By now, the Keystone Gate had stopped shaking. Frozen solid by Nagisa Akatsuki's Familiar, sealed in absolute-zero cold, it had transformed into a mountain of ice. Strangely, that made it sturdier than before, no longer trembling on the verge of collapse.
But everyone inside—residents and Island Management Corporation facilities alike—had been entombed in ice. From the twelve floors above the water to the forty levels below, everything inside this two-kilometer-wide structure was frozen solid. Even the special zone's security forces, who had rushed in after detecting the massive surge of magic, had been reduced to part of the glacier.
At the center of it all, Nagisa continued releasing power. Her hollow eyes stared forward as the ice Familiar behind her spread its freezing aura outward. Bit by bit, the heart of Itogami Island was transforming into a frozen wasteland.
Naturally, the island's people were caught in the spreading frost. One after another, they became statues of ice—faces twisted in terror, captured in their final moments.
Kaiser watched her for a long moment before turning his cold eyes back on Giada Kukulcan.
"Release her Freeze Mode," he said flatly. "Do that, and I won't kill you."
Giada smiled.
"You think I fear death?" she said softly. "Do you know why they call us the undying vampires cursed by the gods?"
"It's because immortality isn't a blessing."
"We've lived too long. Ages of life have left us nothing but boredom. The passions of our past are buried in history, reduced to fragments of blood memory. They give us power, yes—but no meaning."
"So, Beast King, threatening a Progenitor with death—or even an Old Generation Vampire—is utterly foolish. Remember that well."
She spoke like a teacher passing down wisdom, showing neither fear of death nor resentment toward Kaiser, who had nearly killed her moments ago.
Her gaze held only admiration for his strength, satisfaction with the battle, and hunger for more.
"It's almost unbelievable," she murmured. "That someone like you could exist in this world. This planet's history is far more fascinating than the Devas once thought."
Her eyes lingered on the sacred spear in Kaiser's hand, then shifted to the black orbs floating behind him. She licked her lips.
"Are those too relics of the mythic age? Weapons like the Lion King Agency's divine arms?"
Kaiser didn't answer. He only stared at her, then spoke again.
"Release Nagisa."
He had no patience for her games.
"If you want her back," Giada said, stepping to Nagisa's side, "then take her from me yourself." She stroked the girl's face, lips curling into a dangerous smile as her fangs slid into view. "But hurry. If you're too slow, this girl will break before you can save her."
"You really think controlling the Fourth Progenitor makes you my equal?" Kaiser's expression didn't waver. "Even against two Progenitors, the one left standing will be me."
"And if Nagisa breaks, then the next to be destroyed will be your Chaos Realm."
"You may not fear death, but the Night Empire you built with your own hands—if that were to be erased, would you feel nothing?"
Anyone else hearing such words would think Kaiser insane. To threaten a Progenitor was arrogance beyond reason.
But Giada only smiled. She knew this man had the right to say it.
"Could you really do it, though?" she asked, amused. "You think I don't see it? You've been holding back this entire time."
"Against Aradahl, against Iblisveil, against me—you never used your full strength."
"You're afraid of destroying this artificial island. Afraid of killing the hundreds of thousands of people living here. That's why you keep restraining yourself."
She had pierced his hesitation.
Itogami Island was too small. Too fragile. One careless blow from him could sink the entire island. And here at the Keystone Gate, even the slightest damage to its foundation would cause the whole structure to collapse, scattering into the Pacific.
"Could you really bring that destruction down on my Chaos Realm—on countless innocents—just to spite me?"
Her words made Kaiser narrow his eyes.
"You mistake me for a saint," he said calmly. "If it becomes necessary, I'll act. You're welcome to test that."
"So in other words… if it isn't necessary, you won't kill without reason." Giada's smile widened, almost in approval. "In that sense, perhaps you're the same kind of man as Ki Juranbarada."
The Lost Warlord. The First Progenitor.
Ki Juranbarada—one of the most ancient beings in existence, the founder of the Sacred Treaty, the one who ended the endless war between humans and the demon race.
Though he too would raze nations with his Familiars when required, he never killed without cause. And when no necessity pressed him, he had worked to improve the world and secure peace.
That was why, among the three Progenitors, he was the most respected.
"You two would probably get along," Giada laughed. "It's a shame he can't just come to meet you. Kings rarely meet face-to-face, after all."
She seemed to forget—she was called a king herself.
Though, truthfully, she was the least kingly of them all. No other Progenitor wandered the world so freely, chasing whims without restraint.
And even now, faced with Kaiser's threats, she only kept smiling.
