MIHO’S HANDS TURNED into feline paws. She extends her sharp claws and imbued them with mana. As she leaped forward, she extends her arms and tried to slash Nobunaga to the chest.

Nobunaga managed to dodge, but wounds still appeared on his chest, spraying his blood. Pirouette was already waiting for him and kicked him on the back of his head sending him flying forward.

“Pirouette!” shouted Miho.

Miho changes her stance. As Pirouette appears on her back, Miho leaped and spins horizontally with her nine tails in a shape of a ball.

Pirouette kicks Miho’s tails that sent Miho towards Nobunaga at great speed.

As she launched forward, Miho extends her arms and claws and hits Nobunaga on his chest, penetrating the already wounded chest. With his chest impaled by Miho's claws, he was taken with her as she kept on moving forward.

As soon as Miho stopped spinning like a drill, she grabbed Nobunaga's chest and ripped them apart, exposing Nobunaga’s heart. She then leaped to the air and Pirouette quickly appeared in front of Nobunaga. With one straight mana-imbued kick, Pirouette hits Nobunaga’s exposed heart and sent him flying backward even further. Nobunaga hits another wall of earth that shattered violently upon contact.

Miho and Pirouette went straight to Nobunaga to ensure that he was dealt with, but a surge of mana knocked them back and an even greater explosion occurred that made debris of rocks and earth flew everywhere.

Large chunks of earth and rocks even blocked the path of the escaping crew of Cobalt.

“Everyone alright?” shouted Chrome.

Luckily, no one got hit or got hurt from the explosion.

Cobalt regained consciousness, “W-What’s h-happening?”

“Cobalt!” Lea and Nick slowly put Cobalt to the ground.

“That man who attacked us is stronger than we thought. But two women are dealing with him now,” said Nick.

“But we can’t leave this place now. It’s blocking our path.”

“Let’s just stay away from the battle as far as possible,” Zircon suggested.

From the towering dust and smoke came out Nobunaga. He then landed somewhere near Miho and Pirouette. His whole body was burning with pitch-black flame, regenerating his wounds. Even his open chest was now closed with no sign of his heart being damaged.

“And here I thought I would experience the excitement. You two…disappoint me,” said Nobunaga.

“You think this is a game?!” shouted Pirouette.

“We’re not letting you leave this place,” said Miho as she prepared to attack.

As the black flame subsided, the whole body of Nobunaga has healed once again.

“Pirouette, stay on your guard. And switch to heightening your senses,” said Miho.

“Got it,” Pirouette replied as she retracted her mana. She then focused her mana's circulation on her skin, ears, and eyes. As her senses enhanced, she became fully aware of her surrounding, even further than what the elves could reach.

“Miho, the locals are still here. We need to keep this away from them.”

“Not a problem,” Miho assured as she imbues her paws, claws, and tails with mana.

“That’s it. Show me your limit!” said Nobunaga.

A sphere of black flame engulfed him and after a few seconds, the flame scattered, revealing Nobunaga’s new form. His physique looked demonic with bat-like wings both engulfed in flame and smoldering chains wrapped around his arms and legs.

* * * * *

Alloy, Silver, and a couple more Pit Valley Bandit members arrived at the battlefield. They saw tons of large chunks of earth scattered everywhere. They were both confused as they have no idea if Cobalt could cause so much destruction.

“Cobalt! Lea! Vana!” Alloy shouted.

“Nick! Zircon! Chrome!” Silver shouted as well.

They moved in closer. They can still hear explosions as if people were still fighting. They spread out and kept on shouting their names.

“Alloy! Over here!” Lea shouted.

“We’re here!!” Nick added.

Alloy saw the large chunks of rock and soil blocking the way. “Lea! Can you hear me?!”

“Yes! We’re just behind this stupid rock!”

“Alright! Now move far away! We’ll clear the path!”

Lea, Nick, and the rest moved away and hid behind another large rock.

Silver covered his whole body with iron scales, the same with Cobalt. He charged to the huge chunk of rock and punched straight through it, clearing the path.

They saw how drastic the area changed behind the large chunks of earth. There were so many craters and debris. Black flames were engulfing much of the place. And far away from where they were, a flying demonic creature was fighting two people.

Lea and the rest of Cobalt’s crew approached them.

“Thank gods you arrived,” said Lea.

“What the hell happened here, Lea?” asked Silver.

“We attacked the man who killed Zinc and Bron, but he was too strong, even for Cobalt.”

“Are you alright, Cobalt?” asked Alloy.

“A-Alloy? W-What are y-you...What about our hideout?”

“Don't worry. I activated a light barrier to keep our family safe.”

“Come on, Cobalt. We gotta leave this place,” Silver helped Cobalt stand up.

“N-No,” said Cobalt. “T-Those people helped us. W-We’re helping them as well.”

“Just how much did you hit your head?” asked Alloy. “There’s nothing we can do here. Whatever that thing is, it’s out of our league.”

Cobalt freed himself from Lea, Nick, and Silver. “Y-You all go ahead. I’ll stay here.”

