Gideon, City of Duels, Central Arena
Figaro was now wielding the strongest sword from his expansive arsenal.
Albert was clad in the most fearsome armor from his massive collection.
The two clashed, but Albert had the upper hand.
Though wielding Gloria α, Figaro couldn’t use its Overdrive without getting close to Albert. If he used this powerful skill from a distance, he would have to fire horizontally—but with the barrier being right behind Albert, it was possible that it would break it and harm the audience.
Indeed—Albert wasn’t the only one who had to worry about his MVP rewards causing damage to the spectators. That was exactly why Figaro had defeated Xunyu by firing the weapon vertically at point-blank range.
He would have to do the same thing with Albert, but getting close to him meant being in range of his fists. Even if Figaro used Overdrive first, the briefest pause during the firing would allow Albert to reach him.
And Albert could come back at least one more time. If he committed to a desperate retaliation, that would be the end of the battle right there.
Of course, even without its Overdrive, Gloria α was an awfully powerful blade that could be empowered with the heat of light.
Figaro might have been able to evade Albert’s attacks and simply cut him apart—though that wouldn’t change the fact that just a single hit would be enough to kill him.
A single impact—no, a single scratch—would be fatal.
To make matters worse, Figaro didn’t know the extent of Albert’s resistances. He’d already been brought near death by both fire and physical damage, granting him resistance to both. Light and slashing damage were both adjacent to those types, so Figaro’s chances of a successful attack depended on how broad Albert’s damage resistance actually was.
Regardless, each of them had fangs aimed at each other’s throat.
All that really mattered now was how well they wielded them.
While Figaro silently tried to chart his path to victory, Albert took to action immediately.
This was an obvious move. Albert still had a life left, so if they clashed as they were now, he would most certainly emerge victorious. If anything, giving Figaro any time to find a way out of this predicament would be an awful idea.
“O o o r g h...” With attack power that exceeded even King of Destruction’s capabilities, and with the defenses to match, the armor let out a devilish groan as Albert charged ahead—an all-consuming, devastating sprint, each step of which left cracks and craters in the remnants of the arena.
He wasn’t even using any other MVP rewards.
Was that simply because nothing he had surpassed Exademon in pure attack power? Or was there some other reason for it?
For a moment, it looked as though Albert was going to charge directly at Figaro, but then Albert kicked a stray rock.
It shattered under the immense force, but the kinetic energy from the impact sent its shards flying ahead at supersonic speeds.
As though they were fired from a shotgun, they flew toward Figaro, leaving him nowhere to run.
Though his eyes widened, Figaro didn’t even try to dodge.
Instead, he imbued Gloria α’s blade with searing light and swung it, precisely cutting down and destroying all the rock shrapnel flying toward him. As unavoidable and deadly as it seemed, Figaro was able to defend himself against this dangerous attack.
However, this was well within Albert’s expectations. In the brief time Figaro focused on defense, he closed the distance between them.
Just a few more steps until the armor’s fists could reach his opponent.
If Figaro met the punch with his blade, both their bodies would shatter—and only Albert would be left standing.
That was what the entire audience expected, and when their eyes focused on Albert’s raised fist, not even a tenth of them noticed how Figaro’s appearance had changed.
“That’s...!” What the more observant spectators saw was a new piece of equipment Figaro had put on using Instant Wear.
Actually, it wasn’t quite accurate to call it “new.” After all, it was one of the items that defined his appearance.
It was his blue coat—“Rendshield Cloak, Closer.” Left behind by the first UBM he’d ever defeated, it had been with him longer than any other item in his vast arsenal.
One of its skills...
“Rendshield.”
...briefly but completely shut off any attacks coming from the outside.
The barrier that went up was immediately struck by a blow so powerful it surpassed even King of Destruction.
The impact shook the very air as the shock wave spread throughout the entire venue.
However, the barrier didn’t even shake. Despite the incredible power it had just been subjected to, it remained completely unaffected.
A split second after the impact, Figaro deliberately dropped the barrier...
“Fang of Gloria: Overdrive.”
...and, just as he’d done against Xunyu, Figaro swung the sword upward to deliver the Overdrive to his enemy.
He’d retaliated against Albert’s attack with his ultimate firepower, and everything was executed with flowing perfection. He’d negated the damage at the moment the punch had landed, canceled his defense right after the clash, and gone in for his slash without leaving any openings to take advantage of.
It was a technique much like Ray’s Impact Counter but possessed of even greater finesse.
Shock overcame Albert. He couldn’t even react. Though his attack and defense were greatly increased, Figaro still had higher AGI, and the counterattack had been executed too brilliantly. He didn’t have time to back away, launch another attack in response, or deal with the Overdrive in any way.
Though they both were entirely capable of killing each other in theory, in practice Figaro was simply on another level.
And so, unable to do anything about it, Albert was pierced by burning light.
It shot through the first layers of arena barriers, then the ones added by Integra, creating a pillar of light reaching toward the sky.
Any parts of Exademon that were caught in its wake evaporated, along with any of Albert’s body that was inside.
It was as though his fire resistance was powerless before this scorching light—as though the difference in how the heat was delivered was paramount.
Whatever the reason, Albert’s HP instantly fell to 1...
“η: Alkaid.”
...and he finally used the seventh—Septentrion’s final heal and buff skill.
“The Seven Stars—Septentrion.”
But this time, it was followed by another skill declaration.
Figaro’s eyes widened as he heard Albert’s voice—and because he heard it, he instantly flew into action.
Figaro had let Albert use this final regeneration on purpose, hoping to use his speed advantage to finish Albert off immediately after.
Albert’s body was now restored, and though clad in half-destroyed armor and empowered by a resistance to light-based heat, he couldn’t stop a slash from Gloria α’s naked blade.
Tsukuyo had called him “fragile,” and he could do nothing to resist the attack aimed straight for his throat.
Shortly after being restored—before he could even move—Albert was decapitated.
Thus, King of Termination was defeated. Everyone was certain that Figaro had emerged victorious.
But then, he was attacked from six directions.
Figaro’s eyes widened. A bursting net of flames, a cannonball, a shock wave, a frigid blizzard, a dark mist, a fixed damage projectile...
The moment Figaro thought he had defeated Albert, six kinds of attacks rained down on him.