High School DxD: Return of the Crimson Dragon Emperor

Chapter 512: Chapter 502: Alice’s Resolve

[Miu’s POV]

Countless paintings floated in midair. Depicted within them were figures I didn’t recognize, alongside faces I knew all too well—my companions...

"...’The Magis-Painter’s Art Festival.’ Belle... taking this seriously now."

With snow-white hair and porcelain skin, the entirely alabaster girl delivered the news with her usual sleepy expression.

"Painter" Belle. A girl possessing the ability to summon whatever she draws. Until now, she had drawn all manner of magical beasts, materializing them and hurling them directly at me. On top of that, she had shown off a seemingly endless array of copying abilities—analyzing anyone she touched, drawing them, and bringing those copies to life. In short, she could trigger her power using "art" as her medium.

And right now, everything she had ever analyzed and drawn was being summoned all at once.

My older brother, Rias-san, and Dulio-san—the Joker of Heaven and the trump card of the celestial realm. Every member of Team D×D was there. On top of that, over a thousand copies of our allies—devils, fallen angels, angels, and yokai—were being brought into reality.

Alice’s eyes twitched in disbelief. Her voice was laced with rising panic.

"...This is like a mass summons, isn’t it...? I knew what her ability was, but this sheer volume..."

If it were just a matter of summoning things she had drawn, we wouldn’t be surprised or panicked at this point. The problem was the quantity. Creating this many duplicates of such formidable fighters—including my brother—required an absurd amount of power. Even in my Divine Maiden form, it would be impossible for me.

Yet Belle had accomplished it with effortless ease.

Vika gently patted Belle on the head.

"Didn’t I mention it? Out of the four of us, this child is the strongest."

"Come to think of it, I do recall hearing something like that. She certainly delivers for a little girl...!"

"Isn’t the ’strongest loli’ a rather thrilling trope anyway? Just a head’s up, though: if you’re already surprised by this, you’re not going to survive what’s coming."

...Ngh! Is there really even more than this...?!

As we braced ourselves further, Belle slowly raised her arm, turning her palm toward us. The moment she did, the armada of duplicates launched a coordinated assault!

"Here they come! Diru, stay right by my side!"

"Understood!"

Diru is strong, but the power of the originals these copies were based on far surpassed hers. Outnumbered as we were, moving away meant being surrounded and beaten down instantly.

I wanted to put as much distance between us and the enemy as possible, but they didn’t grant us a single moment’s breather... My brother’s copy—the Red Dragon Emperor—fired off a crimson artillery blast!

While it didn’t quite match my brother’s current power, taking a direct hit would still inflict massive damage. Just as I prepared to launch a counter-magic spell, Alice leapt in front of me, slicing through the crimson blast with her spear!

"Agh, damn it! If only Maurice were here to handle—eeeeh!? Maurice got copied too?!"

"It’s not just Maurice-san!"

In the enemy’s rear, standing near Belle, was a duplicate of a woman—Lisha-san! Lisha’s copy raised her Magic-Armament Rifle and pulled the trigger! It was a sniper shot just as impossibly precise as the original’s!

Maurice’s copy unleashed a slashing wave of sword-qi, slicing the defensive magic circle I had deployed clean in half! Having him around normally is reassuring, but fighting against him is an utter nightmare! Or rather, these enemies are just way too strong!

"Big sister!"

Diru deflected an attack coming from the side with her spear. That lightning strike just now—it was Akeno-san!

Just as my attention was nearly drawn away by Akeno-san’s copy, a tremendous surge of magical power rained down from above. It was destruction magic—

"Rias-san...!"

Looking up, I saw the copy of Rias enveloped in demonic power. At her fingertips, a terrifyingly concentrated sphere of destruction burned brightly...

Taking on the current copies of Rias and the others was going to take everything we had.

"Ugh...! Xenovia-san’s hits are so heavy...!"

Alice was being targeted by the copies of the Occult Research Club’s swordsmen, forced into a brutal uphill battle. She parried Xenovia’s blue-flame-engulfed sword strike with her spear, her expression strained.

To make matters worse, she was immediately hit with a relentless barrage from Kiba’s copy in his Knight King form and Irina’s copy—the erotic angel of lust... ahem, rather, the pure angel of sacred wings. With Maurice’s copy joining the fray, the situation was blatantly stacked against her.

