Siegfried and the Demon Emperor Sword

Moreover, the Hero Faction's power came from the Sacred Gears of God of the Bible, and a Transcender stood behind them, plotting everything.

The so-called Hero Faction was merely a pawn that Indra, the Buddhist god, had used to ride the tide.

"It's the Hero Faction."

Jeanne clearly did not like the name The Order of the Fallen.

Still, she was somewhat surprised that Miss Moonlit before her knew of their existence.

"...What do you want?"

Miss Moonlit did not care what they called themselves. She was merely puzzled as to why Jeanne had appeared before her.

She had no connection to the Hero Faction, did she? She had never even interacted with them before, much less offended them.

Could she be here to invite her to join?

The Hero Faction generally only considered descendants of famous historical heroes when recruiting, but Miss Moonlit really did qualify.

Simply because Miss Moonlit's name was Theresa.

The name Theresa was far from simple. Its root was the Greek word Theresa, meaning upright, honest, and steadfast.

The word also existed in English, French, and German, with similar meanings.

As a result, there had been many famous women named Theresa throughout history, most of them connected to the Church. For example, the nun praised in both the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, known as a living angel—Saint Theresa.

Besides that, quite a few texts described the Lord's fondness for "Theresa."

It was just that the contents of those texts were a little too bold to pass censorship.

"Don't be nervous! I have no other purpose. I was merely passing by."

Though she said that, Jeanne's gaze at Miss Moonlit was filled with interest.

She had indeed just happened to pass through, then sensed the commotion of a Sacred Gear entering Balance Breaker here. Curious, she had come to take a look—and something truly extraordinary had happened.

Jeanne's Sacred Gear was called Holy Sword Creation, yet she had encountered someone here with Demon Sword Creation, who had just developed her Balance Breaker.

What an incredible coincidence. It was hard not to feel eager for a challenge.

Demon Sword Creation and Holy Sword Creation were Sacred Gears that stood in complete opposition.

Like light and darkness, water and fire!

Now that they had met, it would be a waste not to exchange a few moves.

"Speaking of which, it must be fate. Your Sacred Gear is Demon Sword Creation, while mine is Holy Sword Creation."

"Now that you've just entered Balance Breaker, you should need an opponent, right?"

As she spoke, Jeanne raised her right hand. A holy sword materialized in her grasp from thin air. Others found it incredibly difficult to control holy swords, yet she could create one with effortless ease.

And as long as she had enough stamina, she could create them without limit!

Was this the soul reincarnation of Saint Jeanne d'Arc for you?

Yet interestingly, this reincarnation of a saint belonging to the Church did not belong to the Church at all. Instead, she had joined the Hero Faction.

"Holy Sword Creation? Then I'm truly interested!"

Seeing Jeanne's actions, Miss Moonlit showed no fear. Instead, a strange smile appeared in her eyes. Other demons and vampires would indeed be utterly suppressed when facing Jeanne; holy swords countered them far too strongly.

Not to mention Jeanne, who could create vast numbers of holy swords. She was practically their natural nemesis!

Yet Miss Moonlit, as a vampire, did not fear her at all. On the contrary, she was very interested in Jeanne's Sacred Gear, Holy Sword Creation!

Miss Moonlit had previously held a suspicion—or perhaps a premonition. If she could master both Holy Sword Creation and Demon Sword Creation, then perfectly fuse them with something else, she might be able to create an entirely new Sacred Gear.

It was not impossible. It was simply very difficult to perfectly fuse two Sacred Gears that were complete opposites.

It might require not only a large number of top-tier holy swords and demon swords, but also the power of Infinite Dragon God or Great Red.

That was no easy task. Top-tier holy swords were already rare, forming the Church's core combat strength. Holy Sword Users wielding holy swords could suppress Highest Demons and even Dragon Kings.

Top-tier demon swords were even rarer.

On the other hand, as for the power of the Two Dragon Gods, if she could encounter that Infinite Little Dragon and had decent luck... it would be easy to talk her into giving up a trace of the power of "Snake."

