A brutal and overwhelming strike crashes against the ground. Within seconds, everything begins to fall apart — the earth shatters as if being thrown into the air. The impact, so powerful, keeps growing. Dust, rubble, dirt... all of it is hurled skyward, along with strange red lightning tearing through the sky.
Everyone who witnessed that desperate explosion started running out of the city. In a matter of seconds, everything turned into nothing more than destruction... and red dust.
Amid the debris, with her vision completely blurred, Anin struggles to stand and gather herself. She screams:
— Shizu! Where are you?!
A calm and serene voice echoes from within the red immensity, revealing a figure whose presence could make even the dead tremble:
— I'm right here… Don't worry, little angel…
Babadar emerges with a cold expression and a gentle smile, staring at Anin with empty eyes. Upon seeing that figure — its aura, its presence, its gaze — Anin begins to panic. Her hands tremble. Her eyes want to look away, but can't. What stood before her... no longer seemed human. It looked like a demon.
Knocking down pieces of walls and rooftops, Carlius desperately searches through the rubble for Anistina, who had been buried beneath. He shouts her name countless times, until the ground splits open in a burst of slashes.
Anistina jumps out of a hole, bleeding from her forehead and with wounded arms.
— Let's go! We have to help those two! — she says urgently.
Carlius, his face filled with worry, argues:
— Are you insane?! Look at your condition! If we go now, you'll probably die!
— IT DOESN'T MATTER! — she yells, turning to him with fury in her eyes.
Grabbing him by the collar, she continues, outraged:
— DO YOU REALLY THINK I'LL ABANDON THOSE TWO?! AS LONG AS I'M STILL STANDING, I'LL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO TAKE DOWN THAT TYRANT! NO MATTER WHAT! SO STOP FOOLING AROUND AND MOVE!
She shoves him away and begins walking toward the densest part of the red mist.
Outside the city, those who managed to escape watched in shock as the crimson fog of destruction swirled above them, with debris still raining down from the sky. Children cried for their parents. People wept for sons, daughters, and loved ones lost in the explosion. Others tried to comfort them amidst the chaos.
Within that thick mist, where light no longer passed, Anin stood still, facing Babadar — or rather, the thing using her body — with a fear she had never felt before. With trembling lips, she asked:
— Where's Babadar?...
The question came naturally, for just looking at that creature, she knew… this wasn't just Babadar anymore. There was something else there. Something... hungry for her life.
With a composed smile and a calm voice, the entity replied:
— Babadar?... She's right here... real close to me. And soon, you'll be here too.
Anin began to collapse. A deep fear invaded her mind. Her eyes trembled, her thoughts scrambled:
"WHY?! ... WHY AM I SO AFRAID?! … IS IT THAT PRESENCE?! … THIS MIST?! … WHAT'S HAPPENING?! … WHY DOES SHE TERRIFY ME SO MUCH?!"
Bending forward slightly, the figure introduced itself without warning:
— Pleasure to meet you... I'm Agner Vivonius, the Demon of Equivalence. I'm the one using this body. But since I've grown used to this human's name, you can call me Ana Babadar. Or whatever… I'm just really pissed off, and I intend to kill every living soul here.
Anin stood motionless. No reaction. No movement. No expression. Until slowly, she raised her hand and grabbed the blade of her sword, gripping it tightly.
Surprised, the demon asked:
— Huh? What are you doing? Gonna fight for your life? That's pointless. You already know it. So stop—
In a swift motion, she pulled the sword with her right hand, purposefully cutting her left. The demon stared, baffled, unsure if she had lost her mind. Then Anin raised her eyes and showed her bleeding hand before him, declaring:
— I swear, by every drop of my blood, and by all those who have died... by every soul you've taken with this human's hands... I will kill you!
The demon's eyes widened. Then, a wicked grin spread across his face, and he laughed loudly:
— If you really want that, I won't stop you. In fact… killing doesn't amuse me. What I enjoy… is watching you struggle and squirm. Like fish out of water!
Anin assumed her combat stance, gripping the sword with both hands at shoulder height. With a fierce dash, she lunged forward at absurd speed. Babadar laughed loudly. Her hammer began to transform — her aura overflowed.
She charged at Anin, opening a curtain of wind and demonic energy. The clash drew near.
