The moment Rudolf tore the golden lion apart, the Beast Vassals within Kojou Akatsuki's body completely lost control. The backlash struck him like a hammer smashing into his head, and the Beast Vassals' reckless rampage forced him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Rudolf seized the chance, leaping in front of Kojou Akatsuki and kicking him hard to the ground.
And that wasn't all. The instant Kojou Akatsuki fell, a Cross appeared in Rudolf's hand, and he drove it straight toward Kojou Akatsuki's heart.
"Sshk!"
The Cross pierced through Kojou Akatsuki's heart and pinned him to the ground. The Primogenitor's immense vitality clashed violently with the Cross's Holy Light, and the overwhelming pain caused Kojou Akatsuki to lose consciousness.
The battles on both sides had already been decided. Yukina Himeragi and the other girl were defeated by Astarte, while Kojou Akatsuki had his heart pierced by Rudolf.
Looking down at Kojou Akatsuki lying on the ground, Rudolf narrowed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to kill the Fourth Primogenitor here and now, but he knew that was impossible. He could defeat a weakened Primogenitor, but killing one was another matter entirely. A Primogenitor's natural vitality remained the pinnacle of immortality even after the world fusion.
So...
Rudolf gripped his massive axe and walked straight toward the keystone.
Since he could not kill him, then he would use his own life to sink the Fourth Primogenitor together with this island.
He raised the giant axe high above his head and swung it down heavily toward the pillar in front of him. But just as the axe was about to strike, it stopped.
No, it was not the axe that stopped.
Time itself had frozen.
The savage grin on Rudolf's face stiffened. The clash between Kojou Akatsuki's vampire bloodline and the Holy Light inside his body halted. On the other side, the spiritual power Yukina Himeragi had gathered also froze in place.
Within this space, the only one still able to move was the braided girl from earlier.
She possessed the ability to forcibly intervene in the real world from a realm where time does not exist, Paper Noise.
Walking calmly toward Rudolf as if strolling through a garden, the braided girl raised the spear in her hand and thrust it toward Rudolf's heart.
Under the overwhelming authority of frozen time, the Alcazava could not react in time to defend him. The spear should have pierced straight through Rudolf's heart.
Or at least, it should have.
Just as the spear was about to touch Rudolf, time suddenly resumed.
Rudolf reacted instantly and activated the Alcazava to block the attack. Even so, the force of the strike sent him flying backward.
After knocking Rudolf away, the braided girl did not pursue him immediately. Instead, she froze where she stood and instinctively turned her head toward Yukina Himeragi lying on the ground.
In her memory, there was only one thing capable of disrupting her ability. It was an ability similar to stopping time and granted her absolute initiative.
The Demon-Purging Assault Spear in Yukina Himeragi's hand, Sekkarou.
But when she looked back at Yukina Himeragi, the calmness in her eyes wavered.
Yukina Himeragi was lying on the ground, still conscious, yet the Sekkarou was nowhere in her hands. During the earlier battle, it had already slipped from her grasp and landed several meters away.
If it was not Yukina Himeragi using Sekkarou to break her Paper Noise, then who exactly had disrupted her ability?
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
A burst of applause echoed through the chamber buried deep beneath the ocean floor.
The sudden sound drew the attention of everyone who was still conscious.
"Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!
Truly spectacular."
Under everyone's watchful gaze, a pitch-black figure sat casually on the railing, clapping his hands together in front of him. Though a mask covered his face, the delighted curve of his smile made it obvious he was enjoying himself immensely.
"Shadow!" X3
Whether it was the braided girl, Yukina Himeragi, or Rudolf, who had just climbed back to his feet, all of them were stunned by Shadow's sudden appearance.
"Why are you here? What are you plotting?"
The braided girl was the first to react, raising her gun and pointing it at Shadow as she demanded an answer.
Ignoring her completely, Cid turned his gaze toward Rudolf.
Rudolf froze for a moment under that gaze, but quickly came back to his senses.
