"Urragh… so it's the oppressor from before, hahahaha!! Do you wish to once again taste my—"
BOOOM!!
Before he could finish, the Shogun transformed into lightning once more, soaring into the air like a thunder dragon before crashing down like an air-to-ground missile directly into Spartacus' body!
"Urrraaagh!!"
With a scream, the giant was blasted skyward again. Lightning flashed above him, where the Shogun reappeared in human form, her eyes glowing with oppressive violet light.
Bzzzz—
From the void, a rift opened. The massive Eye of Stormy Judgment slowly emerged, its size enough to eclipse the moonlight. From its pupil stretched forth a colossal, doll-like arm. Empty-handed, it clenched into a fist and smashed down like a hammer upon the airborne Spartacus!
CRASH!
A heavy impact thundered, air currents exploding outward as space itself seemed to quake.
Like a spiked ball slammed down in tennis, Berserker's body was sent crashing into the earth at terrifying speed, raising a massive cloud of dust.
Dispersing the ominous eye above, the Shogun descended gracefully to the ground, gazing mockingly at the massive crater before her.
"This is repayment for earlier. Tell me, warrior—are you satisfied?"
Indeed, her grudge was heavy—far too heavy! A small quirk of hers, perhaps inherited from Ei?
No one interfered. Karna was still locked in combat with the Grand Prince, and the wounded Atalanta could do little but linger at the edge of the battlefield as a spectator.
Thus, this was a duel—just her against Spartacus.
Resting Engulfing Lightning behind her, the Shogun walked with calm, steady steps to the crater's edge. Her violet eyes glowed as they fixed upon the giant within.
Boom!
The next instant, a massive shadow leapt from the crater, landing before her.
"Hahahaha!! More! I haven't had enough yet, oppressor!!"
Spartacus touched the gaping wound carved across his abdomen. As he did, new muscle tissue sprouted rapidly, knitting the injury closed. Yet the new flesh was darker, mismatched against his skin.
The Shogun narrowed her eyes…
So he could regenerate? Quite the troublesome ability.
"Hahahaha! Oppressor—surrender your life for your deeds!!"
Spartacus crouched low—
BOOM!
The ground split beneath his massive frame as he launched forward like a cannonball!
A foe who only grew stronger the longer he fought—this battle could not be dragged out. It had to end swiftly.
The Shogun flashed into lightning, surpassing his speed. She appeared beneath him, slashing at his ribs!
Crackle!
A normal man would have been cleaved apart. Spartacus merely faltered for an instant before the wound began closing on its own.
Hearing the sound of flesh mending, the Shogun instantly vanished again, reappearing behind him. Turning sharply, she unleashed a surge of violet lightning from her palm onto his body.
"Transcendence: Baleful Omen!"
Her entire body erupted with storming electricity. In a flash, she appeared before Berserker once more, delivering a furious slash!
Slash! ×N
As her blade cut down, violet scars ripped open the air itself, slashing across his body like phantom blades.
Swish! Swish!
With machine-gun speed—ten slashes in a single second—her naginata carved him apart. All around, the spectral blade marks shredded at his massive frame like a meat grinder.
In an instant, blood gushed like a fountain. Spartacus' face was mangled beyond recognition, his limbs severed one by one, his armor shattered into fragments.
Finally, she transformed into lightning once more, piercing clean through his body. In the next instant, their positions had reversed—back-to-back, facing opposite directions.
From her crouched stance, the Shogun rose slowly, spinning her naginata before resting it casually behind her.
CRACK!!
At that gesture, a blinding bolt split the night sky between them.
Slash!
Spartacus' body shattered like brittle ice, fragments spraying blood and flesh across the ground with sickening sound.
"!"
Atalanta, who had watched the entire exchange, had just begun to rise when the next sight froze her in place again.
"What?! This guy can still…"
He was… growing?
The Shogun heard Atalanta's cry but showed no outward reaction. Slowly turning, her cold eyes fixed on Spartacus' broken, dismembered body—already beginning to knit itself back together, exactly as she had expected.
Before her eyes, the severed cross-sections of his flesh began not merely to regenerate, but to swell grotesquely, as if reborn in excess. The wounds festered like ulcers, bulging with corruption, birthing abhorrent features no longer resembling anything human.
With a sickly, tumor-like body, Spartacus rose again. A surge of mana, stronger than ever, burst forth, his entire frame glowing crimson. Within the swelling growths, something writhed endlessly, like living flesh struggling to burst free. His torn neck ballooned as though foaming.
[This form… revolting to behold.]
Ei's tone was laced with disgust.
'More than "revolting."'
"Urraghhh!!! Hahahahaha!!!"
His voice had twisted, deeper and harsher, though the maddened grin remained. It was only made more grotesque upon his rotting face. Without weapon in hand, he charged forward on monstrous legs!
Boom! ×N
The thunder of his colossal steps rang out. Yet the Shogun merely stood still, eyes closed in calm, making no attempt to dodge.
"Hey!"
Atalanta instinctively cried out in warning.
Bzzzz—
The Eye of Stormy Judgment appeared above the Shogun's head. Floating ominously, the great pupil began to spin, releasing torrents of thunderous energy. Faster and faster it turned, gathering elemental lightning to its utmost limit.
Crackle—!!!
Ear-splitting thunder roared across the plain, violet light flooding her entire body.
Just as the warped Spartacus closed the last few steps—
The spinning pupil above suddenly froze in place like a stopped clock. A heavy toll, like a funeral bell, reverberated across the world.
CRACK!
Time itself stopped. Dust, stones, the moonlight above, even life itself—all were frozen in this suspended moment, without warning.
"!"
The Shogun's violet eyes flared. Upon her chest, her garments split to reveal a rift to another space.
Crackle…
A lightning-wreathed hilt emerged from within!
Her left hand rose before her chest in stance. Her right hand seized the hilt, and in one swift, absolute motion she drew it vertically forth!
The blade slid free from her chest, radiant with thunder and starlight of the cosmos, crossing paths with her merciless violet gaze.
In that moment—she was thunder incarnate.
This strike was not "Musou: Blank Mind," but "Musou: Dream."
With countless words of truth gathered, with the will of the Chakra Desiderata—she unleashed a strike to shatter all curses.
—Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu.
"Now, you shall perish!"
With blinding speed, she cleaved horizontally toward Spartacus!
CRACK!!
A colossal scar split across the battlefield, spanning the horizon, fracturing space itself like shattered glass.
Above, the Eye resumed its rotation, and time flowed once more.
The rift cleaved Spartacus cleanly in two. But it did not end there. His wounds failed to regenerate—corroded by violet lightning. His body crumbled into particles, consumed by the spatial rupture like a black hole.
"What is this?! Oppressor—Urrrraaaaghhh!!"
For the first time, Spartacus screamed not with joy, but with despair. His flesh dissolved into light, dragged piece by piece into the void, until even his twisted face fragmented and vanished into the abyss.
And then—
BOOOOM!!!
Far away, an entire mountainside was sheared clean off. The shockwave swept across the plains like a tsunami, sending dust surging like a tidal wave, engulfing the figures of all who stood there—
Only the dreamlike violet glow remained.