Meanwhile, a beautiful androgynous youth in gender-neutral attire stood silently to the side, constantly toying with a crimson spear in his hands. His beauty was enough to make women jealous.
This was Shion—Magaki's direct subordinate.
Though nominally under Magaki, his eyes occasionally drifted toward Mukai, flashing with barely perceptible approval.
Magaki naturally noticed his subordinate's "little gestures" and snorted coldly. "Shion! What's that look in your eyes? Don't tell me you agree with this softie's pathetic theories?!"
Shion's body trembled slightly. He lowered his head and said nothing.
This only enraged Magaki further.
He felt he had zero authority as a "leader" when even his own subordinates dared to disagree with him.
"Hmph! Bunch of fools! Since you're all so naive, let me show you what true power looks like!"
Ignoring them, Magaki turned his gaze to the arena below.
He would personally enter the fray and advance his "world-destruction KPIs" through the most direct, violent means possible!
"To welcome the arrival of the great Eastern Will, our first task is to completely eliminate those three troublesome seal guardians!"
Magaki spread his arms wide like an evil stage actor delivering a villainous monologue, laying out his entire plan to Mukai, Shion, and Ash Crimson, who had appeared nearby at some point.
"Kusanagi, Yagami, Kagura... these three clans are the stumbling blocks to history's progress! Kill them, and Orochi's seal will be completely broken! Then all of Earth's will shall serve us! We'll harness that power to slaughter every human and revive our great Those From the Past!"
He spoke with passionate intensity, spittle flying, as if already envisioning his glorious future of world domination.
However, his "self-exposing" speech left everyone present utterly exasperated.
"Dude, have you been watching too many villain movies?" Ash picked his ear with that infuriating tone. "What kind of boss shows up and immediately tells the heroes his entire plan? Are you afraid we won't know how to stop you?"
"Ash! Shut up!" Elisabeth Blanctorche, the blonde knight in nobleman's attire beside him, hissed quietly. But her eyes showed equal wariness toward Magaki.
"Ash Crimson?" Magaki finally noticed this uninvited "brat."
He studied the playful green flames dancing in Ash's hand, a flash of disgust crossing his eyes. "You're the traitor's descendant... Hmph, very well. Today I'll eliminate you too!"
"For the great King!"
With a roar, Magaki's body began a horrifying transformation!
His flashy silver-white suit was instantly torn apart!
His body rapidly swelled and twisted like a balloon! His skin turned an eerie purple-red, insect-like wings sprouted from his back, and his face became covered with countless rotating compound eyes that induced nausea!
He had become an absolute monster—a purple-red abomination radiating chaos and madness!
A terrifying force capable of warping space exploded from his body!
"Mukai! Shion! Get out of my way! Don't interfere with my purification of this world!"
With a roar, an invisible force pushed Mukai and Shion back several hundred meters.
Then he fixed all those compound eyes simultaneously on Ash and the other fighters who had rushed over—Kyo Kusanagi, K', and the rest.
"Come, insects! Before a god, tremble, wail, and turn to ash!"
A sudden boss battle erupted!
"This guy... he's strong!" K' landed a Heat Drive on Magaki's body, but it vanished like mud into the ocean, leaving only a faint white mark on his opponent.
"There's an invisible spatial barrier around his body!" Chizuru Kagura, holding the Yata Mirror, spoke gravely. "Most of our attacks are being redirected to another dimension!"
Magaki's power exceeded everyone's imagination. Not only could he warp space at will, but his monstrous body was utterly indestructible!
Yet just as everyone seemed at a loss, Ash smiled.
"Spatial barrier, huh? Heh heh—playing with space against our Light Clan? That's like showing off your axe in front of Lu Ban."
He exchanged a glance with Elisabeth.
"Let's go, Betty."
"I told you, don't call me Betty!" Though Elisabeth complained, she instantly synchronized with Ash.
A strange power saturated with "light" erupted from both of them simultaneously!
Ash's emerald flames resonated mysteriously with Elisabeth's white holy light!
Both carried the bloodline of "Those From the Past," but their power was the polar opposite of Magaki's, which reeked of "chaos" and "destruction"!
Their power naturally countered their own kind—like light against darkness!
"Divine Skill: Kagetsu!"
"Light Technique: Aurora!"
Green flames and white holy light intertwined, forming a "law-breaking light" capable of tearing through all illusions, and slammed into Magaki's seemingly impenetrable spatial barrier!
CRACK—!
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
Magaki's indestructible spatial barrier had been forcibly cracked open!
...
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