Xenovia and Irina were mainly worried that something might go wrong.
Although those above had instructed them not to come into conflict with the other factions for the time being, what if something happened anyway?
The one standing opposite them was the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels. For him to suddenly show up and ask for a spar definitely could not mean anything good.
If something did go wrong, then all they could do was throw themselves into the fight and stand shoulder to shoulder with Rod.
Even if the two of them together were no match for Kokabiel, that still was not a reason to abandon a comrade.
"Rod, the barrier has already been set up."
Lavinia called out to Rod.
At that moment, however, Azazel turned to look at Lavinia instead.
"That's an excellent barrier. Even many high-class devils in the Underworld who specialize in formations couldn't pull this off. Lavinia Reni, that should be your name, right?"
"Yes."
Lavinia gave a slight nod.
"I heard about you from Vali. He said... uh..."
Azazel paused, recalling what the emotional Vali had said to him that day. Even now, he still found it hard not to break.
To think that Vali had actually said he wanted a woman not much older than himself to be his mother?
Originally, Azazel had thought Vali was simply jealous because the woman he loved had been taken away. Then again... in a certain sense, Lavinia really was the woman Vali loved most.
"Vali? What did little Vali say?"
Hearing the name of her old friend, Lavinia immediately pressed him for an answer.
"He said... he... never mind. You'll know when you meet again later."
"All right, kid. Ready to face me?"
Azazel asked.
After seeing Rod nod, he continued,
"We'll set the time limit at one minute. Whoever gets hit more times loses. But to keep people from saying i'm harrasing you, I'll generously give you one hand's worth of advantage. I also won't use detached Spears of Light. You, on the other hand, may use any weapon you want."
"Are we starting?"
"Mm, let's star-"
Before the last word fully fell, Azazel heard a cold mechanical voice come from Rod's direction.
Clock Up.
In the next instant, Rod vanished from where he had been standing, and even his presence became vanishingly faint.
At the moment he activated his super-acceleration, Rod also triggered his Aura Concealment EX skill.
Hiding one's aura in front of someone else was a bit like covering one's ears while stealing a bell, but if it was used while entering super-acceleration and slipping out of the other person's sight, it could produce a surprise effect.
Azazel's smile was still hanging on his face.
To Rod, who had accelerated himself, everything in his sight had slowed down countless times over.
But because he had already fought two fallen angel cadres before, Rod knew that even in a super-accelerated state, if someone was strong enough, they could still rely on instinct and experience to respond accordingly.
Still, in the cases of Satanael and Kokabiel, even though they had only been able to react to the most lethal attacks, once the fight dragged on and the number of wounds on the rest of their bodies increased, their judgment against truly fatal strikes would still be affected.
At Azazel's level, however, he had already developed something similar to a passive skill like Mind's Eye or Intuition.
It was actually a little similar to Ultra Instinct from Dragon Ball Super.
Of course, Azazel's power was still worlds apart from anything like Ultra Instinct.
If he really had that, Rod would have raised both hands and surrendered on the spot.
A completely broken ability like that was impossible for a normal person to fight fairly.
...
Super-acceleration was not time stop.
Rod was only accelerating his own time. Everyone else's time was still flowing normally.
So the moment Azazel saw Rod disappear, he immediately became alert.
He did not panic, though. He simply raised his right hand and carefully sensed the surroundings.
Originally, Azazel had intended to fight Rod using only his left hand, but after Rod suddenly disappeared, he realized something was off and temporarily switched to his dominant right hand instead.
It was not as though the rules beforehand had specified which hand he had to use, so it did not matter.
Bzzz!
There was the abnormal sensation of airflow being torn apart nearby, along with a faint presence that closed in instantly.
In the next moment, Azazel abruptly raised his right hand in front of himself, and dense Light power condensed in an instant into the shape of a bracer.
Though it lasted only an instant, Azazel still caught sight of the thing attacking him, a pitch-black demonic sword.
When the demonic sword collided with the bracer of Light power, it exploded with an ear-splitting roar.
Even though this was only a spar, Rod had not held back. Azazel was the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, an existence on the level of a Maou. He was not going to die that easily.
After blocking that first strike, a trace of a smile appeared on Azazel's face, but almost at the same time, his body twisted violently toward the other side, and his right hand hurriedly moved to guard his flank.
Bang!
This time it was not the demonic sword attacking, but a vicious sweeping kick, the sheer force of it shoving Azazel's body several meters sideways.
"What kind of monstrous strength is that? Is he really human?"
Azazel was stunned.
Humans were the physically weakest race. Fallen angels could not be called the strongest, perhaps, but they were still a race that stood as a pillar among the major powers.
While physical combat was not Azazel's strongest suit, it was not something an ordinary person could shake either.
And yet Rod, a human, had actually forced him backward in close combat. That was why Azazel was so shocked.
If he were not certain that Rod really was human, he would have started wondering whether this guy was actually a devil or some divine being wearing human skin.
At that moment, Rod canceled his super-acceleration for the time being and reappeared a short distance in front of Azazel.
He gently ran his right hand along the smooth blade of the demonic sword, then looked at Azazel with a solemn expression and declared,
"Surrender yourself, you Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, born evil by nature."
"?"
Azazel was dumbfounded. Since when did this come with personal attacks?
At the same time, Xenovia and Irina, who were watching from nearby, immediately burst into cheers.
"Well said, Rod!"
"Defeat that evil fallen angel who betrayed God!"
Azazel had just been about to complain that the audience should stop getting into people's heads, but on second thought, those two Holy Sword wielders from the Church had not actually said anything wrong.
Were fallen angels not evil beings to begin with?
"You brat!"
Azazel knew he could not keep pretending anymore. If this kept going, there was no way he would avoid being hit several times within that one-minute window.
So he immediately spread six pairs of black wings. He instinctively started to gather a Spear of Light to hurl, then immediately remembered that he himself had locked those rules in before the match and could not use his most practiced ranged Spears of Light. Left with no other choice, he condensed a Sword of Light in his right hand and shot toward Rod, tearing through the air.
And the moment Azazel started moving, Rod's figure vanished again.
A black flash split the air, the atmosphere tore open once more, and the sharp demonic sword slashed viciously toward Azazel.
Azazel's reaction was just as fast. While still in midair, he forcefully twisted his body and used the Sword of Light to block the invading demonic blade.
"That sword... looks kind of familiar."
After several exchanges, Azazel increasingly felt that the demonic sword in Rod's hand looked like something he had seen before.
Then it clicked.
That seemed to be the demonic sword Arondight, the "Unfading Light of the Lake," which had once been kept within Grigori. But after Satanael's betrayal, that sword had gone missing from Grigori as well.
He had guessed that Satanael had stolen it.
But he had never expected it to show up in Rod's hands.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Read 50 Advanced Chapters
p(a)treon.com/Shalltearr
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!