Cao Cao.
Direct descendant of the legendary warlord who once dominated the Three Kingdoms era.
Setting aside Bokue Keikain as the obvious exception to all metrics, Cao Cao would otherwise be the undisputed strongest human alive.
Unfortunately for him, reality didn't care about qualifiers. You could stack modifiers all day long and crown yourself king of whatever shrinking hill you liked, but the moment you removed the asterisks, the hierarchy reasserted itself with zero sympathy.
Which was how, just a few days ago at the International Rankings Tournament trial run in Lilith, Cao Cao had been swatted aside like a stray cat wandering into traffic. Two hits. Sent flying out of the city along with his weapon. Humiliation of the highest order.
And yet here he was again. Standing on the rooftop of Keystone Gate, spear in hand, as if the memory of that beating had already faded.
"Cao Cao?"
Arthur's voice was measured, analytical. He adjusted his glasses with one hand, his golden-hilted sword still pulsing softly in the other.
"How did you find this location? The spatial shielding over this island should have made it impossible to track us."
"Ah, that one's on me."
Bokue raised a hand.
"When I pulled you guys over just now, I wasn't careful enough. Jostled the barrier a bit. Left a gap."
Internally, he was already calculating the fallout. The spatial barrier over Itogami Island had been reconstructed by Natsuki Minamiya after she'd regained her full power. His stunt of forcibly yanking the Vali Team across two kilometers of shielded airspace had definitely sent ripples through the whole structure, and Natsuki had almost certainly noticed.
Which meant he was in for an earful when he got back tonight.
Not that it was a real problem. Nothing a thorough "apology session" couldn't fix. And if one session wasn't enough, he'd just keep going until Natsuki lost consciousness. Problem solved.
While Bokue was busy mentally drafting his damage-control strategy for the Natsuki situation, Cao Cao drove his spear butt-first into the ground and planted himself like a general addressing the troops.
"Allow me to correct one thing. I'm not here to start trouble. I'm here to restore order."
What kind of TED Talk opening was this?
The spear-wielder drew a deep breath, puffed himself up with all the gravitas of a feudal lord reading an imperial decree, and bellowed:
"The traitors known as the 'Vali Team' are hereby expelled from the Khaos Brigade on charges of attempting to abduct the Supreme Leader!"
"Furthermore! Bokue Keikain! You have conspired with these traitors and intend to weaponize the Infinite Dragon God Ophis for your own terrorist agenda! For this crime, you are sentenced to death!"
"And one more thing. Word has it the Three Factions Peace Summit was brokered under your leadership. Imagine what would happen if it came to light that the man behind the peace talks was actually plotting to threaten the entire world. I'd wager that would shake quite a few alliances to their foundations, wouldn't you say?"
Pfft.
Bokue, who had been wearing his usual neutral expression, actually laughed out loud.
"Honestly? You'd have a better career in stand-up comedy than you do swinging that stick around."
"Enjoy the jokes while you can."
Cao Cao's grin was all teeth, radiating the particular brand of confidence that only the profoundly delusional could muster.
"I'll admit I underestimated you in Lilith. That cost me an eye."
"Oh?"
Bokue's gaze drifted to the spear-wielder's right eye, which now pulsed with an unsettling violet luminescence.
"I was wondering about that. Thought something looked off. Your eye didn't used to glow purple."
"Medusa's Eye."
Cao Cao offered the explanation freely, as if showing off a new piece of gear in a video game.
The name alone was enough to convey the implications.
"But that's not all. This time, I came fully prepared to put you down for good. Siegfried! Georg! Get ready!"
"Wait, I have to fight too?"
The young man called Georg pushed his glasses up his nose. Staff in hand, he was clearly the support caster of the group.
"Of course you do. You're the most important piece of this entire operation."
Cao Cao shot him a look.
"You're holding the weapon capable of stripping the Infinite Dragon God of her power. And since he's the Red Dragon Emperor's successor, he definitely retains draconic properties. What you've got in your hands is a lethal poison specifically designed to kill him."
