Facing four of them at once did not push Shinki into a desperate battle.
The only issue was that his magical power needed time to recover.
Until then, he could only rely on his sword.
Overall, these Stray Devils were much stronger than the previous one.
Of course, it was also possible that his flames were simply too powerful.
When the steel-forged katana struck a devil’s skin, the recoil that traveled back through the blade was especially noticeable.
Becoming a Stray Devil wasn’t entirely disadvantageous.
They weren’t monsters one could find everywhere.
They looked insane, bloodthirsty, and grotesque, but some of them possessed bodies as durable as steel.
Combined with their savage instincts, a group of them was far from weak.
In the world of High School DxD, Stray Devils were often nothing more than background enemies for the protagonists to defeat.
In reality, however, many devil peerages required a High-Class Devil’s support and crowd-control abilities to safely subdue even a single Stray Devil.
In the original story, Rias and her group always operated as a team when dealing with Stray Devils to avoid unexpected accidents.
Bang!
Shinki stepped on the soft earth and slipped aside, narrowly avoiding a descending appendage.
At the same time, he twisted his upper body through sheer muscle control.
The katana in his left hand slashed toward the centipede devil’s abdomen.
The blade scraped against its scales, sending sparks into the darkness.
Ordinary weapons couldn’t inflict meaningful damage.
But Shinki had anticipated that.
He immediately switched the sword to his right hand, drove the blade into the ground, and used it as a pivot to spin his body.
Whoosh!
A sweeping attack passed just inches from his hair.
The other two Stray Devils lunged at him viciously.
“Don’t worry about us.
We can handle one on our own.” Hearing that, Shinki merely nodded.
No matter what, Shuri was still a shrine maiden trained in Shinto arts.
As for Akeno, she was the child of a fallen angel and a shrine maiden.
Her potential and current strength were both impressive.
The two of them working together against a single Stray Devil wasn’t something he needed to worry about.
The battlefield fell into a brief lull.
Like an intermission.
Then the enemies attacked again.
Shinki remained fearless.
His movements resembled a butterfly dancing through a field of flowers.
Amid flashing blades and flying sparks, he searched for the Stray Devils’ weaknesses.
Fortunately, he had trained diligently in close combat from a young age.
Without that foundation, his body would never have been able to perform such difficult maneuvers.
His physique still needed improvement, though.
Shinki kicked up dirt from the ground, temporarily obscuring the devil’s vision.
Seizing the opportunity, he rushed forward, stepped onto the centipede devil’s back, and ran along its body until he reached the rear of its humanoid upper half.
Then he gripped the katana with both hands.
Drawing strength from a slight backward motion, he thrust forward with all his might, aiming directly at the most vulnerable part of a human head—the back of the skull.
Clang!
The incredibly fast strike was blocked by the devil’s reinforced skull.
Even so, the blade still penetrated more than three inches deep.
ROAAAR!
Agonizing pain immediately assaulted the devil’s nervous system.
Its massive body thrashed wildly.
Multiple pale arms reached backward, determined to grab Shinki, tear him apart, and feast on his flesh.
Shinki’s combat style flowed smoothly from one movement to the next.
There were no wasted actions.
But he had miscalculated one thing.
A devil’s vitality far surpassed that of a human.
Even with the back of its head severely damaged, it wouldn’t die immediately.
A human would have collapsed on the spot by now.
Fortunately, the situation remained firmly under control.
The next moment— Hummm!
The sound of flames igniting echoed through the night.
The silver blade was coated in a layer of scorching heat.
His magical power had recovered.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Whenever he used magic, he never felt physically exhausted.
Once his magic was depleted, it simply disappeared.
He could no longer cast spells, but nothing else happened.
Even so, his mana regeneration was exceptionally fast.
Less than a minute had passed.
The flames refined and engulfed the blade, reflecting crimson light in the young man’s eyes.
At the same time, they invaded the Stray Devil’s brain.
Its head ignited first, becoming a giant fireball.
Then the flames spread across its entire body.
Under the power of the divine dragon, the devil was reduced to ashes.
The remaining two devils showed fear and rage.
One of them charged recklessly toward him.
Shinki casually sidestepped the attack, drove his blade into the creature’s body, and unleashed pure energy.
The devil’s flesh was instantly consumed by flames.
Fire burst from its eyes.
Without its hardened exterior, it was nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Turning his head, Shinki saw Shuri and Akeno locked in a fierce struggle against the remaining devil.
Without hesitation, he hurled the dark-red katana.
The sword pierced straight through the devil’s skull.
Its brain was vaporized instantly.
Three more dead.
Just as he was about to deal with the final devil, terror appeared in the creature’s eyes.
Instead of fighting, it turned and fled.
“So even mindless monsters like you can feel fear?” A floating spark of flame appeared in his palm.
He was about to throw it and finish the devil off when a woman’s voice, clear and pleasant like flowing spring water, rang out beside him.
“That’s enough!” A crimson light flashed through the darkness.
The devil’s upper body vanished completely within the red glow.