The air tore apart with roars so unnatural that the world itself seemed to recoil.
From the oceans below, the Leviathan bellowed—a twisted sound, as if a crocodile's rumble, a whale's song, a snake's hiss, and a bird's shriek had been mangled into one nightmarish scream. The sound carried the weight of ages, shaking the seas and skies alike.
From above, the Bakunawa answered. Her alien cry ripped through the heavens, raw agony and fury laced in every note. The clash of their voices alone sent mountains crumbling and skies splitting apart.
They lunged at one another, their monstrous jaws clashing, spitting beams of mana so vast they carved scars across continents. Each strike was a calamity, each breath a storm, their duel unraveling everything caught between them.
Then, with a sudden clang, golden light exploded across the battlefield. Chains of divine brilliance wrapped around both titans, halting their charge midair. Descending from above was the Goddess of Light, her hands raised as the radiant shackles bound the two calamities.
Beside her, the Vampire Queen floated in the shadows, her crimson eyes glowing as she wove illusions, veiling the sight of her and her ally from the Leviathan and Bakunawa. Their monstrous gazes thrashed, blinded and confused.
But even gods faltered. The chains trembled. The illusions flickered. These two primordial beasts—born from eons past—were not even fighting at full strength.
Aizen, battered yet unbroken, seized the opening. His storming aura rose, black lightning and golden flames entwining as he roared, unleashing a colossal beam of black and gold magic. It streaked across the battlefield like judgment itself, striking both beasts and forcing them back.
But it wasn't enough. His knees buckled. His chest burned. Too weak.
If this fight dragged on, the world itself would fracture. The seas would boil, the skies would fall, and life would end. He thought of his family—Lyra, the children, his comrades—faces flashing in his mind. Fury surged. Fear clawed. And then—darkness.
He collapsed, consciousness slipping away.
In that void, a light bloomed.
A woman stepped forth, cloaked in golden-black attire, her aura vast as eternity. She pressed her hand against Aizen's chest and pushed him toward a blazing golden radiance.
"Rise," she whispered.
And he did. His body trembled, but his soul ignited. His senses sharpened. His blood howled. His strength multiplied beyond recognition.
Yet before he could move, the Leviathan and Bakunawa unleashed their full fury. Their final attacks collided—beams of world-ending energy smashing together, threatening to shatter not just the world, but the entire galaxy.
Then—another light.
A massive blue beam descended from beyond the stars, slamming into both monstrosities and halting their annihilation. From the rift above soared a giant dragon, her scales pure gold, her eyes glowing with violet fire. Her presence alone made dimensions quiver.
"The Dragon God…" voices whispered in awe.
She hovered above the battlefield, gaze sharp with anger. "How in all the heavens did Mother seal you two away before?" she muttered, her tone edged with fury. "Because of you, I can't even laze in my dimension in peace!"
At her side appeared another figure—a breathtaking woman with flowing black hair and golden eyes, her very presence echoing the infinite cosmos. She was the Legendary Black Lion King, once thought lost to time. Her hand lifted, and in it formed a sphere of endless darkness, a prison that bound both the Leviathan and Bakunawa in place. They strained, their bodies trapped, though their magic still lashed wildly.
And in that moment, within his consciousness, Aizen trained.
Memories surged—lessons written in his bloodline, powers once thought unreachable. He grasped something no Black Lion, not even the ancients, had ever wielded.
The power to instill absolute fear.
The true and complete form of the Beast Fang.
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(End of chapter 56)