Anti-dragon poison?
At the back of the group, Ddraig's expression shifted instantly. The Red Dragon Empress, who'd been watching the proceedings with the detached amusement of a spectator at a zoo, went rigid.
She exchanged a glance with Albion beside her, dropping her voice low.
"Hey. You don't think he means..."
"I don't know. The description matches, but I refuse to believe he could actually produce something like that."
The White Dragon Empress shook her head, face tight with unease.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired young man Cao Cao had addressed as Siegfried materialized six demon swords from thin air, the blades fanning out behind him in a lethal halo. Raw demonic energy erupted from his body.
In the next instant, his form changed. From both sides of his ribcage, his torso bulged and split outward, sprouting four additional arms in a display that looked like something out of a creature-feature film. Combined with his original two, that gave him six arms total, each gripping a different sword.
'...Why does he look like one of those crab-soldier extras from the old Journey to the West cartoon?'
Bokue kept his face perfectly blank while the observation rattled around inside his skull.
Unlike Ddraig and Albion, whose expressions had gone grim, Bokue viewed Cao Cao's entire performance roughly the way one might regard a circus act. Entertaining in a "let's see where this goes" sort of way, but fundamentally unserious.
Let the man finish his routine. It wasn't like there was anything better to do right now.
At last, with both of his companions in position, Georg raised his staff overhead.
"Come forth! The hour of infinite consumption is at hand!"
His arms spread wide. Behind him, a pitch-black magic circle exploded into existence, spanning a full third of Keystone Gate's rooftop. Waves of frigid, malevolent energy poured from its surface, so thick and suffocating that the air itself seemed to curdle.
"That aura... it's directed exclusively at dragons. Overwhelming, hostile intent...!"
Ddraig's composure shattered.
She and Albion both stumbled backward a half-step in unison, driven by the same primal instinct that makes prey animals freeze when a predator's shadow falls across them.
A massive, pitch-black shape began to emerge from the magic circle.
Head first. Then torso. Black, ragged wings. A crucifix.
It was a creature nailed to a cross. Every restraint on its body was pulled taut to the breaking point, pinning it in place so completely that it couldn't so much as twitch. Even its eyes were covered by bindings, and from behind those bindings, tears of blood seeped through the cracks. Cursed script crawled across the surface of every restraint like living tattoos.
When the thing fully materialized, nearly everyone present drew a sharp breath.
A colossal black creature, crucified and impaled with countless nails. Its upper body spread tattered, crow-black wings like a fallen angel, while its lower body coiled into the form of a serpent. Lashed to the cross like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution.
"Ohhhh... ohhhhhhh..."
The crucified thing groaned. The sound that leaked from its throat was alien, wretched, soaked in suffering, jealousy, agony, and hatred. Every negative emotion distilled into a single, continuous moan. Bloody saliva dripped from its bared teeth.
Even from a distance, the thing radiated a palpable aura of divine punishment.
"They actually brought that thing here!"
Albion swallowed hard.
"Former host! You need to get clear! That thing is—!"
Ddraig was already shouting, trying to warn Bokue.
But Cao Cao was faster. His grin widened, and he snapped his fingers with theatrical flair.
"Eat."
The crucified creature vanished from the cross in a blur of black, streaking through the air like a bolt of condensed malice.
Its target wasn't Bokue.
It was headed straight for Ophis.
The tiny gothic girl stood rooted to the spot. Whether she hadn't reacted in time or simply didn't care was impossible to tell.
But in the fraction of a second before the creature's abyssal jaws could close around her, Bokue was already there, standing between Ophis and the oncoming nightmare.
He took it head-on.
The massive shadow engulfed the young man whole, and the rooftop filled with the sounds of gnawing and swallowing.
Several seconds passed.
Then, from inside the writhing black mass, Bokue's voice drifted out.
"That's it?"
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