The Arbiter God Pharnemes was unable to stop its momentum and crashed onto the temple's wall.
Basque jumped off before the collision.
'Breehee!'
Dogora had used his [True Wicked Blow] Skill with the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi, pulverizing the bones in the Arbiter God's front legs.
'What the hell? How does that even happen!'
Basque stood next to the struggling Arbiter God and looked at Dogora full of questions.
He was covered in flames, but seemed completely safe.
There was also a strong pressure coming from him, like his soul was set ablaze.
Dogora glared back at Basque, ready to give everything he had to defeat him.
'Stop whatever you're trying to do, Basque. I'm afraid Freya has chosen him as her apostle.'
The stolen Divine Artifact had become an item that was stealing the power gathered by the Demon Generals now.
Gushara guessed that Dogora and Freya had formed a pact, granting him the Divine Artifact's power before it was all gone.
'I see. That still felt mighty powerful though.'
Basque felt like the Divine Artifact had become stronger now that it was in Dogora's hands.
'Freya is probably channeling her own power into the Divine Artifact.'
This was different to when Basque forced the Divine Artifact to turn into Flamberge.
Freya had chosen the new bearer of the Diving Artifact herself, and had granted him her power.
'Isn't she almost out of power anyway though? I guess this is her last ditch effort. At least it'll be fun, heeheehee.'
Saying that, Basque got closer to the Arbiter God that had taken a full-on attack from Dogora.
'Breehee?'
Noticing that, the Arbiter God raised its head and looked at Basque.
'You useless mule! Why are you so weak all of a sudden? Huh?!'
'Bree?! Breeheehee!!'
Basque smirked as he thrust his hand into the Arbiter God's neck.
He held his fingers straight like a blade, piercing through the scales that covered the qilin-like Arbiter God, and sticking his hand into its neck.
From inside, he pulled a pitch black orb.
'Ohh, there it is. I can finally become a Demon Great General with this!! Hell yeah.'
Basque swallowed the black orb whole.
Soon after his body began to change, his muscles swelling with a disgusting sound.
His body grew in size, while also looking more menacing and aggressive.
Somehow he had taken the power of the Arbiter Ground, transforming from a Demon General into a Demon Great General.
Basque's eyes were filled with ecstasy. Power was all he desired.
He went to any lengths just to get stronger.
Basque chuckled seeing Dogora standing a distance away in front of him.
He saw Dogora as the perfect training dummy to test his new power.
'Dogora, be careful now.'
The Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi spoke to Dogora.
"What is it?"
don't have much power left. Not to mention that a lot of it was already spent forming the pact with you.'
Dogora had been able to stop the Arbiter's God charge, but there was not much more power left.
"Sorry, could you say that with easier words?"
Dogora asked if Freya could explain again, in a way he could understand.
'You'll need to win with your next attack. If you don't, you won't have enough power to protect your friends.'
Freya only had enough power to fuel one more attack.
She explained through Kagutsuchi that she was quite limited at the moment.
"One attack? That's enough."
Dogora felt power coursing through his body as he prepared to launch the final attack on Basque.
Meanwhile Allen used his Fish summon Skills to buff Dogora, while Kiel also cast support magic.
He had lost all his buffs when he died earlier.
The Spirit King's Blessing had been reactivated almost instantly, but all the other buffs needed to be applied again.
He recovered all the mana his earlier Skill had consumed.
Allen constantly summoned more Stone A summons the instant they were destroyed.
They were busy protecting Sophie and Cecile in the backline, since most of the attacks were aimed at them.
Kurena and the others had also been relegated to hiding behind the Stone A summons.
Gushara's magic was so powerful that Allen's party could not defend from it, even after their Talent Changes.
Allen kept prioritizing the use of his Stone A summon's Special Skill [Absorption] to stop any of Gushara's attacks from reaching Dogora, sending them back with the Awakened Skill [Convergent Bombardment].
But the black flame surrounding Gushara seemed to nullify all the reflected spells, barely receiving any damage.
Either way it was all healed instantly by the Skeleton Pope.
Still, thanks to Allen's efforts, there was nothing getting in the way between Dogora and Basque's fight.
'Hey pops, how about you heal me and help a little again?'
The fight had continued for so long that the various buffs to his health and endurance had worn off, so he asked the Pope that had turned to a skeleton to cast it again.
Basque also had an unnecessary amount of buffs piled on top of each other like Dogora.
"..."
Dogora kept waiting for him to finish.
He just stood there without moving.
"Hm? What happened? You scared now? Wait, what was your name again?"
"I'm Dogora. I know you move fast."
Dogora introduced himself again.
He was fully aware of the situation.
Basque's stats all trumped his own.
Even if he dashed to attack, Basque would easily dodge.
Dogora could only use one more attack, so he decided the safest option was to wait for Basque and counterattack.
He held his weapon raised high in a very obvious manner, something that would have earned him an earful if he did it during the practice sessions in the Academy.
