Chapter 142: You Thought You Were the Only One

Late at night, Kuoh Academy, previously a scenic campus, was now utterly reduced to ruins, leaving behind a desolate mess.

Not a single building remained intact, nor did a single scenic spot. The ground was filled with craters, even massive meteorite craters scattered around—shocking to behold.

With Vali's collapse, the battle finally ended. Kuoh Academy would no longer suffer further destruction, and the God's Will echoing between heaven and earth gradually receded.

The crimson spear in Kaiser's hand also faded, gradually reverting to its original appearance, withdrawing both God's Will and the God-slaying power.

Seeing Kaiser like this, everyone remained in a stunned daze for a long time.

They were still immersed in what had just happened, recalling the terrifying crimson spear and the supreme will, their reactions slowed considerably.

"Phew..."

Having cancelled his Balance Breaker, Kaiser exhaled, feeling the rapid depletion of his stamina and aura, silently sighing inwardly.

"The [Spear of Divine and Demonic Judgment] still consumes too much. Its consumption is far greater than ordinary Sacred Gears' Balance Breakers, even surpassing other Longinus' Balance Breakers. I wonder if there's a chance for improvement."

The Balance Breaker Kaiser developed was certainly powerful, but the stronger a power, the greater the price required to wield it effectively. Hence, high consumption was an unavoidable problem.

Due to inheriting Lucifer's bloodline, Vali naturally possessed enormous Demonic Power, which allowed him to maintain his Balance Breaker for an entire month.

Kaiser's aura was actually not much inferior to Vali's Demonic Power. After all, it had been converted from the immense prana accumulated by absorbing a large amount of Urm Manadyte. Even though the quantity decreased after equivalent conversion, it was still substantial.

If not for this, Kaiser wouldn't have been able to easily overpower High-Class Devils or contend with Ultimate-Class Devils using Touki alone.

Perhaps Kaiser's aura was not as immense as Vali's Demonic Power, but his physical strength was superior, resulting in greater stamina compared to Vali.

Comparing these two aspects, Kaiser was actually even more unfair than Vali. If Kaiser were to use Divine Dividing's Balance Breaker, he could maintain it for at least fifty days—almost twice as long as Vali.

However, even under these conditions, when Kaiser used the True Longinus' Balance Breaker, its duration didn't even reach two hours.

And this was under circumstances of moderate usage. If he excessively squeezed out the Balance Breaker's power, this duration would shorten even further.

It's imaginable how enormous the consumption was for the Balance Breaker developed by Kaiser.

"It's understandable. After all, it's a power capable of killing gods unconditionally, even manifesting God's Will externally and affecting everyone indiscriminately. It's essentially like constantly activating the ability against multiple targets every second."

"If it were Vali, continuously activating the halving ability against everyone present would quickly exhaust him as well."

"Being able to maintain the Balance Breaker of the Holy Spear for nearly two hours under these conditions can already be considered very good."

Kaiser gave himself positive evaluation while glancing at Vali, who had collapsed to the ground.

No, more accurately, he was looking at the shattered armor around Vali.

Among these armor fragments were numerous blue gems.

These gems appeared on Vali's armor when he activated his Balance Breaker, being part of the armor itself.

"I've got it."

Kaiser casually picked one up, sensing the faint power inside it, and couldn't help but smile.

At this moment—

"Wait..."

Vali, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly struggled, breathing heavily. He looked at Kaiser with a pale face, yet spoke with fighting spirit undiminished in his eyes.

"I... I haven't lost yet..."

It seemed he still didn't intend to admit defeat and was struggling to get up with difficulty.

"Vali, you need to rest," Albion spoke up. "Though that terrifying spear didn't pierce your body directly, you were previously stabbed once by the Holy Spear even before it entered Balance Breaker state. Then you even activated the Juggernaut Drive, consuming vast amounts of Demonic Power, stamina, and even part of your life force, shortening your lifespan by several years."

"You possess half Devil blood, and your lifespan is far longer than a human's, but if you continue fighting now, it will undoubtedly cause even more severe damage."

"Give it up; you've lost this time."

Albion's persuasion didn't move Vali.

"After witnessing such power, how could I easily admit defeat?" Vali stared intently at Kaiser, smiling rather bitterly, but spoke with burning determination. "If not for activating Juggernaut Drive, my willpower surely would have overcome God's Will."

"Defeating God—that's one of my greatest goals."

"Even if it's just His Will, the opportunity is right before me, how could I easily give up..."

"Besides, I also want to experience head-on the sharpness of that crimson spear. How could I fall here..."

This astonishing determination and fighting intent seemed to spur Vali's already exhausted body, making him finally stand up, shocking everyone around him.

"Is that guy insane?"

"He still wants to fight in that condition?"

