The wolf head's sharp teeth sank into the bone mask, emitting a series of cracking sounds.
The white surface instantly fractured, and copious amounts of black mud continuously surged from the fissures, attempting to mend the damage.
But the moment the black mud coating the body touched the golden-red flames in the wolf's maw, Metastacia unleashed a shriek unlike any he had ever uttered in his life:
Countless tentacles extended from the parasitic bone mask, thrashing wildly as they tried to counterattack from the chest.
The wolf head let out a low growl, the flames in its eyes flaring brilliantly as its fangs snapped shut!
The tentacles were torn off at the roots, their fragments incinerating into ash mid-air and scattering like black rain.
Seeing this, he had no choice but to control Gilgamesh's body into a frantic retreat, wildly swinging the Divine Age weapons in his hands in an attempt to dispel the eerie flaming wolf head.
Yet, to his horror, he discovered that these flames were not merely burning flesh. This power was evaporating his very soul by incinerating his malice!
Even though countless corrupted Noble Phantasms surged from behind to shred the phantom, with his own soul under attack, these abilities instantly lost their aim, clattering uselessly to the ground.
Asuka remained silent. Taking advantage of Metastacia's struggle with the wolf head, Asuka wasted no words. The ground beneath his feet shattered into a spiderweb of cracks as he launched himself upward.
"This malice... is your empowerment, but it is also your weakness."
Hearing his voice ring out right beside him, Metastacia hastily commanded the Gate of Babylon in a panic to intercept.
Sharp spiral spears, heavy war hammers, and coiling chains—each weapon shrouded in the dark gleam of curses—thrust directly at Asuka's flank.
Asuka remained unfazed, swiping his left arm's wolf claw through the empty air.
Boom!!
A pillar of golden-red fire erupted from the ground, spiraling like a tornado as it crashed into the war hammers and chains.
The flames did not incinerate the Noble Phantasms; instead, they rapidly burned away and stripped the black mud from their surfaces, revealing their original golden luster.
Freed from the influence of that malice, the Noble Phantasms froze in mid-air as if possessing a will of their own, ultimately rejecting Metastacia's commands.
Their king was Gilgamesh, not this grotesque imitation.
Metastacia's offensive instantly crumbled. The purified Noble Phantasms plummeted to the earth, smashing deep craters into the ground, yet failing to harm Asuka in the slightest.
Clenching his left wolf claw slightly, Asuka felt a warm current transmitting from the wolf head...
The negative intentions contained within the incinerated black mud—malice such as greed, tyranny, and hatred—were being purified and refined before surging into his spiritual body, further elevating the Spiritual Pressure within him.
He closed the distance, bringing the tachi in his right hand down from his shoulder to carve a high-speed diagonal slash through the air!
The flames solidified, transforming into a blazing golden arc that resembled a miniature sun!
Squelch!!
Metastacia backhandedly summoned a massive corrupted shield in an attempt to block the strike.
But before this god-like blade, the edge of the shield was torn open as easily as paper meeting a cutter!
Asuka pressed his advantage, thrusting his left wolf claw forward as the sharp tips popped out!
Had Metastacia not reacted quickly enough to discard the bisected shield in time, he would have suffered far more than just a gash torn into his arm by the wolf claw; half of his shoulder would likely have been severed.
Even so, the flames on the wolf claw bit stubbornly into his wound, continuously trying to burrow deep into his soul.
This was the hellfire capable of purifying all filth, feeding upon negative energy.
Metastacia forcibly steadied himself, drawing two corrupted double-bladed axes from the treasury once more.
Dark waves of mental disruption coiled around the blades as they swung in a cross-slash toward Asuka's head, tearing faint fissures through space itself.
The long tachi swept horizontally to meet them, erupting with fiery light.
The dark waves on the first axe blade were purified the instant they made contact, dissipating into harmless smoke.
The other double-bladed axe chopped down heavily, only to be caught mid-air by a shield of flames formed from the left wolf claw.
With a fierce twist, the axe shaft was snapped in two. The black mud surging from the break was swiftly devoured, continuing to convert into nourishment for Asuka.
Metastacia could neither win the fight nor escape, and a wolf head hung from his chest, relentlessly tearing at his flesh.
He was completely cornered.
Left with no other options, he could only command the black mud to extend like wings from his back, controlling Gilgamesh to take to the sky.
The treasury's ripples expanded into a fan shape in the air, unleashing a dense rain of arrows. Each arrow carried a cursed, homing trajectory, locking onto Asuka's movements.
But Asuka's Shunpo had become even faster after his Bankai.
His shifting footwork allowed his figure to weave through the rubble like a phantom, even leaving behind fiery afterimages capable of swinging phantom blades in his wake.
"...Purifying Karma Red Lotus," he murmured.
The longsword in his hand trembled violently, and the flowing golden-red flames on the blade suddenly detached from the steel.
They continuously shifted and reformed in the air, ultimately transforming into dozens of budding crimson-gold lotus flowers that hovered in mid-air.
"Go!"
At Asuka's command, the lotus flowers swiftly traced elegant arcs through the air, scrambling over one another as they lunged toward the Corrupted Goldie in the sky.
Having already witnessed the eerie nature of Asuka's flames, how could the parasitic Hollow dare to take them head-on?
Metastacia frantically brandished the Noble Phantasms in his hands, attempting to slash the lotus flowers to pieces.
But the lotuses seemed intangible; the Noble Phantasms passed right through them as if slicing through phantoms.
Fwsh! Fwsh! Fwsh!
The first lotus flower landed on his body and instantly bloomed.
[Aaaargh—!!!] Metastacia let out another agonizing scream.
How many souls have you devoured in your lifetime?
How many Soul Reapers have you tortured?
How many vicious curses did you accumulate while lurking within Kaien's body?
At this moment, the flames were interrogating him from the very depths of his soul.
This fire of the red lotus was burning fiercely, using [Karma] as its kindling.
Immediately following were the second, the third...
Dozens of red lotuses bloomed across Gilgamesh's body, turning him into a burning figure of fire.
Yet bizarrely, Gilgamesh, as the host, did not suffer any harm.
On the contrary, amidst this intense burning, his suppressed will was rapidly awakening.
Meanwhile, on Asuka's side, as the red lotuses burned, streams of incredibly pure power flowed back into his body through an invisible connection.
That was the pure Reiryoku refined by the red lotuses after purifying All the World's Evils.
Asuka's Spiritual Pressure was now replenishing at an astonishing rate, even showing faint signs of breaking through its upper limits!
"Just as I thought... you're basically a giant EXP pack."
Feeling the surging power within his body, Asuka couldn't help but chuckle.
"Originally, I might not have been able to beat that glittering guy. After all, he has way too many ridiculously powerful Noble Phantasms."
"However..."
He looked at the violently struggling Metastacia, then glanced toward a non-existent but palpably furious gaze emanating from the Great Cavern:
"Since it's a filth-ridden entity like you and that Hollow controlling this body together..."
"Then the outcome of this battle was decided from the very beginning!"