After all, Cao Cao and the others had talked quite a bit of the power of "Snake" out of Infinite Little Dragon. So long as they promised to help her defeat Great Red and let her return to sleeping in the Dimensional Gap, that little dragon had been very generous with her power.

As one of the strongest Two Dragon Gods in the DxD World, Infinite Little Dragon's power represented "infinity"—infinite dimensions, and infinite possibilities.

In other words—∞.

Infinity!

By the setting, she possessed infinite possibilities and potential.

At this stage, Infinite Little Dragon should still have been the Hero Faction's mascot leader and power-supplying machine.

"?"

Faced with Miss Moonlit's strange attitude, Jeanne could not quite understand it. It was as though the girl had her eyes on Jeanne's belongings.

But Jeanne did not dwell on it. Seeing that the girl had agreed to a duel, she no longer hesitated. She gave a soft reminder, then charged over with her holy sword in hand.

The clash between Bible Creation and Demon Sword Creation might not compare to that between the Red Dragon Emperor and White Dragon Emperor, but it was still worth seeing. Since the other side had also developed Balance Breaker, it could not be considered bullying.

"Here I come. This is the Holy Sword of Purification!"

As she approached Miss Moonlit, Jeanne proactively named the holy sword in her hand. This holy sword possessed immensely powerful purification abilities.

Like Demon Sword Creation, Holy Sword Creation could create all kinds of holy swords.

Miss Moonlit was not about to be outdone. She had no intention of using any other power and simply used Demon Sword Creation's power. Just as Jeanne had said, she had only just mastered Demon Sword Creation's Balance Breaker, so she needed an opponent.

Using other powers would defeat the purpose of having an opponent.

With a grasp at empty space, Miss Moonlit instantly created a demon sword burning with crimson flames.

"Demon Sword of Crimson Flame!"

Calling out its name, the girl met Jeanne with her demon sword.

The demon sword and holy sword collided, instantly unleashing a terrifying blast of air.

Neither held anything back. The demon sword and holy sword were shattered by the two of them, but after only a moment's hesitation, they tossed aside the broken blades and created two brand-new swords in their left and right hands!

After several brutal exchanges, Jeanne was somewhat astonished by Miss Moonlit. To a certain extent, holy swords were superior to demon swords, and Miss Moonlit was a vampire on top of that—yet she was not at a disadvantage in the slightest.

"Holy Swords Descend!!"

Pulling back, Jeanne raised her hand toward the sky and clenched it. Countless holy swords appeared around Miss Moonlit, then plunged down at her together like a rain of blades.

"Destroy them all."

Looking at the rain of holy swords overhead, Miss Moonlit immediately created an incomparably massive demon sword. She gripped its hilt with both hands and swung upward from below!

A gigantic crimson crescent sword light flew upward, destroying every holy sword in its path.

"It's only just begun!"

Jeanne had never expected that to win. With a kick against the ground, she created a colossal holy sword thirty meters tall in the blink of an eye.

The gigantic holy sword shot into the sky like a missile. Jeanne herself leaped up and landed atop its hilt, accelerating its speed and force.

Then she smashed down toward Miss Moonlit without mercy!

"Hahahaha... Good!"

Miss Moonlit's distinctive, healthy laughter rang out. Then she stomped the ground, and an equally massive demon sword burst from beneath the earth, rising from below to meet the descending holy sword.

The two massive swords collided with a terrifying roar of destruction. It was as though an earth dragon had turned over, and even the ground trembled.

Siegfried and the Demon Emperor Sword

"Holy Eraser!"

"Flame Delete!"

"Repression Calm!"

"..."

Facing an opponent like Jeanne, Miss Moonlit continuously created all sorts of demon swords, showing no intention of using any other power. After all, Jeanne truly was an excellent whetstone.

The Light Devouring Sword that swallowed light-attribute attacks, the ice-attribute Flame Ice Sword, the Wind Halting Sword that stilled hurricanes, the Sword of Flame, Sword of Thunder, Sword of Water... she tried almost every kind.

Jeanne was no less willing to yield. All kinds of holy swords, some Miss Moonlit had seen and some she had not, appeared one after another.

