While leaving Rias indignant and Yuuto feeling helpless, the moment that everyone was anticipating had finally happened. The two most prominent battlefronts got close to each other.
Even though not entirely within their intentions, the four of them got close enough to be within each other's range and there was really nothing that's stopping them from confronting their enemy.
Vasco gathered his strength and slashed horizontally towards Athena. However, the latter didn't have any plans to block and instead aimed her sword toward the person chasing after Kisuke.
Kisuke didn't need any cues and followed up by punching the flat side of Vasco's Durandal II, transferring a massive amount of vibrations into Vasco's hands, "!?"
Due to the unexpected effect, Vasco hurriedly loosened his grip on his sword and redirected his Holy Power into his arm to shake off the destructive force trying to tear him apart. This, however, gave Kisuke an opening to send out another punch towards his chest.
Thankfully, he wasn't alone either as Crom burst into action. Athena had underestimated Crom's defense and strength, with the latter catching her sword with his bare hands. Because of that slight oversight, Athena was a little bit late to react when Crom pulled her sword and she wasn't able to let go of it in time, causing her to be thrown towards Kisuke.
With a split-second decision, Kisuke retracted his arm and redirected it towards the incoming Athena.
Athena didn't want any further mistakes and reoriented her body while letting go of her sword. Athena stepped on Kisuke's arm and with the two's coordinated movements, Athena dashed towards Crom while Kisuke gave her a boost by swinging his arm towards the direction she wanted to go.
Crom was caught surprised by the sudden speed at which Athena came hurtling back and hastily let go of the sword he was holding to defend from Athena's threatening punch overflowing with Divine Power by crossing his arms. Athena's fist landed on Crom's arms, but alas, that wasn't all there was to it as her Divine Power exploded out in a beam of golden light, pushing the Evil Dragon to crash into the ground once again.
Vasco, meanwhile, wasn't staying still and had had enough time for the time Crom given him for his retaliation.
Clutching the Duradal II that seemed small with his build, Vasco did an overhead slash using his vast strength and a truly abnormal amount of Holy Power. The sword was so fast and lethal that Kisuke could only clasp it by putting his hands together. Even then, the sword almost cut Kisuke's face open, "!?"
Kisuke was surprised by the power behind the sword, but he was mostly shocked at how the vibrations he sent through the sword, hoping to break it at least, was immediately dispelled, "You are truly as great as they say, old man."
With a large grin on his face, Vasco replied, "Thank you for the compliment. It's just that I've already come across someone who uses the same technique as you in the past... Hmm... Calling it the same is a vast overstatement, because yours is ridiculously more powerful than his. If I wasn't careful, I would have instantly lost my arm."
It then became a contest of strength between them, but due to Kisuke's unfavorable position and stance, he was on the losing side. Nevertheless, that didn't last long when Vasco was forced to break the stalemate by kicking Kisuke away and rapidly bending his back to avoid the golden longsword that was flying toward his face.
Before she'd left to chase after Crom, Athena had kicked her sword in exchange for Kisuke giving himself an opening for Vasco to take advantage of while supporting her. It was also because Kisuke felt this action of hers that he retained the stalemate instead of disengaging. Unfortunately, Vasco reacted faster than he thought or he could have detained the Durandal II a bit longer.
Before the longsword went past Vasco's head, Kisuke grabbed its grip and forcefully swung it downwards.
In response, Vasco flipped backward while also kicking Kisuke's arm away before taking some distance from him to reset the battlefield.
The moment Vasco and Kisuke stopped to take a breather, the audience who had been silenced by their display erupted into cheers. In just a few seconds, the situation of the match drastically changed without either side giving up any advantages, [Partner, what do you think of the match now!? We should be also focusing on Team Rias Gremory's King, but I can't help but glue my eyes to these four!]
[I can't blame you, partner! It really is a fresh sight! In most of the matches, mostly everyone was trying to overpower each other when they fought and only employed strategy to gain an advantage for the whole match. This time, however, is something very rare! While not as flashy as the most prominent matches, we can see the grace of movement from these contenders! Thankfully, we have a replay system to follow their movements, or else, these legends would just appear as flashing lights to us!]
Vasco still had a large smile on his face, gearing up for the next round. But unexpectedly for him, Kisuke's 'eyes' closed before the entire blood construct behind him disappeared along with his bloody aura retracting, returning to his default state.
'The way he matched the frequency of my attack with his own Holy Power... What a monstrous control. Despite that, he still has that explosive strength and vast aura to back up his polished swordsmanship. It's as if I'm fighting against Zaraki, but this time, he is properly trained in the way of the sword. He is, without a doubt, an exceptional genius that has invested years in martial arts.' Kisuke thought while looking at the longsword in his hand. If it was pure martial arts, he'd have no way of contending against him, however, Kisuke's talent lay in 'creating' and not 'fighting'. He had his own way to do things.
Vasco's smile also disappeared as he asked, "What's wrong? Don't tell me that you're already stopping here."
Kisuke shook his head, "Nope. I just thought that facing you with an incomplete skill would be too arrogant of me." Without thinking too much about it, Kisuke injected his own power into Athena's Divine Weapon. And a second later, he was surprised to find out that the longsword began to change its shape and now had become a katana suitable for his hand.
What was more surprising was that he had a feeling that he could use his Zanpakuto techniques with it, so he immediately tested it out by swinging it towards Vasco and a crimson arc immediately emerged from it. Vasco didn't even attempt to block it and just shifted his body to the side before looking back and seeing the crimson arc cleave the mountain in twain before disappearing.
Kisuke, on the other hand, quickly turned around and called out to Athena, who was engaging with Crom, "Oi, Athena-san! Do you have more of these? Give me one!"
Athena, already shocked by what he did, disengaged and shouted back, "There's only one of those! And how can you even activate it in the first place!? Are you a Deity or something!?"
"My father is a Human and my mother is a proud Devil. I don't think that's the case." Kisuke answered normally.
"No! My point is that only those with Divine Power could activate my Myriad Aegis! So how are you doing it!?"
Kisuke just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Vasco who was now making an amused expression, "Who knows? It's your thing so you'd have a better idea."