Nagami slowly stepped up to Inori Yuzuriha, casually wrapping one arm around her slender waist.
Then, to the shock of everyone watching, he reached his other hand toward the girl's chest.
"Nagami! What are you doing?! We're literally surrounded by enemies right now! If you really want to grope someone, wait until we get home—I'll let you touch as much as you want!"
Nia Honjou's voice was abruptly cut off, like someone yanking the plug on a television.
As Nagami's right hand approached, a soft blue-violet light began to glow from Inori's chest, eventually forming a radiant ring.
She gently closed her eyes, her long, curled lashes trembling slightly.
With her delicate features and pale pink hair, she looked like a fragile flower, waiting silently for someone to pick her.
Then, a calm and ethereal voice rang out:
"Please, use me, Nagami"
With a slight smile tugging at his lips, the "King's Sigil" from the Law of the Void within Nagami's body began to glow.
A powerful wave of void energy surged from within him.
Shimmering silver-purple crystal ribbons, flecked with stardust, appeared from the void and circled the two of them gracefully.
The very air hummed with the soft, whispering chants of the void.
Responding to Nagami's will, the glowing ring on Inori's chest began to shine even more intensely.
His jet-black eyes gradually turned into a brilliant, eerie crimson, while his dark hair flowed gently in the wind, as though touched by a force beyond the world.
Nagami didn't hesitate any longer.
He reached directly into the blinding light blossoming from Inori's chest.
"Ah…"
A soft moan escaped the girl's lips.
A sound like crystal shattering filled the air as radiant blue-violet light enveloped his arm.
Nagami felt an unseen power crystallizing and condensing into his right hand.
Inori's slender body, unable to withstand the intensity of this force, slowly began to slump backward.
Nagami caught her by the waist and gently pulled his right hand free.
A gleaming layer of amethyst crystal encased his hand—an ethereal weapon being born.
Unfortunately, Ellen and the DEM magicians didn't know how to play fair.
As proper villains in an anime-style showdown, they should've waited patiently for the protagonist's transformation to finish before launching an attack.
But clearly, Ellen had no interest in being a proper villain.
"Open fire!"
The armored plates of her tactical manifestation unit detached and hovered around her.
Dozens of Bandersnatch units and artificial magicians raised their weapons in unison.
Dozens of searing energy beams tore through the air like a laser storm, crashing toward Nagami with lethal precision.
But—
Amid the radiant beams and swirling void ribbons, Nagami raised the massive, blue-violet crystalline pillar high into the air.
With a crystalline chime, the amethyst covering his arm shattered like glass. Light particles exploded outward in a dazzling burst, revealing the massive, gleaming blade beneath—cold, metallic, and humming with overwhelming power.
A whirlwind exploded outward.
The barrage of deadly light was scattered like dust before the storm.
A raging vortex of void energy howled through the battlefield, sending silver-purple light spiraling into the sky.
The heavens roared, clouds spinning and parting as if stirred by a celestial hand.
The glowing pillar of void energy pierced the clouds, painting the sky with the image of a giant star spiral.
"Heh… this is the perfect example of using 'invincibility animation time' to its fullest~"
Nagami chuckled.
Joking aside, in this moment, he really was untouchable.
(Well, uh… except nowadays that word "invincible" is kind of a debuff…)
"Wh-What… is that…?"
As the wielder of the angel Rasiel, Nia had a solid grasp of the abilities and identities of most Spirits.
But even she stared blankly in shock at the massive void blade in Nagami's hand.
Yes, it was a giant sword—but it clearly wasn't the same as the one used by Zafkiel, the Angel of Slaughter.
Besides, Inori wasn't even a Spirit.
Nia's Rasiel couldn't detect anything about her origins before she appeared in this world.
Pulling a massive sword out of a girl's chest like that… That was just ridiculous.
And that size… Could anyone even handle something like that?
"Ara… I didn't expect that girl to have that kind of power…"
Kurumi Tokisaki, having easily evaded Mana's strike, stared toward the nebula-like swirl of light surrounding Nagami and Inori.
Her wine-red eyes sparkled with amusement and surprise.
As expected, no one around Nagami was ever ordinary.
Should she say it? As someone from another world, he was shrouded in mystery—and filled with danger.
"You… You're not a Spirit?"
Ellen's brows furrowed tightly, her amethyst eyes filled with deep unease.
For the first time, a serious wariness crept into her expression as she locked eyes with Nagami, as though she still couldn't believe what she was seeing.
The environment had changed so drastically, yet she couldn't sense even a hint of spirit energy or magic.
Instead, the power she felt was something completely unknown.
How was that possible?
How could there be anything in this world besides Spirits and magicians?
Could some other power truly exist?
Who—no, what—exactly was this boy named Nagami?
"I already introduced myself, didn't I?"
