The crater still echoed with the aftershock of Riku Masusa's devastating Dual Light Slash.
Dust and light particles shimmered in the air like falling stars. Momo Yokoyama's body lay motionless at the centre, her scythe buried in the cracked earth beside her.
Yuki Fujimoto exhaled, "He did it…"
Rajin Mori narrowed his eyes, "Wait."
A pulse.
Then another.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Momo's body erupted in a geyser of blood and shadow. Her body levitated, limbs outstretched, as her aura reignited with terrifying force.
Her eyes snapped open, glowing with pure death energy.
Her Zone, still active, surged to its peak once more.
She had recovered instantly.
Riku's eyes widened, "Impossible…"
Momo's voice echoed across the battlefield, layered with fury and something deeper grief, "You thought I would fall so easily? I am death incarnate. I do not stay down."
She vanished in a blur of crimson mist and reappeared behind Riku, her scythe already mid-swing.
Riku barely twisted in time, his daggers crossing to block the strike. The impact sent him skidding backward, his boots carving trenches into the stone.
Momo did not relent.
She launched forward, her scythe spinning in a whirlwind of blood magic. Riku countered with a flurry of light-infused slashes, each one clashing against her weapon in a storm of sparks and energy.
The battlefield lit up with every collision, light and death locked in a furious dance.
"You're faster," Riku admitted, panting, "Stronger."
Momo's expression was cold, "I haven't even begun."
She raised her hand, summoning a storm of blood tendrils that lashed out in every direction.
Riku darted between them, slicing through the ones he could, but one wrapped around his ankle, yanking him off balance.
Momo seized the moment, slamming her scythe into his side and sending him crashing into a pillar of stone.
Riku coughed, blood on his lips. His Zone flickered.
But he stood, "I'm not done either."
He surged forward again, his daggers glowing brighter than ever.
He struck with renewed fury; each blow aimed with surgical precision.
Momo blocked, parried, countered, but Riku's speed was relentless.
He landed a slash across her ribs, then another across her arm.
Momo hissed, blood dripping from her wounds, but she smiled, "You're worthy of being his first."
Their Zones clashed again, creating a dome of light and shadow that engulfed the battlefield.
The others could only watch from the edges, unable to intervene, unable to look away.
And high above, Paulo Satoshi stood at the edge of the Skydome, watching the battle unfold.
His cosmic katana pulsed in his hand.
"It's time," he whispered.
***
The battlefield was a maelstrom of light and blood.
Riku Masusa, his body glowing with Zone energy, stood face-to-face with Momo Yokoyama, the Monarch of Death.
Their clash had already shaken the crater, but now, something shifted.
Riku's eyes flared with a new light, his Adaption Eye had turned on.
A blue and golden sigils spun within his iris, analysing every movement, every energy fluctuation, every nuance of Momo's attacks.
His breathing steadied.
His stance sharpened.
The tides of battle began to turn.
Momo lunged with her Blood Scythe, unleashing a spiral of crimson blades.
Riku did not dodge, he stepped into the attack, his daggers slicing through the blood constructs with surgical precision.
The Adaption Eye had already mapped the trajectory.
He spun low, slashing upward, catching Momo off guard.
A deep gash opened across her side.
She hissed, retreating, "What did you do?"
Riku's voice was calm, "I learned."
He dashed forward, his daggers glowing with amplified light.
Momo summoned a wall of blood magic, but Riku phased through it, appearing behind her and landing a devastating Light Dragon Kick to her spine.
She crashed into the crater wall, coughing violently.
Momo rose, her Zone flickering.
She summoned blood serpents, death pulses, and shadow clones. but Riku adapted to each.
His movements became unpredictable, his strikes faster, his defences impenetrable.
He slashed through a blood serpent, flipped over a death pulse, and impaled a clone mid-air.
The battlefield lit up with every motion.
Rajin Mori watched from above, "He's evolving mid-fight."
Yuki nodded, "That is the Adaption Eye. He is becoming her counter."
Momo growled, her aura flaring, "You think you've won?"
Riku's eyes narrowed, "I know I have."
He launched a final combo, dagger strikes, light pulses, and a blinding flash that engulfed Momo in a dome of radiance. She screamed, her Zone collapsing.
She fell to one knee.
But before Riku could finish it.
A sudden slash tore through Riku's back.
He gasped, stumbling forward, blood spraying from the wound.
Behind him stood Rin Sakuma, her restraints shattered, her Shadow Katana dripping with betrayal.
"I'm not done," she whispered.
Riku collapsed to one knee, his Zone flickering.
Momo looked up, stunned but smiling, "Good girl."
Rin raised her blade again, but she never got the chance to swing.
A thunderous boom shattered the sky.
A beam of cosmic energy descended like divine wrath, and from it emerged Paulo Satoshi, the Monarch of Radiation.
His cosmic katana remained sheathed.
He did not need it.
He landed between Riku and Rin, his aura pulsing at 500 million, then spiking instantly to 500 septillions with his zone.
Rin froze, her katana trembling.
Paulo did not speak.
He raised his fist.
And with one motion, he punched Rin square in the head.
The impact was cataclysmic.
A shockwave erupted, vaporizing the blood mist, cracking the crater floor, and sending Momo flying backward.
Rin's body disintegrated mid-air, her katana shattering into fragments of shadow.
Silence fell.
Rajin and Yuki stared in awe.
Tetsuya, still wounded, whispered, "He didn't even draw his blade…"
Paulo turned to Riku, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You did well."
Riku coughed, smiling weakly, "She got lucky."
Paulo's eyes locked onto Momo, who now stood alone.
"No more luck," he said, "Only judgment."