The swarm flooded space, thick enough to obscure the confrontation between Sora and Skaracabaz.
Only Titania behind him could still clearly see.
Right now, Titania was gripping her twin blades tightly, eager for battle.
Sora had already returned to life—surely if they fought together, the two of them could smash this bastard into scattered petals upon flowing water!
She brimmed with confidence, but just as she prepared to charge forward, Sora stepped in and blocked her way.
With him standing before her, she felt reassured—but her forward momentum stopped dead in its tracks.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Titania was unhappy. "Did getting resurrected scramble your brain? This is literally the best chance we have to take that thing down!"
She genuinely couldn't understand why Sora was stopping her.
The Starcrusher Swarm King's threat was obvious. It had paused its assault because of something Sora said, giving them the perfect chance to strike. Yet Sora wasn't attacking; instead, he was holding her back.
Titania was thoroughly confused.
"Leave this place to me. Go warn everyone else to stay away," Sora spoke calmly to Titania, his gaze fixed steadily on the Starcrusher Swarm King, coiled and ready to strike.
Titania stared at him, utterly incredulous: "You seriously intend to face Skaracabaz alone?!"
The Starcrusher Swarm King had easily overwhelmed her multiple times; the threat it posed was only marginally less than Sora himself back on Zieltworth.
Even she didn't dare claim absolute victory against it alone, yet here Sora was, arrogantly planning to face it solo.
"You really must've gotten brain damage when you resurrected," Titania muttered in exasperation. "Have you already forgotten how you died before?"
"Of course, I haven't forgotten..." Sora smiled slightly, turning to look at her.
At that instant, Titania's heart leaped into high alert.
The Starcrusher Swarm King would never miss an opportunity to attack! The moment Sora let his guard down like this, it would definitely strike!
No!
It already had!
At the farthest edge of her vision, the Starcrusher Swarm King had vanished into a blur, camouflaged by the surrounding swarm.
Only when its newly regrown dual-blades were already slicing toward them—ready to cleave them both cleanly in two—did Titania have the chance to react.
"Hey, you idio…t?"
She nearly lunged forward, but the next scene froze her in place once more, body rigid mid-step.
"I haven't forgotten how I lost before. That's exactly why I need you to protect them."
Sora calmly voiced his decision, though what he was experiencing now was far from calm.
The Starcrusher Swarm King's bladed forelimbs—hundreds of times longer than Sora himself—formed a massive scissor-like shape, slashing toward him. Facing such an attack, even Titania couldn't guarantee she'd survive unscathed.
At best, she'd last a few moments before those blades shredded her into scraps.
She'd already been defeated by Skaracabaz multiple times; she understood precisely how sharp those blades were.
Yet, facing that devastating assault, Sora remained entirely unharmed.
Because those colossal blades simply couldn't penetrate his outstretched palm.
Yes—Sora had merely raised a palm, exactly like a traffic policeman signaling a stop.
And in response to that gesture, Skaracabaz's attack halted abruptly, completely unable to proceed.
Those forelimbs alone dwarfed Sora's body hundreds, even thousands, of times over, their thickness easily exceeding several times his own width combined.
Yet, astonishingly, they were completely stopped by the simple gesture of his hand, unable to advance even an inch further.
What kind of ridiculous sight was this?
If Titania hadn't known their bitter, irreconcilable hostility, she'd definitely suspect they were putting on some kind of show.
But she knew clearly—these two were mortal enemies to the core. Each desired nothing more than the other's demise.
Their conflict was irreparable. They could never collaborate.
Thus, what was happening right now was undeniably real.
Sora truly had stopped Skaracabaz's assault with nothing but his outstretched palm.
"No one else needs to get hurt anymore. You go protect everyone, guard them. I'll handle things here."
That was all Sora wanted to say.
Those people had ventured deep into the heart of this swarm-infested zone just to resurrect him.
Here, where communications was cut off, reinforcements nonexistent—it was essentially a one-way trip.
Yet they'd still come, without hesitation, solely to help him.
Thus, Sora naturally had to repay them.
Every single person still alive—he would ensure they returned safely.
Even… well, that other thing could wait till later.
The rainbow-colored unicorn horn flickered gently. Under the soft glow, Titania's restless anxiety eased, and she slowly began to trust Sora's words.
Absurd, utterly ridiculous as it sounded—she truly believed him.
"Hey... You'd better not screw up this time," Titania hesitantly reminded him one last time before dissolving into Memoria, vanishing from the spot.
Sora remained silent, watching Titania as she headed off to guard the ships, gathering everyone safely together, before finally looking away.
With Titania's part finished, he could now settle the other matter at hand.
Skaracabaz still maintained its aggressive stance, its blade firmly gripped by Sora's single hand.
It wasn't stubbornly insisting on this futile attack—it simply couldn't break free!
Sora's palm had become like a mysterious magnet, irresistibly trapping its blade, utterly immobilizing it.
