——
At that moment, the Keystone Gate, the foundation of Itogami Island itself, groaned like it was crying in pain, swaying violently. The tallest structure on the island, the very pillar holding everything together—if it broke, the entire island would collapse.
And now, at its peak, a thundercloud had formed.
Bolts of lightning crackled from it, and the magical pressure it gave off was so immense it felt like gravity made solid, crushing down on the Keystone Gate until the whole tower creaked as though ready to shatter.
Anyone with knowledge could see it at a glance—this storm wasn't natural.
It was a Familiar.
Giada's Familiar.
"Go, Camaxtli!"
At her command, bluish-white lightning speared out from the storm, slicing through the air as it hurtled toward Kaiser. The bolts weren't simply flashes—they were concentrated lances of plasma, moving so fast they seemed invisible, hot enough to vaporize the very air around them.
In the blink of an eye, lightning powerful enough to level skyscrapers reached Kaiser.
"Boom!"
But instead of tearing through his seemingly fragile body, the lightning bounced off him like it had slammed into an iron wall, scattering upward uselessly.
"…!"
Giada's pleased expression froze, her pupils narrowing. She raised her hand sharply, urging the thundercloud above to unleash thousands of bolts at once, flooding the rooftop with a storm of lightning.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!"
The Keystone Gate shook even harder as thunder and explosions echoed like endless artillery fire.
By all rights, such power should have demolished the tower outright. Yet none of the bolts ever struck their target. Every one was deflected, scattering into the sky.
Kaiser stood unharmed in the middle of the storm, eyes cold.
The next instant, a pair of staves appeared in his hands. With a twist of his body, he hurled them.
One spiraled upward, wrapped in lightning, vanishing into the thundercloud. The other howled forward in a cyclone, tearing through the air toward Giada.
A primal alarm blared inside her instincts. This weapon… it wasn't like the divine beasts Kaiser had summoned, nor like the Familiars of the Progenitors. It was worse. Far worse.
"Xiuhtecuhtli!"
She didn't dare take chances. A column of fire erupted beside her like a volcanic serpent, writhing and bursting into streams of molten flame as it slammed against the incoming staff.
"BOOM!!"
The rooftop detonated. Fire and wind clashed in a catastrophic explosion, shockwaves bursting outward from the Keystone Gate.
All across Itogami Island, people screamed. Alarms shrieked even louder.
"Itzquimilli! Coatlicue!"
Giada's pupils narrowed to slits, her features twisting into something feral, almost beastlike.
Blood mist surged from her, birthing two more Progenitor-level Familiars.
One was a blizzard in the form of a white mist, a wave of explosive cold that plunged the temperature to killing levels. As it spread, it froze the Keystone Gate from top to bottom, avalanching toward Kaiser.
The other was a boundless darkness—an entire dimension of shadow, swallowing explosions and even one of Kaiser's staves, dragging them into a void where nothing could return.
"Crack!!"
Above, the thundercloud shattered like glass, dissipating. Kaiser's lightning staff had destroyed it from within, radiating power far greater than Giada's storm.
"Coatlicue!"
She reacted instantly, commanding her spatial darkness to extend upward, engulfing the lightning staff before it could strike her.
Meanwhile, the killing cold was already crashing down on Kaiser, smothering everything in its path.
"Hyōrinmaru…"
A blade appeared in Kaiser's hand, its hilt trailing a dragon-tail chain. From it surged a cold even sharper than the blizzard itself. With a single swing, the sword roared like an ice dragon, scattering the avalanche in a blinding burst of frost.
He swung again, unleashing a flock of ice-birds. They shrieked and dove at Giada.
"Xiuhtecuhtli!"
She answered with fire. Pillars erupted like volcanic fountains, serpents of flame writhing and thrashing as they met the frozen birds, burning them into steam.
But in Kaiser's other hand, a short blade had already appeared, its tip glinting with deadly intent.
"Shoot to kill, Shinsō."
With his cold command, the blade flashed, extending into a gleaming spear of silver light that pierced through the air straight at Giada's skull.
It was sudden, impossibly fast—even faster than the lightning she had unleashed earlier.
"Not that easy!"
She hadn't time to summon another Familiar, but her body moved first. Her hands had become hooked claws, and with a savage slash she caught the thrusting blade.
"Clang!"
Shinsō's tip deflected off her talons, sparks scattering.
And in that instant, Giada lunged forward like a gale, her claws falling toward Kaiser's head.