"…Thank you, Shadow-sama, for saving my life. I already understand everything now. I was set up."
After saying that, Rudolf fell silent, unsure how to continue.
To him, Shadow was a globally wanted terrorist. Even if Rudolf succeeded in what he was attempting now, it would still amount to a world-class terrorist attack. Yet at the end of the day, he was still an Armed Apostle.
But Shadow had indeed saved him just now. In fact, if Shadow had not warned him, he probably would never have realized he had been manipulated, even until the moment he died.
By now, he could roughly guess what Shadow meant. Shadow was telling him to give up the idea of sinking the island and instead retrieve the Holy Relic through proper negotiation.
After encountering Shadow before, he had spent the entire night reviewing Shadow's information. From what he could tell, Shadow belonged to the lawful side.
And what he was currently trying to do… even he knew it would never be approved by the lawful faction. Even within the Church itself, there would be many who considered him too radical.
As for the braided girl standing before him, he had already roughly guessed her identity.
One of the Three Saints of the Lion King Organization, Koyomi Shizuka.
With Shadow here and one of the Three Saints present as well, sinking the island right in front of them was almost impossible. If he left now, he might still be able to save his life.
So… should he really give up?
Rudolf glanced at the Right Arm of the Saint and clenched his fists tightly.
Impossible.
Even if he had to die, he would destroy the keystone that was currently desecrating the Saint.
"Go ahead and do what you want. This is the reward a victor deserves."
Just as Rudolf was about to act, Cid's words stopped him.
Rudolf looked at Cid in disbelief.
Meanwhile, the completely ignored Koyomi Shizuka could no longer remain silent after hearing this.
"This matter has nothing to do with Shadow-sama. Why must Shadow-sama interfere?"
Although her gun was still aimed at Cid, Koyomi Shizuka did not dare to fire.
She understood her own strength very clearly. With Paper Noise, during a first encounter she could defeat many opponents stronger than herself. But if her opponent was Shadow, whether she could even break his defense was questionable. Not to mention that just moments ago, it seemed Shadow had already neutralized her Paper Noise.
"Why? Ha, haha, hahaha…"
Hearing Koyomi Shizuka's words, Cid laughed.
Seeing this, her expression darkened.
"Why ask so many questions? Like I said earlier, this is what the victor deserves."
After laughing enough, Cid said it casually.
"He may have defeated Kojou Akatsuki, but the one truly guarding this place is me."
Koyomi Shizuka did not understand what Cid meant by those words. However, she still sharply seized on what she thought was a loophole, attempting to bypass Shadow and stop Rudolf.
"No, no, no.
You set up this whole play where the Demon King destroys the world and the Hero appears to defeat him. That kind of story is completely cliché. But having the Demon King defeat the Hero? Now that's something new. And since the Demon King defeated the Hero, isn't it only natural that the Demon King goes on to destroy the world?"
"But I didn't lose."
Hearing Koyomi Shizuka's reply, Cid simply raised one finger and shook it.
"You still don't understand. You are not the hero.
You arranged this grand performance that deceived a believer who fights Demons for humanity, a Vampire Primogenitor, and used the lives of hundreds of thousands on this island as the cost of staging it. Such arrogance. Who do you think you are?
A God?"
Cid paused for a moment.
"If you believe you are God, and you act like one, freely manipulating the fate of others, then you must also accept that someone might break the fate you arranged.
Of course, you can always fix the fate that was broken.
As long as… you truly are God."
After saying this, Cid proudly lifted his head.
The magical power inside him surged outward without restraint. Black magical power flooded the entire room, making it difficult even to breathe. The overwhelming pressure descended upon Koyomi Shizuka, nearly forcing her to collapse.
"Ha… ha…"
Under the crushing pressure of Cid's presence, the spiritual energy inside Koyomi Shizuka slowed drastically. She could only watch as Rudolf raised the massive axe in his hands and smashed apart the keystone, retrieving the Holy Relic.
Should she intervene?
The thought flashed through Koyomi Shizuka's mind for only a second before she rejected it.
