The battlefield no longer remembered peace.
Stone had melted into fractured glass, frozen waves of destruction stretching endlessly in every direction. The sky itself seemed wounded—clouds torn apart, lightning trapped in restless scars that refused to fade. Even the wind hesitated, trembling as if afraid to cross the space between the two figures standing at its center.
Tomioka Zeki stood with his blade lowered, blood sliding slowly down its edge.
Across from him, Diablo smiled.
"Samurai's 14th Stage — Null."
The words were quiet.
The effect was absolute.
Reality recoiled.
Elemental currents collapsed mid-formation. Mana disintegrated into nothingness. Thunder died in the sky before it could roar. Magic lost meaning the instant it entered Tomioka's domain.
Only the blade remained.
Absolute.
Diablo felt it immediately. His lightning aura flickered—
Then vanished entirely.
"…So this is Null," Diablo muttered, eyes gleaming with fascination.
"A domain where power itself is denied."
Tomioka stepped forward.
Every attack Diablo unleashed—thunder spears, pressure waves, elemental bursts—crumbled the moment they neared him, unraveling as if the world itself rejected them.
"You're erasing my authority," Diablo laughed, retreating.
"You really are Zenin."
His shadow stretched unnaturally long behind him.
"But even Null has limits."
"Shadow Travelling."
The world fractured.
Diablo vanished.
Not hidden.
Not displaced.
Gone.
Pain exploded across Tomioka's ribs.
Then his shoulder.
Then his back.
Blood sprayed as invisible slashes carved into him from every direction. Diablo appeared only for fractions of a second—above, behind, beside—each movement faster than light, faster than perception.
Tomioka staggered.
"Tch… I can't see him at all…"
His breathing faltered.
Then—
He closed his eyes.
The battlefield shifted—not physically, but conceptually.
"Samurai's 16th Stage — Endline."
Every battle carried an ending.
A final destination where all movement ceased.
Tomioka stepped forward—not toward Diablo's position, but toward the inevitable conclusion of their clash.
His blade flashed once.
The strike landed before Diablo realized he had been targeted.
The demon king screamed as he was hurled into the ground, the impact carving a crater deep enough to swallow cities. Dust and smoke erupted skyward as Diablo laughed through blood.
"You never cease to amaze me…" he shouted, exhilarated.
"Tomioka Zeki… the Sixth Zenin!"
The laughter echoed—
Then thunder answered.
"Elemental Control."
The sky split open.
Lightning fused around Diablo's body as he charged forward, becoming the storm itself.
Tomioka met him head-on.
"Samurai Style… 8th Stage — Distance."
The blade moved.
Space collapsed.
The slash ignored physical reach, cutting through compressed reality itself. Thunder met steel—
—and sound ceased to exist.
The explosion swallowed the battlefield.
Shockwaves flattened everything for kilometers. The sky burned white. The earth screamed—
Then fell silent.
Ash drifted like snowfall as fog rolled in.
Minutes passed.
The smoke slowly thinned.
"…Damn him," Diablo muttered.
"That explosion… he should've died."
Across the ruins, Tomioka still stood—bloodied, shaking, yet unbroken.
"It seems," Tomioka said steadily, "that even the strongest demon… suffers against a mere human."
Diablo's smile vanished.
"…Damn you."
Darkness surged.
"Corruption."
Black energy wrapped around Tomioka like living chains, seeping into his veins, poisoning his aura. His disciplined samurai flow destabilized violently—order clashing against invasive chaos.
Tomioka—
Somewhere far away, a child's voice echoed in his mind.
Ash's—
And another.
Quieter. Steadier.
Astra's.
If this is the price… then don't look back.
"Tch…"
Tomioka forced himself upright.
"Samurai's 10th Stage — Severance."
A cut meant to sever connections—to isolate aura, disrupt coordination, erase synchronization itself.
He raised his blade—
—and froze.
Diablo stared in disbelief.
"He's still attacking?"
A grin returned. "Even after corruption… Is he even human?"
The sky darkened.
An eclipse formed overhead.
"Shadow Requiem."
Darkness fell like judgment.
Shadow warriors emerged from the ground, each carrying blades steeped in void. Tomioka's own shadow twisted—rising against him.
"What the—" he gasped.
"This is my Shadow Requiem," Diablo said calmly.
"Every strike you receive… will return tenfold."
The warriors attacked.
Pain multiplied beyond reason. Every wound echoed. Every slash replayed itself—amplified by the shadow that mirrored him.
Tomioka collapsed to one knee.
Then—
The eclipse cracked.
Light pierced the darkness.
The Shadow Requiem shattered.
From the outskirts of the battlefield stood a woman, eyes closed, sword drawn.
Suzune Zen.
She inhaled slowly.
"Samurai Style… 13th Stage — Law."
Her blade moved.
The battlefield rewrote itself.
Shadow techniques violated the Law.
Defense collapsed.
Requiem shattered completely.
Tomioka lay on the ground, barely conscious.
Diablo staggered back.
"…You broke my Shadow Requiem," he snarled.
"Who the hell are you?"
"She's from the Zen Clan," Tomioka said weakly.
"The strongest clan… where monsters raise monsters."
Diablo's eyes widened.
"…Zen Clan?"
Suzune approached Tomioka and extended her hand.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered.
She pulled him up.
"I'm not running away," she said.
"Not while leaving you here alone."
"But Suz—"
She grabbed his collar.
"Shut your mouth."
"If you stay," Tomioka said faintly,
"you'll die too… and then what will happen to Ash… Star… and Astra…?"
Suzune's grip tightened.
"If you're going to fight him," she said softly,
"then I'll protect you—even if it costs my life."
She turned her gaze toward Diablo.
"And Rein will never stop hunting them. When they grow up… they'll understand why we left them."
Tomioka smiled faintly.
"…So you've decided."
"Yes."
He raised his blade.
"Then let's end this," Tomioka said.
"Here and now."
Diablo laughed, thrilled.
"…This is getting very interesting."