“Cobalt, don’t be stupid! We need to leave this place, now!”

* * * * *

While the Pit Valley Bandits were arguing, Miho and Pirouette were both being overpowered by Nobunaga.

“It has been ages since I used my pseudo-Rakhanos form. Is it too much for you two, Miho, the Last Kumiho and Pirouette, the Battle Ballerina?” said Nobunaga mockingly.

Miho and Pirouette were now both too wounded and too tired to move. Even with their combined strength, they were no match for the strength of a pseudo-Rakhanos.

Nobunaga dove towards Miho and Pirouette. Another crater appeared as soon as he hit the ground. Cobalt and Silver came just in time to save both Miho and Pirouette.

“Y-You? Why didn’t you and your people left yet?!” asked Miho.

“You really think I’ll leave you two here to face whatever that monstrosity is?”

Miho didn’t answer. Even Pirouette has taken her toll and expended most of her mana that she could no longer move, much to argue.

“Ahh. You’re still alive?” said Nobunaga.

“No thanks to you,” said Cobalt.

“How did we get involved in this, Cobalt?” asked Silver.

“I don’t know. But he’s the one who killed our people. He’s going to pay.”

“W-wait! You can’t fight him! He’s too strong!” warned Miho.

Suddenly, something hits Nobunaga’s head and instantly exploded, making him stagger even for just a bit.

Silver charged towards Nobunaga and released a barrage of punches with his iron-scaled fists. Cobalt followed and hits Nobunaga with a strong straight that knocked back Nobunaga.

Three more projectiles hit Nobunaga that exploded, staggering him even more.

“Alloy, you’re using too much mana!” Nick shouted as Alloy used her signature magic.

“That’s alright, I could only use this magic five times with my current mana pool anyway.”

With her last bit of mana, Alloy nocked an arrow with her longbow once more. She then imbued it with magic --- Explosion Magic.

Cobalt and Silver continued to attack Nobunaga who has been disoriented by the magic explosion. As soon as they managed to knock back Nobunaga, Lea and Nick used their Targeting Magic to ensure that Alloy’s last magic-imbued arrow will hit.

Alloy released the arrow.

Nobunaga got over his disorientation from the magical explosion. He made another surge of mana that knocked back both Silver and Cobalt. The last arrow prematurely explodes even before reaching Nobunaga. The surge reached the bandits as well and knocked them all back.

His pseudo-Rakhanos form becomes more Rakhanos-like. He now has a tail, his face changed, his horns grew longer, and his flaming bat-like wings became larger.

The heat coming from Nobunaga radiated intensely that Cobalt and Silver were forced to cancel their power.

“I’m getting tired of this, Miho. When will Melody arrive?” asked Nobunaga as he created a giant sphere of black flame above him.

Miho gulped. With Nobunaga transforming even further, she’s not sure if even Melody could deal with him.

“Who’s this Melody he’s talking about?” asked Cobalt.

“S-She's our superior.”

“Is she really coming?” asked Silver.

“I don't want to doubt Melody, but...” said Pirouette.

Accepting that they might get killed here, Miho and Pirouette braced themselves.

“You two must leave now. You do not have to die here.”

“Don’t accept that you’re gonna die here now.”

Nobunaga gestured downward and the sphere of black flame fell towards them.

“Cobalt!! Silver!!” shouted Alloy.

* * * * *

Melody jumped down from Ashe and landed just in time. She created a pink orb in her right hand and threw it into the sphere of black flame. As soon as the orb and sphere collide, the sphere of black flame was almost instantly surrounded by the pink glass-like objects. Melody made a gesture and the glass shattered without any trace from the black flame.

Catriona jumped down from Ashe as well and used her magic, creating a long blade with her Blade Magic. As she fell, she impaled Nobunaga with her blade.

As they both fell, Ashe swooped in to catch Catriona.

The long blade continued to fall and hit the ground with Nobunaga impaled. But the heat from his flame melted the blade, freeing himself shortly afterward.

As soon as Ashe landed, Catriona alights from her, and Ashe transformed back to her human form.

“Ahh, Catriona, the Blade Mistress. Ashe, the Azure Bird. And Melody…the Queen of Broken Glass. It’s about time you finally show up.”

“I guess it was no secret that we are coming for you then?” asked Melody.

“Let’s just say that I was already anticipating your arrival. After all, you are the prodigy that the Supreme Council has been relying on for some time now.”

“Ashe, Cat, tend to the wounded. I’ll deal with Nobunaga.”

“Oh, no, no, no. I’ll let your best friends get busy as well.”

“Everyone! Stay sharp!” warned Melody.

“Witness the power of Vishendu! The Ishvara of Space!”

After activating the mana of Vishendu, Nobunaga created a rift behind him. A roar came from the rift as a demonic creature tried to go through. Soon, a large canine-like, quadruped creature comes out from the rift. Its body was covered in flame-like greenish-black fur and has a flame-like mane. As it roared, its mouth opens in four different directions.

“I give you…a Rakshasa!!”