Displaying Everything Learned

"Hum!"

As the atmosphere hummed, giant magic circles appeared one after another, rotating around Leo as he hovered in mid-air. Like rows of cannon muzzles, they aimed directly at Miyamoto Musashi below.

Vast amounts of magic gathered within each magic circle, instantly transforming into magic bullets capable of scorching the air, which then rained down toward the ground.

Each of these magic bullets was enormous, nothing like the ones Leo had released in the past. Even the smallest was at least two meters wide—larger than Leo himself.

Any one of these magic bullets could shatter a mountain peak or demolish a building. Seeing such terrifying power for the first time, Asuna Yuuki widened her eyes in shock.

"Truly remarkable magic."

However, as the target locked on by these devastating magic bullets, Miyamoto Musashi merely let out a sigh of admiration.

Immediately after, the blade resting on her shoulder moved.

"Boom!"

The moment the blade flashed, a roar erupted from the air.

The sword in Miyamoto Musashi's hand seemed to transform into a strike that could cleave through time itself. Like a streak of white light, it surged forth, slashing directly at the incoming magic bullets.

The magic bullets poured down, only to be swallowed by that simple strike, erased entirely by the fleeting flash of the blade.

Yes, erased.

The moment the blade's light touched the magic bullets, every single one—capable of shattering mountains and destroying buildings—melted away instantly, like winter snow touching a flame.

"That is...?!"

Leo's expression shifted, his gaze turning solemn.

He had activated magic detection the moment he started the fight, bringing the entire field into his sensory range to ensure he wouldn't miss a single detail and could react in time.

Yet, in his perception, the moment Miyamoto Musashi swung her blade, the entire space seemed to have been split open. The magic bullets he released had been sucked into the rift of the fractured space, banished to another world in an instant.

But such a thing... how could it be possible?

"Nothing is impossible, young master Leo!"

As if she knew exactly what Leo was thinking, Miyamoto Musashi spoke up.

"I am actually quite stubborn. Once I decide to accomplish something, I throw my entire being into it to ensure the goal is achieved."

"In the past, when dueling others, in order not to lose, I have played dead, used honeyed words to deceive people, and even run away in a pathetic state, only to return and challenge my opponent again once I had recovered to my peak."

"Despicable and shameless, right? But that is just who I am. Once I have a goal, I entrust my entire existence to it, and that goal becomes the only thing in my sight."

"Therefore, after reincarnating as a devil and gaining the demonic power to manifest imagination into reality, my blade became something special."

Miyamoto Musashi raised the sword in her hand, pointing it at Leo, who was hovering in mid-air.

"For example, if I want to sever your right arm and am willing to use any means necessary to achieve it, then my next strike will become the most logical strike possible."

"By narrowing down all the means used to achieve a goal to just this one act of 'swinging the blade,' I limit what should have been an infinite future into a single, inevitable result."

"In this way, any defensive measures you take will become useless, and evasion will be impossible. All you can do is take the hit; there is no second way to respond."

This was the Buddha's Sword, capable of severing all non-karma, fate, curses, and tragedy with a single stroke. It was the strike Miyamoto Musashi spoke of—a strike without any excess, one that subjugates both time and space.

"Just now, too. Facing the demonic power attack you unleashed with all your might, I had only one thought in my mind: to swing a blade capable of erasing them. The result that manifested was the act of cutting them away along with the space itself."

Miyamoto Musashi revealed a smile as innocent as a child's, as if she were introducing a child she was proud of.

"This is my blade, my sword, after becoming a devil."

Stripping existence down to the ultimate, breaking through the infinite to arrive at zero—that was the nature of Miyamoto Musashi's swordsmanship.

"Young master, you had better bring out your true strength. Otherwise, with the next strike, I might just take your head."

Miyamoto Musashi said this as if she were joking, but no one who heard her could view it as a joke. Instead, they could clearly glimpse the seriousness beneath her smile.

Leo was the same.

Therefore, he did not hesitate. Just as Miyamoto Musashi had suggested, he brought out his true strength.

"Rumble—"

The air began to emit a thunderous roar, and thick, dark clouds appeared out of thin air.

The dark clouds rolled in, taking less than a second to replace the ceiling of the basement, transforming that space into a sky dominated by Leo.

"Boom!"

Countless bolts of lightning rolled within the dark clouds, crashing down and converging upon the palm Leo was slowly raising, which he then tightly clenched.

In that moment, let alone Miyamoto Musashi, even Asuna Yuuki felt a familiar fluctuation of power coming from Leo.

This is...

"A sacred gear?"

Asuna Yuuki was astonished.

"This fluctuation of a sacred gear... could it be a longinus?"

