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Chapter 310 ~ Counterattack

“Alright—let’s do this!”

With a grin, Erika melted into her own shadow, her form vanishing in an instant.

The gathered leaders—Sirzechs, Serafall, Michael, Azazel— Grayfia, and even Vali widened their eyes in shock. 

She had vanished without a trace. No magic. No circle. She didn’t even move at speed faster than they could perceive. She had simply… disappeared.

Then it happened.

The world outside dimmed. A suffocating blanket of darkness stretched across the sky, swallowing the horizon in its oppressive shroud.

“What happened…?” Michael muttered, his usually serene voice laced with unease.

Serafall’s lips parted, her eyes wide with disbelief. 

“Is… is that Erika-chan’s doing…?”

But Sirzechs, with his peerless mastery over the Power of Destruction, felt it first. He shook his head slowly, his crimson eyes narrowing.

“No… that isn’t darkness.”

The veil above them churned like storm clouds, but as the veil parted, crimson light of the sky bled through the darkness.

The realization struck them like a thunderclap.

Those weren’t clouds. They weren’t shadows. It was fire—black flames so dense they blotted out the heavens themselves. Smoke and heat rolled across the battlefield, yet there was no wind, no escape. 

The inferno devoured the very air.

The armies of magicians who had been pouring through teleportation gates barely had time to scream. 

In a single, merciless instant, the black flames engulfed them. Their bodies and spells alike were erased, reduced to nothing but fading echoes in the void.

Not even ash remained.

And then, from the heart of the all-consuming conflagration, she appeared.

Hovering high above, Erika’s figure stood framed against her apocalyptic canvas. Her body was wreathed in seething darkness, her crimson horns glowing like brands of judgment. Her eyes blazed scarlet, a predator’s gaze that pierced through reality itself.

In her hand, she raised her sword—its steel alive with jet-black flames, the blade etched with glowing crimson runes that pulsed like veins filled with molten blood. Every flare of its power sent ripples through the sky, warping the air as though reality itself struggled to withstand her presence.

She was no longer merely Erika.

She was Shura, the Primordial Oni, an avatar of annihilation.

The battlefield had become her stage—and all who opposed her would burn.

Sirzechs, Grayfia, and Rias stood frozen, their expressions painted with disbelief at the sight unfolding before them.

Her flames—those all-consuming black infernos—were not merely destructive. They were absolute.

“Those flames…” Sirzechs muttered, his voice low, as though even speaking might draw their wrath. His crimson eyes trembled as he stared out into the sky. “They eclipse even the Bael clan’s Power of Destruction… They leave nothing behind.”

Grayfia, usually composed as ice, clenched her hands at her sides. A whisper escaped her lips, equal parts awe and dread.

“Unbelievable… such power should not even exist.”

Rias’s face paled, her eyes locked on the inferno tearing apart the heavens. She recalled the night Erika had reduced that stray devil to ash, her mind finally grasping the truth of what she had witnessed back then.

“S-So this… This is the same flame that devoured that stray devil in an instant…?”

Her gaze turned toward Yuuji. For an answer, she received only a solemn nod. That quiet affirmation carried more weight than words ever could.

‘And that wasn’t even her full power back then…’

But the battle was far from over.

The skies rumbled as more magic circles tore open in the sky, spilling forth wave after wave of magicians—reinforcements sent to overwhelm them.

Michael’s face darkened. His serene calm faltered for the first time.

“It is not over… this is only the beginning. More are coming.”

Azazel clicked his tongue and scratched his head, though even his lazy demeanor could not mask the tension in his eyes.

“Tch. Figures. Well, I doubt that girl needs any help—she’s practically a one-woman army. But…” 

He shifted his gaze toward the young man leaning against the wall. 

“Vali. Go stretch your wings. We can’t just sit on our asses while she steals the whole show.”

“Fine. Might as well.”

Vali unfolded his arms and stepped forward, his silver eyes narrowing with a glint of anticipation. He turned his head slightly toward Yuuji. Expectant.

