When Ornis finished his grand speech, and was finally reminded of the truth as he saw none of the earlier fear on Basara’s face, but rather a faint hope brimming in his eyes, his anger soared.

He swiftly understood that Basara had never felt scared, and was simply fishing for information or was buying time while merely acting scared.

“Bastard! It looks like there’s no other way…”

The moment Ornis uttered those words, with a smile full of surging wrath — Basara immediately felt all of his senses scream danger. 

 

“Gah!?”

 

An attack that could barely be seen hit Basara’s abdomen out of nowhere, which he somehow blocked with his sword in the last second, sending him flying backward, making him crash back-first, and roll into the ground.

Even though he had managed to avoid a direct hit, just the force of the impact had caused Basara’s body to feel like he was hit by a barreling truck.

 

But, even then, Basara kept his wits. Using the distance created by the attack, he immediately used his Sacred Gear.

 

[BOOST!]

 

The increase in power allowed Basara — who had difficulties breathing due to the bludgeoning impact and whose vision was still in a state of blurriness — to kick the ground hard and at the same time move forward at high speeds.

While holding Brynhildr in the front, his eyes pointed towards Ornis. Basara kept his posture low as he dashed towards the minor god with all his speed. He wished to use his Balance Breaker now but he did not want to startle the arrogant god, keeping his cards hidden till the last second. It was better to appear completely helpless while speaking to Ddraig, making crucial preparations for what he had to do to unlock the promised power.

[Firstly you need to understand that using this move won’t just be a problem of your psyche not being able to keep up.]

He had already locked on to Ornis in front of him, and even if an attack really came from behind him, he would just have to immediately adjust his posture and continue going straight to attack. He had already quickly calculated all the necessary steps in his mind along with all the possibilities his actions could land him in.

His expectations were quickly fulfilled, as an attack came at him from the front, hence, Basara immediately increased his speed and momentum; in less than a breath, Basara had already closed in on Ornis and swung the raised Brynhildr downwards at the hateful god. 

He probably wouldn’t be able to avoid this attack, thought Basara. However, even if he did manage to avoid it, Basara had already planned to use Brynhildr to strike the ground and raise a cloud of dust to make a kind of a smokescreen and readjust to a more defensive stance.

[Every time a user of Boosted Gear dies, a small part of his soul stays imprisoned inside the gear.]

“...So that’s it.”

Ornis' smile never changed throughout the length of the exchange. Abruptly, he used an unseeable attack, as if manipulating the air to do his bidding, to meet Basara’s attack; but as Basara’s slash had superior power, Ornis’s attack bounced off with a metallic ‘Clang!’ sound. Basara did not stop just from that, however, and continued swinging Brynhildr downwards – but clashing with that attack just now had caused him a very small delay, enough for Ornis to retreat backward. Yet…

‘Don’t even think of escaping!’

Basara immediately followed suit. Even if Ornis could send out attacks outside of Basara’s attack range, there was always the danger of him injuring himself when the distance between them was close to zero, and that would naturally reduce the number of attacks Ornis would let loose.

While Ornis was a god, there was no weapon in his hands, so Basara deduced that he was most likely to be a mage-type fighter. Once the distance between them had been shortened, the flurry of attacks a speed-type fighter like him could enact should be able to pressure him slightly.

[Most of them aren’t a problem. But many of them died full of resentment toward me or toward the future user that would obtain my power.]

“What a headache… She’ll be here very soon, so don’t waste too much of my time, understand?”

The moment he let his annoyance known with a frustrated smile adorning his face, the smirking god released a shockwave that blew away Basara.

“How does it feel? Did you have a moment of hope? Did you really think you could corner me?”

[The resentment in their hearts, my own resentment after being transformed into a sacred gear and your resentment because of your trauma and exile from the church… All of them would increase and overwhelm your mind.]

Ornis who had been on the defensive up till now attacked Basara who was now up in the air due to the god's previous attack, and, as if to vent his anger onto Basara’s body, he released countless attacks at his body, making it crash into the ground with a boom.

“…It’s not over yet…!”

When he tried to dash towards Ornis once again, he suddenly stopped and gasped for breath.

Taking a closer look, he could see that Ornis had raised his right hand and was pointing his index and middle finger at Basara.

The next moment, Basara’s body tilted right along his axis with a metallic ‘Clang’ sound.

Basara immediately tried to put strength to correct his body, but found that… His left leg was not attached to his body anymore.

‘Ah…’

At that moment his thoughts stopped. At the leftover part of his severed leg – a cleanly cut-off stub, a large amount of blood poured out.

There was not even a single feeling of pain, only the gory scene of seeing blood pouring out, and his consciousness thinning out with each passing second.

‘Shit.’

Basara became significantly anxious. This clouding of his consciousness was not due to the significant blood loss, his resilience was enough for him to not let blood loss be enough to make him lose consciousness. It was probably Ornis’ doing; taking the opportunity when Basara had realized that he had received a grave injury, causing a break in his consciousness that allowed the hateful god to control his mind.

{Ddraig. No matter what, I have to scrape by.}

Even as his mind became blurry, neither Basara nor Ddraig cared for the wound. 

“Hahaha! How does it feel to crawl on the ground like the worm you are!? Why are you not screaming!? Beg! Beg me and perhaps…I might spare you from death.”

Ornis knew he was acting like a third-grade villain but he couldn’t overcome the high the act granted him. It felt so great, so very empowering. He felt like he could drown in this ecstatic sensation forever.

Still, he didn’t lose track of what he had to do.

“Now then… I better move quickly.”

During the time when he toyed with Basara, two of the barriers had already been broken through, and it wouldn’t be long before  “She’’ had finally arrived. Before that happens, he would have to leave this place and flee as far away as he possibly can.

