D.I.O

Thunder and lightning struck, and a rain of fire and ice poured down as countless blue crystals penetrated, exploded, and hardened around everything.

Tan’s fighting style was overwhelming and looked flawless. With his seemingly infinite amount of mana, Tan sent hundreds of spells toward the Master-level users.

“Stay on him! Don’t give him any openings!”

“Do not die in vain! Go all out from the start!”

“Come on, let’s start another attack! Follow me! Also, please keep the buffs coming!”

“Oh, man, this guy’s really powerful! This is crazy! I’ve heard so much talk about dragons this and dragons that, but it’s truly no joke to face off against one!”

The Masters weren’t pushovers. Each one perfected the skills and abilities in their respective domains, and they were all specialists who had experienced thousands of battles.

Most importantly, all of them were equipped with Divine Weapons, a Master Weapon, and a Master Skill.

“Operate Divine Weapons. Splinter! Final Crescent!”

A crescent moon rose over Sword Master Ohje, who shot upward toward the sky like a bullet. Tan saw Ohje’s sword strike approaching his defensive barrier, but he couldn’t stop it. Ohje had perfectly timed his move to work in tandem with the other Masters’ attacks, consequently limiting Tan’s range of motion. Due to this, Tan saw his defensive barrier being shaved off, and he fired off some more blue crystals, but…

“Ha! Operate Divine Weapon! Giga Hulk!”

Hanma had glowing green tattoos covering his entire body, and with a yell, he clashed against the blue crystals aimed toward Ohje. The crystal shrapnel from the resulting explosion merely became lodged in his skin - it didn’t pierce or tear his body.

/Trivial things!/

As Tan shouted angrily, he gathered strength and made dark clouds appear overhead. Determined, Tan exerted his strength to create an environment favorable to himself. However, someone else took advantage of it before he could.

“Operate Divine Weapon. Excalibur.”

Rumble!

A bolt of lightning fell, and Arthur’s Light Sword absorbed it before shooting a violent lightning strike toward Tan’s barrier. Though it was a relatively simple move, it was still surprising that someone could take advantage of another’s magic environment so quickly and make such a formidable attack.

Woong!

However, at that moment, thousands of crystals fired all around Tan, like a porcupine shooting its thorns everywhere.

“Damn it! Hide behind the tanks!”

Crack! Boom!

Having activated his Final Crescent Master Skill, Ohje couldn’t even scream before turning into particles of light, his character’s body quickly dispersing in the air. Meanwhile, Hanma had temporarily canceled Giga Hulk, and dozens of crystals were embedded throughout his body.

The Masters’ joint assault indeed possessed extraordinary power, but Tan’s force was overwhelming. His defenses and resolve were unshakable, even in the face of the Masters’ maneuvering. The remaining Masters couldn’t help but feel nervous, as they didn’t know if any of their actions were effective or not.

“The situation is dangerous, Association President! More than a third of the Masters have already been defeated.”

“What about resurrection?”

“The gem points Merlin provided have almost all been used. Furthermore, our collective power is plummeting because of the system’s death penalty.”

Christian Michael Bay frowned. During this battle, he directed all of the users as he continuously received reports from several Masters.

“What happened to the support team Arthur mentioned?”

“They’re almost here! Their estimated time of arrival is 30 seconds!”

“What about the broadcasting station?”

“Many reporters were already stationed near the Magic Tower, so they’ve started filming! Also…”

The speaker pointed behind him. Some of the personnel they’d brought were already setting up their cameras.

“… Good. We all have to work together!”

Christian was widely regarded as the next President of the United States. Previously, he had just been another wealthy person, but now, he was the strongest presidential candidate of what could be considered the world’s most powerful nation. Christian had only achieved this because he faithfully played the role of an [American Hero].

Of course, there were other Masters stronger than him - Arthur, especially, was a perfect fit for the public face of a national hero. Yet, he had risen to such a high level that the position of President of the United States seemed like it was too limiting for a person of his stature.

‘The pool he and I play in is entirely different.’

Christian was aiming to become the next President of the United States, which was arguably the highest political seat on Earth.

Right now, though, such a politically influential seat meant nothing. They were fighting a being from the greater universe, a being who regarded the Earth as a planet on the margins of civilization. Moreover, this individual possessed godly, divine powers.

Christian knew that he wasn’t and couldn’t be the main character here. He had always looked at the world from a self-centered perspective, but at this moment, he was just playing a supporting role.

‘Since this is the case… I’ll be the perfect supporting character.’

Christian smiled and straightened his posture. From far away, more than a dozen cameras were filming him.

“Bruce Wayne.”

