ravel’s precision, their coordination would be terrifying to simulate in Rating Games.”

She raised her staff and cast a binding formation that drained the Evil Dragon’s strength mid-flight.

“Now!”

Rias condensed destruction energy into her palm and fired.

The dragon’s head vanished instantly.

“No need to erase the whole body,” she said. “The head is enough.”

Efficient. Clean. And slightly terrifying.

=========

[Third Person POV]

The battle against Rizevim’s forces wasn’t going as overwhelmingly one-sided as expected.

Compared to sparring with Crom Cruach, it was clear, Rizevim’s power was immense, but his control was sloppy. His long period of leisure had dulled his combat instincts.

Even worse for him, Issei’s support system was absurdly effective.

Vali charged in.

“Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!”

But Rizevim laughed.

“Useless, useless~ Your Sacred Gear can’t reach me!”

Vali suddenly altered his own inertia mid-charge.

He reduced his own momentum?!

Using a self-induced “Divine Dividing” on his kinetic force, he canceled movement at the last instant—

Then spun into a full-power kick.

BOOM!!

Rizevim barely blocked.

Vali immediately canceled the recoil, reversed direction, and struck again with a backfist enhanced by released armor.

“Guh—!! You bastard!”

Rizevim staggered back, wiping blood from his nose.

“…So that’s it. You manipulated inertia itself,” he muttered.