He loosened his grip around Inori's waist, ruffled her soft pink hair gently, and sent his thoughts into the Apocalypse Virus Network with a smile.
The pink-haired girl's glassy, pure eyes suddenly turned a haunting crimson, and with them, her entire aura shifted.
That once-innocent face now radiated an otherworldly, seductive allure capable of turning the world upside down.
"My true name... I entrust this body to you, Nagami," she whispered.
Nagami, now gently floating in mid-air, cast his eyes toward the grim-faced Ellen.
"If you didn't catch it the first time, I don't mind repeating myself."
He raised the massive sword lightly, the howling wind dancing around him.
Though the Void Greatsword appeared to be impossibly heavy, it felt almost weightless in Nagami's grasp—more like a toy than a weapon.
With just a casual swing, the sword erupted in a tidal wave of void energy infused with Honkai power.
Purple-silver light surged from the blade, expanding outward in a brilliant arc like a blade of pure cosmic force.
"That's right... I'm the Herrscher."
The beam, glimmering like a star-strewn galaxy, sliced through the air, tearing space and exploding the atmosphere around it.
In the blink of an eye, it crossed the battlefield and slammed into the DEM's Bonders and artificial magicians.
They barely had time to activate their personal barriers with their display units, but the limited energy reserves in the Bonders weren't nearly enough.
Dozens of artificial magicians were caught in the attack radius.
They pooled every last ounce of their magic into defensive barriers—barely withstanding the first impact.
But in the aftermath of the void energy explosion, they dropped like flies.
"This is impossible!"
Ellen's cool, composed demeanor finally cracked into open shock.
Even she couldn't help but cry out at the sheer absurdity of the power—a single swing of the sword had caused this much destruction?
"This... is the power of a King."
The enchanting, pink-haired girl raised a slender finger with a devilish smirk.
As she moved, countless violet void crystals materialized mid-air and shot forward, latching onto the artificial magicians like a swarm of cursed vines.
"Those who dare offend a King... must be punished."
Their magic exhausted, the artificial magicians had no hope of resisting the terrifying force of the Apocalypse Virus.
In mere seconds, purple-black crystals had already spread across their bodies, immobilizing them.
"I don't care what you are," Ellen snarled. "But you'll never defeat me at full power!"
She wasn't a typical villain—not some arrogant blowfish who underestimates her opponent.
Ellen could feel the overwhelming danger radiating off Nagami.
She wasn't saying those words for him—she was trying to keep herself from falling apart.
Gripping her sword tightly, magic surged through her.
Her laser blade glowed even brighter, charged with deadly energy.
With a sonic boom from her jet boosters, Ellen launched herself like a missile, closing the distance in an instant.
She brought her greatsword down in a brutal, precise arc.
The air screamed as the blade cleaved downward—only to be met by a sharp metallic clash.
'CLANG!'
Sparks flew.
The Void Greatsword blocked the laser blade effortlessly.
The violent shockwave of the clash sent ripples through the battlefield, as if a bomb had just gone off at the point of impact.
Nagami had no interest in pulling punches just because she was a beautiful woman.
To borrow from Satou Kazuma: he was a firm believer in true gender equality.
With a mighty swing, Nagami raised the Void Greatsword and brought it crashing down like a mountain.
It slammed into Ellen's sword with devastating force.
A shuddering impact ran through her arms.
She could feel the overwhelming weight, like a tidal wave crashing through her defenses.
Her specially designed laser sword, tailored precisely for her magic and combat style, nearly snapped in two.
She wasn't just overpowered—she was crushed.
The blow sent her flying, knocked straight from the sky.
She slammed into the ground below, her blade digging into the earth as she struggled to arrest her momentum.
Even then, she was driven back almost a hundred meters before coming to a stop, forced to kneel to stabilize herself.
Her hands trembled as she floated back into the air, her jet boosters struggling to hold her steady.
She stared at Nagami, her eyes wide with disbelief.
'How is this even possible?!'
Her combat suit wasn't a mass-produced model—it was custom-tailored to her body and magical signature.
Even if it wasn't specialized for brute strength, it was still powerful enough to stop the charge of an airborne warship.
Yet in front of Nagami... it was like a twig against a tidal wave.
"The world's strongest magician? That's it? Are you a discounted Aquarius?"
Nagami's voice dripped with sarcasm.
When it came to mocking or provoking opponents, he was nothing short of professional.
"You...!!"
Ellen's expression darkened instantly.
She'd never been insulted like this before. Her blood pressure spiked.
"AAAHHH! I'm going to kill you!"
Veins bulged faintly on her forehead.
Her chest heaved with fury, and her face turned red with rage.
Magic exploded around her, the laser sword in her hand nearly doubling in size.
Golden arcs of energy danced across its edge from the intense energy build-up.
Like a raid boss enraged, the lady magician charged again.
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