He was essentially announcing to the world he would attack with a downswing.
Dogora would wait as long as he needed, no matter how many buffs Basque took, or how long he prepared to activate his Skills.
'Ah right, you're that guy without a nickname.'
"Yes. But I'll get one after defeating you."
'Keh! Seriously now? You're just a stupid brat!! That Divine Artifact is mine. So I'll take it back!! Essence of the Raging Peerless Blade!!'
Together with an ominous cackle, Basque activated his Skill. He ran with such force that the floor seemed to crack under his feet, dashing in a straight line towards Dogora.
That was the strongest attack Basque had used so far.
He closed the distance between him and Dogora, holding his orichalcum greatsword with both hands and swinging it trying to smash Dogora, who was only half his size.
Dogora remained calm even then.
He could see Basque approaching, even though he was almost a blur to everyone else.
As Basque approached like an enraged beast, Dogora began focusing his power on the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi he held overhead.
He felt like all his mana was being absorbed by it.
There was even a funny sensation like his life itself was being taken by it.
The Skill Dogora had been unable to use until now gave Kagutsuchi a bright glow.
"Body and Soul"
As he swung down, he uttered those words like he was completely used to them.
He was putting everything he had behind that one strike.
CLIINKKKKKKKKKK!!
An ear piercing metallic clang was heard the moment Basque's orichalcum sword hit Dogora's Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi.
The shockwave and pressure from the collision shattered the floor in a wide radius around them.
Dogora had managed to resist Basque's advance, stopping all his momentum.
'Huhhh?! H-how did you stop me?!'
Basque had never expected he could be stopped like that.
He was far stronger than ever before, but he was slowly being pushed back by Dogora.
"Huff, GHRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"
Dogora screamed and roared, pushing Basque back a few steps.
Crimson flames spewed from Kagutsuchi, starting to attack Basque back.
'So whaaaaaaaaaaat! I'm the Shura King Basque! I won't lose to a snotty brat like youuuu!!'
Basque started transforming, his body beginning to change.
He still had been holding back his true power.
As he transformed, he gained more strength and began to push back against Dogora.
The Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi was stronger than Basque's orichalcum greatsword.
But now that Basque had become a Demon Great General, and transformed to use his full power, his stats dwarfed Dogora's.
Dogora was the one being pushed back now.
Unable to restrain the orichalcum greatsword any longer, it slid forward, grazing his neck and drawing blood.
"I gave it my all, Freya! What are you gonna do now!!"
'Wh-What?! Me?'
Dogora spoke to the Divine Artifact.
"I gambled everything on this one hit!! We'll lose if you don't give it your all too!!"
Huhh? What are you babbling about, you brat! I need power, more power!! Heehehehe!'
Basque cackled even more loudly, convinced of his victory with his newly gained stats.
Kagutsuchi was no longer able to hold the orichalcum greatsword back, which slowly dug itself deeper into Dogora's neck.
It would not take long before an important artery in his neck would be severed, but Dogora continued talking to Freya, ignoring his perilous position.
Dogora was using everything he had.
He wanted the Goddess of Fire Freya to give her all as well.
He felt like she was not taking it seriously enough yet.
'Oh well, it seems the apostle I chose might be crazy indeed. I'm one of the Four Great Gods, the Goddess of Fire. A mere Demon General is nothing compared to me! My Divine Artifact is more powerful than orichalcum!!'
Then it happened.
The flames around Dogora and the Divine Artifact went from crimson to white.
The fire increased in temperature dramatically.
The area surrounding Dogora began to change as well.
The ground began to glow red and melt.
The stone floor of the temple was unable to resist the heat anymore.
The flames continued changing color.
They went from white to blue, and the temperature kept rising.
It was hotter than ten thousand degrees around them, and the stone floor began to boil and evaporate.
'Ugh?!'
Feeling the hellish flames around Dogora and the Divine Artifact made Basque let out a grunt.
That was not because the orichalcum greatsword had gotten too hot.
But because he noticed a bad change happening on his blade.
Orichalcum, a material made by the Goddess of the Earth Gaia, had reached its melting point.
It was known as a divine metal, and boasted unparalleled toughness and endurance, but it was starting to melt, exposed to the heat of Dogora's Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi.
'This is all my Divine Power! I've given it my all! Go, Dogora!!'
With the help of Freya's power, Dogora was able to cut the orichalcum greatsword in two.
Basque looked desperate seeing his blade break, and hurried to cover himself with his free hand in an attempt to keep himself safe, but it was of little use.
The Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi reached Basque's shoulder and began cutting into his body.
"Ghah?! N-not me, not now!!"
Basque was frantic.
After the hellish axe reached his shoulder, [Body and Soul] pushed it further, cutting through his entire body diagonally.
"Goooooooooooooooooooo!!"
Dogora roar echoed inside the temple while Basque's remains rolled on the floor.
