Black flames erupted around her body, the corrupted fire burning colder than ice. With a flick of her staff, the flames surged outward, a storm of abyssal fireballs filling the air. Kaito's Overlord Rage pushed his body beyond normal limits. His movements blurred as he weaved through the storm, the Solstice Blade cutting one fireball after another, each explosion lighting the throne room in bursts of blue and black.
She shifted again, stabbing her staff into the ground. From the cracks that spread across the marble, skeletal hands clawed upward, reaching to bind him in chains of bone. Kaito did not falter. He slashed downward, sparks of crimson flame bursting from his sword as he cut the hands apart. His blade hummed, and with a fluid spin, he unleashed Aerial Claw Slash, three arcs of light tearing across the skeletal tide, burning them to ash before they could hold him.
The Queen's eyes narrowed. She raised her wings and flapped them once. A gale of abyssal wind roared across the room, filled with fragments of shadow that sliced like blades. Kaito planted his sword in the ground, the glow of Deflecting Edge rising around him. The gale struck, sparks flying as the shield deflected wave after wave, leaving him standing firm in the storm.
He roared and charged again. His blade blurred into eight shadows as he slashed across her midsection, forcing her to retreat step after step. Sparks of red lightning danced across his strikes, leaving shallow wounds across her robes and body.
–1,182
–1,096
–1,224
The Queen's health bar dipped again, ticking downward with each clean strike. Her fury only grew. She raised her staff high, gathering demonic energy until it filled the room with suffocating weight. A massive sphere of black and silver lightning formed above her head, pulsing like a heart. She hurled it forward, and the throne room shook as the sphere descended.
Kaito clenched his teeth and launched forward with Wind Veil Steps, his body blurring into streaks of light. At the last moment, he shot upward and carved across the sphere with a flaming arc slash. The impact detonated the ball, the explosion filling the throne room with violent energy. The shockwave hurled him backward, but his Overlord Rage kept him standing.
When the haze cleared, the Queen stood snarling, smoke rising from her body. Her health bar had dipped further, now hovering at 80%.
....
Kaito's aura still burned violently, his body blazing with strength from Overlord's Rage. Every second mattered. Ten minutes of berserk power was all he had, and if the Queen was still standing by then, he would fall.
The Mist Queen Demon spread her black succubus wings wide. Her speed surged, her figure flickering through the air like a shadow. Abyssal energy clung to her staff, twisting the air as she attacked without restraint. She no longer cared for defense. Her mind was clouded by rage and the endless whisper of the Abyss. All she wanted was to destroy the ant who dared defy her.
Kaito met her head-on. With the Solstice Blade in his right hand and the Dragon Fang in his left, he unleashed a storm of attacks. Sword shadows flashed around him, striking from every angle. The blades hammered at her vitals neck, chest, abdomen, and wings. Sparks and blood-black mist burst with every impact.
–1,142
–986
–1,204
The Queen shrieked, countering with a downward slash of her staff. Kaito braced, his body glowing faintly as he activated Elemental Guard. Abyssal flames crashed against the barrier, exploding outward. The shockwave hurled him backward, but he twisted mid-air and landed lightly, already dashing in again.
"Cut!"
The Solstice Blade flashed, carving a clean arc that tore into her side.
–1,042
"Cross Slash!"
Both blades moved at once, forming an X of light that ripped across her chest.
–1,878
The Queen howled in fury, her wings flaring. She shot upward and hurled a spear of abyssal lightning. Kaito's eyes sharpened. He angled Dragon Fang forward, his body spinning.
Deflecting Edge.
The lightning bent away, striking harmlessly into the wall and shattering the marble. Using the spin, Kaito leapt high, his blades glowing.
Aerial Claw Slash!
Three arcs of sword light crashed into her wings and torso, tearing black feathers and leaving trails of blood-mist.
–1,120
–1,304
–1,276
The Queen staggered, her crimson eyes blazing. She roared and sent a wave of abyssal frost sweeping across the floor. The air froze solid, ice spreading toward Kaito in jagged spikes. He raised his blade, fire and lightning sparking together.
Blazing Thunderclash!
The explosion of flame and lightning ripped the ice apart, the storm consuming the Queen and blasting her against the throne.
–2,341
Kaito charged immediately. He thrust both blades forward, slashing in relentless succession. The Solstice Blade erupted with flame, the Dragon Fang shimmered with cold steel, and together they carved sword shadows that tore at the Queen's defenses. She swung her staff in fury, each strike meeting his blades in bursts of sparks.
"Flame Arc Slash!"
The Solstice Blade blazed red as he swung in a fiery arc, searing into her abdomen.
–2,112
Her HP bar plummeted again. She shrieked, abyssal energy exploding outward, forcing him back. But Kaito pressed forward, his eyes unwavering. He could feel the seconds slipping away.
By the time the clash slowed, the Mist Queen Demon's HP had dropped to 60%. Her wings trembled, her robes were torn, and abyssal mist leaked from deep gashes across her body. Yet her fury only grew.
Kaito steadied his blades, sweat mixing with blood on his cheek. He had forced her this far, but she was far from finished.
Even though Kaito knew this fight would be long and bitter, exhaustion was beginning to creep into his body. His muscles ached, his breathing grew heavier, and each swing of his blades carried the weight of countless clashes. He downed another Minor Regeneration Potion, feeling its slow warmth spread through him as his HP climbed steadily upward.
The Mist Queen Demon was no less relentless. She had taken heavy damage, but her crimson eyes glowed brighter than ever, burning with hatred. She would not let him recover. Her wings beat once, scattering black mist into the air, and she raised her staff. Abyssal energy surged, pulsing like a living thing.
Before Kaito could strike again, the Queen's staff flared with shadow, and his vision blurred. A heavy pressure sank into his mind, dark and suffocating. He tried to move, but his surroundings warped. The throne room dissolved like smoke.
When his sight cleared, he was no longer in battle.
He stood in a vast hall filled with cheering voices. His blade dripped with the blood of defeated enemies. At his feet lay the broken body of the Mist Queen Demon, her eyes lifeless, her staff shattered. He had won.
The vision shifted. He was outside the dungeon now, standing tall before the Orion Syndicates Boss. Their bulding and their power burned as their leaders fell one by one before his blade. They knelt in defeat, his proud arrogance shattered as Kaito's sword pierced through him. The whispers of the world rose in awe his name was on every tongue.