I wanted to rush to her aid, but my own hands were completely full! I was currently taking the full force of a magical carpet-bombing!

"Rossweisse-san’s magic...!"

"Leave this to me!"

The moment the tip of Diru’s spear made contact with the incoming spell, Rossweisse-san’s magic vanished into thin air. She had neutralized it using the power of the Demon Spear Gáe Jarng. Her power was exceptionally effective against mages!

Suddenly, something cold touched my cheek.

"Rain...? Could this be...!"

Dark clouds settled heavily over the sky. Thunder roared, and a gale began to howl.

—The Sacred Gear ’Twilight Healing’ / Longinus ’Incinerate Anthem’ / ’Lost Dimension’—No, the God-Slaying Longinus: ’Absolute Demise’ / ’Zenith Tempest’. An upper-tier Longinus capable of controlling the weather.

In the center of the dark clouds, Dulio’s copy spread his golden wings. As he gestured, the weather rapidly deteriorated, summoning a massive tempest! Lightning, tornadoes, torrential rain, and even massive hail began to pour down! It felt as though a natural disaster was being deliberately unleashed upon us!

The violent storm threatened to split us up, driving Diru, Alice, and me apart. This was the absolute worst-case scenario...!

I had known it intellectually, but experiencing it targeted directly at me made me realize it anew. So this is the power of a divine artifact capable of slaying even gods. Alice and I were currently maintaining pseudo-divinity, making us technically gods right now. Thinking about it that way... yeah, this is really bad, isn’t it?

Speaking of Longinus, besides my brother and Dulio, there were other Sacred Gear wielders among the copies whose strength rivaled them. Namely—

"Gasper-kun is on a completely different level compared to a few months ago!"

Darkness expanded across the area. From within the shadows, an endless swarm of black beasts emerged, surging forward. At the center of the pack was Gasper-kun, who had transformed into a beast of darkness himself. Back during the vampire incident, Azazel-sensei had called it a Longinus-class power, and he certainly wasn’t exaggerating!

Just as Gasper-kun’s darkness began to consume the world and swallow us whole, an immense burst of blinding light encompassed the realm to counter it!

"Sorry, but compared to Apophis, you’ve still got a long way to go!"

Alice spread her wings, scattering divine light all around. The title of Light Goddess wasn’t just for show; her radiance pushed Gasper-kun’s darkness right back!

It was then that I noticed something. The movements of the swordsmen group, who had been launching a fierce assault moments ago, had visibly slowed. Not just Kiba and Xenovia—even Maurice’s copy was swinging his blade sluggishly.

Of course... no matter how powerful a devil might be, light remains their fatal weakness. An ultra-high-output divine radiance is nothing short of deadly poison to a devil.

"Miu-chan! Now!"

"Got it!"

Even if they were just copies, obliterating Rias-san and the others brought a pang of guilt... but escaping this crisis took absolute priority.

I deployed a multitude of magic circles, preparing to wipe the copies out in one fell swoop—

"A shame, but they aren’t your only enemies."

"...Ngh!"

Vika slashed down at me with her spear! I dodged reflexively, but the blade grazed my arm.

"You...!"

"My, my. If you scowl like that, you’ll get wrinkles, you know? Besides, this is a fight to the death. Isn’t it only natural to use every tool at our disposal?"

With that, Vika swung her spear again, sending a barrage of god-speed thrusts flying at me!

In close-quarters combat, I was at a overwhelming disadvantage. I wanted to put distance between us, but she wasn’t about to let me have my way.

I considered using magic to deconstruct her weapon, but right now, that required physical contact to activate. Furthermore, Vika’s weapon was a Divine Item. Just analyzing it would take too long, making it completely impractical. Even if I managed to disassemble it, this space was Vika’s "Armory." She had an infinite supply of divine-grade weapons at her disposal.

I wished I could swap places with Alice, but she was currently locked in a brutal struggle against Maurice’s copy.

As I fended off Vika’s attacks, I caught a glint of light off in the distance. It was the shine of a Magic-Armament Rifle—and Lisha-san’s sniper shot pierced straight through my shoulder!

"Kh... agh!"

Excruciating pain shot through me! Taking advantage of that split second of distraction, Vika slipped into my inner guard—

"Gotcha!"

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