Anin, with lightning-fast strikes, aimed for Babadar's head, but she ducked and reshaped her hammer, enlarging it to crush her. Anin leapt back, still slashing. The two entered a relentless exchange of powerful blows.
With each hit, they both stepped back. The strikes were so intense that blood began to pour from Anin's nose and ears — her body couldn't withstand so many violent attacks.
In a bold move, Babadar dodged a quick slash and came face to face with Anin, a crazed grin on her face. Her hammer transformed above Anin's head and came crashing down. Anin barely evaded to the left, but before she could recover, Babadar was already upon her with another brutal blow that sent her flying.
— Too slow! If you want to hit me, be at least three times faster than sound!
Struggling to her feet, Anin took a deep breath and unleashed a barrage of dark slashes.
— Malevolent Barrage!
Babadar charged forward, dodging many slashes while reshaping her hammer once again. She closed in, but Anin had foreseen this. Turning her sword to the ground, she struck hard, using the force to launch herself into the air.
Landing on her feet, she fired another technique:
— Frontal Slash!
A wide and powerful arc flew toward the demoness. Babadar dodged swiftly and counterattacked. But Anin stuck to her strategy — using her own slashes on the ground to propel herself and strike from above with precision.
She launched black projectiles:
— Malevolent Slash!— Frontal Slash!— Malevolent Slash!— Barrage of Slashes!— Frontal Slash!— Malevolent Boost!
She used all her techniques in sequence, without rest. Blood flowed heavily from her nose and ears, but she wouldn't stop. While dodging, Babadar mocked her:
— Hey, brat! Keep this up and you'll die from mana exhaustion before I kill you!
— BARRAGE OF SLASHES!! — screamed Anin, furious and desperate.
Out of patience, Babadar raised her aura even more. The air twisted around her. She flipped her hammer upside down and declared:
— Unique Passive: Power Equivalence!
Her hammer transformed — longer, thinner. She charged at Anin with rapid strikes. Anin kept slashing, but Babadar was ready. She mirrored Anin's movements, generating wind slashes that broke through the dark ones perfectly.
— What's wrong?! Thought you were the only one who could slash?!
The attacks intensified. Each collision triggered a massive explosion. Anin could barely stand, repeating to herself:
"If I stop, it's over... if I stop, it's over… IF I STOP, IT'S OVER!!"
Finally, Babadar overtook her in speed. She launched a wind slash to the right. Anin dodged left — just as Babadar wanted. She appeared behind her and, with her hammer now shaped like a blade, struck downward.
Anin, though outmatched, still turned to counter:
— Rising Flames!
The mist was blown away in an instant, revealing the blue sky and a massive fireball in the air. Laura raised one arm, holding the burning sphere, and shouted:
— Move aside, Commander Anin!
She hurled the fireball. Babadar grinned sarcastically:
— That little ball won't hurt a damn fly!
As it approached, Babadar punched the air with such force that the pressure alone dissipated the flame.
Anin ran over, panting:
— Since when are you against your mother?
Laura stared at Babadar, hatred in her eyes:
— Since she killed my grandfather.
Sliding down rubble like a ramp, Anistina and Carlius arrived at the battlefield. Anistina rushed to Anin:
— You're a mess! The fight's been brutal, hasn't it?
— Looks like it… — Anin said, wiping her nose.
Carlius approached with a serious, anguished look:
— So… that's the monster we're fighting?
Anin glanced at him, then at Babadar, raising her sword:
— Exactly. That's the monster we have to kill.
Babadar, clearly annoyed, growled:
— Done chatting yet? Or am I interrupting something?
— Isn't it obvious? You are interrupting, you pancake-brain, — Anistina mocked.
Babadar exploded in rage. Her aura expanded, and the mist spun around her like a vortex. She screamed:
— TODAY, THIS CONVERSATION ENDS!
Anin stomped the ground with a smirk:
— You know you've already said that like five times?
— I DON'T CARE IF I SAID IT 5, 10 OR 15 TIMES! THIS IS THE VERDICT: ALL OF YOU… DIE!!
She raised her hammer once again:
— Infernal Mist!!
— Not gonna happen! — shouted Laura.
She raised her sword, summoning another massive fireball, which once again dissipated the mist. She hurled it at Babadar, who dodged and charged at them.
Carlius blocked the strike with his blade, while Anistina and Anin rushed in to attack from behind.
The decisive battle against Babadar… begins now