Bang!!
Just as the Flameflow Blade, burning with golden Holy Flame, was about to cleave into Nergal's lower body, he blurred into an afterimage and vanished from everyone's sight.
"Why don't you look behind you?"
An enormous shadow engulfed Lynn, and a low, raspy voice came from behind him.
A fist larger than a punching bag hurtled toward Lynn's Bear Head Mask, whipping up a howling gust.
"Man!"
At the critical moment, the Boss's Martial Soul slammed into Nergal's fist, giving Lynn the chance to turn around and face Nergal again.
Unfortunately, Lynn wasn't as fast as Nergal. If he had been The Flash, he could probably have zipped behind Nergal by now and perhaps even given his back door a good clearing out.
Nergal looked at Lynn, then at the Black Boss's Martial Soul behind him, a flicker of bewilderment crossing his face.
What the fuck was this thing?
"A ni-(Black guy)? Or some kind of guardian spirit?"
Nergal found it hard to believe.
First an angel's weapon, and now something resembling an evil spirit... how did this human have so many bizarre little things?
He shook his head. The two pointed horns on his head started doing the thinking, telling him to crush them with brute strength, and he immediately bared his teeth in a cruel grin.
"Mortal... you intrigue me more and more."
Just then, Constantine quietly took out his Silver Cross a short distance away and began reciting an obscure incantation.
As he chanted, a faint glow flashed over the cross. Then he tightened his grip and hurled it at Nergal.
Whoosh!!
Nergal instantly became a pitch-black afterimage, nimbly dodging the cross.
Constantine's expression darkened at the sight.
"Shit!"
Before he could react, Nergal charged up to him and drove a fist into his stomach.
Bang!!
The tremendous force sent Constantine flying like a kite with its string cut, slamming him into the heap of mangled flesh behind him.
Constantine's face twisted in pain. "My back!"
"Constantine!"
Rachel's expression shifted. The red gem on her forehead erupted with dazzling crimson light, and her blue eyes instantly turned red.
A moment later, the enormous spectral image of a raven formed behind her.
This was her soul-self ability, which allowed her to release her own soul-self in the form of a giant black raven.
Composed of her soul and magical power, the soul-self could gather visual and auditory information and inflict a certain amount of physical damage.
"Screee!!"
The giant spectral raven let out a piercing cry. Ghostly blue soul fire blazed around its beak and talons as it lunged for Nergal's head.
Noticing Raven's attack, Nergal's face flickered with disdain.
"Too slow. Far too slow!"
He didn't even bother turning around. The grotesque wings on his back gave a powerful flap, and a gale laced with magical power formed a barrier.
"Trigon's little brat... has it been so long since you saw a real Greater Demon that you've forgotten we demons can use magic too?"
With a bang, the spectral raven struck the barrier. Soul fire collided violently with magical power, producing a corrosive sizzling sound.
Almost at the instant of impact, the spectral image grew fainter, and Raven's face went deathly pale.
"Useless."
Nergal stood where he was, his tawny slit pupils sweeping over everyone present as his lips spread into a cruel grin.
"Without Belur's shell holding me back, none of you can keep up with my speed. Add my abundant magical power, and you're simply no match for me."
"How would we know without trying?"
Lynn tightened his grip on the Flameflow Blade and swung his right hand forward.
Whoosh!!
Another Sacred Flame Sword Aura slashed toward Nergal, but he swiftly dodged it.
"I told you, you can't hit me." Nergal shook his head, wearing the confident smile of someone with everything under control.
"Your Holy Fire should be going out soon, shouldn't it? When that happens, what will you have left to deal with me?"
"Oh?" Lynn raised an eyebrow. "Then how about this?"
Almost the instant he finished speaking, countless waves of flaming sword aura slashed toward Nergal in a dense barrage.
Sword aura crisscrossed the air. Holy Fire ignited the atmosphere, turning the entire ruin into a sea of flames as sacred power surged toward Nergal from every direction.
Nergal: "..."
Wait, how had he suddenly started cheating halfway through the fight?
[Flameflow Blade successfully advanced. Current stage: Second Phase. Every swing of the blade can unleash Sacred Flame Sword Aura, and the Holy Fire will only go out when the wielder wills it.] [Note: Eternally burning wings, carry me away from the mortal world's degradation.]
A dense barrage of Sacred Flame Sword Aura slashed toward Nergal from every direction, like an ocean of sword aura formed from sacred fire rushing straight at him.
The Sacred Flame Sword Aura surged with tremendous force. If it struck Nergal, it would probably leave pieces of him scattered everywhere.
But his speed ranked highly even among Hell Greater Demons. To him, the speed of this sword aura was nothing worth mentioning.
Nergal scoffed.
"Too slow, far too slow!
So what if you can unleash this much sword aura?
If you can't hit me, it's still completely useless. I'm standing right here. Go on, hit me, idiot!"
With that, an utterly unrestrained sneer spread across his face.
"You asked for it. I've never heard such a masochistic request in my life.
In that case... Za... Warudo!"
Lynn suddenly roared, and a miraculous power surged forth, instantly freezing the entire world.
First came the clock on the wall. As the gears inside stopped turning, its swiftly ticking second hand stopped as well.
Then everyone standing in the ruins had their pause button pressed. Even the blood silently trickling down the wall was forcibly halted by an invisible, mysterious power, unable to fall any farther.
[Character Card: Dio Brando (from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; vampire bloodline; possesses the Stand "The World," which can stop time for 9 seconds)]
"Whew... good thing I had this Character Card. Too bad it's single-use, and usually only stays active for
half an hour to two hours...
This Elite Monster's second phase is way too hard. He's fast and strong, almost on par with a boss."
Seeing Nergal frozen by the mighty power of Time Stop, Lynn quickly walked up to him.
He could even see the smugness and contempt frozen on Nergal's face, as though he believed Lynn couldn't possibly hit him.
"Good thing I can stop time for nine seconds. I wonder if The Flash over in Central City could still run if he encountered an ability as ridiculously overpowered as Time Stop."
Holding the Flameflow Blade, Lynn fixed his gaze on the weak point in Nergal's lower body, and a cruel smile spread across his face.
"You're so fast I can't hit you, huh?
Let's see how many hits your weak point can take!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lynn began swinging the Flameflow Blade over and over.
One Sacred Flame Sword Aura after another flew to within a centimeter of the weak point in Nergal's lower body, where the mighty power of time forced them to a halt.
Lynn's arm moved so fast it left afterimages. Not only that, his Boss's Martial Soul followed the motion of his left elbow, repeatedly driving elbow strikes into Nergal's lower body.
"Man! Man! Man..."
Before long, five seconds had passed.
Having finished his strikes, Lynn returned to his original position, put away the Flameflow Blade, and took his Vulcan Gatling Gun and Rocket Launcher out of the System Inventory.
The next instant-
Silver bullets burst from the barrel in a torrent of steel. Together with the silver shells, they flew to within a centimeter of the vital spot in Nergal's lower body and all but stopped.
He fired for a full four seconds, unleashing countless rounds before putting away the Gatling gun and Rocket Launcher and looking at the motionless Nergal ahead.
Snap!
Lynn raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Time resumes its flow..."