Once he stated his manifestation trigger phrase, black armor covered Christian’s entire body, with each piece of equipment as follows: Repentant Ivan’s Dark Helmet, Despairing Kara’s Gauntlet, Pained Cyril’s Boots, Hateful Alistair’s Greaves, and Saddened Adin’s Armor.

To top it all off, Christian also possessed the most famous item in DIO, the [+11 Spirit Armor]. Christian - no, after manifesting, Bruce was more befitting - Bruce had spent billions of dollars to complete and enhance his current set of gear.

And as human history had proven countless times… the power of money was great.

Clunk! Clunk! Woong!

Each piece of his armor interlocked with each other and moved. His full set of Spirit Armor was made of all Rare-Ranked items, and when all the components were gathered, the set was classified as S Rank gear, reaching SS Rank after the +11 reinforcement.

This made Bruce’s gear similar in performance to Ascalon, the dragon-slaying sword Arthur currently wielded. Bruce was the only user with gear at this level. In fact, his equipment was so overwhelming that it could rival most Master Weapons in terms of force.

In addition, he was currently holding another one of Merlin’s masterpieces, a +10 Dark Magic Sword. When it came to his gear, everything was a treasure, including the clothing and accessories inside his armor. Even his Black Unicorn’s armor was top-notch. Furthermore, each piece of gear perfectly complemented the other, something Bruce accomplished through meticulous calculation, design, and planning. Thus, the overall effect of his gear was greater than the sum of its parts.

And on top of all that…

“Operate Divine Weapon. Dark Knight.”

Black spiritual qi rose, covered his Spirit Armor, and created a cape-like scattering effect behind him. Dense, forceful magic power enveloped his entire body.

His skills weren’t the best, but they were only eclipsed by those belonging to the Heaven above the Heavens.

Bruce was undoubtedly a formidable Master, but among the top-level Masters, commonly referred to as the Heavenly Beings, he had relatively mediocre abilities. He constantly trained and sought to become stronger, but that was the case for the other Masters as well.

Yet, at this very moment…

Whoosh!

He… was definitely the most outstanding Master outside of the Heaven above the Heavens.

Boom!

“Ugh! This guy!”

When Bruce entered the scene, the tides of war shifted. The users had been on the defensive, but that position changed in an instant. With the seamless protection from his SS-Rank Spirit Armor, Bruce drilled toward Tan through a path even Hanma and Adol couldn’t access, and they were the most powerful tanks in DIO. Once there, Bruce swung his Dark Magic Sword.

“With Darian’s Glorious Sword…”

Taking advantage of the gap Bruce created, Adol stepped back and began to recite a chant.

“… I protect the weak and act according to my convictions….”

Massive amounts of divine power rushed out from Adol. The divine power encompassed not only his Tower Shield but also the sword he wielded and the armor covering his entire body.

“… I shall always stay humble and never lose courage….”

Even in the midst of Tan’s raging magic power storm, Adol calmly concentrated and completed his chant.

“Give me the strength to stand firm and not collapse in the face of adversity….”

Adol held up his Tower Shield and advanced with immense force, like a locomotive moving forward without any hesitation. The heavy momentum and aura projecting from Adol would make any opponent lose their fighting spirit. Adol had activated his Master Skill.

“Oath of Chivalry.”

Adol’s Master Skill was closer to a buff that increased every one of his target’s stats by providing an enormous boost to their Magic Resistance and defenses, and now, it had become even more effective than before. This was because Adol’s unwavering spirit and firm conviction grew as he continually underwent and overcame agony and tribulation.

Bang!

Along with the sound of an explosion, the magic storm Tan emitted was completely blocked. Before the dragon, light and darkness gathered and burned.

“… You guys… are quite useful.”

Arthur made a surprised expression, having descended behind the Masters’ formation. This was because he didn’t think that the other Masters could output such extensive force.

Although everyone started at Level 1, the gap between the three Irregulars and the rest of the users had widened considerably. There was a significant difference in the power that these two groups could exert. However, now that they were collectively facing a mighty common enemy, Arthur could see that their substantial collective force couldn’t be underestimated. Even if these other Masters never reached his level of ability or skill, they were still the chosen few amongst billions of users who rose to the top because of their considerable talent.

“I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

As he looked at Arthur, Adol muttered in a low voice. Despite fighting on the same side for all of humanity, Adol still believed that Arthur’s actions in Japan were wrong, as Arthur had slaughtered tens of thousands of people for revenge.

“Hmph. I see you’re still a romantic with lofty ideals, but it’s useless.”

Arthur raised his head and looked at Tan, who emanated a huge amount of magic power.

“No one shall be in a position to even think of forgiving me.”

Instantly, Arthur’s body turned into a beam of light once more.

“Nobody.”