Chapter 308: Battle Form
This was Haruto's first battle since reaching Satan-Class, and with Kokabiel being a subpar Satan-Class opponent, he intended to use this opportunity to test his combat capabilities.
In short, Haruto had no plans to use the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet.
In the few moments they exchanged words, he had already mobilized all the energy within his body.
After reaching Satan-Class, he initially felt little change, but over time, the differences of this realm gradually became apparent.
When going all out, this sensation became even more pronounced.
All the various energies and bloodlines within his body, except for the qi stubbornly stuck one step before the threshold of the immortal path, showed a tendency to merge together.
The external manifestation was Haruto's current devil true form... though it could no longer be called a devil true form.
Since it was a fusion of various energies and bloodlines, he wasn't sure what to call it, so he simply referred to it as his battle form.
What it was called didn't really matter—it was mainly to distinguish it from his usual clean-cut youthful appearance.
Haruto's current battle form no longer resembled that of an ancient devil. The already thin ancient devil genes had lost their dominant position under the impact of numerous bloodlines.
The only feature retained was a sleek black tail whip, though its appearance wasn't the rough, ferocious, obviously cruel form from before.
Instead, it had become a slender, elegant black accented with red—flexible and resilient, looking like something you'd want to reach out and touch.
Only when infused with magical power would it once again become a weapon hard as steel.
His jet-black fragmented hair seemed to carry faint hints of red and silver-white. Perhaps when fully fused, it would become completely black-red or light red.
The three markings that once adorned his left cheek had disappeared, replaced by a single glowing, teardrop-shaped beauty mark beneath his eye, shimmering like a brilliant sapphire.
The enchanting beauty mark added an extra layer of mystery and allure to Haruto's already handsome features.
Irina Shido and Xenovia, both stunned by Kokabiel's formidable power, found their attention captivated. Their expressions grew inexplicably dazed, delicate faces faintly flushed with rosy hues without them even noticing.
After reaching Satan-Class, Haruto experienced another growth spurt in height, his barefoot stature successfully crossing the 180cm threshold. Now in his fully unleashed combat form, he had grown even taller, significantly surpassing the already imposing Kokabiel.
But the most dramatic change was the wings behind Haruto. The broad bat-like wings had transformed into twelve wings total - three pairs of jet-black feathered wings alternating with three pairs of slender, scythe-like devil wings. They weren't divided into separate groups but arranged in alternating pairs: the topmost being a pair of glossy black feathered wings, followed by a pair of devil wings below, then another pair of fallen angel feathers, layered in perfect repeating sequence.
Haruto observed his completely renewed appearance through a magic-formed mirror and felt quite satisfied. He thought it would be perfect if some minor imperfections could disappear once he fully mastered all his powers.
As Haruto completely unleashed his power, Kokabiel grew increasingly terrified. No matter how incompetent others might consider him, he was still Satan-Class. If he couldn't recognize Haruto's true strength at this point, he wouldn't have survived the great war among the three factions.
Kokabiel's heart filled with both jealousy and hatred, along with a fear he was unwilling to admit. His eyes frequently darted toward Haruto's left hand, only relaxing slightly when he didn't see that dazzling crimson steel.
"Right," he thought, "achieving Balance Breaker with a Sacred Gear isn't that easy to master, let alone with a Longinus." The Balance Breaker of Sacred Gears depended on the user's will or emotions. When possessing sufficiently strong willpower that could distort reality, even ordinary humans could activate Balance Breaker. Conversely, without it, no amount of strength would suffice.
But Haruto's relationship with his Longinus was special - he could forcibly drive its Balance Breaker using his own magic power. This was something Kokabiel neither knew nor understood.
Thus, while aiming his giant Spear of Light diagonally at Haruto, Kokabiel sneered: "Even if you're Satan-Class, you're just trash who recently broke through. Do you really think you can defeat me?"
