Gilgamesh's eyes widened before he stepped in front of Leonardo, using Gae Bolg to deflect the holy energy beam away.
"What do you think you're doing?!" shouted Gilgamesh.
Cao Cao simply shrugged.
"If you did that, then he's no longer useful. It's better he dies than let his Longinus fall into an enemy's hands," said Cao Cao simply.
Georg approached Cao Cao with the unconscious Jeanne over his shoulders and Siegfried, who was badly injured. In the distance, explosions from the battle between Regulus and Heracles could be heard.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at Cao Cao before turning to Leonardo, activating his [Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan] and using his [Kamui] to absorb Leonardo into a safe alternate dimension.
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes before starting to advance.
"Enough, Cao Cao," said Georg, knowing there was no chance of victory. "Jeanne is unconscious, Siegfried and Heracles are badly injured, and Leonardo has been captured."
Cao Cao simply advanced, ignoring Georg, and placed his [True Longinus] in front of him.
"Be grateful; you're one of the few who've had the honor of seeing the power of the Holy Spear," said Cao Cao.
The [True Longinus] began to glow intensely before a light completely enveloped Cao Cao.
"Balance Breaker!"
With that, a massive light covered the battlefield, and when it faded, Cao Cao was revealed with a halo of light around him and seven spheres, the size of bowling balls, surrounding him. They were blue and identical to each other.
"This is my Balance Breaker with the [True Longinus]. Polar Night Longinus Chakravartin," said Cao Cao as he walked, the spheres following him.
Cao Cao's Balance Breaker was completely different from any other. It didn't exude overwhelming power, only a sense of tranquility and serenity.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at Cao Cao's Balance Breaker. It created seven orbs, called the Seven Treasures, each with a different ability, and their identical appearance made it hard to distinguish them.
Gilgamesh used his [Unlimited Weapons Works] to analyze the Balance Breaker.
"An ability to destroy any weapon, an ability to seal women's techniques, the ability to make anything it touches float, the ability to teleport anything it touches, the ability to absorb and redirect attacks, the ability to create mechanical warriors, and the ability to unleash immense destructive power. Seven very varied and powerful abilities, and any orb can transform into a spear," thought Gilgamesh seriously.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes; these were powerful and versatile abilities—not just one, but seven different abilities, and it was difficult to identify which orb had which capabilities.
Gilgamesh admitted it was a very strong Balance Breaker.
Cao Cao smiled before extending his hand toward Gilgamesh.
"Chatsuka Ratana," said Cao Cao.
In that instant, the orb disappeared.
Gilgamesh's eyes widened as he heard the sound of something breaking, and upon looking at Gae Bolg, he saw a small crack appear on it, with Cao Cao's orb beside it.
The orb transformed into a spear that tried to pierce Gilgamesh, but the King of Heroes, with a quick strike, blocked the spear before attacking the orb, which disappeared and returned to Cao Cao's side.
"That was impressive. Chatsuka Ratana has the ability to destroy any weapon, yet yours wasn't destroyed, which only happens when someone fully masters their weapon's power. Plus, you managed to react to my attack," said Cao Cao, smiling arrogantly.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes before releasing Gae Bolg, which vanished into golden dust.
Each orb had troublesome and versatile powers.
Through blue flames, a sword materialized in Gilgamesh's right hand. Since it was created by [Unlimited Weapons Works], Gilgamesh could recreate it as many times as he wanted.
Gilgamesh quickly swung his sword, unleashing a massive wave of divine power at Cao Cao.
The wielder of the strongest Longinus simply extended his hand, and an orb floated to it.
"Mala Ratana."
The moment Gilgamesh's divine power collided with the orb, it was completely absorbed.
Gilgamesh watched as his [Kenbunshoku Haki] was activated.
"Mala Ratana has the ability to absorb and redirect attacks," said Cao Cao, smiling.
At that moment, the orb released all the divine power back at Gilgamesh, who, with a single swing of his sword, cut the energy in half.
Cao Cao assumed a stance, and one of the orbs approached him.
"Let's begin. Atsusa Ratana."
At that moment, Cao Cao disappeared and reappeared behind Gilgamesh, who widened his eyes before using his sword to block the attack, which unleashed waves of holy energy.