"Shhh!"
Kaiser vanished with Shunpo, sidestepping the lethal strike.
"Don't run!"
Giada laughed wildly, chasing him down, claws flashing like a reaper's scythes as she slashed again and again, her ferocity on full display.
Kaiser evaded easily, but he could see it now—her close-combat ability wasn't inferior to beastmen at all.
And that was shocking.
In raw physical power, vampires were never impressive compared to the wider demon race. Not even the Progenitors could outmatch beastmen in sheer strength.
But Giada, with her shapeshifting and mastery of countless powers, had mimicked a beastman's body with ease—and paired it with lethal skill. If not for the magic surging from her claws, no one would even think she was a vampire.
But this was wasted effort against Kaiser.
After all, he'd crossed blades evenly with the King of Swords himself.
Dodging one more swipe, Kaiser stepped in. Hyōrinmaru cut in a freezing arc, roaring like a dragon.
"Shhk!"
In an instant, Giada's claw was severed, tumbling away in shards of ice.
"Ugh…!"
She staggered but didn't retreat. Her remaining claw lashed out like a phantom.
"Clang!"
Kaiser caught it with Shinsō, deflecting the blow, then turned the blade into another silver flash.
"Shhhhk!"
This time it pierced her heart, driving clean through her chest and sending her reeling back.
"Ghhk—!"
Giada coughed blood, barely halting herself at the rooftop's edge, her body skewered on Shinsō's blade.
"Come forth, Xolotl!"
Her cry birthed a monstrous shape behind her—a towering skeletal giant. Empty eye sockets stared at Kaiser, its ribs gaping open like a gate to a void.
From that darkness, shells of pure annihilation fired forth, erasing space itself as they carved gaping black wounds through the air toward Kaiser.
One hit would bore a hole straight through Itogami Island and into the sea.
For once, Kaiser couldn't just shrug it off. His Curse Power Resistance could nullify mystical attacks—but if space itself was erased, he'd be dragged into collapsing dimensions or scattered across unknown voids.
Against this, brute force wouldn't do.
He dismissed Hyōrinmaru and Shinsō. A radiant spear formed in his grip, blazing with sacred power.
"Balance Breaker…"
Seven black orbs floated behind him.
"Maniratana!"
He leveled the spear. One orb shot forward, unfolding into a vortex.
"Hummmm…"
It devoured the oncoming void-shells, swallowing the erasure whole.
"Hummmm…"
Then, in an instant, the vortex vanished—only to reappear right in front of Giada.
"BOOM!"
The void-shell burst out, slamming into her.
Half her body was shredded instantly, blood exploding across the rooftop.
"It's over."
Kaiser raised his spear, its tip wreathed in holy fire.
Sacred power surged—the mortal enemy of all things demonic. It could erase devils, beasts, vampires. Even a Progenitor would fall if struck.
Compared to this, Aldegyr's forged holy sword or even high-dimensional relics were toys. This was true divinity, a weapon to exterminate demonkind.
Giada was finished.
At least, she should have been—
"BOOM!"
Another power erupted.
An enormous Familiar appeared, its body crystalline like sculpted ice, beautiful as a mermaid. It swung a claw, unleashing a freezing storm.
The cold dropped past absolute zero, freezing all it touched, locking even time itself. Kaiser had no choice but to retreat. Divine Dividing spread from his back as he shot upward, narrowly escaping the avalanche of frost.
"Crk-crk-crk-crk…"
The Keystone Gate was entombed in ice, transformed into a colossal glacier at the center of the island. The plaza and surrounding districts were buried in winter.
"Nagisa…"
Kaiser's face hardened as his eyes fell on the girl at the center of it all.
Nagisa Akatsuki had opened her eyes. Empty, hollow. Behind her loomed an enormous ice-bird, radiating cold that rivaled the goddess of winter herself.
"That was close."
Giada's voice rang out, amused, despite the blood dripping from her lips.
"If I hadn't taken control of this Sleeping Beauty, I'd be dead right now."
Her ruined body was already knitting together, rewinding as if time itself was restoring her.
"How long has it been since I've stood at death's edge?"
She laughed breathlessly, eyes gleaming.
"Perhaps not once, since I became a so-called Progenitor."
"To think you'd force me this far… You're truly absurd, Beast King."
She looked at Kaiser with sparkling eyes—without the slightest trace of hatred.
Not the look of someone who had nearly died.
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