“Still, it would be a shame to kill him now.”

Ornis had once observed Basara using his Banishing shift. This power was not something the like of that mortal bastard should have. 

But if it was given to him? He might even reach the power of the Ten Gods.

Then…He would finally be worthy of courting his beloved lady.

But it was then…

Ornis suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He was then startled to realize that… In the corner of his eye, the figure of Basara helplessly lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, had suddenly disappeared.

‘What the…’

“Kuh!!”

He let out a scream of pain and astonishment when an attack he couldn’t even see coming suddenly sent him flying through half of the field. The impact was so immense that he had broken the sound barrier as he crashed on the other side, sonic booms followed his swift trajectory.

Ornis, who let out anguished moans, vomited out large amounts of fresh blood, clearly showing there were ruptures in his internal organs. Even the damage to his ribcage was not simply mere fractures, it was already broken into pieces.

“J-Just what…?”

[What…?]

Ornis was not the only one astonished by this scene.

It was the same for Ddraig.

The pain distorted his vision, and as Ornis tried to focus his consciousness, a golden aura covered him, rapidly repairing the damage to his body. Despite that, Ornis still wasn’t able to move, only able to slightly raise his head.

“!!!???”

And in the direction he had come from, he saw something akin to green flames casting flickers of light on the surroundings. The scene was so astonishing that gasps of surprise leaked out of the injured god’s mouth. In the dim barrier, the bright emerald light slowly approached Ornis.

‘How in hell!!??’

Basara’s leg which was supposed to have been severed had been restored to its original condition. But it was not only that…

The sword in his hand had completely changed, the flame flickering in the pommel was now shaped like a roaring dragon, almost looking alive and ready to devour everything in its path, a silver arm guard accompanied the transformation of the blood, slowly fusing with the red gauntlet of Basara’s Boosted Gear.

Meanwhile, Ddraig realized that in all his plans, he had forgotten to take into account one significant thing…

Basara himself.

When his previous wielder went Berserk, it was only thanks to his power.

But the power inside Basara wasn’t any weaker compared to the one the heavenly dragon once wielded. It even felt somewhat overwhelming in some parts, making him feel more astonished about this matter.

What would happen then, if the current Basara used that forbidden move?

[Shit! Basara, stop! Don’t do it, damn it!!!]

Ddraig, who realized this screamed in order to awake Basara from this troubling state.

Sadly, it was too late.

Basara’s eyes, viciously turned towards Ornis, as if locking onto its prey, looking at Ornis with a gaze that was starkly different from usual. When their eyes met…

“Damn it!”

Ornis who seemed to have finished healing himself raised a scream as if trying to get rid of his rapidly rising fear.

As something called fear overcame his rational instincts, Ornis forgot that he had originally wanted to capture Basara alive to get his power, opting for him to materialize countless golden glowing spheres and release them in one fell scoop swoop of his arm. Those spheres flew swiftly towards Basara while leaving a trail behind like a meteor’s path…

“!!!???”

Yet with a single casual slash through the air, those golden spheres suddenly disappeared. A high-pitched ringing sound then rang out, showing that what Basara had just activated was undoubtedly the [Banishing Shift].

‘How!?’

Ornis could not understand. Even though this wasn’t his full power. But still…

Of course, this was only the start. After all, once he dealt with this attack, Basara's aura began to be tainted with a mix of green and crimson filling the whole area under heavy pressure to the point where the barrier he placed began to crack from the exuding aura alone.

Basara, then, opened his mouth, and a curse-like chant began. It wasn’t just Basara’s voice. Young. Old. Male. Female. A creepy assortment of veritable sounds was mixed with the voices of several other people.

[I, who is about to awaken…]

<It started.> <Looks like it will start.>

[Am the Heavenly Dragon that has stolen the principles of domination from God….]

<It was always like that, no matter what.> <That's not right; it was like that every time.>

[I laugh at the “infinite”, and I grieve at the “dream”….]

<The one the World seeks….> <The one the World rejects....>

[I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination…]

<It was always power.> <It was always love.>

<<You guys choose destruction no matter how many times!>>

An armor formed on Basara’s body. One, eerily similar to his Balance Breaker but terribly different at the same time. It became sharper, and it grew large dragon-esque wings. From both hands and feet, claw-like protrusions appeared. On the helm, many horn-like extension grew.

— The appearance of the Heavenly Dragon itself.

And then, from all the jewels in its body, a mixed scream combining all the voices of the old, the young, man, and woman was emitted simultaneously, marking the beginning of an apocalyptic scene and even more horrifying aura…

<<<<<<<<<And I shall sink you to the depths of crimson purgatory!>>>>>>>>>

[Juggernaut Drive!!!!!!!!!!]

———

Okay this is going to be pretty long. By the way CH is 2.3k and an is 200 words.

(AN: In canon, Basara's normal Berserk mode was enough to crush a god. Even though Ornis isn’t really that strong as a god, he’s still a bona fide god. Now imagine Basara’s Berserk Mode X Juggernaut Drive. Haha. But here is the problem. Are the gods in Shinmai as Powerful as those in DxD? I would say it depends. Ornis seems weaker than them.

He is simply a lesser god in Shinmai terms. So I would say he is equal to a low Satan and even then I think I am exaggerating. As for Hasegawa aka Afureia. She is on a completely different level and did many badass things. 

Like she legit created a barrier where 18 months inside it was only equal to one night outside. Not even a full day. Just one night. I don’t understand why Basara never used this for training or master-servant pact like he did in vol 10-11. I need to reread those parts to understand the limitations of her powers. If someone can give me more information it would also help. As for what Basara and Hasegawa did during those 18 months? Hehehe. My boy’s stamina would make all the gods of lust bow down in shame. XD)