"Hoho, you managed to block it. Let's see how you keep up," said Cao Cao.
The exchange of blows continued.
Explosions and more waves of energy were sent everywhere, immersing the battlefield in their combined power.
Gilgamesh attacked Cao Cao, who used [Atsusa Ratana], which could teleport its user anywhere and appear in Gilgamesh's blind spot to attack, but the King of Heroes always blocked.
Both continued this exchange of blows until Cao Cao saw it was getting nowhere.
"This way, we'll never finish this fight," said Cao Cao, summoning another orb.
"Balinayaka Ratana."
At that moment, a massive beam of holy energy emerged from the orb, advancing and destroying everything toward Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh channeled his divine power and cut the energy wave in half, causing it to collide with the surrounding forest.
[Enough, partner!] shouted Ddraig in Gilgamesh's mind.
"What, Ddraig?" asked Gilgamesh.
[You're holding back. Our opponent is the Holy Spear; you can't beat him like this. You have to go for the kill. I know you don't want to hurt your two friends, but if you don't do something, we'll lose,] said Ddraig in Gilgamesh's mind.
Gilgamesh only laughed.
"For you to tell me that, but you're right. It's time to end this battle, and it's a good way to test that," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
Gilgamesh dismissed his sword, which vanished in blue flames.
"Hoho, giving up?" asked Cao Cao, smiling.
"Actually, no. It's time to take this seriously, and since you showed me your Balance Breaker, I should do the same," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
"A Balance Breaker, huh? Very well, let's see who wins," said Cao Cao.
Gilgamesh smiled as two gauntlets manifested on his hands, different from the [Boosted Gear] as they didn't look draconic but futuristic.
On his left hand was a pale blue gauntlet with the word "Innovate" written on it.
On his right hand was a jet-black gauntlet with the word "Karma" written on it.
Suddenly, the blue gauntlet began to glow, and the light spread throughout the dimensional barrier created by Georg, filling everyone with an uncomfortable feeling.
"Georg, what's happening?" asked Cao Cao, confused.
Georg had a perplexed and frightened expression.
"I can't control this dimension. He took control from me," said Georg, terrified.
The uncomfortable feeling vanished as Gilgamesh smiled.
"Now this entire dimension belongs to me," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
"What did you do?" questioned Cao Cao.
"You know, Cao Cao, I don't have three Longinus. In fact, I have five," said Gilgamesh, causing Cao Cao to adopt a shocked expression. "These are [Innovate Clear] and [Telos Karma]."
Georg and Cao Cao had terrified expressions.
"[Innovate Clear] can create an artificial pocket universe. You took this universe from me," said Georg, horrified. "That shouldn't be possible. My Longinus is high-tier, and yours is low-tier."
Gilgamesh smiled.
"You're correct, but it all depends on the wielder. That means I'm better than you," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
The [Innovate Clear] allowed the user to create their own ideal world, similar to [Dimension Lost], with the added ability to create near-perfect imitations of living beings and objects, much like [Annihilation Maker]. However, anything created within the world of [Innovate Clear] could only exist in that world.
That was the power of [Innovate Clear], very similar to a Reality Marble, except Gilgamesh didn't need to create his pocket universe from scratch; he could take parts of the location he was in and transform them into his universe, as he did with Georg's barrier.
But if [Innovate Clear] was created from the powers of [Dimension Lost] and [Annihilation Maker], why was it low-tier?
The answer was simple: it couldn't affect the world to the point of destroying it.
What made [Dimension Lost] so feared was its access to the Dimensional Rift, allowing the user to send anything they wanted into it and destroy it.
[Innovate Clear] didn't have access to the Dimensional Rift, so it could only affect the world it created, not others. However, within that world, Gilgamesh could control time and space at a high level.
Another ability of [Innovate Clear] was creating beings and objects similar to [Annihilation Maker], but these beings could only live in the world of [Innovate Clear] and thus couldn't affect the real world.
"Let's move to the other," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
A black glow emerged from the [Telos Karma] gauntlet as Gilgamesh activated its power.
