The atmosphere changed completely; the air became dense and suffocating.
’Maria and Gloria, evacuate right now,’ Zane’s voice echoed directly inside Maria and Gloria’s heads through a quick mana transmission.
Maria and Gloria stood confused, glancing at each other because they could not sense anything in the silent air.
"Hm, fine," Maria replied, turning on her heel as she and Gloria started running away from the battle scene.
In an instant, the whole area became dead silent. The violent thunder and red lightning stopped roaring, plunging the ruined district into a terrifying calm.
TH-THUMP! TH-THUMP!
The Madam’s dead heart suddenly started beating again. Red blood sparks slowly radiated from her lifeless body.
CRACKLE -- TH-THUMP!
Her twitching fingers started moving. Her body complexion began changing rapidly, turning a pure, crimson red, while her long hair expanded and turned pitch-black.
RUMBLE...
The whole area started shaking under the immense pressure. Arthur noticed something was terribly off, immediately leaping a few steps back to stand side-by-side next to Zane.
FWOOOOSH!
A massive surge of dark red mana shot straight into the dark clouds above.
AND THEN---
BOOOM!
The eruption of dark red mana caused the thick, storm-filled dark clouds to violently clear away.
"This is crazy... what kind of crazy dark mana is this?!" Arthur exclaimed, looking up at the sudden clear sky in disbelief.
"Hahaha... Haaaa!"
"I finally did it!" the Madam laughed hysterically, inspecting her hands as her skin turned completely red. She reached up, touching two long, curved red horns growing from her forehead, right above two black lines that crossed straight down over her eyes.
"What kind of monster is this?" Arthur asked, staring at the Madam as she stood fully transformed with a pure red body and a demonic hell tail whipping behind her.
Zane stood frozen, looking at her purely out of fear. He stared down at the shattered ground, his expression turning pitch-black.
’When was the last time I felt this fear and terrifying presence? Was it in the dungeon? No... was it the moment I died before? No, yeah... I remember. Yes, I have felt this exact fear in my past life, when my parents and my sister were killed right in front of me, TCH!’ Zane thought to himself, forcing his head back up to glare at the Madam.
"Fear... Fear... Fear to lose the ones you love? What a joke! I have felt it before!" Zane started talking out loud, taking unsteady steps toward the Madam with his eyes wide open and a wild, unhinged smile on his face.
"Zane! Zane, Zane, snap out of it!" Arthur shouted, grabbing him firmly by the shoulder.
"Huh... Sorry. I lost control of my emotions," Zane muttered, glancing back at Arthur as he snapped out of his trance.
Arthur sighed heavily. "Be careful and serious, will you?"
"Yeah, I get it," Zane said, looking down.
’What was that just now? Never mind,’ Zane thought to himself, shaking his head.
"Mmm~ being controlled by the emotion of fear at your age... I wonder what you have gone through up until now," the Madam purred, looking down at Zane with cold amusement.
"Why don’t you shut up and come at us, you damn monster!" Zane shouted, shooting forward across the cobblestones toward her.
"That’s more like it! Come, you royal brats!" she replied, charging straight toward Zane and Arthur.
Arthur didn’t waste a single second, following right behind Zane with his glowing light blade drawn.
"HAAH!" Zane roared.
BOOOOM!
Zane and the Madam collided at maximum speed, creating a massive shockwave that pulverized the stone beneath them.
And then---
CRACK!
Zane’s twin katanas started cracking under the sheer pressure. A broad, cruel smile spread across the Madam’s face as she watched the shock register on Zane’s face.
BREAK!
The katanas shattered into pieces. Just as Zane was about to be sliced in half, Arthur descended from the sky with a heavy overhead strike, forcing the Madam to leap backward.
"Damn, I almost got him," she said, casually shaking out her hand.
"We are equal now," Arthur said coldly, standing directly in front of Zane.
"Well, my experiment and my missions are done here, so let’s finish this," she declared, closing her eyes.
Meanwhile, inside the King’s private office, Gideon and the King continued their quiet chess match.
"It’s been three hours now, and with that massive shockwave of dark mana, this is no longer a fight where Zane and Arthur can win," Gideon said, sliding a wooden chess piece across the board. "Wouldn’t it be better to send someone or save them yourself?"
"Like I said before, I am not stupid enough to send my children to die, you know," the King replied casually, stretching his cheek with one hand. He leaned forward, tapping a piece down onto the board. "Checkmate. You are still not good at this game, Gideon."
"I know, my King," Gideon replied with a slight bow. "So, what are you thinking?"
"Nothing much," the King said, gazing up at the high stone ceiling. "It’s just that since I received this restriction, I haven’t been able to move freely across my kingdom."
"Well, with how strong you are, the world is simply not ready yet, my King."
"Well, then I have to make my children strong enough to stand on my behalf outside this damn palace."
Back in Valeria City, things reached a catastrophic boiling point:
"BLOOD DEMON: DOMAIN!"
FWOOOOSH!
The entire district fell completely silent as a dark crimson sky covered the city. The air became instantly suffocating and scorching hot.
"Hahaha... Let’s go!"
The demon Madam vanished into thin air, reappearing instantaneously behind Zane and Arthur. Neither had time to react before an invisible force struck them, sending both brothers flying into the sky.
’Damn it! She has become a pure blood demon, and her power... it’s so strong! I can’t react to her speed at all! What should I do now? Yeah... that will do,’ Zane thought to himself while airborne.
While Zane was still in mid-air, Arthur was ruthlessly targeted by the Demon Madam, getting beaten across the sky and sent crashing down.
"Arthur!" Zane shouted.
The Madam immediately pivoted, charging straight toward Zane.
"Damn it! DARK DOMAIN : BLACK ARROWS !"
Dozens of pitch-black arrows erupted from dark circles on the ground below, honing in on the Madam as she darted through the air.
BOOM! BOOM!
’She still dodges so well... I have no choice,’ Zane gritted his teeth, pulling his legendary blade straight out from his spatial inventory.
"GOD SLAYING SWORD: FIRST FORM 40% — HEAVEN SLASH!"
FWOOOOSH!
A towering surge of pure, divine holy energy erupted from the blade.
"Mmm... that’s why he was so talkative, huh? He deserves this!" the Madam sneered, channeling her crimson flames.
"DARK BLOOD DEMON SWORD ART: DESTROYER!"
A roaring torrent of dark fire shot directly from her sword toward Zane. The two catastrophic attacks collided in mid-air.
BOOOOM!
The Madam’s attack completely overwhelmed Zane’s holy slash, striking him directly and blasting him through eight stone buildings in a continuous trail of destruction.
Battered and broken among the rubble, Zane lay bleeding.
’Where did everything go wrong? Was it when I got reincarnated... or the moment when my parents and sister got killed in front of me?’ Zane thought to himself, tears silently dropping down his dirt-stained face.
AND THEN---
"FLAME BLADE: THE SCORCHING SUN OF THE HEAVENS!"
FWOOOOSH!
BOOOOM!
A blinding blaze of divine heat engulfed the street, completely incinerating the dark domain in an instant.
"Hey, start healing the princes immediately," an authoritative voice commanded over the crackling embers.
"Yes, Sire!" the surrounding royal guards replied in unison as Zane finally slipped out of consciousness.
"Damn, what an incredible feat for them to hold off the demon this long," the King’s personal guard remarked quietly, removing his armored foot from the Madam’s crushed, lifeless face.