No sight could reach it. Not even light could arrive there. Darkness covered everything. For ages, only strange, misshapen creatures had drifted through the deep sea, and the sound of moving water was the only proof that anything existed there. But now, changes began to appear.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, a fissure opened between the heavy sand and stone of the seabed. Crimson firelight lit up the pitch-black depths, and tiny bubbles rose from the crack.
Then one fissure after another appeared. More and more firelight and bubbles disturbed the deep-sea creatures living in the dark depths, until finally…
"Boom!"
A layer of earth hundreds of meters thick was launched into the air. The intense water pressure above swept past, and the seawater flowed backward. Blazing firelight shone from beneath the upturned stratum, illuminating the entire dark seabed. Huge amounts of magma surged out, only to cool and solidify the moment they touched the icy seawater, releasing countless bubbles.
Beneath the stratum rapidly approaching the sea surface, a golden figure looked down at the scene below. The golden Magical Power radiating from her body seemed to grow fiercer with her thoughts.
"Whoosh!"
She rushed out even faster, effortlessly shattering the rock that had only just cooled and formed. The black figure moved later but arrived first, catching up to the golden-haired figure and swinging his sword at the same time.
Amazing…
"Clang!"
A clear ring of metal against metal sounded. After a clash lasting less than a second, they separated, the black sword and white sword tracing beautiful arcs through the sea.
Amazing…
"Bang!"
Even after losing plenty of mass as it moved, the enormous boulder, still large enough to blot out the sky, was driven up through the sea surface. After reaching its highest point, it fell back into the ocean in a graceful arc.
Absolutely amazing!
"Could you tell me what this realm is called?"
Cid released the black sword in his hand, letting it fall into the sea together with the white sword. Then he turned, deflected the punch thrown by the golden figure, and leaned in, his excited black eyes meeting those clear emerald-green eyes. A polite smile appeared on his face.
It had the same effect, yet it was completely different from "effortless control." Every strike used full power, without holding back at all, which left countless indescribable openings across her body. In a normal fight, she would be the kind of third-rate fighter who got killed in one move. And yet… every one of those openings was being corrected!
That was right. It sounded absurd, but the world itself was correcting them!
The entire world was working with her. The ocean, the air currents, the rocks, all of them were correcting her openings!
So exciting. It was truly exciting!
"I don't know. I never thought about it."
"…Then let's leave it at that."
Well, names did not matter anyway. As long as it felt good, that was enough.
Cid released the hand that had been gripping his opponent's fist and flashed an excited smile, beginning another clash with her.
He did not know how long it had been. Cid had not encountered such an exhilarating battle in a very long time.
Strength against strength. Technique against technique. Heart against heart. With every exchange, Cid could feel his opponent's newly born pure white will shining, so dazzling and captivating.
Changing positions, shifting, parrying, clashing through several alignments. She even understood positioning!
Too strong. Far too strong. Compared to this ultimate battle, every opponent he had faced before was nothing but a bunch of brainless idiots with atrocious technique who only relied on power. No, they could not even compare to her in power.
Fighting is awesome!
A battle where he did not need to think too much, where he only had to consider how to kill the opponent in front of him, awesome!
The only problem was that carrying two hangers-on really was a little annoying.
Cid glanced coldly back at Eta and Sherry, who were being held by the slime tentacles extending from his body, and sighed in irritation.
Should he tell his opponent to let him put Sherry and Eta down first before continuing the fight? It had not been much of an issue earlier, but fighting like this now really tied his hands.
As he thought that, Cid suddenly realized another problem. He had… gotten distracted!
The part of his hand positioned to block the predicted attack path did not feel the impact he expected. Cid blinked in surprise, and the golden-haired figure that had been attacking in front of him vanished like an illusion.
This is bad…
The flow of air changed. A strange refraction of light concealed her, and from the corner of his eye, Cid clearly saw the attack closing in before she had even revealed herself.
She caught my opening…
The golden-haired figure brought both fists together. Her slender waist arched back, and her indifferent emerald eyes looked down at Cid, who had just realized what had happened, before she smashed down hard.
In an instant, offense and defense reversed.
