The already obsidian surface of the Black Blade: Yoru deepened instantly, transforming into a pitch-black sheen so dense it resembled a bottomless abyss, absorbing any and all ambient light.
"What is this?!"
Up ahead, Vaccine Man suddenly felt a visceral, suffocating wave of danger wash over it.
Whether it was an illusion or reality, it felt as though the man standing before it had completely shed his human shell, transforming into a divine, primordial blade. His presence radiated a razor-sharp, terrifying pressure that made it difficult to even breathe.
A split second later, Ryuu gripped the hilt with both hands and executed a flawless, effortless swing.
HUM—!
The sharp hum of the blade resonated straight into the heavens as a majestic crescent of green light erupted from the edge!
The monumental flying slash tore forward. The heavily armored concrete beneath its path split open cleanly, offering no more resistance than a block of soft tofu.
A cold dread gripped Vaccine Man's heart. Driven by pure survival instinct, it unhinged its jaws and unleashed an endless, frantic deluge of twisting azure plasma. It was the exact method it had used to shatter Ryuu's offensive before.
But this time, to the monster's horror, no matter how much energy it pumped into the blast, the defensive wall of plasma fared no better than the fractured street. The incoming emerald crescent sliced through the cascading lightning with absolute, terrifying ease!
As the flash converged on its position, the blinding green light illuminated Vaccine Man's mutated face, casting its features into a grotesque, emerald-tinted nightmare.
Even so, its expression twisted into a manic, desperate snarl.
"Do not presume a mere black sword gives you the right to look down on me!"
"I am the Apostle of the Earth! The absolute pinnacle of nature's wrath! No mortal shell can ever hope to harm—"
Relying entirely on a biology denser and harder than reinforced steel, the monster continued to roar its defiance into the incoming gale.
But the exact instant the strike connected, Vaccine Man's frantic shouting died permanently in its throat.
The sweeping torrent of green energy suddenly collapsed inward, condensing into a singular, razor-thin emerald line that fluidly swept right through the monster's titanic torso.
Right here and now.
Hovering in mid-air, Fubuki froze completely, her beautiful eyes staring down at the clearing in absolute, paralyzed awe.
Vaccine Man's colossal, ten-meter-tall frame remained locked in place, completely motionless. A brief second later... its body split neatly in two, the massive, mutated halves collapsing heavily into the dirt, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris!
Vaccine Man... was dead?!
The apocalyptic disaster, a monster whose baseline threat easily cleared the Dragon-level threshold, had been cleanly annihilated by a single strike from Ryuu's blade?!
As the magnitude of the feat registered, Fubuki turned her dazed gaze slowly toward the lone swordsman standing amidst the ruins.
This man... Hawkeye Mihawk... just how deep does his strength go?!
At that moment, however, Ryuu had no time to focus on Fubuki's starstruck, shocked expression. The moment the giant monster's life force faded, a rapid succession of system notifications began to detonate within his consciousness once more!
[Ding! You have slain a powerful biological entity and absorbed a massive reservoir of energy. Your character template synchronization is escalating rapidly!]
[Ding! Current role-playing completion rate +5%!]
[Ding! Current role-playing completion rate +5%!]
The notifications rolled out continuously, driving his synchronization metric past every remaining threshold until it finally slammed into a whopping 80%!
BOOM—!
In that singular breath, Ryuu's entire physical frame shuddered violently as a miraculous, reality-altering transformation erupted within his core!
.-----
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