The massive sword tore open the earth, sending fragments of stone mixed with crimson Originium growths skyrocketing, making the entire battlefield look like it had bloomed into a field of blood-red, deadly lilies.
"Fall back! Get away from him!"
For the first time, Talulah shouted in alarm.
What had once seemed like a certain victory had turned into something completely unpredictable the moment this Sarkaz man transformed.
(Wings… sprouting from his back?)
From what Talulah knew of her Draco bloodline, ancestral throwbacks weren't unheard of—some distant relatives had grown horns or even wings—but those were rare and only spoken of in legends.
But the man in front of her?
What was happening to him couldn't be explained by bloodlines or power surges. He wasn't just stronger, faster, or more magically potent—he had changed entirely. His combat style, habits, rhythm—everything had transformed.
This wasn't just a mutation. It was evolution by force.
And it terrified her.
Even when she had faced legendary warriors or clashed blades with the wielder of the Crimson Dawn, she had never felt such despair.
"All Reunion members—disengage! Conserve your strength!"
She could resist him—perhaps—but her followers? They were charging straight into hell.
Talulah could be ruthless. She could be cruel. But as Reunion's leader, she valued the lives of the Infected.
Just like Amiya.
"Face me, coward! Or die where you stand!!"
But "Revy" wasn't about to let anyone escape.
With a roar filled with rage—even he didn't understand where it came from—he leapt like a cannonball toward the retreating white-cloaked Reunion forces, sword raised to strike.
"Not on my watch!!"
Talulah, equally furious, unleashed her full power. Her blade swept forward, releasing a rain of fire aimed straight at the demonic man.
Clang!
Swords clashed.
The spiked blade in Revy's hands met her flaming weapon. Talulah frowned—the strength behind his attack was nearly overwhelming. She poured her energy into her blade, igniting it with searing fire.
But Revy didn't retreat.
Instead, he stepped forward into the flames, smiling.
Talulah's heart skipped a beat.
(He's immune? No… he doesn't even feel it!)
Then—black smoke seeped from Revy's blade, faster than fire, more corrosive than poison.
"Tch!"
Talulah abandoned her weapon and leapt back, trying to escape the smoke. Her blade, engulfed, quickly rusted, cracked, and turned to ash before it hit the ground.
(What kind of power is this?!)
Before she could react, the greatsword slashed from within the smoke.
She raised a flame barrier with pure energy—but wherever the blade touched, the heat vanished.
She dodged, but not fast enough—her shoulder was slashed open, a deep wound down to the bone.
"Sister Talulah!"
Mephisto cried out and tried to help—but Faust stopped him, shaking his head gravely.
Faust knew: this was no longer a fight mortals could interfere with.
"But—!"
Before Mephisto could argue, Revy stopped moving.
He just stood there, staring down at the wounded Talulah and the stunned Reunion forces.
Then he shook his head.
"Boring… Too weak."
With a flex of his wings, Revy floated into the air.
His greatsword vanished into a red spark of light.
"If there's no worthy resistance—then perish!"
Raising his right hand, Revy gripped at the air—summoning a strange, shapeless weapon formed of red-black light, somewhere between a spear and a staff.
Everyone below felt it.
A terrifying premonition of death.
Even though their feet were still planted on solid ground, it was as if a dagger had already been placed to their throats.
Revy's face was blank.
"If from the earth buds can grow, so too can darkness.""As light returns, darkness and shadow will rise alongside it."
The sky dimmed.
The air became thin.
A dreadful silence fell, as if the whole world were holding its breath for the end.
"As the halo shines, the darkness opens its eyes and gazes back. The shadow shall—ugh?!"
His chant broke.
Talulah's eyes widened in disbelief.
Revy's body arched unnaturally—something behind him had looped around his neck.
"Now!"
Talulah didn't hesitate.
If she didn't act now, she and all of Reunion might die here alongside Chernobog.
Her sword was gone—but her magic was not.
She gathered all the surrounding heat into a flaming spear and launched it toward the demon in the sky.
In half a second, it closed to within three meters.
Then—Revy's wings beat once.
The spear shattered into flames.
(No… no…!)
Her heart sank.
But Revy didn't continue the chant.
Nor did he strike back.
Instead, he looked down at Talulah with a curious, almost thoughtful expression.
And then—
With a flash of wings, he vanished into the clouds above.
Gone.
Leaving only a battlefield of scorched earth… and a dazed, battered Reunion force.