“And you? Are you coming along?”

“Soon,” Yuuji replied calmly, his tone steady as though the battlefield outside were nothing more than an inevitability.

Vali smirked faintly, though his words carried a serious edge.

“Then don’t drag your feet. At this rate, there won’t be anyone left to fight—especially with her out there.”

With that, twin wings of white and blue light—Albion’s Divine Dividing—unfurled from his back, mechanical and majestic in their glow. With a single beat of his wings, Vali shot forward, his figure vanishing into the fray.

Outside, Vali had already taken to the skies, his body gleaming as he activated his Balance Breaker. The armor of the White Dragon Emperor encased him, its brilliance cutting through the smoke-filled sky like a beacon of battle.

He soared toward Erika, who had just finished a devastating strike. Her black-flame-wreathed katana carved through dozens of magicians in a single swing, their bodies vanishing into ash before they could even scream.

Any spells they fling, either burnt by the same black flames or disappeared a few distances away from her, repelled by her natural magic resistance that nullifies spells below certain tiers. 

Erika glanced at him as he approached, brushing strands of orange red hair away from her glowing crimson eyes.

“Hm? Ah, you’re here. Good. There’s plenty to go around. Pick your share—just mind the fire.”

But Vali didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he hovered before her, his armored eyes locked on the inferno she commanded. His silence carried weight, enough for Erika to tilt her head in mild confusion.

Then, his voice came, laced with anticipation.

“I’m curious… just how strong is your fire?”

For a moment, Erika blinked at him, then snorted softly.

‘Ah, that’s right. He’s a battle junkie.’

Her lips curled into a smirk, her fangs glinting as she shook her head.

“Don’t test it now. If you get burned, Divine Dividing won’t save you. Those flames won’t be extinguished by your power.”

Vali stiffened. For the first time in a long while, genuine surprise pierced through his usual excitement.

“…What?”

“And the only ones who can remove it,” she continued, her tone edged with playful warning, “are Yuuji, Aika, or C.C. Keep that in mind before you go diving headfirst into the fire.”

His shock only deepened. That wasn’t just arrogance—her tone carried certainty. Not only did she claim his Balance Breaker’s divine ability would fail, but she also revealed that Yuuji, Aika, and C.C. held enough mastery of magic to counter flames that even a Heavenly Dragon could not erase.

For Vali, this was no deterrent. It was a promise. His lips curved into a grin beneath the helmet.

“…Very well. Another time, then. I’ll be waiting for it.”

He shot forward, leaving a streak of light as he descended upon the swarm of magicians.

Spells rained down on him—lances of fire, spears of ice, bolts of lightning—but every strike was either absorbed, nullified, or shattered the instant it touched the aura of Divine Dividing. None could pierce him.

Vali raised his arm, his aura crackling with condensed might.

“Disappear!”

A torrent of lightning erupted outward, consuming the battlefield. The sky flashed as dozens of mages screamed before being reduced to charred husks, the stench of ozone and ash filling the air.

From her vantage, Erika raised a brow.

“Oh? So that’s where he’s at now. Pretty good…” Her smirk widened faintly. 

“But if we’re talking raw firepower, Akeno-san isn’t far behind him without relying on his sacred gear.”

She twirled her flaming katana once, its runes pulsing with crimson light, and her body blurred.

Then she moved—vanishing in a streak of black fire and crimson hair as she dove headfirst into the enemy ranks, her sword carving an unbroken trail of annihilation through the army.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

A flash of light.

Rias, Aika, and Tatsuya appeared within the Occult Research Club room, where the rook piece Rias used for her castling was stored in. 

The wards in place should have made such an intrusion impossible — layered seals to block all teleportation magic, untouched and unbroken. And yet… they had arrived.

But this wasn’t ordinary teleportation.

It was Castling — the ability of high ranked devils with their own peerages, allowing them to switch places with their Rook piece, bypassing even wards specifically meant to thwart teleportation. 