Cid plunged into the sea at an unimaginable speed. The powerful impact made the surging sea surface cave in like a squeezed water balloon. No, at that moment, the blue planet truly was like a water ball, as ten-thousand-meter waves rose and crashed toward land.
Under the sea, while falling, Cid looked at the golden figure standing amid the distorted waves, her color blending with the sea below. A large amount of slime fluid sprayed out, protecting Eta and Sherry behind him.
He never expected that one day he would be sent flying during a heart-to-heart exchange with someone else. Had he gotten weaker?
On the bright side, Sonki had missed. At the very least, he did not end up like Sonki, punched all the way into the planet's core and through the entire planet…
Didn't that sound even lamer?! Getting punched into the planet and only making it through the mantle without piercing the core was seriously pathetic!
Huh? What are they charging over for?
After plowing through the continent and various buildings, crushing a bunch of nameless little animals along the way, and leaving an indelible scar across the earth, Cid blinked. He looked a few hundred meters away at the people who had luckily escaped disaster and were now storming toward him in fury, all kinds of energy surging around them as if they were about to do something.
"Get lost."
We're fighting. If she kills you, I'm not responsible.
Cid spoke coldly and swung his palm. Powerful Magical Power turned into a hurricane and sent them flying, but a flash of light appeared, swept past the people blown away, and carried them all to the ground.
???
Cid had to admit, he did not understand that move at all. Saving people?
Although the commotion from their fight was a little large, Cid had still paid some attention, trying to aim his attacks toward places without people.
Mm, he was not interested in meaningless slaughter, so when he had multiple choices, he did not really want to cause excessive damage directly.
And this direction… had been hit by Sonki. Not to mention, he had only blown away those meddlesome people. With the physical abilities of extraordinary beings, that kind of height should not have been much of a problem…
Before Cid could figure it out, the golden figure had already turned into a golden flash and charged toward him.
"But before that…"
Cid glanced to the other side. Several figures were rushing toward them from afar at incredible speed, radiating powerful auras and Magical Power.
Under normal circumstances, Cid would not have minded playing with them for a while, but right now…
"I have to admit, we really might have made a little too much noise…"
He crossed his arms and clashed with the golden figure charging toward him. Cid raised his head, gazing at the dazzling will inside the figure before him. That tenacious will, glimmering with tiny specks of light, might be fleeting, but it was truly beautiful.
...
"What the hell is going on? Hey, you over there, hurry up and save people. Stop standing there like it's the end of the world."
Feeling the ground constantly shaking beneath her feet and looking at the apocalyptic scene in the sky, Natsuki Minamiya pressed her fan against her head with a headache while using a walkie-talkie to direct the security team's rescue efforts.
They had finally managed to gang up on and kill the Heavenly Dragon-class Evil Dragon, Aži Dahāka, and now this had happened before they could even interrogate Kokabiel.
"Have you figured out what's going on?"
Natsuki Minamiya turned toward Rias and the others behind her, who were constantly searching, investigating, and asking for information, as well as her own subordinates, who were requesting reinforcements. She was starting to feel irritated.
"No, Instructor Minamiya. We contacted the mainland, but the answer we received was that the situation is the same all over the world."
"I'm sorry, Natsuki-sensei. Serafall-sama said the major factions all replied that they don't know what's happening either. All they know is that the world seems to be collapsing. I can't contact my Onii-sama on my end either."
Almost angered into silence, Natsuki Minamiya put down the walkie-talkie and teleported to the basement on the other side, where Serafall and Dulio were jointly interrogating Kokabiel.
Although she really did not want to believe the "Doctor's" claim that an imbalance between light and darkness could cause such a massive disturbance, the timing of this scene had come right after that "Doctor" left. Add to that the dark clouds stretching from above Itogami Island and the flash of light that had streaked past, and Natsuki Minamiya had no choice but to suspect that the current changes in the world might have been caused by Kokabiel.
"Natsuki-chan, give us a little more time. No matter what method we use, Kokabiel still hasn't woken up."
Serafall withdrew the hand she had pressed against Kokabiel, still radiating icy cold, and spoke with a troubled expression.
Although there was no direct evidence, the timing and description matched too closely, so they also strongly suspected that what Kokabiel had done was related to the current upheaval. Unfortunately, no matter what methods they used, Kokabiel remained in a deep sleep.
