Itogami Island, the top of the Keystone Gate.
This was the highest point on the entire island, a watchtower from which one could see everything—the whole of Itogami Island and even the surrounding sea. The wind howled violently. With no railing around the edges, it wouldn't have been strange for anyone standing here to be blown straight off. Let alone two delicate-looking girls.
And yet, even as alarms rang across the island and chaos spread through the night, two girls stood here.
One stood at the very center, like a shrine maiden on an altar, eyes closed as raging waves of magic poured off her body. The other sat casually on the edge, legs dangling over the abyss, swaying them back and forth as if without a care.
"Thump!"
A sound of space being pierced—and Kaiser appeared.
"So you've finally come?"
The fairy-like girl let out a joyful cry, as if greeting a long-awaited lover.
"I've waited so long for you... king of beasts."
With those words, she rose to her feet and stepped toward him.
Kaiser's gaze was drawn to her, unwillingly.
He couldn't help it.
That iridescent hair, shimmering like flames. That pale-blue fire burning in her eyes. A face that inspired awe and dread alike—a face he had only recently seen within Nagisa Akatsuki's mindscape.
The beautiful vampire girl, so lovely she'd been called the "Sleeping Beauty."
Avrora Florestina.
"A fake, huh?" Kaiser judged instantly.
"Oh?" The fairy-like girl arched a brow. "And what makes you so sure? Just because I wear this face, I must be an impostor?"
"You know there were twelve girls with this appearance once, don't you? So why not one more?"
But Kaiser only shook his head.
"It's obvious. During the Banquet, all those girls vanished. Every last one—including Avrora, who became the Fourth Progenitor."
The world here was not the same as the original tale.
In the original, Kojou Akatsuki became the Fourth Progenitor, but only an incomplete one. Nine Familiars were transferred into him, while three others ended elsewhere—one set with the dying Avrora into Nagisa, and two left inside the base body, never summoned. Kojou had the title of Fourth Progenitor, but he couldn't even summon his Familiars. His power was Progenitor-level only in raw magic, nowhere near complete.
But this world had changed.
Because of Kaiser.
When Avrora was brought to Itogami Island, she awakened early. She struggled against Nagisa for three years, then against the Root for three more. By the time of the Banquet, the Root had prepared everything. All three Night Empires sent their base bodies. All twelve entered the ritual.
The Root devoured most of the Familiars, destroying most of the base bodies. But Avrora and the survivors fought back. With Nagisa possessed by the Root and the other bases sacrificing themselves, Avrora seized all twelve Familiars. She sealed the Root inside herself—and then ended her own life to destroy it.
That was the end.
Avrora and the others, those fairy-like beauties, were gone forever.
Avrora's soul lived on within Nagisa, carrying the complete power of the Fourth Progenitor. But her body was gone. Her beauty was gone.
So the girl before him could only be a fake.
And besides—
"The Warlord's deputy has appeared, the Extinction Dynasty's heir as well. And you expect me to believe the Chaos Realm would sit still?" Kaiser's voice was cold. His eyes locked on the girl.
"Isn't that right? Lord of the Chaos Realm, master of twenty-seven Familiars, bearer of countless forms and endless faces. The faceless one... called the Third Progenitor, the Chaos Bride."
"Giada Kukulcan."
At those words, the girl smiled.
Not the innocent, fairy-like smile from before, but a wild one—seductive, predatory, like a hunting leopard. On that dreamlike face, it looked almost wrong.
Then, as Kaiser watched, her form shifted.
The rainbow hair melted into a jewel-like pale green.
Her glowing azure eyes faded, replaced by emerald depths like a bottomless lake.
She still looked young, but the ethereal fairy was gone. In her place was a sharp, exotic beauty—fierce, predatory, as if carved from the wild.
The true face of the Chaos Bride.
"To name me so quickly without ever having met... Beast King, you've got sharp eyes." Giada's voice was unchanged, but now carried a sovereign weight.
Unlike Iblisveil's shallow arrogance, her presence wasn't outwardly haughty. But every word, every movement, radiated authority, making it impossible to forget she was a ruler.