Gilgamesh could use the powers of both Longinus without manifesting the gauntlets, but to activate the Balance Breaker, he needed to manifest them physically.
"[Innovate Clear], [Telos Karma]!"
Suddenly, both gauntlets caused the space to tremble and rumble with a "Dun Dun" sound. The gauntlets began emitting a sinister black light that enveloped Gilgamesh's entire body.
"Balance Breaker!"
[Innovate Clear, Balance Breaker!]
[Telos Karma, Balance Breaker!]
The gauntlets emitted machine-like voices. Immediately after, both emitted a simultaneous voice.
[Transcendental Arrival]
As the space behind Gilgamesh distorted, sparks crackled, and something resembling an energized exoskeleton appeared. The head, body, and limb parts of the energized exoskeleton opened and attached to Gilgamesh's body. The helmet was equipped on his head last. His entire body looked like it was clad in a futuristic exoskeleton suit from sci-fi movies.
"Y-You activated the Balance Breaker of two Longinus at the same time," said Georg, horrified.
"That doesn't matter," said Cao Cao, summoning another of his treasures.
"Balinayaka Ratana."
A massive beam of energy surged toward Gilgamesh again, who didn't even move.
When the energy beam was about to hit Gilgamesh, it suddenly veered off course and struck the forest.
"What did you do…? My attack should have hit you completely," said Cao Cao.
Gilgamesh shrugged as he responded.
"I simply chose the option where your attack 'doesn't hit,'" said Gilgamesh simply.
"Cao Cao, the [Telos Karma] can manipulate causality. It can nullify any attack," said Georg to his leader.
"No, even manipulating causality couldn't completely nullify my attack," said Cao Cao, narrowing his eyes.
"In the world created by [Innovate Clear], the phenomena created by [Telos Karma] will always succeed. In the world of [Innovate Clear], [Telos Karma] decides its own fate. Not even a God-class being could oppose it," explained Gilgamesh calmly.
"What a terrifying power, manipulating your own fate. You're basically a God in this world," said Georg, horrified.
"That doesn't matter. All I have to do is kill a God, then," said Cao Cao, smiling.
"You couldn't beat me before, let alone now," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and prepared to summon the power of his Longinus.
"Atsusa Ratana."
But nothing happened.
Cao Cao's eyes widened as he realized he couldn't summon the power of his Balance Breaker.
"What did you do?" asked Cao Cao to Gilgamesh.
"I neutralized and nullified your power," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
"You nullified my Balance Breaker?" asked Cao Cao, shocked.
"No, that would be complicated even for me. I analyzed every move you made during our fight and your preference for your Longinus's powers, allowing me to anticipate them by creating a series of causes and effects that nullified each treasure's powers. In short, your Balance Breaker is useless," explained Gilgamesh.
"Then so be it," said Cao Cao, concentrating all his power into the spear, which glowed intensely with a holy aura.
Cao Cao abandoned his Balance Breaker's abilities, focusing all his power into the spear and charging at Gilgamesh.
Cao Cao attacked relentlessly with immense power, but no matter what attack he tried, Gilgamesh would use [Telos Karma] to nullify it.
Cao Cao charged at Gilgamesh with the intent to cut him, but something unexpected happened midway.
Cao Cao tripped and fell.
Cao Cao couldn't understand what happened as his body gave out.
"Well, well, did you drop a coin or something?" asked Gilgamesh sarcastically.
Making the opponent trip during a fight was one of the simplest abilities of [Telos Karma].
"Damn you!" shouted Cao Cao angrily before trying to strike Gilgamesh, who easily dodged.
Gilgamesh quickly stepped back, and Cao Cao stood up.
"You're very proud of that spear," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
"Obviously, it's the strongest Longinus," said Cao Cao as if it were obvious.
Gilgamesh simply smiled before a spear manifested in his hand.
It was an ornate spear with a dark blue shaft, longer than ordinary spears. It featured golden metal decorations shaped like arrowheads, spiraling in a double-helix pattern. The decorations ended at the top of the spear's shaft, which had a white circle, completely empty, filled partially by a cross. There was a small silver stub with four protrusions, two on the left and two on the right. The spear's tip was silver and, like the shaft, longer than other types of spears.