Acting now would simply mean death.
In her current state, even if Shadow did nothing, she still could not defeat Rudolf. Not to mention that Shadow had already locked onto her.
The only small comfort she had was that, in order to prevent Rudolf from going mad and destroying the Holy Relic, they had prepared Plan D in advance. A replacement material for the keystone.
However, this meant that the Lion King Organization would suffer enormous losses in this incident.
According to the original plan, Yukina Himeragi was supposed to be sent to Kojou Akatsuki and become his Blood Partner by obtaining his first blood. They had allowed three and a half days for this. They had even deliberately created disturbances on Rudolf's side to draw attention away.
But even now, the two of them still had not properly met.
Left with no choice, they activated Plan B. A Sword Shaman would be sent to have Kojou Akatsuki drink blood under the pretext of saving the island. The flaw in this plan was obvious. The one sent in haste had poor talent, there was no emotional foundation, and the method was far too forced. Anyone with some intelligence might notice something was wrong.
Then Rudolf suddenly seemed as if he had gained some kind of cheat and actually defeated Kojou Akatsuki.
That forced them to move to Plan C. She would personally act, kill Rudolf who had already discovered the truth, erase the Lion King Organization's involvement, return the Holy Relic to the Church as a victim, and then shift the blame so both sides would share responsibility under public opinion.
But now Shadow had intervened and protected Rudolf, allowing him to return alive.
Setting aside how humiliating it was that a mere Armed Apostle had broken into Itogami Island and taken the Holy Relic.
Once the Church discovered the Lion King Organization's scheme, the retaliation would follow. Public pressure could even incite conflict between factions. The Church would not escalate things openly, but the compensation demanded would force the Lion King Organization to empty its reserves.
Compared to their damaged reputation and the inevitable compensation, the replacement keystone prepared in Plan D was practically worthless.
Although countless thoughts flashed through her mind, in reality Koyomi Shizuka slowly lowered the spear in her hands and watched helplessly as Rudolf retrieved the Holy Relic.
Then something happened that no one present had expected.
The moment Rudolf removed the Holy Relic, the sacred aura within it reacted with the magical power of Shadow filling the air and the cross embedded in Kojou Akatsuki's heart.
Brilliant holy light erupted.
Even the alloy walls could not block it. Outside the keystone, the pitch-black deep sea was suddenly illuminated.
Under this holy light, Kojou Akatsuki… lost control.
Without the slightest restraint, enormous magical power erupted from Kojou Akatsuki's body, surging outward with the clear intent to destroy everything here.
If that magical power struck the surrounding alloy walls, the chamber buried beneath the seabed would instantly collapse.
Everyone except Cid and Kojou Akatsuki would be buried beneath the ocean.
Trying to intercept it with spiritual energy was useless. The moment spiritual energy collided with that magical power, an explosion would occur. The more confined the space, the greater the destructive force.
And an explosion fueled by such massive magical power would have aftershocks strong enough to destroy the entire Keystone Gate.
Realizing this, Cid's gaze sharpened.
The black magical power filling the air condensed and collided with the magical power erupting from Kojou Akatsuki.
The explosion everyone expected… never happened.
Each strand of black magical power colliding with Kojou Akatsuki's chaotic magical power possessed exactly the same quality as Kojou Akatsuki's power. The two perfectly canceled each other out, without even the slightest overflow.
The collision lasted several seconds.
Two streams of magical power, each powerful enough to easily destroy an island on their own, clashed within this narrow space without producing a single sound.
A miracle in the history of magic had just occurred.
Just as the clash ended, Cid felt slightly dizzy from having controlled his magical power down to a microscopic level.
At that moment, a golden lion far stronger than the one Rudolf had used descended from above and struck Cid directly.
A huge cloud of dust erupted, completely obscuring Cid from view.
However, everyone noticed one thing.
At the moment the golden lion struck Shadow, a surge of magical power spread from beneath his feet into the ground, stabilizing the structure and preventing the room from collapsing.