They immediately make their way towards the room where Gasper and Koneko were in.

“Tatsuya.”

“Yeah.”

As they ran, Tatsuya took out his Silver Taurus and aimed it at the direction of Gasper’s room. 

Then, with a press of a trigger… Nothing.

Rias looked confused. 

“What did you do?”

“There were traps. I dismantled them?”

“Eh?” Her eyes widened in shock. 

“Fufu~ Now that there’s no more obstacle, let’s bust in!”

Aika charged ahead, and kicked the massive double doors open, sending them flying.

“Freeze~! Don’t move~”

“W-What?!”

“H-How did they get here?!”

“How could they move?”

The mages all stood frozen in shock at their arrival.

“...Gasper.”

Rias’s voice trembled.

Her timid bishop was bound against the wall, shackled by cruel glowing magic circles. His limbs were stretched taut, body quivering as streams of power were ripped from him. His sacred gear — the Forbidden Balor View — blazed uncontrollably in his eyes, freezing fragments of time against his will. Tears streaked his pale cheeks, not just from the searing pain but from the guilt. His power was being used to slaughter their allies.

Beside him, Koneko was likewise bound, suspended upside down by another cruel array. Her skirt was flipped, exposing her undergarments in humiliating display, her uniform torn with scratches and wounds crisscrossing her pale body. The white of her hair was matted with blood.

“...You bastards.”

Rias’s aura exploded, crimson-black destruction blades spiraling around her in fury.

“You’ll pay for this.”

The leading mage, clad in ornate robes, recoiled but barked out an order anyway.

“A-Attack! Kill them before they—!”

But the words died in her throat. A breath colder than death swept the room.

“I said, freeze.”

Aika’s voice was like an executioner’s verdict.

[Niflheim]

In an instant, the chamber became a tomb. Transparent ice surged out with absolute authority, swallowing every single magician. It wasn’t frost clinging to skin. It was the pure essence of frozen eternity — bodies encased solid in crystalline prisons faster than the eye could blink.

And then, Rias unleashed her blades. The crimson-black destruction lances pierced through the frozen statues, and with Aika’s “permission” shattering the ice of Niflheim to powder and scattering them as harmless motes of frost.

Silence.

Not a single mage remained.

“President…”

Rias dashed, crimson aura still flaring, towards Gasper.

“Gasper!”

Tatsuya had already raised his CAD.

Light flashed from its muzzle. 

A single shot shattered the binding circles, tearing them apart with mechanical precision.

Both Gasper and Koneko collapsed from the walls — but they never touched the floor.

Rias caught Gasper in her arms, while Aika gently swept Koneko into hers.

“Aika… senpai…” Koneko’s weak voice trembled as her small body shook.

“There, there,” Aika murmured, stroking her silver hair. “You did well. It’s over now. You’re safe.”

And then, warmth flooded her body. Faster than she realized, the pain vanished. The fatigue disappeared. The burning ache in her limbs and chest — gone, like it had never been. She blinked up in confusion, golden feline eyes meeting Aika’s serene smile.

“…What…?”

Meanwhile, Rias shook Gasper lightly. “Gasper! Stay with me!”

The boy’s eyes fluttered, glassy with exhaustion. “Pres…” His voice cracked, and then his body went limp in her arms.

“No! Gasper!”

“She’s fine, Rias-senpai.”

Aika’s calm voice reassured her. Rias looked up to see Koneko whole and unblemished in her embrace — not a single wound left on her pale skin.

“What…?” Rias whispered.

“He’s only asleep,” Aika explained softly. “That circle forced his sacred gear far beyond his current limits. He’s exhausted. But I healed his body, same as Koneko. They’ll both be fine.”

“…I see…”

Rias clutched Gasper tightly to her chest, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes before she exhaled in relief.

And at that moment, with the circle destroyed and Gasper unconscious, the cursed power of the Balor View faded.

Time — which had been fractured and distorted — began to flow naturally once more.