WHOOSH!
WHAM!!
The invisible strikes of the [Limbo] shadows connected with the mutilated biological entity that had suddenly appeared. The ground groaned under the pressure, warping like a twisted Rubik's Cube as the earth tilted and buckled in contradictory directions.
Each shadow was an exact duplicate of Madara himself. The [Susanoo] they manifested was just as powerful as the original, and the dual-blade strike was even more devastating than the one that had sent Karna plummeting minutes before.
Violent shockwaves scoured the area, the pressure alone enough to pulverize any living creature within miles. Dust and sand swirled into a localized storm, shrouding the impact zone in a thick, choking haze.
"!"
The attack had hit home, but Madara's eyes widened slightly as he stared into the center of the devastation.
The two [Limbo] shadows, despite being protected by the skeletal armor of [Susanoo], were suddenly severed from shoulder to waist. It was as if they had been struck by the very blades they themselves wielded.
How was this possible? Both shadows were deep within their respective [Susanoo] housings, and the outer shells were completely intact. Why were the "shadows" themselves wounded?
This bizarre phenomenon immediately commanded Madara's full attention.
He withdrew the two damaged shadows into the Limbo world and manifested two fresh ones to stand guard.
'Was it a counterattack?'
'No... the [Rinnegan] saw no signs of movement from the target.'
He replayed the scene in his mind, searching for the logic behind the reflection.
"Heh..."
"So, here stands another human whose heart refuses to fall into the abyss?"
As the dust settled, Madara got a clear look at the creature standing upon the scorched earth. It had the appearance of a feminine humanoid, possesssing a complete head but only half a torso. It stood on a single, slender leg. This was no human; the tattered, broken wings on its back gave it the appearance of a fallen, broken angel.
The Berserker of Red...
Yubel.
"Why...?"
The creature murmured, its voice a hollow, haunting echo.
"Hmph. A heart falling into darkness?"
"That is a struggle for children," Madara said, crossing his arms and regarding the monster with a cold, dismissive sneer.
He could feel the strange spiritual fluctuations radiating from her. He instantly identified it as a form of Genjutsu designed to induce and amplify "negative emotions" within the target.
Unfortunately for her... such a trick might work on children like Obito or Nagato, But it was utterly useless against him. Madara no longer possessed a single "crack" in his psyche for her to exploit.
"Well, it doesn't matter. There are still two other excellent candidates," Yubel noted, her eyes fixed on Madara. "And thanks to your incredible strength, my Master has no choice but to pour more mana into my restoration."
"One thing, however... that wasn't your real body attacking just now, was it?" She spoke with chilling clarity, showing zero fear.
In the next heartbeat, she was hit again. A heavy blow struck her abdomen.
THUD!
"I see. Your ability reflects any damage taken back onto the attacker," Madara noted, his brow furrowing as he felt the impact resonate through his [Limbo] shadow.
"What a despicable man you are..." Yubel whispered. "If that had been you instead of a shadow, it might have ended there."
Madara let out a cold laugh at her blunt admission. He had used [Limbo] specifically to test if this Heroic Spirit could perceive or sense the invisible world. The dual-blade strike had been a whim, an experiment to gauge her durability.
And he had caught a very large fish indeed.
'However... even after being struck by [Limbo], she doesn't have a single wound on her,' Madara thought. 'Is it a perfect damage transfer?'
He began to dissect her abilities, his strategic mind working at high speed. He needed to find a way to dismantle her without triggering her gimmick.
Normal methods of combat were out of the question. To strike her was to strike himself. If he unleashed a [Great Fire Annihilation], he would be the one turned to ash.
Moreover, she seemed to take zero knockback or physical trauma from the impact, meaning there was no possibility of a 'trade' or a war of attrition. She was a truly troublesome wall.
"Hmm..."
Seeing that Madara had stopped moving, Yubel didn't rush him. She was content to wait. Had he figured out her secret? It didn't matter. These Heroic Spirits might be powerful, but their very strength would become the noose that strangled them.
After all, any pain they inflicted on her would be returned tenfold. Her "Battle Damage Immunity" ensured that even an attacker with a suicidal resolve couldn't force a tie. She even possessed an innate resistance to "destruction by battle," a trait that left most Heroic Spirits utterly helpless.
If Madara hadn't used those strange invisible puppets for his assault, his own overwhelming power would have already backfired, consuming him from the inside out.
***
"Is it really wise to let her go out there alone?"
Within the sanctuary of the church, Minato looked at Amakusa, his expression filled with doubt. The Berserker... Yubel... was clearly unstable. If she turned on them, it would be a disaster.
"If I had any other choice, I wouldn't have done it," Amakusa replied. "But the Rider of Black is stronger than anticipated. Letting Lancer stay out there to drain his mana would be a losing game."
"The Black Faction has prepared a massive number of homunculi and the Greater Grail itself as a backup. They have no reason to fear a war of attrition."
Amakusa had spent sixty years preparing for this, securing local leylines and stockpiling mana to ensure his Servants could fight at full capacity. But putting Karna into a long-term duel with Madara was a strategic error.
That was why he had ordered Minato to deliver Yubel. He wanted to use her unique reflection ability to force the Rider of Black to taste his own medicine.
Unfortunately, he hadn't expected Madara's invisible attacks to bypass the feedback loop to his main body. That was an unforeseen variable.
"With the current mana supply, her body will be fully restored in a matter of minutes," Amakusa said, regaining his composure. "Unless he has a highly specific countermeasure, he cannot defeat her."
As a priest, he was well aware of the nature of the "demon" he had summoned. Yubel was not something that could be exorcised by conventional means. Even he, as her Master, had few ways to restrain her aside from a Command Seal.
"On that note... you seem to know quite a lot about the Rider of Black, Assassin."
"Would you mind sharing his history with me?"
***
Watching Yubel's body slowly "regenerate," Madara finally lowered his arms. A sharp, predatory grin crossed his face as he prepared to act.
Yubel studied him, curious to see what he would try next.
"If I cannot damage you through normal means... then I'll simply seal you away."
At those words, Yubel felt her body suddenly kicked high into the air. One of the [Limbo] shadows buckled, its torso caving in from the reflected impact of the heavy strike.
Suddenly, countless fragments of earth and debris floated upward, converging toward a point of darkness in the center of the sky. The parched earth below was being excavated by an invisible force, massive chunks of land rising as if gravity had been inverted.
Madara raised a single hand toward the sky, his voice cold and final.
"Planetary Devastation... [Chibaku Tensei]!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]