"Not a bad strength."
Rayleigh offered a word of praise, then rearranged the Reishi and covered the surface of Enkōsen with the properties of Bakudō #8: Seki.
Under the effect of the repulsive force, the halberd's momentum was instantly reduced by more than half.
Rayleigh seized the timing and struck the side of the spearhead with his blade, knocking the halberd away.
The long weapon spun backward through the air.
Below, a figure moved toward the place where the halberd was falling, and Rayleigh caught sight of him.
"Let me give you a little surprise, sniper."
Smack!
The halberd was caught in his hand.
The corner of Rayleigh's mouth curved upward. He lifted his left hand, and a thread of Reiryoku instantly pulled taut.
The force tugging from the weapon also made that person pause in surprise.
In the next second, golden lightning coiled along the halberd and wrapped around the man's body.
Zzzzt—!
BOOM!!
The man's skin was scorched dark by the electricity, and wisps of white smoke rose from his body.
Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden.
A Kidō that released lightning through an object.
The halberd wielder, cooked black on the outside and tender on the inside, still did not lose the ability to fight.
He stubbornly remained standing.
With injuries like that, as long as there was a healer nearby, he could recover in a few minutes...
Whoosh!
Rayleigh's figure appeared like a ghost behind and to the right of him.
"You're wide open."
That quiet sentence made the halberd wielder turn back in terror!
"..."
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō."
Rayleigh swung the golden lightning gathered in his hand, pressing it directly against the man's side.
In the next instant, thunder roared.
The halberd wielder was blasted away in a single strike, vanishing from where he stood along with the flash of lightning, his life or death unknown.
Seeing that, Marius's expression finally turned ugly.
That man had been a national treasure-level combatant of Rakia Kingdom!
Money lost could be recovered through plunder in war, but talented people were priceless.
Tch.
Was that man a monster?
How could he still fight like that after being afflicted by a curse that drained his Mind?
That's right.
An ordinary person should have been struggling just to move.
Suddenly, Marius saw Rayleigh's gaze shift toward him.
Those deep eyes met his own.
Then Marius trembled without realizing it, his body swaying slightly.
In the next second, Rayleigh's figure vanished.
Then he appeared directly in front of the royal chariot.
Marius immediately drew the sword at his waist, but Rayleigh ignored him.
Instead, he vanished again and flashed to the other side of the royal chariot.
After he repeated this six times, Marius suddenly noticed that several blue pillars of light had appeared on the ground.
"Hey! Stop that—"
"It's already too late."
Rayleigh's speed was too fast.
No one present could react in time, much less keep up with him.
Six beams of light rose and formed six walls of radiance!
After rising, the light screens closed together at a height of roughly five meters.
Marius's voice turned grave. "What did you do?"
He threw the sword in his hand.
The blade struck the wall of light but left no mark on it. Instead, it was bounced away and fell to the ground.
Seeing that, Ares also drew his sword and swung at the barrier, only for the impact to numb his palm.
"Ooh! It's really sturdy!"
Rayleigh answered Marius's question. "Don't be so wary. I made this barrier specifically to protect you! I used the time while I was asleep to develop it with my 'children' you know."
As he spoke, Rayleigh displayed Sakanade's blade, like a creator showing off his work.
It was not merely that he resembled one.
He was one.
"To protect us?" Ares froze.
But soon, he struck his palm with his fist as though he had reached some great realization.
"I see! You have finally found your way back and been overwhelmed by my divine bearing! You've decided to join my command, haven't you?"
Putting Rayleigh's reaction aside, Marius's face was so full of shame that he looked like he wanted to hide!
He very decisively took the sheath in his hand and smacked the back of Ares's head with it.
"As if that could possibly happen, you idiot! Stop being so full of yourself!"
"Owwwww! Marius, you bastard! How can you hit me on the head? What if my peerless intellect becomes stupid?!"
"I really don't think you need to worry about that. Your muscle-brain has no room left to get any dumber."
The two of them started bickering right there.
Rayleigh watched the scene with a smile, but his finger was pointed behind him.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai."
A pale pillar of lightning pierced through the human sea and struck a chanting mage with perfect accuracy.
Marius, who had been arguing with Ares, frowned, and his gaze darkened.
Ares was an idiot.
But he was not.
If he could create an opening for the mages to chant, he did not mind pretending to be foolish to stall the enemy.
But this damn enemy was far too sharp!
Because Rayleigh was too close to the royal chariot, the surrounding soldiers all aimed their weapons at him, but none of them dared step forward.
"I wasn't lying. This barrier was specially made by me to protect you. More accurately, to protect that God over there."
"Your Majesty, you're just incidental."
After saying that, Rayleigh gripped the ring at the end of Sakanade's hilt, and heavy Reiatsu covered the surroundings.
Having already witnessed Daiguren Hyōrinmaru and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, Marius was no stranger to this feeling.
This sudden pressure was like the prelude to a terrible disaster, and a sense of crisis wrapped around his heart.
Every time Rayleigh's sword changed, this same feeling appeared.
Marius shouted, "Everyone! Stay focused!"
His order was extremely effective.
"Unfortunately, before this, no matter how guarded you are, it's meaningless."
"At the same time, this irritating struggle will finally come to an end!"
"Ban—"
"Wait!"
Hm?
Rayleigh, who had been about to use Bankai: Sakasama Yokoshima Happō Fusagari, looked at Ares with curiosity.
That's right.
The one who had called out to stop him was Ares.
"Marius."
Ares suddenly became completely serious.
He stared at Rayleigh, his gaze heavy and his expression solemn.
He looked nothing like the fool from just a moment ago.
Rayleigh also became wary of the change.
Because he truly knew very little about this god.
But he did know one thing.
There were no truly shallow gods. A god's disguise could be so perfect that even other gods could not see through it.
For example, the "city destroyer."
During the countless eons he had spent in Heaven, he had never once revealed his true heart.
That twisted, ugly nature had been hidden for endless ages, only deliberately exposed to others when necessary.
The war god might be the same.
Thinking that, Rayleigh did not dare be careless.
When Marius saw Ares become so serious, he also stopped speaking.
Instead, he adopted the posture a follower should have, standing respectfully behind his god.
Ares looked at Rayleigh and said, "Young swordsman from Orario, child of Hephaestus. Let this war end here."
Rayleigh's expression froze.
'End... here?'
He had to admit, this request for peace had come far too suddenly.
And the timing happened to be right before he was about to use Bankai and make Rakia's twenty thousand soldiers slaughter one another.
The war god, Ares.
'Could it be that, like a Goddess of Beauty's "Charm," he possessed some kind of innate special ability and had sensed that something terrible was about to happen?'
After hesitating for four or five seconds, Rayleigh released his battle stance and raised his sword, letting Ares see him undo Sakanade's Shikai.