At this moment, Vali's presence—his overwhelming aura and his devastating attacks capable of compressing all before them—had already reached a level that no barrier could contain.
Even with Michael and Gabriel, the two highest-ranking Seraphim, pouring all their power into maintaining the barrier, it was still incapable of withstanding divine-level might.
And Vali, having activated Juggernaut Drive, undoubtedly possessed power equivalent to that of a god—so much so that slaying a god was no longer an impossible feat.
Faced with such power, the barrier was bound to break.
Once that happened, Vali's attacks would spill beyond Kuoh Academy, resulting in an unprecedented, large-scale catastrophe.
How large, exactly?
Normally, even high-class devils had the power to easily obliterate a mountain or two. Satan-class beings could wipe a small nation off the map, and if they were to go all out, they could completely destroy a mid-sized city.
In comparison, a god-level existence, who surpassed even Satan-class beings, could destroy forests and reshape the landscape with a single blow. If they utilized their full strength, they could annihilate an entire metropolis and its surrounding area—cities like Tokyo wouldn't stand a chance and would be reduced to rubble or consumed in flames.
A god-level being only needed to release their aura, their energy waves alone could blow away entire mountain ranges. Sinking a few islands with a single attack would be child's play.
If Vali were allowed to shatter the barrier and let his power spill out beyond the academy, then at the very least, Kuoh Town would be doomed. Worse, the entire country could suffer catastrophic damage—potentially even sink beneath the sea.
Realizing this, not just Azazel, Sirzechs, and Michael—the leaders of their respective factions—but even the old Satan descendants like Shalba turned pale, preparing to open magic circles and teleport away.
"Vali!"
Naturally, Azazel had no intention of fleeing, much less standing idly by. The golden armor enveloping him radiated a mighty dragon's presence—he was clearly ready to risk everything to stop this.
"No choice then...!"
Sirzechs no longer spared a thought for Shalba. His face darkened as he erupted with destructive demonic power, a force surpassing even that of Satan-class beings, causing the very air to wail in despair.
However, the one who reacted faster than both Azazel and Sirzechs was none other than the one Vali directly attacked—Kaiser.
Feeling the power that seemed capable of tearing apart the earth beneath his feet and demolishing space within hundreds of kilometers, Kaiser understood—Vali intended to end this quickly.
Due to his halved power, Vali no longer possessed the vast reserves of magic he once had. In this state, activating a mode even more taxing than his normal Juggernaut Drive—the Juggernaut Over Drive—meant he couldn't last long.
Forget minutes, with his current reserves, Vali might not even last ten seconds.
That's why he was going all in, unleashing his most devastating attack in a final gamble to defeat Kaiser.
But if Kaiser dodged this move, Vali would have no chance of winning.
And if he did dodge, then Kuoh Town and the surrounding cities—and possibly the entire country—would be destroyed.
Therefore...
"I won't hold back anymore, Vali."
Kaiser's light wings flared open, and the jewels embedded all over his body began to glow.
BOOM!!!
An immense aura, equal to or even greater than that of Vali's Empireo Juggernaut Drive, erupted from Kaiser.
"'I, am the dominator—'"
"The one who seizes the untarnished dominion of the White Dragon—"
"With infinity in my grasp, I command the fabric of dreams—"
"I shall reign as the ultimate Dragon God—"
"and cast you into the abyss of nothingness—!"
As a wave so vast it could swallow an ant surged forward—an overwhelming force akin to a natural disaster—Kaiser's chant echoed across the heavens and earth.
His blazing aura shifted colors violently, as if the entire world was changing. From pure white, it transformed into a void-like blackness.
White light turned into black light, and the noble blackness, like a devouring black hole, rapidly dyed Kaiser's once immaculate white armor into a dazzling, pitch-black.
In that moment, the White Dragon became the Black Dragon. The Morning Star became the Dark Star. Aside from the blue, translucent jewels and the wing membranes on his back, Kaiser's armor had turned completely black.
"Juggernaut Drive!"
Kaiser unleashed the true form of the White Dragon Emperor's Divine Dividing, revealing their full power and manifesting the concept of "Infinity" within himself.
BOOM—
A world-distorting energy, slow to arrive, finally engulfed the dark figure.
Yet within the terrifying black aura that seemingly turned day into night, that twisting force was held at bay.
"Divide!"
That familiar voice echoed from the dark figure.
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"...
One after another, the jewels on his body emitted the same incantation. The dark figure radiated a terrifying dragon aura, halving the terrifying distortion again and again.
Soon after, the massive force was reduced to a speck, small enough to be crushed in the dark figure's hand.
CRACK!
With a surge of strength from his black-armored hand, the twisted energy was shattered—completely obliterated.
"—"
Everyone froze, stunned by the sight before them.
Even Vali.
RUMBLE...
The black figure continued to radiate a terrifying aura, its black flame stirring the skies into thunderous roars.
"...Is that Juggernaut Drive?"
Countless stared at the black figure, trembling in their hearts under the oppressive aura.
Only the souls of the Heavenly Dragons—sealed within the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing—understood.
"That's Ophis's power!"
"So that's what it is... The White Dragon Emperor's wings contain the power of the Infinite Dragon God!"
The voices of the two Heavenly Dragons emerged from their Sacred Gears, shocking everyone present.