This allowed Miss Moonlit to gain a much deeper understanding of Bible Creation. That way, after she stripped Jeanne of her Sacred Gear, she would not be unfamiliar with it.

She could better consider how to perfectly fuse the two.

Looking at the sun in the sky, Miss Moonlit saw that it was already morning. Feeling that it was about time, she stopped trading blows with Jeanne.

After putting some distance between them, Miss Moonlit forcefully plunged the demon sword in her hand into the sand. The power of the Sacred Gear Demon Sword Creation erupted without restraint.

"Sword Birth!"

"Boosted!!"

In an instant, starting from Miss Moonlit, demon swords continuously extended and stabbed out from underground, spreading toward Jeanne like a sword dragon.

In almost the blink of an eye, a mountain of demon swords appeared before Jeanne and swallowed her whole!

After waiting several seconds, Miss Moonlit pulled out her demon sword, making the mountain of swords before her vanish. Yet Jeanne was nowhere to be seen.

A short while later, ripples spread through the space ahead. Only then did the girl see the blonde Jeanne walk out, holding a Void Holy Sword.

"You really are incredible. I never expected your mastery of Demon Sword Creation to be this strong. If I didn't have this Void Holy Sword, getting hit by that certainly wouldn't have felt good!"

Holding the Void Holy Sword, Jeanne's expression became exceedingly serious. Before joining the Hero Faction, she might not have been a match for this vampire girl before her.

She had no idea where such a powerful person had emerged from.

"A holy sword with spatial attributes..."

Miss Moonlit raised an eyebrow slightly. The holy sword in Jeanne's hand had taken her by surprise. As far as she remembered, such a holy sword should not have existed.

Sure enough, the real world was not an anime or novel. She could not treat the information from those as everything.

"There's no need to continue. Neither of us can do anything to the other, so why not begin the real battle directly? Let's use the full power of Demon Sword Creation and Holy Sword Creation!"

Jeanne proposed this as she released the holy sword in her hand.

Miss Moonlit possessed high-class strength and was far from simple. If she unleashed everything, she might possess the power of a Highest Demon!

This world might constantly speak of Highest Demons, Demon Kings, gods, and Transcenders, but in truth, reaching high-class strength already made one a very powerful existence in this world.

Across the human world, the Underworld, and Heaven, high-class beings were respected powerhouses. Most of the Five Dragon Kings had only barely reached the level of Highest Demons.

"Sure. As the human says."

Miss Moonlit did not care about Jeanne's words. This was not all her power. By now, Miss Moonlit had roughly assessed that, at the very least, she possessed the strength to fight a Quasi-Demon King.

Jeanne, meanwhile, was at most a Highest Demon. If not for using her as practice and becoming familiar with Holy Sword Creation, there would have been no need to drag things out this long.

It was about time to end this!

"Unlimited Lost Works!"

The ultimate domain of Demon Sword Creation was instantly displayed by Miss Moonlit. In a moment, heaven and earth became completely different. The scene was no longer a beach, but an unfamiliar world.

Miss Moonlit stood atop a high cliff, its surroundings filled with demon swords embedded in the ground like a mountain of blades. Beyond the sword mountain, the world in every direction was likewise covered in demon swords.

Above the sky hung an enormous blood moon, seeming close enough to touch.

"An unbelievable Balance Breaker!"

"To think you've developed Demon Sword Creation's Balance Breaker to such a degree. It's truly shocking."

Jeanne stood upon the ground filled with demon swords, looking at the completely transformed world before her with shock in her eyes.

Earlier, she had sensed Miss Moonlit's Balance Breaker bloom, but she had not been able to make it out clearly because Miss Moonlit had already canceled it then.

Only now did she truly see just how powerful a Balance Breaker Miss Moonlit had developed from Demon Sword Creation.

"Your turn, human."

Miss Moonlit did not attack in a hurry. From high above, she looked down at Jeanne in the distance and waited for her Balance Breaker.

Hearing that, Jeanne stopped overthinking. She steadied herself and activated Holy Sword Creation's Balance Breaker.

"Balance Breaker!"