About six hours after the battle with [Charybdis] began.
Grrr... rrgh... rrrk...
By the time the sun that had been hanging directly overhead was starting to sink past the mountains, [Charybdis], after being thoroughly used as a punching bag by Adelio and the monsters, was staggering like a dying jellyfish, its magic power nearly exhausted.
It would have needed no more than thirty percent of its magic power to block the attacks of [Tempest]'s monsters and the [Pegasus Knights]. But no matter how tough [Charybdis]'s scales were, it still could not completely withstand the attacks of Ria and Shizue, whose destructive power ranked at least among the upper tier of [Disaster]-class beings.
'It's down to about ten percent now.'
Adelio nodded to himself as he watched the monsters, whose level of skill had clearly improved through live combat practice.
Strictly speaking, it was closer to twenty than ten, but once he excluded the magic power it was currently spending on regeneration and flight, it was effectively at its limit.
Unless [Charybdis] suddenly evolved into something beyond even Veldora, the course of the battle was never going to change.
Grr... rr... rrrk...!!
And yet, its instinct for destruction did not stop.
Even beasts tucked their tails when they faced something stronger than themselves, but this byproduct shed from the strongest of life-forms believed that, just like the sovereign of storms it came from, it too stood at the summit of the world.
Without caring in the slightest that it was a completely absurd delusion.
Grrr... grrr... grrk!
Ruuuumble...!
Driven by an instinct bordering on stubborn obsession, [Charybdis] completed what would likely be its final regeneration and once more began preparing to unleash nearly hundreds of thousands of scales, along with a beam of magic power packed with its remaining ten percent.
"......"
But as Adelio watched it head-on, he felt no sense of danger at all, even seeing [Charybdis] struggle so desperately.
'Seriously... [Charybdis], [Ivarage]... why are all the byproducts made by [True Dragon]s like this?'
He merely watched [Charybdis] and thought of another being with a similar origin, yet unlike it, a king from another world who rivaled the [True Dragon]s.
Compared to that [Catastrophe], the true origin of destructive instinct itself, the calamity before his eyes was nothing more than incomplete dregs, not even worthy of reaching the toes of a [True Dragon].
To Adelio, [Charybdis] was worth no more and no less than that.
Shing...
Because—
'I thought maybe this would help raise my level a little, but at this point it's not even useful practice anymore.'
—the crimson demon who had taught him how to fight and handed him his first defeat was one of the strongest beings in the world, equal to [Catastrophe].
"Rimuru."
So—
"That's enough practice. I'll finish it now."
A weak target that had served its purpose could be discarded without hesitation.
After all, there was no reason to spare something that would only bring harm to both humanity and monsters.
Especially when it was a creature that didn't know its place and was trying to imitate his dear friend.
"Hoo..."
After confirming that Rimuru and the monsters had all withdrawn beyond the proper range, Adelio took one short breath and this time gripped [Black Star of Domination] tightly in his hand instead of [Fragarach].
'Its strength falls short of expectations, but once this chance passes, I probably won't have another opportunity for a while to test cutting down something this massive.'
Not practice. A test.
Different from the familiar ultimate technique that had cut through all 530,000 scales, he now prepared an unfinished ultimate technique that required a proper testing ground, one he could use seriously.
...Grrk... grrk... rrrgh...?!
The calamity known as the ruler of the skies seemed to realize only then that something was wrong with the demon's magic power, but by that point it was already too late.
Its power was inferior to Divine Break, [Divine Sword Break], which "modeled" the First [Hero], but in exchange, it had succeeded in "imitating" the first [Demon Lord].
That was the [Arts] Adelio had prepared.
To one day defeat the foes he absolutely had to overcome himself—[Catastrophe], [Velgrynd], the world's strongest swordsman, and the First [Hero].
He had elevated the swordsmanship of others and honed it into a sword style of his own.
That was—
—[Arts].
"Red Demon Ice Path."
—the crimson ice once displayed by the strongest being.
Grrrraaagh...!!!
Pew!
[Charybdis] fired its scales and beam of magic power a fraction faster than Adelio's sword tip came to a stop, aiming primarily at [Black Star of Domination], where Adelio's magic power was gathering. But before even a full second had passed from that moment, its instinct understood.
KRAAAAAK!!
The swordsmanship Adelio had imitated contained not only the [Demon Lord], but also the [White Ice Dragon]'s [Frozen Flame], which that [Demon Lord] had copied as well.
Grrrraaaahhh—?!?!!
An ultimate technique whose power might have been lesser, but which perfectly imitated both the demon's swordsmanship and the dragon's authority.
In a single instant, that ultimate technique froze the dragon's dregs suspended high in the sky.
Its hundreds of thousands of scales, and even the beam made of magic power—without leaving out a single thing, all of it.
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