Without a doubt, compared to Yuuma Tokoyogi, both Aradahl and Iblisveil were enemies on an entirely different level.
In fact, there was no comparison to be made at all.
Yuuma might be a rare witch, but she was one who had only gained her strength through a pact with a demon. At best, she could rival an Old Generation Vampire. To think she could stand against those just a single step away from becoming Progenitors—that was nothing more than a fool's dream.
Natsuki Minamiya was the sole exception. If she were the one fighting, even against someone like Vatler, Aradahl, or Iblisveil, she wouldn't be utterly powerless. Otherwise, Aya Tokoyogi—Yuuma's origin—would never have been defeated by her.
That was precisely why her presence on Itogami Island could have interfered with Aradahl and the others' actions. So, the girl who had orchestrated all this had ensured Natsuki was taken out of the picture beforehand, preventing her from getting involved.
And even then, for Natsuki to match either Aradahl or Iblisveil alone would already be a stretch. Expecting Yuuma, a mere clone of Aya Tokoyogi, to manage such a feat was impossible. Kaiser, however, wasn't facing just one of them—he was up against both.
Two vampires who could rival Vatler, fighting together. Even a true Progenitor would have to take them seriously, wouldn't they?
And yet, despite that, Kaiser's face hadn't changed in the slightest. He looked no different from when he had faced Yuuma earlier, even as two overwhelming vampires closed in on him.
"Dance, Glutton!"
Aradahl was the first to act. His Familiar manifested, and short swords with black blades began multiplying endlessly.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of pitch-black blades filled the sky, painting it a deep, oppressive black. All of them pointed toward Kaiser and, without hesitation, rained down in a storm meant to swallow him whole.
"Shhhhhh—!"
As the countless black blades fell, Kaiser stood unmoving. Around him, silver daggers suddenly appeared, flashing like silver light as they shot upward to meet the oncoming storm.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The sky thundered with the endless clash of steel, sparks scattering as silver and black blades slammed against each other.
The Type-100 Heavy-Weapon Demon-Slaying Blade - Silver Radiant Qilin had the ability to sever space itself. Against ordinary Familiars, it should have cut them apart with ease.
But Aradahl's Glutton had the power to pierce its targets and drain their magic. When they clashed with Kaiser's weapon, the blades began siphoning away the pseudo-space-severing power that coated Silver Radiant Qilin, rendering its ability ineffective.
"Pierce, Jealousy!"
The dark greatsword floating behind Aradahl surged forward at his command. With its enormous might, it looked capable of cleaving Itogami Island itself in two as it came crashing down.
Jealousy was a Familiar designed to smash fortresses and city walls—its strength lay in its sheer destructive force. If it struck here, the plaza before the Keystone Gate would certainly be reduced to rubble.
Kaiser only glanced up at the night sky, then calmly called out.
"Come forth..."
In response, a massive lion appeared—its form similar to any ordinary lion, yet on a scale so great it dwarfed them all.
"Roar!"
The giant lion bellowed, its body swelling beneath the moonlight like an inflating balloon before it leapt skyward. It hurled itself straight at the descending dark sword.
"Boom!"
The strike that could destroy walls and fortresses slammed into the lion, detonating with a thunderous shockwave. Yet, the beast's pounce deflected the blade aside.
"What?"
Aradahl's expression shifted.
"Even Jealousy can't cut through that beast's hide?"
Of course it couldn't.
The lion Kaiser had summoned was the Nemean Lion—one of the monsters from the twelve labors of the great hero Heracles.
Unlike the Hydra, it possessed no god-defying venom. Instead, its golden hide was tougher than steel, impervious to any weapon—even those forged by gods.
In Greek myth, Heracles had loosed an arrow into the beast's weak spot, its left flank. The arrow bounced off. He shot again, striking its chest—just as useless. Even smashing its skull with a club shattered the weapon instead of harming the lion.
In the end, Heracles had no choice but to wrestle the beast barehanded, strangling it with sheer strength until it suffocated.
Even then, its hide was so resilient that no blade could cut it. Only by using the lion's own claws could Heracles skin it, fashioning the hide into armor and its head into a helm. The image of Heracles clad in the lion's pelt became his defining symbol in art, so much so that archaeologists often identified him by it.
And now, Kaiser had summoned that very same lion. With a roar, the Nemean Lion lunged at Jealousy and snapped the massive dark blade apart with its fangs.
"Tch... So that's one of the mythic Divine Beasts, a living weapon sealed within him, like Leviathan? Impressive!" Aradahl's tone grew darker, more solemn. "But this alone won't be enough to defeat me."
"Kill him, Pride!"
Another Familiar appeared.
Like Glutton and Jealousy, it took the form of a black blade. But this time, the moment it appeared, it ripped through space itself—manifesting instantly before the Nemean Lion.
"Slash!"
With a single flash, the beast howled, split in half, and vanished.
But it wasn't the lion's body that had been cleaved—it was the space it occupied.
