Looking at Leo Ash, who had fallen to the ground, almost no one present, aside from a stunned Griseo, showed any emotional fluctuation.
After all, only Griseo, with her childlike appearance, didn't quite understand the extent of Leo Ash's strength.
Leo Ash had been gentle when he pulled the Herrscher of Corruption from her body, and the aura that erupted from his personality fusion had instantly caused Griseo to faint.
She had no idea how Leo Ash had beaten the Elysian Realm Kevin.
So, to Griseo, Leo Ash was probably just someone very strong, but she didn't know *how* strong.
And Kevin, whom she regarded as absurdly strong, had easily defeated the very strong Leo Ash. That didn't seem to be a problem... right?
As for the others present, besides Hua and Su, the remaining victims had all been directly beaten up by Leo Ash yesterday.
They knew exactly how vicious this person was. Even without the Herrscher of Binding Core, they didn't believe that a meticulous person who set traps and baited hooks in advance would charge in like an idiot and get instantly killed by Kevin.
As for Su, who was currently clueless, and Fu Hua, who wasn't actually that worried, it was even more impossible for them to think Leo Ash was instantly defeated.
If nothing else, he hadn't even taken out the Blank Key.
Charging in before even putting on his gear—that was clearly not Leo Ash's style.
He would never hesitate when it was time to act, but he would never be brainless and reckless when facing a strong enemy.
Rather than worrying about the state of the 'Leo Ash' on the ground, Fu Hua was actually more curious about what kind of skills and power Leo Ash had honed, unseen by everyone, that gave him the confidence to abandon his Core and still defeat a powerful enemy of Kevin's caliber.
As for Kevin, who had just 'killed' Leo Ash, he had discovered the anomaly even faster than the others.
After activating the Power of Chimera, he could naturally wield the powers of the Honkai Beasts contained within it.
Because of this, Kevin, whose mental strength was also enhanced, immediately sensed something was wrong after his ice spike pierced Leo Ash's body.
It wasn't that he felt something was off about the 'feedback'.
In fact, on the level of feedback perceived by his mental strength, Kevin was certain he had pierced 'flesh'.
But this 'flesh' had one extremely abnormal point.
That was—'Leo Ash's' Honkai Energy was truly, pitifully low.
From the moment he confronted Leo Ash, Kevin had noticed that Leo Ash possessed more than one type of energy, and the intensity of these special energies was extremely high.
But in the end, Leo Ash was still fundamentally a Honkai Energy warrior who had awakened his Stigmata.
He might have mastered other special energies, but to have almost no Honkai Energy in his body...
—That was a huge problem, no matter how you looked at it, right?
Realizing this, Kevin was naturally certain that Leo Ash must have a follow-up move.
In fact, Leo Ash's reckless behavior earlier, aside from any tactical value, might have been a hint to Kevin—that he had mastered a power different from the Honkai Energy system and thus had a way to carve out a future from a new path.
However, these were just conjectures that flashed through Kevin's mind in that instant.
No matter what he was thinking now, he had to face one reality.
That was...
—Leo Ash's attack... began the moment this Leo Ash vanished.
The 'Leo Ash' lying on the ground suddenly erupted in an incredibly dazzling light.
Others might just think, 'Ah, Leo Ash really did have a backup plan,' but for Kevin, this crimson demonic light clearly reminded him of an experience he would never forget.
In the battle several months ago, after being hit by the move Leo Ash called 'Phantasmagoria Sword God', Kevin had nearly drowned in the illusion Leo Ash had created.
Looking back now, if Kevin hadn't barely broken free from the Phantasmagoria Sword God's illusion, he should have realized back then that Leo Ash possessed more than one type of powerful energy.
Facing the erupting crimson light, the expression on Kevin's face changed slightly.
He was certain that Leo Ash's Herrscher of Binding Core was still in Elysia's hands, and the power Leo Ash was using now was undoubtedly not related to the [Honkai Energy] system.
But at the same time, he felt his own power being continuously weakened, just as if he were inside a Field of Binding.
Although the current [Diabolic] Kevin, restored to his peak, was certainly stronger than the [Parvati] Kevin from several months ago who had just emerged from the Sea of Quanta with less-than-peak energy levels, this didn't mean his resistance to this power had increased.
Kevin had indeed gotten stronger, but it wasn't like Leo Ash had just been eating rice for three months.
In these three-plus months, Leo Ash had been constantly training his various abilities.
And Phantasmagoria, which would cause his existence to fade if overused, was still a power he often trained.
After lucking out and not dying on the spot last time, Leo Ash had more or less grasped the 'limits' of Phantasmagoria.
And as a much stronger Leo Ash, the price he had to pay was also much smaller.
The [Stone of Annihilation] he obtained was indeed fragments (one-seventh), not the complete Stone of Annihilation.
But in the end, although Phantasmagoria was weakened because the stone was incomplete, the essence of the barrier's ability was unchanged.
In other words—as long as the missing strength could be supplemented, then Phantasmagoria could still become that 'powerful barrier capable of creating an alternate dimension where time stops' and 'trapping a large area of people in an illusion'.
In the original work, in the hands of one of the strongest of that time, Liselotte Werckmeister, the Witch of Lust, Phantasmagoria could interfere with space, separating from the real world and becoming completely isolated from it.
In this variable barrier that could erode and fuse with the real world, the flow of time also showed a slight change from the outside world.