"Well then," she said brightly. "Let's not waste time. While the island still holds, let's enjoy the thrill of battle."
Her aura flared, magic surging higher.
At her side, Nagisa lifted her hand in unison, responding to Giada's will. Her arm had turned black-red, traced with crimson lines, steaming blood mist curling upward.
"The blood of the god-killing weapon flows in you, Nagisa Akatsuki—Avrora Florestina. I release your shackles."
Nagisa's chant rang out, layered with Avrora's voice, the two overlapping as one.
"Come forth! Fifth Familiar—Regulus Aurum!"
From the mist, a golden lion emerged, wrapped in lightning.
"ROAR!"
Its thunderous cry split the sky as storms of lightning burst from its body. With a single bound, it became a pillar of light, hurling itself straight at Kaiser above.
"Camaxtli!"
Giada summoned her thundercloud again, spears of lightning lancing down like countless javelins, filling the sky with blinding light.
"Assaratana"
Kaiser invoked one of the seven powers. His form vanished instantly, slipping away before the lion's charge or the storm of lightning could touch him.
The Assaratana allowed him to reposition an enemy—or himself—anywhere he wished. It was faster, sharper than Sonído itself, a true instant shift.
"Xiuhtecuhtli! Xolotl!"
Giada reacted without hesitation, releasing her fiery serpent and skeletal giant once more.
"Come forth! Second Familiar—Cor Tauri Ochre! Third Familiar—Al-Nasl Minium!"
Nagisa's chant followed. A magma-skinned minotaur wielding a colossal battle-axe rose beside her, towering over ten meters tall. A twin-headed dragon, twisted into a spiral with a draconic maw at each end, coiled into existence.
Their powers mirrored Giada's summons. The minotaur's molten axe could shatter any non-physical barrier, erupting the ground into spears of magma. The double-headed dragon devoured dimensions themselves, swallowing all matter and energy, erasing them with the very space they occupied.
Flames and molten stone surged skyward. The skeletal giant's chest opened, hurling shells of void. The twin dragon roared, jaws tearing into the seams of space.
The spectacle was apocalyptic. Even in the sky, the tremors shook the island below, imprinting terror in countless hearts.
No human could survive such attacks.
Kaiser's eyes gleamed.
"Parinayakaratana!"
One of the black spheres flew forward. With a flash, it obliterated the torrent of flame, scattering it like fireworks across the heavens.
"Assaratana!"
The dragon lunging toward Kaiser suddenly blinked, reappearing directly in front of the void-shell fired by Xolotl. It snapped its jaws shut, devouring space and darkness alike.
Then, with another shift, Kaiser relocated the dragon into the path of the magma spears. Its body was pierced through, writhing as it howled in pain.
"You'd turn my own against me!?" Giada shouted, trying to summon more Familiars—
But Kaiser didn't give her the chance.
"Itthiratana!"
The black sphere of sealing shot from his hand, engulfing Giada in dark light.
"What!?"
Her eyes widened as her summons failed. The beastlike claws of her body melted away, reverting to human form. Her power was sealed.
"Bang!"
She struck the prison walls, but it was useless. The seal held firm.
"This… is bad…" she muttered, for the first time grim-faced.
But Nagisa moved.
"Come forth! Sixth Familiar—Mesarthim Adamas!"
A valkyrie appeared, rainbow sword in hand.
"Haah!"
With a single slash, her blade of light cut through the black sphere, shattering the seal.
Mesarthim Adamas—the Sixth Familiar of the Fourth Progenitor. Its power severed not just form, but causality itself.
Even the Queen's seal, the power that once bound Kanon's angelic form, could not endure.
"Well done!" Giada's grin returned.
But—
"You're celebrating too early."
Kaiser's voice came from behind her.
Her body froze.
A hand pressed down on her shoulder. Then came the incantation, spoken in rapid succession:
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!"
Each word stripped her strength in half. Again and again, her vast power was shredded away, dropping lower with every repetition.
In moments, Giada's energy had fallen beneath even an Old Generation Vampire.
"Come forth! Eighth Familiar—Shaula Viola!"
Nagisa didn't hesitate, summoning again. A scorpion-tailed manticore cloaked in violet flame emerged, its presence poisoning the very air, the earth itself corroding beneath its breath.
"Gahapatiratana!"
Kaiser ignored the spreading toxins. Another black sphere flew outward, splitting into countless duplicates—clones of himself—surrounding Nagisa.
"I'll deal with you first."
He spoke to Giada without turning, his voice calm, but the cold sweat sliding down her temple betrayed the truth—
For the first time, the Chaos Bride felt the danger of death pressing down on her.
(End of Chapter)
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