It was the [True Longinus].
"W-W-What!" shouted Cao Cao, stunned.
"You know, I have an ability that lets me create copies of any weapon. I may not be able to perform the Balance Breaker, but I assure you the power is authentic," said Gilgamesh, smiling and laughing at Cao Cao's expression.
"I'll kill you for this," said Cao Cao angrily as the holy aura of his spear intensified.
Gilgamesh wasn't intimidated and channeled a massive amount of holy aura into his spear.
Gilgamesh and Cao Cao quickly charged at each other and clashed their spears, releasing massive waves of holy energy. The pressure was so intense it forced them to step back.
But when Cao Cao landed, something happened to him.
A massive gash appeared on his chest, leaking blood—a cut that should have been right where Gilgamesh's spear would have struck.
"W-What did you do?" shouted Cao Cao as Georg tried to use healing magic to recover him.
"I simply chose the option where my attack hits you, and this was the result," said Gilgamesh, smiling.
But before anyone could say anything, a massive being struck the battlefield, causing an explosion that raised a wave of dust.
When the dust settled, it was revealed that the being was Heracles, his body completely battered.
His right arm was entirely broken, a massive claw mark was across his chest, and his entire body was leaking blood.
He wasn't dead, but he would surely die without immediate first aid.
"Heracles!" shouted Georg, worried for his friend.
Soon after, Regulus landed beside Gilgamesh, looking quite satisfied with what he had done.
Cao Cao tried to stand, but he couldn't move.
At that moment, a massive tear appeared in the space behind Gilgamesh, from which several people emerged.
It was Gilgamesh's group, who had found him.
"Took you long enough," said Gilgamesh to Enkidu.
"It was hard to track you in another dimension, but after you activated your Balance Breaker, it was easy to find," said Enkidu, smiling.
It seemed Enkidu had located Gilgamesh, and Arthur used Caliburn to cut through space and enter this dimension.
"Cao Cao, we need to leave. Jeanne is unconscious, Siegfried and Heracles are badly injured, and Leonardo has been captured," said Georg, forcing Cao Cao to swallow his pride.
"Mark my words, King of Heroes, you'll regret what you did today," said Cao Cao.
Then Georg's mist enveloped them all, making them disappear.
Gilgamesh's entire group sighed, and the King of Heroes deactivated his Balance Breaker.
"Wasn't one of them missing?" asked Arthur.
Gilgamesh activated his [Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan] and his [Kamui], and in a whirl, Leonardo appeared unconscious in Gilgamesh's arms.
"He was being manipulated," said Gilgamesh to everyone, who nodded in understanding.
They all decided to return home, but Gilgamesh knew this wouldn't be the last time he'd see the Hero Faction.
**Gilgamesh's House.**
Gilgamesh and everyone quickly arrived home and left Leonardo resting in a room to recover from the effects of the magic that manipulated his mind.
However, everyone's instincts alerted them to danger as they turned their attention to the living room.
More specifically, to someone leaning against the wall.
"You finally came. I was tired of waiting," said the being.
It was a tall, handsome man wearing a black coat with a long mix of black and blonde hair, as well as heterochromatic eyes—his right eye golden and his left eye black—and pointed ears.
He also exuded a dragon aura far more powerful than Tiamat's.
Gilgamesh couldn't help but wonder what this being was doing here.
"To think you'd be here," said Gilgamesh in a tone so serious it surprised his friends.
"It seems you know me, Sekiryuutei," said the man.
Gilgamesh could only smile.
"Yes. The strongest Evil Dragon, said to have power comparable to a Heavenly Dragon, the Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom Cruach," said Gilgamesh to the man, who smiled.
It was Crom Cruach, the Evil Dragon known as the Crescent Circle Dragon, considered the strongest Evil Dragon with power surpassing Ddraig and Albion, the Heavenly Dragons.
"So you know what I want," said Crom Cruach with a smile full of immense battle lust.
The strongest Evil Dragon made an unexpected visit, and his target was Gilgamesh.
Driven by his desire for battle, he sought the Sekiryuutei.
And only one of them could emerge victorious.
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