For the onmyouji Kusakabe Misao, who was trapped in the barrier's alternate dimension, about three months passed from entering the barrier in 1945 to his death in battle.
But in the outside world, the time from when the witch was suppressed to when the incident reoccurred was from 1945 to 2009, a gap of 64 years.
Furthermore, the barrier was considered interrupted at that time. If not for the self-sacrificing battle of the extermination team, the barrier could have eventually covered the entire world through a long-term casting.
As for how Leo Ash supplemented the incomplete Phantasmagoria to its full version, the answer was simple.
Ever since he used personality fusion to fully awaken the Sphere - The Wavering Scales, he no longer had to worry about not having enough Dimensional Energy.
And under the effect of Energy Conversion, Leo Ash converted a large amount of Dimensional Energy into mana in advance. Using intense study to continuously deduce the essence of Phantasmagoria, and Precision Control to rapidly complete the casting, he was able to cast this powerful barrier in a short amount of time.
As for the 'Leo Ash' currently lying on the ground, it was, of course, not his real body.
Leo Ash and Su had known each other for so long, and they had exchanged some methods for using their abilities.
Setting aside what Su learned from Leo Ash, Leo Ash had, at any rate, learned Su's energy clone technique in these past two months.
A clone created based on Phantasmagoria was, of course, more likely to make others fall under an illusion. This was why everyone except the real Kevin felt something was wrong, yet couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with this clone.
Within this barrier, Kevin's power was being continuously weakened, and he also felt the flow of time change dramatically.
This warrior, whose speed was already at its peak, now discovered that the speed at which he swung his sword...
How could it be this slow!!!
With his original power, Kevin could unleash an incomparably terrifying slash with the Might of An-Utu greatsword in an instant.
But now, Kevin truly felt that his attack speed had become far too slow.
My power is suppressed, but that is definitely not the main reason my swing has slowed.
...I see.
My thoughts are slowing down, but my perception of the outside world is slowing down even more, which is why I can feel that my sword swing has also slowed.
It seems that Leo Ash truly understood the real meaning of this battle before it began.
Although this battle is a clash of beliefs, it is also a battle for Leo Ash to show Kevin the 'future'.
Just defeating Kevin is not enough to prove that Leo Ash has the power to solve the problem.
To make Kevin willingly give up the Stigmata Project, he would definitely need a plan that even Kevin found reasonable.
Kevin didn't know what Leo Ash's specific plan was, but even Kevin himself, whose sword swings had slowed, didn't realize that his lips were curling up slightly.
World Serpent indeed had a way to delay Finality's arrival for a while, but who knew how long that delay would last after using it.
Originally, this method could stall for several years, but with Honkai accelerating to this extent, those several years would have to be discounted, and the details of many plans would have to be changed.
But now, Leo Ash, just by hastily using other energies, had put out a special barrier that actually slowed the flow of time. Didn't this mean...
—If the person who opens the backdoor becomes him, then even Finality itself might be affected?
Kevin knew this plan was crazy, and he wasn't the type to throw his responsibilities onto others.
But now, Kevin, who was enveloped by the barrier, was still wary of his surroundings, yet he couldn't stop himself from considering the possibility of this plan.
If [Diabolic] Kevin opened the backdoor, stealing and shouldering Finality's Authority bit by bit, he might eventually surpass the Herrscher of Finality they faced 50,000 years ago.
But, from the moment he opened the backdoor, the Cocoon of Finality would inevitably notice its power being stolen.
In other words, as long as Kevin or Su opened the backdoor, Finality's arrival in a short time was a certainty.
This was one of the reasons why Kevin, despite having the ability to steal and shoulder a part of Finality's power, wouldn't open the backdoor immediately.
This was a plan that had to be used as a last resort, and after Kevin realized Leo Ash was a 'possibility', he definitely wouldn't be as decisive when launching this plan.
And right now, Kevin hadn't forgotten that this was just the beginning of the battle.
From the time Leo Ash used this 'fake body' to strike that blow until now, less than twenty seconds had passed.
To show such a miracle in less than twenty seconds...
—Leo Ash, you really haven't disappointed me.
But, if this is all, it's still not enough!
If you don't have a new plan sufficient to surpass the Stigmata Project, even with this special barrier, I will not change my mind.
So now, your follow-up moves—they should be able to show even more possibilities, right?
Kevin glanced at the situation outside the barrier and found that most of the people outside were still in a state of 'Huh, what happened?'.
Only Elysia, who was still holding the Herrscher of Binding Core, noticed that Kevin still had the spare energy to look outside. She waved at Kevin and mouthed a message to him.
[You're distracted at a time like this? You're going to get beaten badly later.]
...Hmph, if even she says so, then it seems I really am going to get beaten badly.
Leo Ash must have told her some secrets after giving her the Core.
And now, these secrets are enough for even Elysia to stand on Leo Ash's side, so...
"I guess you've thought about a lot, but now..."
At some unknown time, Leo Ash, already wearing the Blank Key and holding the Seven Thunders of Retribution, had instantaneously completed his connection to the Key of Judgment.
"—You're still distracted while fighting me. I'm really being underestimated."
A stab pierced out. Kevin felt his body being easily pierced, just like that.
Pierced so easily by the Seven Thunders of Retribution, which shouldn't have been able to harm him so easily.
....