The Divine Dividing, originally indistinguishable from the original, could no longer conceal the divine dragon aura after Kaiser entered Juggernaut Drive and released the sealed "Snake" power. The two dragons, closest in nature to the Dragon God, instantly realized the truth.
"I get it now!"
Azazel suddenly shouted in excitement.
"This Divine Dividing was made using jewels containing Vali's power and a lower-tier Sacred Gear! The core is Ophis' 'Snake'!"
As an expert in Sacred Gear research and the developer of the most advanced artificial Sacred Gears, Azazel quickly connected the dots from all of Kaiser's past actions—his collection of Vali's shattered jewels, his search for twice critical and dragon wings—and understood everything.
"By using lower-tier Sacred Gears of the same nature to absorb part of the original, he upgraded its abilities, then sealed the 'Infinite' concept of the Snake inside to provide power instead of a Heavenly Dragon's soul. That's how the Divine Dividing was created!"
"But how did he do it!? Even if it's theoretically possible, current technology can't support such a feat!"
"How did he reconcile powers of the same nature but different ranks? How did he solve internal node issues? Structural changes and program replacements aren't things that can just be done! And the sealing and extraction of the Snake's power... any small mistake would crash the entire Sacred Gear!"
Azazel was both excited and bewildered. The more he understood the theory, the less he could believe Kaiser had pulled it off. He began scratching his head in frustration, falling into an unprecedented state of anxiety.
Theoretically feasible—but theory is just theory. Implementing it would be like reaching for the stars.
Or rather, to the Governor of the Fallen Angels, reaching the heavens was easy—just flap your wings. The real difficulty lay in soaring through space.
And to him, creating a second Divine Dividing based on that theory was as hard as flying through space.
At the very least, current technology made it impossible.
Unless the God who created Sacred Gears was resurrected, there was no way it could be done. Using current artificial technology? Absolutely impossible.
But Kaiser had succeeded.
Because he possessed ultimate authority over armaments, enabling him to fully control every aspect of a weapon.
All the problems Azazel mentioned were child's play for someone like Kaiser, who could fully grasp the internal workings of the Sacred Gear he was crafting.
In other words, only Kaiser in this entire world could create a second Divine Dividing using this method—at least for now.
"It's over, Vali."
Unaware of how many had been awestruck by him, Kaiser's voice echoed from beneath the black helmet.
"No! It's not over yet!"
Vali, seemingly sensing something, refused to give up.
"I can still...!"
Just as Vali prepared to burn his own life force to sustain the Empireo Juggernaut Drive and clash with Kaiser one last time—
BOOM!
A deafening sonic boom echoed like a meteor striking the earth, and everyone realized—the black figure, previously at a distance from Vali, had already arrived in front of him and landed a punch.
The trail of black light that appeared afterward revealed to everyone the path the figure had taken.
The shockwave spread like a storm. At a speed imperceptible to all, Kaiser's punch sent Vali flying, his silver armor shattering and blood spraying as he was launched into the sky.
CRASH!!!
The deafening impact shook the ground and air alike.
It was the sound of Vali smashing into the top of the barrier.
CRACK!
Under the immense force, Vali finally shattered the top of the barrier, breaking the ward that surrounded Kuoh Academy like glass.
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"
"Divide!"...
The black figure, now occupying the space where Vali had stood, raised his hand to the sky. The jewels on his body echoed once more.
With each utterance, the silver-white aura around Vali, now thousands of meters high and nearing the edge of the atmosphere, was halved again and again.
In just one second, Vali—who had entered the god-tier realm with the power to kill deities—was weakened dozens of times, until he fell from the heavens, his power now less than a mere low-class devil.
BOOM!
The black figure, like a fleeting dark star, burst through the air with a sonic boom and grabbed the blood-covered Vali midair.
"When I say it's over, it's over."
Kaiser's voice finally reached Vali's ears.
"You went too far, Vali Lucifer. This time, I'll be a bit rough, so you'll learn your lesson."
With that, Kaiser—his body as black as the abyss and as regal as a Dragon God—returned to Kuoh Academy and landed on the battlefield, now in ruins.
THUMP...
He casually tossed the bloodied Vali to the ground. The black figure stood silently, becoming the center of everyone's attention.
All eyes were on him.
"Kaiser-san..."
"Kaiser..."
After a long silence, Asia and Kuroka were the first to break it—one called his name softly, the other gave a wry smile.
"Hmm?"
Only then did Kaiser notice that everyone around him—whether from the Three Factions or the Khaos Brigade—was staring at him.
They were frozen in place, too afraid to move, too afraid to speak.
It was no surprise. After activating Juggernaut Drive and unleashing the Dragon God's power, Kaiser's strength had reached the level of a God-King—far exceeding that of ordinary deities.
Moreover, he had absorbed Vali's god-tier power from the Empireo Juggernaut Drive. Now, the aura he exuded was so intense that the ground beneath him cracked, and the world itself trembled and groaned.
Under such pressure, no one dared move.
Only then did Kaiser deactivate Juggernaut Drive, release his Balance Breaker, and retract Divine Dividing wings, returning to his normal state.
Huff...
Hah...
Only then did people begin to breathe again.
Kaiser glanced around and, suddenly, smiled.
"Sorry about that. Please, carry on."
Everyone fell silent.