"Can't you search his soul?"
"Unfortunately, Natsuki-san, as a Fallen Angel cadre, Kokabiel placed restrictions inside his own mind that are even more complicated than we imagined. If we fail to break through them, he may simply explode."
Dulio apologized sincerely. He had never expected that the soul-searching tool he had brought from the Church would be unable to break through Kokabiel's mental defenses.
"Natsuki-chan, calm down. We feel the same way you do. It isn't just the planet beneath our feet. News has come from the Underworld where I live as well, saying that the world is collapsing…"
"No, I was the one getting impatient. But if possible, please wake him up as soon as you can. Right now, he's the most suspicious."
Natsuki Minamiya removed Serafall's rather overly familiar arm, apologized briefly, then teleported out of the basement and appeared in her office.
Standing before the window, she watched as buildings across Itogami Island collapsed one after another from the earthquakes, black smoke from explosions shot into the sky, seas of fire spread everywhere, and people screamed. Natsuki Minamiya's grip on her fan tightened more and more.
After watching the scene that made her heart feel like it was bleeding for more than ten seconds, Natsuki Minamiya exhaled and prepared to continue directing the rescue effort. But on her final glance, she saw someone.
"You're from the Lion King Organization. I remember your name is Sayaka Kirasaka, right? What are you doing here?
Forget it. Since you're here, come help with the rescue efforts."
Natsuki Minamiya instantly appeared in front of Sayaka Kirasaka. After glancing her over a few times, she placed a hand on Sayaka Kirasaka's shoulder and decided to bring her along to help.
Under normal circumstances, Natsuki Minamiya would at most have thrown Sayaka Kirasaka off Itogami Island. More likely, she would have turned a blind eye and let a small fry like Sayaka Kirasaka pass. But now they were short on people, so Natsuki Minamiya simply drafted her on the spot.
"Wait, Natsuki-sama! I have something to report to you!"
Seeing that Natsuki Minamiya had brought her to a place and was about to leave again, Sayaka Kirasaka hurriedly stepped forward to stop her, trying to say something.
"Hah? There are priorities. What could possibly matter more than the disaster happening right now?"
Natsuki Minamiya frowned, not expecting Sayaka Kirasaka to dare resist.
"There is! There is! There's an evil Fallen Angel base on this island, and they seem to be conducting some very dangerous research inside!"
"A mere Fallen Angel base? At worst, we'll deal with it after this is over… What did you say? A Fallen Angel base!"
Her movements abruptly froze. The spatial magic she had already half-cast stopped mid-release. Natsuki Minamiya stared at Sayaka Kirasaka with wide eyes. After confirming that Sayaka Kirasaka was nodding firmly, she put a hand on her shoulder and activated spatial teleportation again.
"Tell us everything you know. Keep it brief. The faster, the better!"
They reappeared in the basement. Ignoring the stunned Serafall, Dulio, and the others, Natsuki Minamiya leaned close to Sayaka Kirasaka's face and spoke.
"Huh?"
...
"Oh my, this place really is a wreck!"
Giada stepped onto the already ruined ground. Flames spread around her, and charred corpses of passersby lay nearby. Following her Beast Vassal's senses, she searched for the Fourth Primogenitor's trace.
After they had ganged up on and killed the three-headed Evil Dragon, Aži Dahāka, Giada had followed the sensation from the Red Dragon Emperor at the time all the way here.
But who could have expected that halfway there, the original direction would suddenly change?
There was nothing she could do but change direction with it. And this time, things had gotten even bigger. The planet was beginning to break apart. Fortunately, the route had not changed again, allowing her to find him successfully.
"Boy, do you remember me?"
Giada lifted Kojou Akatsuki's head and greeted him with a smile. Kojou Akatsuki struggled to open his eyes and let out a faint sound.
"Mm…"
"Poor thing. Do you still want the power of the Fourth Primogenitor? If you don't, move a finger."
Giada spoke with regret. Seeing Kojou Akatsuki's finger move, she took out a device.
"All right. Since you're being so sensible, if we really have to leave, I'll throw you onto the First Primogenitor's ship when the time comes."
Sensing the nine Star-Bound Beast Vassals inside Kojou Akatsuki, Giada smiled.