Kaiser had met people like this before—Luo Hao, for instance. But Luo Hao was domineering in every way, inside and out. Giada's dominance was woven into her very being, both restrained and overwhelming.
And here she was. One of the three vampire Progenitors who had built the Night Empires—standing before him on Itogami Island.
Compared to her, Vatler, Aradahl, even Iblisveil were nothing. If the Island Management Corporation knew she was here, they'd be trembling in terror.
It was no different from a natural disaster in human form descending upon the island.
In the world of the Campione, this would be like a Demon King appearing in one's nation—a terror rulers could only dread.
But Kaiser wasn't just the Beast King. He was a Campione, a true Demon King himself.
"I won't bother asking why you're here." Kaiser glanced at her as though she were an insect showing off before him. He pointed at Nagisa Akatsuki, who still stood motionless at the center, eyes closed.
"I'll only ask—what did you do to her?"
He already knew why the Progenitors moved. Aradahl and Iblisveil's actions had told him enough.
They were restless. He was a new variable, one who might alter the world order. The Progenitors wanted to test him, to gauge his stance. They wanted to know if he would disrupt the balance under the Sacred Treaty. And, most of all, they were curious. Curious about whether something greater than them had appeared. Curious about the mythic age before their birth.
The Warlord couldn't break the treaty, so he sent a deputy. The Second Progenitor hated leaving his domain, so he sent a descendant. But the Chaos Bride had come herself, stirring the pot more than any of them.
She had even abducted Nagisa.
That was her preparation.
Kaiser understood it all. But he didn't care.
The only thing he cared about was Nagisa's condition.
"Relax," Giada said, reading his thoughts. "She's fine. For now."
"I thought so." Kaiser's tone was cold, steady. "But if she keeps releasing magic like this, it won't last, will it?"
"It can't be helped," Giada answered without hesitation. "She's a spirit medium, yes, but still just a servant of gods. How could a human safely house a soul forged for god-slaying?"
"Right now, Avrora Florestina is a complete weapon. A complete Fourth Progenitor. Even without her body, she has all the blood's memory, can generate magic on par with a dragon vein, and commands all twelve star Familiars. Do you understand what that means?"
"It means that girl is wielding the Authority to slay gods while still human. How could she not be cursed?"
Even a Campione, after killing a god, ceased to be human. Their bodies became godslayer beasts, only then able to endure divine power.
But Nagisa—she was still human. Housing this power, unleashing it.
Even Ena Seishuuin, a specialist in spirit channeling, was incapacitated for a week when possessed, and even then could only wield a fragment of a god's strength. Nagisa, though the highest-grade medium, could never wield god-slaying power freely without consequence.
Her body hadn't collapsed, her mind hadn't broken—only because Avrora had been restraining herself, shielding her host.
But now, things had changed.
Under Giada's control, the Fourth Progenitor's safety mechanism—Freeze Mode—had been activated. Avrora's self was completely asleep, no longer able to suppress or restrain the power.
Now all that overwhelming force was active inside Nagisa, fully awakened, under Giada's command.
Nagisa Akatsuki had become a complete weapon. A Fourth Progenitor with no self.
And that path only led to destruction.
Already, Kaiser could hear the screams of Nagisa's body.
And the one responsible was right in front of him.
His eyes turned to Giada, and killing intent poured forth.
"Mmm, that aura..."
Giada felt it like a thousand needles piercing her skin.
Kaiser wasn't bloodthirsty by nature. But as a shinigami, he had slain countless hollows. As a Campione, he had slain more than ten gods. He was no weapon built to slay gods—he was a godslayer in truth.
The Fourth Progenitor was created to slay gods. But Kaiser had achieved it. He was the reality behind the legend.
His killing aura, once released, could shake even a Progenitor.
And instead of shrinking back, Giada's eyes lit up with delight and hunger.
"You really care for that girl, Beast King." She smiled in satisfaction. "Then using her as my leverage was the right move."
Only this way would she see his true strength.
"Good. Now the real show begins."
Magic exploded around her, more than any vampire Kaiser had faced—more even than Nagisa's current form.
"Come then. Let me test your weight."