"Yeah, give up already. We don't want you getting hurt."
After all, there wasn't truly a life-or-death grudge here. These girls, attracted by Hikaru's appearance, felt reluctant to fight him.
In their eyes, they were sure to win anyway.
Granted, they did find persistence in a guy appealing, but injuries were still injuries. If his face were accidentally damaged, it would be a loss to women everywhere, and they'd feel bad about it.
Calmly facing these young women, Hikaru spoke unhurriedly: "Don't worry. The battle will be over soon."
"No one's going to get hurt—except your leader."
Hearing Hikaru's reply, the girls didn't stop to wonder what he meant. Instead, they got a little excited.
Even at a time like this, he's still worrying about them.
"What an idiot! He's always so full of himself—can't he see what's going on?!"
Riser, watching through magic, was furious.
He figured that if he didn't act now, the subordinates he'd worked so hard to gather would be taken away from him.
After he finished speaking, Riser immediately ordered them to attack.
"Nothing we can do—our leader told us to fight."
"If we don't follow orders, we'll be labeled strays."
Right after that, several of the girls, wielding things like nunchucks and chainsaw-like weapons, moved in.
A knight hidden in the darkness also activated an acceleration ability, swiftly closing in on Hikaru, aiming to knock him out.
However, when faced with this ambush from the shadows, Hikaru simply sidestepped to the left at an unhurried pace.
Putting some distance between himself and his attackers, everyone watched as Hikaru's arm began to glow, revealing a crimson gauntlet.
"Yo, partner! You're letting me out so late? Don't you usually avoid staying up at night?"
Ddraig's voice echoed, sounding a bit drowsy.
But Hikaru didn't answer. He simply activated the Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker.
—Henshin.
From a short distance away, the girls saw a surge of flowing light spread over Hikaru like waves. A deep crimson aura wrapped around him.
In the next instant, as if swept away by a gust of wind, that red aura vanished. In the blink of an eye, a red suit of armor appeared on Hikaru.
With the tail behind him swishing in the air, everyone present—and in the audience—was stunned beyond words.
Rias never expected this, Sona didn't either, and even Sirzechs and Leviathan were shocked that Hikaru could achieve Balance Breaker in just a few days.
This was the Sacred Gear's ultimate power—sealed away because it was so overwhelmingly strong. It could only be unleashed under extreme conditions.
It wasn't that nobody could unlock Balance Breaker, but those who could were exceedingly few and far between. Every one of them was a standout among standouts.
"H-how is that possible? Hikaru… He can become like this?"
Rias's mouth hung open slightly.
She had only expected him to use his Sacred Gear's abilities for support. Reality proved her wrong.
"What…is that? A Longinus power?"
"…It's Balance Breaker. According to legend, only when the Sacred Gear wielder's emotions hit an extreme can its hidden power awaken. Rias…you're certain it's only been a week since Hikaru got the Longinus?"
Sona adjusted her glasses.
She'd given Hikaru a family grimoire as payment last time and had been meaning to ask about his progress, but never got the chance. Now, could he have already mastered it all?
"I'm sure. That Longinus was originally in some ordinary student's body, then it was seized by Fallen Angels in a snatching ritual. Akeno, Koneko, and I were there that night, and so was Hikaru. That's when he obtained it."
They later erased that student's memories—he was just a regular person, so it didn't really matter.
Still, Rias couldn't make sense of it. Is unlocking the Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker really so easy?
"So cool…"
Koneko watched intently. That dark-red armor was exactly to her taste.
"It's more than just cool. A Sacred Gear in its Balance Breaker state can unleash most of its original power. Hikaru was already on par with a high-class devil before. Now, he's at least on the level of an ultimate-class devil."
"Of course, that's just my assessment. I don't know the exact details."
Sona analyzed calmly.
In the audience, Hikaru's transformation caused quite a commotion. These devils, survivors of past wars, had all heard of the Two Heavenly Dragons—some had even seen them in person.
Members of the Phoenix family gripped their seat arms, eyes wide in disbelief.
Who on earth is this guy?
It's one thing to have a Longinus, but he can even unlock its Balance Breaker?
"Sirzechs, what's going on? Didn't that kid just get the Longinus? Normally, you'd need at least a few years of training to get anywhere near Balance Breaker, right?"
Don't be fooled by Serafall's airhead act; she knew her stuff. If Balance Breaker were so easy, everyone would be using it.
"I'm not sure either. I only got word about this a few days ago."
Sirzechs was equally surprised.
In all of history, has anyone like this ever appeared?
Grayfia's eyes flickered; she'd seen something different in Hikaru ever since he arrived, but because everyone's attention was fixed on the field, no one noticed her subtle reaction.
At that moment, Hikaru stood sideways in the arena, his gaze like a burning flame, piercing through the space and buildings to lock onto Riser in the student council office.
"Now…it's all about to end."
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 20 Chapters Ahead of Others!