Pride. This Familiar wielded the same power as the Silver Radiant Qilin: the ability to sever space.
"Awaken, Sloth!"
Aradahl summoned yet another Familiar, this one a serrated greatsword dozens of feet long, flexible like a whip.
The weapon specialized in cutting power. It lashed through the air with a howl, slicing toward Kaiser.
But before it could reach him, two beasts emerged at his side: a two-headed hound with a serpent for a tail, and a black-flamed three-headed dog.
Orthrus, the twin-headed hound.
Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld.
"Roar! Roar!"
Both monstrous hounds leapt forward, clashing against the whip-blade and Pride's space-rending edge, locking them in fierce combat.
Kaiser watched coldly. From the shadow beneath his feet, two more beasts rose: the Chimera and the Sphinx. Both lunged straight at Aradahl, forcing him to summon yet another Familiar.
This time, his entire body was sheathed in black armor forged from countless blades. It turned him into a towering figure resembling a demon wrought of steel.
The armor was a Familiar that fused with its host, granting formidable defense. Enshrouded in its protection, Aradahl grappled with the Chimera and Sphinx as the plaza shook. Stone shattered, debris rained down like a storm, and the reinforced structure of the island broke apart under the chaos.
Darkness, flashes of light, thunderous booms, and monstrous roars filled the battlefield, their clash shaking all of Itogami Island. Explosions sent shockwaves rippling outward, even reaching Kaiser.
But Kaiser ignored Aradahl now. His attention had shifted to the other opponent.
"Tear him apart, Qebehsenuef!"
Iblisveil's eyes glowed crimson as a golden falcon, its wings spanning over fifteen meters, spread them wide behind him. With a single beat, it unleashed a cyclone of slicing wind, barreling down on Kaiser with the force of a super-typhoon.
Kaiser answered by summoning another Divine Beast.
This time, a giant eagle emerged, its wingspan equal to that of the falcon.
"Keeeee!"
The Caucasian Eagle screamed, surging forward. Its sharp beak ripped apart the countless wind blades, tearing them to shreds as it clashed with the falcon head-on.
"What beast is this?" Iblisveil scowled, irritation clear in his eyes. "You think some wild monster can rival the Familiars nourished by my blood?"
But what he didn't know was that this was no ordinary beast. This was the Caucasian Eagle, the same one Zeus had set upon Prometheus, sent to devour the god's liver day after day.
In other words, it was a Divine Beast that had feasted on the flesh of a god.
Unaware of this, Iblisveil called forth another Familiar.
"Crush it, Duamutef!"
A golden jackal with massive fangs appeared behind him, howling as it charged. Its very momentum made it believable that it could crush warships or fortresses with a single blow.
Kaiser met the challenge in kind.
This time, he summoned dragons.
The hundred-headed Ladon, guardian of the golden apples.
The sleepless Colchian Dragon, protector of the Golden Fleece.
And the legendary Trojan Dragons.
Each appeared in turn, their colossal forms surging forward against the jackal, the falcon, and finally, a third Familiar: Hapi.
Duamutef, Qebehsenuef, Hapi—these were the three Familiars Iblisveil had inherited. Few in number, yet each so overwhelmingly powerful that even Third Generation Elders struggled against them. Their names were feared across the Night Empire.
And yet, even together, they faltered before Kaiser's Divine Beasts. The eagle and dragons overwhelmed them, driving them back with pitiful howls.
Enraged, Iblisveil summoned again.
"Rip their entrails out, Meretseger!"
A monstrous cobra appeared in the plaza, its body radiating purple miasma. The toxic vapor corroded the very air, dissolving everything it touched.
At once, Kaiser's summoned beasts screamed as their bodies began to melt.
"That Familiar..."
Aradahl, still grappling with Kaiser's beasts, narrowed his eyes.
"That belonged to the Second Princess of the Extinction Dynasty, Maevia!"
He was right. Meretseger had not originally been Iblisveil's Familiar. It had belonged to his elder sister, a fellow Second Generation vampire.
But when she secretly plotted against him during the Blazing Banquet, Iblisveil had crushed her, devoured her, and stolen her Familiars for himself.
"Even Divine Beasts can't withstand venom that corrodes everything!" Iblisveil declared triumphantly.
And then—
Another shadow rose before him.
"Your turn, Hydra."
From Kaiser's shadow burst forth a nine-headed monstrosity, its roar shaking the heavens.
"Slash!"
The Hydra, whose poison even the gods feared, lunged. Its nine heads sank their fangs into the cobra, injecting its deadly venom.
The serpent screamed as its body melted away into foul liquid, consumed by the Hydra's greater toxin.
"No... Impossible!"
Iblisveil's eyes went wide, his arrogance collapsing into disbelief.
"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui."
Kaiser lifted his hand, calm and unshaken. Azure flames erupted from his palm.
"Boom!"
The blast struck Iblisveil head-on, swallowing him in a sea of blue fire.