Rias and the others held their breath one after another.

"Vali..."

Azazel also deeply furrowed his brows, seemingly unwilling to see Vali fight any longer.

But before anyone could step forward, Kaiser spoke first.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?"

Kaiser questioned him like this.

"How would I know if I don't even try?"

Vali wasn't provoked in the slightest.

Yet, Kaiser raised the spear in his hand, pointing its tip toward Vali.

This wasn't an attacking stance, but rather a gesture displaying the weapon in his hand before Vali.

"You don't think the previous Balance Breaker was the spear's full extent, do you?" Kaiser spoke with utmost calmness. "You don't actually believe your Sacred Gear is the only one with a 'Juggernaut,' do you?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present—including Vali—sharply contracted their pupils.

"What does he mean?" Rias asked, bewildered and incredulous. "Could it be that the Holy Spear also possesses a power like Juggernaut Drive? Is there a monster sealed within that spear as well?"

The answer to this question soon appeared.

"...It's not a monster sealed within the Holy Spear, but God's residual will."

Azazel recalled the omnipresent God's Will from earlier, seemingly understanding something, and gave Kaiser a deep look.

"It's a power different from Juggernaut Drive or Beast Drive, called 'Truth Idea.'"

"Truth Idea is something similar yet fundamentally different from Juggernaut Drive or Beast Drive. Activating that move won't always grant enormous power, as its effect depends on the lingering will of God residing in the spear."

"When Truth Idea is activated, God's residual will absorbs the ambition of the spear's wielder, creating various effects and miracles according to the opponent's existence."

"Sometimes it's an overwhelmingly destructive force capable of defeating the opponent, sometimes it blesses the enemy to win their heart, sometimes it can heal one's own injuries, and sometimes it causes indiscriminate damage to both friends and foes—it's extremely unstable."

In other words, this was a power with extremely random and gambling-like properties.

If the wielder of the Holy Spear cannot gain the recognition of God's Will through their own resolve, not only will they fail to receive its help, they may even harm themselves.

Even after activation, it may not necessarily yield a beneficial effect for the user, or rather, even if it does take effect, it might not be what the user desires.

If the opponent's will, ambition, or dreams are deemed more worthy of recognition by God's Will than the spear wielder's own, then it may even assist the enemy.

Therefore, though of a different nature, Truth Idea is also a very dangerous power, just like Juggernaut Drive, capable of harming its user.

This is the deeper layer of power hidden within the True Longinus, the ability to summon various incredible phenomena or miracles.

After obtaining the Holy Spear, Kaiser mastered this ability, and due to his unique authority, the spear has already become a part of him, having acknowledged him as its master. Even God's Will cannot defy him.

In other words, if Kaiser activates Truth Idea, there is absolutely no possibility of an outcome unfavorable to himself.

Quite the opposite, God's Will will undoubtedly trigger the most advantageous effect to aid Kaiser.

In Kaiser's hands, Truth Idea is an absolute trump card.

To a certain extent, Kaiser's Balance Breaker itself is actually a part of Truth Idea.

Manifesting God's Will externally and unleashing the power to judge sinners—such effects must certainly be included within Truth Idea's scope.

Perhaps in the past, someone has already achieved the same result when activating Truth Idea.

Precisely because of this, Kaiser's Balance Breaker consumes an enormous amount of energy. After all, it transforms a portion of Truth Idea's power into the Balance Breaker itself. Even Vali can only maintain Juggernaut Drive for a few minutes; if Kaiser uses Truth Idea, he probably could only activate it two or three times before completely exhausting himself.

"You can't even defeat my Balance Breaker, let alone defeat me after activating Truth Idea."

Kaiser spoke quietly to Vali, who stared blankly at him.

"Or are you trying to say that, in your current condition, even after overcoming my Balance Breaker, you can continue to overcome Truth Idea as well?"

Hearing this, Vali fell silent.

No matter how tough he was, no matter how enthusiastic about fighting, he wasn't blind to reality.

Kaiser's Balance Breaker was already powerful enough; even himself in Juggernaut Drive had been easily defeated, not to mention Kaiser could activate an even higher level of power.

Truth Idea—a power of dominance similar to Juggernaut Drive. Even though he had never seen it before, Vali, knowing well how powerful Juggernaut Drive was, could easily imagine its terrifying might.

In his current state, overcoming both Kaiser's Balance Breaker and Truth Idea consecutively was impossible.

He had indeed lost.

"If you want to challenge me again, wait until you've grown stronger."

Kaiser glanced at Vali, leaving behind a meaningful sentence.

"Perhaps, by then, I can show you something even more interesting."

After these words, Kaiser turned around and left.

Only then did the spectators gather around, drawing the curtain on this unexpected fierce battle.

----

 Extra chapter, just 80 more for another one!