While it was getting noisy outside, Vasco and Athena didn't care about that whatsoever and continued to blitz through the entire town, "Geez... Kicking up all this dust." Kisuke complained while watching the two clash.
"Are you just going to watch?"
Kisuke turned around and faced the tall handsome man wearing a black coat with a long mixture of black and blond hair as well as heterochromatic eyes where his right eye was gold and his left eye was black with pointed ears, 'The way he carries himself... Unlike most who were naturally born strong, he was properly trained. The evilest yet most honorable Evil Dragon, huh...'
"The stage is too small. If we start now, it'll inevitably become messy. Or maybe you don't mind that."
Crom Cruach always hated it if someone were to intrude in his battle and would get mad whether it was his ally or enemy who did it. But looking at Vasco and Athena going at it with glee, he thought, 'Maybe that doesn't sound so bad.' He then looked towards Tiamat and Rias who were just exchanging destructive spells and Vritra and Yuuto who were much more subdued compared to everything else that was happening.
He glanced at the black dome but couldn't feel anything from it before returning his sights to Kisuke, "Where's your sword?"
"If you're worried that I won't be able to bring out my strength, please don't. I have something that if released fully, may destroy my body."
"That doesn't really tell me much." All of a sudden, Crom's right arm transformed and became a large dragon claw. Although he looked incredibly imbalanced, it seemed like he could swing it with ease. Releasing his gold and black Dragonic Aura, Crom dashed forward so fast he left an afterimage.
Kisuke strengthened his Hierro on his left arm and raised it to block Crom's swipe, but when they were about to make contact, Kisuke's eyes widened, and hurriedly pulled back. Nevertheless, it was already too late as Crom's claws were able to reach his arm.
Kisuke instantly put some distance between them and looked at his bleeding left forearm with three claw marks that almost reached his bones, "Those are some very sharp claws."
"And those flimsy arms of yours are strangely durable.", replied Crom, "I thought I could cut it off."
Crom then also transformed his left arm in preparation for Kisuke's Magic. From their match against Team Lighting, they'd learnt that without his sword, Kisuke was a spell caster that's capable of churning out high-tier spells in both attack and defense in rapid succession, in addition to his instant acceleration technique, 'Is he going to pull out massive spells simultaneously until his body is broken?'
Kisuke, to pretend that he had to heal himself, put his right hand on top of his left arm and emitted light as the wound regenerated. Even if it was a small action, it gave a false impression to everyone watching. Thankfully, Crom didn't attack and actually waited for his wound to disappear, 'This guy and Vasco Strada. It's amazing that Gremory-san was able to pull them to her side. Her talent in gathering people is undeniable.'
'Well then... I can't disappoint the kind Evil Dragon-san here.', Kisuke finished 'healing' his wound and took a deep breath before his strange aura welled and flared up, "Shunko: Blood Gate."
Crom flew back a bit and used his arms to block the shockwave that had originated from Kisuke, 'This is...!?' Through his claws, he saw him being covered in a blood-colored aura as it smashed into this artificial space's boundary, shocking everything inside it.
The trembling in the atmosphere made everyone stop and look in their direction, "Yet again, he's pulling another trick out of his sleeves... Does it ever end?" Yuuto asked after separating from Genshirou.
But the latter only shook her head, "I don't know. And I don't really want to think about it. I'm just really glad I'm not his enemy."
Vasco also separated from Athena and asked, "Hoo... Your leader seems to be way different from others of his generation. Are you sure he's someone who just left behind puberty?"
"Sadly, common sense doesn't work on him. I would believe it if he could speak multiple languages from birth." Athena replied with a wry smile.
"Really? Such an interesting child. I would really like it if I could have a bout with him even for a bit."
"This place is too small. Once they start, it'll be hard to avoid them."
Vasco nodded in satisfaction, "That's true... Then you wouldn't mind if we bump into them, would you?"
"While it's fun crossing swords with you, the chaoticness will be interesting too."
As the linked together 'drums' appeared behind Kisuke, Crom also took out his wings, and immediately after, the two of them left afterimages as Crom's claws and Kisuke's fist covered in bloody aura met.
One explosion, two explosions, it's as if it was the reenactment of Vasco and Athena's initial clash. However, this time, their battle moved towards the opposite side and decimated the surrounding forest as the blood-red and black and gold aura's intertwined.
Compared to the two battles that had wrought massive destruction, the others had become a minor show.
Those on the outside could hardly catch any of what was happening, but thankfully, the committee was prepared for something like this and there were more screens that showed a slow-motion version of the instant clashes, raising the hype to everyone and causing even more intense betting.
But after a few rounds, while Athena and Vasco were largely equal, Kisuke was losing his fight, 'At this rate, my arms will be mangled. Even though I was able to substantially damage Tiamat with this, it has almost no effect on Crom. He'll just shake it off and heal just as quickly.'
Crom immediately noticed Kisuke's decreasing attacks and increasing defensive maneuvers, "Hey now. Don't leave me with this much steam. You're one of the few people who would willingly receive my attacks. Even the White Dragon Emperor does his best to dodge, so it's a little bit boring these days. And where was that aura that you released just now? Don't tell it was for show?"
"That's understandable. One swipe and you'll break his shiny armor." Kisuke chuckled, "And that was indeed just for show... But only half of it. First Gate: Denial."
The 'drums' behind Kisuke shook and the first one morphed into a symbol. At the same time, the blood aura around him converged around his four limbs before solidifying and acting as skin. Surprisingly enough, there was no change in his aura.
Crom didn't know what had changed but he had no plans of letting him take the initiative and dashed forward, swiping his claws at him with even greater force than before.
And the same as their previous engagements, Kisuke raised his hand that's now covered with a blood 'skin' and punched it out.
The resulting clash was greater than everything that had occurred prior, "!?", but that wasn't what surprised Crom but the fact that there was a crack in his claw while he'd only shaved off the 'skin' before it instantly returned to what it was prior. Unfortunately, that lapse in attention cost him, as Kisuke's right fist was already on his chest, receiving the full brunt of the attack for the first time.
'!?' Another exclamation came from Crom as he was sent flying back and coughing out blood, 'This!? A reverberating attack!?'
"HHAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Gritting his teeth before shouting, Crom released even more of his Dragonic Aura and expelled the force that was destroying his insides. Naturally, he was still keeping track of Kisuke's position in his mind. However, when he thought that there'd be a follow-up attack, Kisuke instead took another deep breath and muttered, "Second Gate: Anger."
The second 'drum' behind him morphed into an eye and his blood skin thickened before it fully changed into a pair of blood-red gauntlets and boots adorned with gold stripes. But while there was still no change in the aura he's emitting, there was now a dangerous pressure that was alarming every bit of self-preservation instinct within the Evil Dragon.
Although Kisuke was still very far from him, Crom's instincts told him to block so he hurriedly crossed his Dragonic arms on top of his chest and it turned out that it was a very good call, what with Kisuke suddenly appearing in front of him with his hands together and smashing down with a hammerblow on Crom's defense, "Guhaaa!!!"
Crom coughed blood out uncontrollably as his arm was broken and his chest caved in from Kisuke's hammer-like hands. In a split second, he hit the ground, blasting away soil and unrooting all the remaining trees in the forest.