Haruto simply smiled without responding. He had no intention of shattering Kokabiel's illusions - if the enemy completely lost the will to fight, the coming battle would become meaningless. Haruto wouldn't be able to test his current combat capabilities otherwise.
Seeing Haruto's calm and composed demeanor, Kokabiel grew even more enraged, convinced that Haruto looked down on him. His intuition wasn't wrong - Haruto indeed didn't take this battle too seriously, approaching it more with an experimental mindset.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The giant Spears of Light descended from the sky, their terrifying destructive power carving out a circular crater dozens of meters in diameter where Haruto had been standing.
As Haruto and Kokabiel began their battle, Yuuto Kiba's group of three also engaged the stray priest in combat. Valper Galilei was more of a technical specialist, not particularly skilled in actual fighting. The crazed priest, armed with three Holy Swords, was indeed quite fierce, but couldn't withstand being surrounded and attacked by three opponents simultaneously.
Seeing his subordinate at a disadvantage, Kokabiel raised his hand and summoned two ferocious magical beasts. As two pale green giant magic circles faded, hellhounds wreathed in flames appeared on the battlefield.
The strength of the Cerberus was also A-rank, but its massive size proportionally enhanced its combat power.
Yuuto and the other two could only spare two people to deal with Kokabiel's summoned beasts, instantly turning the battlefield into separate one-on-one fights.
However, the insane stray priest and the Cerberus were both terrifyingly powerful, plunging Yuuto's trio into a desperate struggle in an instant.
In the deep pit, Haruto spread the twelve pairs of wings enveloping his body and took a moment to glance over, confirming that Yuuto and the others were temporarily safe before refraining from intervening.
He couldn't play the role of a nanny forever. Growth required continuously overcoming difficulties and defeating powerful enemies.
Although this battle was extremely challenging, they weren't entirely without a chance of victory, and Yuuto probably didn't want him to interfere anyway.
But as he watched the two familiars summoned by Kokabiel, Haruto suddenly felt the urge to acquire a familiar of his own.
Such readily summonable familiars were indeed very convenient.
Come to think of it, there were even humanoid familiars among them. Could this convenient familiar contract be applied to people?
If possible, then for Rias, Sona, Akeno...
Ahem—Haruto flapped his wings, scattering both the dust and his strange thoughts.
Nevertheless, he secretly made a mental note to visit the Forest of Familiars someday and see if he could tame one that caught his eye.
After summoning the two Cerberus, Kokabiel paid no further attention to the other side of the battlefield, as he had no energy to spare.
Staring at Haruto, who was almost completely unscathed, Kokabiel's expression turned extremely grim.
The Spear of Light should have had a suppressive effect on devils. Even though he could sense the power of a Fallen Angel in his opponent, it shouldn't have been completely ineffective.
Haruto's physique was already absurdly robust, and his mutated twelve pairs of wings significantly reduced the magical properties of both Fallen Angels and devils.
Thus, even when Kokabiel struck with all his might, he failed to break through Haruto's defenses while he was focused on defending.
Haruto saw through Kokabiel's thoughts but had no intention of explaining anything to his enemy.
Having tested his defenses, it was time to test his offensive power.
Retracting the twelve peculiar pairs of wings and his tail, Haruto felt slightly weaker, but not by much.
He was more accustomed to fighting in human form, feeling that various physical techniques and magic flowed more smoothly in this state.
This was purely a psychological factor; in reality, his full combat form output more power and was his strongest state.
Though slightly weakened, it didn't stop Haruto from thoroughly beating Kokabiel, this subpar Satan-Class opponent.
Kokabiel was a warrior who had survived the battlefield, a war fanatic with undoubtedly formidable combat skills.
But against Haruto, he was utterly helpless.
Haruto completely overwhelmed him in every aspect: strength, speed, magic, reflexes, and technique.
Just as Kokabiel tried to form another Spear of Light, he was instantly sent flying.
Haruto hovered in the air, not pursuing, and watched as Kokabiel crashed into the abandoned factory, reducing it to ruins, while reflecting on the experience from that last strike.