It is said that each petal of this seven-layered, shield-like construct carries the defensive strength of an entire city wall. With seven layers, it becomes a fortress no army can breach.
"How is it even possible? It blocked a special-grade attack!"
"What a terrifying genius. That kind of defense… it's almost on par with Master Wu's Limitless Cursed Technique!"
Above the clouds...
Xia Youjie stood in awe, his face lit with a rare glimmer of admiration. Beside him, Mimiko and Nanako Kaba stared down in speechless disbelief.
How old is that boy?
He was actually going toe-to-toe with a special-grade, mutated curse spirit—and even gaining the upper hand.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
Mimiko Kaba, who had boldly declared she'd deal with Kurosawa Ren earlier, now looked pale. Her hands trembled as realization set in.
In that moment, she understood the meaning behind the phrase "the ignorant are fearless."
If she had actually gone up against such a curse spirit, she would have been crushed in an instant.
The Demon Mother Goddess's Domain allowed all her spells cast within it to become guaranteed hits—and worse, her cursed energy had a powerful corrosive effect.
SPLASH—
A flood of dying crescent moons crashed into Ren's seven-layered Blazing Sky Ring Shield. With each impact, black liquid burst outward.
That cursed water wasn't just an aesthetic flourish—it surged like it was drawn straight from the Nine Hells, brimming with unstoppable decay.
Even a barrier as mighty as the Sevenfold Ring was gradually being eaten away, riddled with holes.
Kurosawa Ren couldn't help but think of the Hydra from Greek mythology—its venom was so potent that even the great hero Hercules ultimately succumbed to it.
Now, the Blazing Sky Shield was on the brink of collapse. The Demon Mother's curse energy was eating it alive.
Ren inhaled deeply, steadying himself.
A serene calm washed over him.
Then, he began to chant softly—his voice low but resolute.
Magic coalesced in the air around him. Invisible hurricanes swirled to life, and his magical energy pulsed like blue lightning.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood..."
(Blood like steel, heart like glass.)
His magic circuits lit up—glistening with radiant energy.
"I have created over a thousand blades..."
(I have fought countless battlefields without defeat.)
The wind howled as power poured forth.
"Unaware of loss..."
(Though I have never once been defeated.)
Waves of power surged out in all directions.
"My whole life has been—Unlimited Blade Works!"
With the final verse, an overwhelming surge of magical force exploded outward—shattering the air and tearing the battlefield apart.
BOOOOM!!!
With a sound like thunder splitting the heavens, the world around Ren changed instantly.
The dense jungle, cursed swamp, and scorched battlefield were gone.
In their place stood a desolate wasteland—an endless plain under a blood-red sky.
All around him, swords were embedded in the ground, stretching as far as the eye could see.
It was always dusk here.
The sky, stained in crimson, was choked with sluggish, burning clouds. Massive gears rotated silently in the distance—suspended in the sky like forgotten gods.
This was the World of Swords.
Ren had invoked his Reality Marble.
A domain forged from personal truth—where the inner world of the mage becomes manifest.
Nanako gasped above.
"What... what is this place?!"
"That... that's not a Domain Expansion. That's something else entirely."
The scale of this projection was so vast that even Xia Youjie and the Kaba sisters had to retreat—fleeing on the back of the Pelican Curse Spirit to avoid being pulled in.
Yet their awe deepened.
Not far from the horizon, something twisted.
Another piece of land surfaced—bathed in blood-red light and filled with countless blades.
The blackened sky cracked open again, revealing massive gears bound by chains—unable to turn.
Ren's Reality Marble had forcibly fused two powerful sword domains: the red wasteland of Red Archer (Emiya), and the internal, invasive construct of Black Archer (Muramasa or Shirou Alter).
A double-layered sword world.
Xia Youjie's voice was hushed now.
"Each of those swords… could kill me."
He stared at the weapons stabbed into the ground. Every one of them was a Noble Phantasm—each with unique powers.
"This boy... he's beyond anything I imagined. He might actually be invincible."
"Broken Phantasm."
In the sky above, thousands of swords turned upward.
Their edges gleamed with deathly light—suspended in the air like a thousand blades of Damocles.
Ren raised his hand.
The swords all pointed down.
And then they fell.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!
A storm of steel crashed into the world.
Each sword landed with explosive force, turning the entire domain into a war zone.
Xia Youjie, watching from a safe distance, was visibly shaken.
"If it were me down there…" he murmured.
"Even if I summoned every curse spirit I had—thousands at once—I'd still be struggling just to escape."
His hands curled tightly into fists.
"This place… it's not something you can just run from."
For the first time in years, Xia Youjie felt true awe—and the flicker of a new desire:
"If only he understood my righteousness…"
"If he joined my family… no cost would be too high to bring him in."
CRACKLE! THUNDER!
The Demon Mother Goddess screamed as countless swords stabbed into her cursed body—her monstrous form reduced to shredded black mist.
But the real terror had just begun.
From within her own body... something was erupting.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK...
WAILING—
The sound of infant spirits echoed from deep inside her—followed by explosions.
The internal realm of Black Archer's Unlimited Sword Works had taken hold.
Unlike Red Archer's wide-scale bombardment, Black A focused on internal dismemberment.
Ren had generated an infinite number of micro-blades within her spiritual body—causing it to rupture from the inside out.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH—!!!"
The Demon Mother Goddess shrieked as her massive form collapsed—dissolving into storming currents of black mist.
The air rippled. The curse domain shattered.
The stars returned.
Back on the battlefield, the dark jungle had vanished—replaced by flattened earth.
Two female voices called out behind Ren.
"W-What just happened out here?!"
"Why is the forest… gone?!"
Ren stepped out of the fading sword world, the glow still lingering on his skin.
Behind him stood Narumi Mizaki, holding two enormous pieces of a stone statue.
Beside her was Bao Yue Yexiao—carrying a thigh from the same statue over her shoulder. Her mouth hung open, stunned beyond words.
The world in front of them had been completely annihilated.
Everything had been leveled.
"Gulp..."
Both girls swallowed hard—cold sweat dripping down their foreheads.
They turned to look at Ren...
Not like a friend.
Not even like a person.
But like a monster.
One boy had done all of this—alone.
Chapter 35: Cleared — "Family Hero Xia Youjie"
A heavy silence fell.
Everyone was overwhelmed.
Nanako's knees wobbled beneath her.
She looked down at the devastated land—the ground scorched like it had been hit by a barrage of nuclear warheads.
She couldn't comprehend it.
This boy... this boy who looked her age...
"How does he have this kind of power?"
Beside her, Mimiko wore a bitter smile.
Cold dread filled her chest.
Earlier, she had wanted to challenge Ren directly.
Now she realized just how foolish she had been.
"If Master Xia Youjie hadn't stopped me..."
"I—I would've died back there."
But Xia Youjie?
He was beaming like a man who had just discovered a priceless artifact.
"Kurosawa Ren... you've amazed me again."
"Next time we meet, if you understand my ideals—join our great family."
"Together, we could change the world."
[Monster Tales: Strange City — Chapter 1 Cleared]
Completion Reward: 5 Saint Crystals
Five-Star Limited Gift: 'God-Slayer' x1
[Congratulations! You have defeated 'Demon Mother Goddess' for the first time.]
Reward: 30 Saint Crystals
Concept Gift 'Assimilation' has leveled up automatically.
[Item acquired: Heart of the Barbarian God — the vile essence left behind by the Demon Mother Goddess. Stored in Personal Inventory.]