Miyamoto Musashi was equally surprised. She had never expected to see a sacred gear on Leo, let alone one of the longinus class.

Putting everything else aside, the mere fact that a sacred gear had appeared on Leo was enough to be shocking.

Because sacred gears were unique powers created by gods for humans to use, only humans could be chosen by them.

Take Yukino Yukinoshita and Asuna Yuuki, for example; they were both holders of sacred gears before they reincarnated as devils, which is why they could be chosen by them and become sacred gear users.

Leo, however, was a natural-born devil, an otherworldly being who inherited the bloodline of a pure-blood devil. By all logic, he should have been unable to be chosen by a sacred gear.

"No, that's not it. Young Master Leo only has half the bloodline of a pure-blood devil; the other half is that of a human exorcist!"

Miyamoto Musashi finally realized the truth, catching a glimpse of the reality behind it.

Because he possessed half human blood, it was possible for Leo to be chosen by a sacred gear, and his ability to become a sacred gear user was understandable.

The only question was...

"A Longinus capable of controlling the sky and natural attributes... Could that sacred gear be...?"

Miyamoto Musashi was truly worthy of being a devil who had survived for hundreds of years. As a member of a devil king's peerage, her knowledge and experience far exceeded that of ordinary people.

However, just as she realized what Leo's sacred gear was, Leo had already swung down the thunder hammer in his hand.

"BOOM!"

Amidst intense thunderclaps, countless bolts of lightning intertwined, transforming into an angry hammer of god. Carrying ten thousand feet of lightning, it roared toward Miyamoto Musashi.

"Well struck!"

Far from being alarmed, Miyamoto Musashi was delighted. Her eyes shone with a terrifying brilliance, and her figure moved like a bursting storm, heading straight toward the incoming thunder.

"SHING!"

She swung a blade of breathtaking beauty. The blade light was as dazzling as the lightning itself, instantly severing the incoming bolts and causing the countless intertwined currents to scatter on the spot.

"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—"

Leo didn't seem to expect to finish Miyamoto Musashi in one blow. Seeing her slice through the thunder he had unleashed, he immediately and mercilessly drew down bolt after bolt of lightning from the sky, striking at her in rapid succession.

Miyamoto Musashi had already drawn the second blade from her waist. With dual blades dancing in her hands, she unleashed a series of stunning slashes at an astonishing speed, continuously cleaving through the lightning and breaking through the thunderous light.

Seeing this, Leo continued to call down lightning while raising his other hand, activating the power of Zenith Tempest to make the ground tremble.

The next second, the earth and stone rose up, dust filled the air, and countless clods of dirt and rock coalesced into an earth dragon with jagged horns, roaring as it charged toward Miyamoto Musashi.

This scene confirmed Miyamoto Musashi's hypothesis even further.

"It really is the second-ranked Longinus—Zenith Tempest!"

Miyamoto Musashi finally understood why she had felt the urge to fight a battle worth having against a junior devil.

"One of only thirteen Longinus, and a top-tier Longinus ranked second among them at that—as an opponent, this is more than enough!"

Miyamoto Musashi's fighting spirit was completely ignited. Laughing boisterously without a shred of decorum, she suddenly spun around and delivered a swift, sharp strike toward the charging earth dragon.

The blade flashed. A simple, unadorned slash severed the earth dragon's head directly, causing the earth and stone to crumble and the dust to rain down.

But immediately after, the roar of fiery explosions and the howling of gale-force winds erupted.

Rolling flames transformed into a fire wave, surging at Miyamoto Musashi from the left, while a violent tornado, like a drill capable of piercing the heavens, rose up from her right. They formed a pincer attack, roaring as they swallowed her figure whole.

"Bang!"

Miyamoto Musashi broke through the flames and wind. Her clothes showed signs of wear, but the blades in her hands struck with even greater density. Wave after wave of blade light cleaved the pursuing fire and wind in two, slicing them clean apart.

"It's not over yet!"

Leo refused to let up. He frantically unleashed his demonic power, pushing Zenith Tempest to the maximum potential he could currently command, causing a blizzard and a great flood to manifest within the basement.

The vast basement was transformed into a scene of natural disaster. Ten thousand bolts of lightning descended from the sky, while earth dragons roared upon the ground. Fire rolled like a sea of flames blotting out the sun, and storms whipped about as if to tear everything away, accompanied by the ravages of the blizzard and the great flood. The spectacle was so magnificent it rivaled a corner of the apocalypse.

"Is... is this the power of Mr. Leo?"

Outside the barrier, Asuna Yuuki was stunned. Watching the man standing amidst the natural disasters, her eyes held both shock and a trace of admiration that was difficult to discern.

Leo was completely unaware of this, his heart and soul fully invested in the battle, putting every ounce of his learning on display.