"So, your evolution is already complete? Doesn't look all that impressive to me..." Sora remarked, mildly disappointed.
This supposed evolution of Skaracabaz didn't seem all that different from before, and he'd gotten his hopes up for nothing.
Yet, the instant Sora finished speaking, some kind of ripple surged violently through Skaracabaz's body!
A scorching sensation exploded forth. Its forelimbs swiftly turned a blazing, incandescent red!
Hot—hot—hot—hot—hot!
As if its very consciousness was being burned alive, as if its body had been hurled directly into a star.
Flesh scorched, blood instantly coagulated before vaporizing into steam. Bone-deep agony devoured the Starcrusher Swarm King whole in an instant.
[This… is…]
"This is exactly what I felt before. I'm just letting you experience it for yourself."
Sora answered very calmly; he simply synchronized his earlier sensations onto the Starcrusher Swarm King at this moment—and intensified them manyfold.
Skaracabaz felt its body wrapped in blazing flames; aside from agony, it could feel nothing else.
Its once-proud armor provided no comfort. Its flesh, capable of smashing entire planets, became feeble and fragile under this torment.
Most importantly, even its abdomen, which could normally absorb stellar energy, utterly failed to relieve its suffering.
This wasn't pain inflicted by true stellar energy, but a sharing of sensations!
Sora was actually forcing his prior experiences onto Skaracabaz!
[You dare sully my dignity! This is an insult to the great TAZZYRONTH, you despicable insect!]
Skaracabaz could not tolerate this humiliation. Sora had established a partial mental connection with it.
As the supreme Emanator serving under Propagation, as one nearing the realm of godhood itself, how could it bear to share consciousness with a creature like Sora—something whose existence remained utterly unknown!
Sora was defiling it, defiling Propagation itself.
Skaracabaz let out a piercing screech, and its massive body began violently thrashing.
Then, something truly jaw-dropping happened right there in space.
The bright red forelimb, trapped firmly in Sora's grasp, was abruptly torn off by Skaracabaz's own strength!
That's right—the creature forcibly ripped away its own limb just to free itself from Sora's grip.
This action was equivalent to an intelligent creature deliberately pulling off its own finger.
Even among intelligent beings, such a move was incredibly rare.
Yet, Skaracabaz had done it without hesitation.
If you want my limb so badly, I'll just give it to you!
Having torn off its limb, the massive insect pitched backward uncontrollably—but immediately, its wings beneath the raised shell began rapidly vibrating, stabilizing its huge body instantly. It lunged once more at Sora, the severed limb erupting with vibrant pink energy, regenerating in an instant.
[Die, you insect who defiles Propagation!]
This time, Sora had truly enraged Starcrusher Swarm King. Consciousness-sharing was something utterly intolerable to it.
From ancient times until now, there had only been one entity who could share its consciousness:
The long-fallen TAZZYRONTH!
Besides this being, every other insect or Emanator could only communicate with it through pheromones or cries.
TAZZYRONTH was the deity that had propagated it, the god who gave it life—Skaracabaz revered THEM at every moment.
Yet now, Sora had dared share consciousness with it—an act of blasphemy against itself, and against TAZZYRONTH!
How could it not rage? How could it not despise?!
Its newly grown forelimbs glowed with a radiant silver brilliance, dazzling even brighter than before, entwined with flecks of golden radiance.
Anyone who witnessed this attack would feel an overwhelming sense of profundity, as if infinite wisdom lay within.
Skaracabaz's forelimbs were clearly continuing to evolve, making its strikes even more ferocious!
And now, these vastly strengthened limbs launched a ruthless assault upon Sora.
Faced with this wild attack, Sora couldn't help feeling slightly helpless.
He'd never anticipated Skaracabaz, previously calm and patient—striking only at opportune moments—would suddenly lose control like this.
But it didn't matter…
"If that's your rate of evolution, you might as well rest in peace."
Sora activated the [Ghost Driver's] lever.
'[INOCHI DAIKAIGAN!]'
Bright yellow energy enveloped the [Gan Gun Saber], manifesting as an infinite Möbius loop of radiant brilliance.
In the very next instant, Sora slashed down toward Skaracabaz's ferocious charge!
'[YOROKOBI STREAM!]'
...
At this moment, Titania was carefully guarding all the ships, ensuring their safety. Suddenly, she sensed something unusual, turning her gaze toward distant, deep space.
Countless insects swarmed the area, obscuring it entirely from view.
But in a split second, those writhing insects froze in place, as though someone had pressed pause.
An infinite Möbius loop shone brilliantly, and a beam of bright yellow illuminated the pitch-black void.
When the radiance faded, millions of insects surrounding that space vanished entirely, leaving behind a vacuum.
Now, aside from that solitary silvery-white figure, no insects remained in that region of deep space.
"Is this… Sora's new power?"
Titania felt a joyful throb in her chest, a wave of emotions arising after the dazzling brilliance of that yellow energy faded.
This power… It's incredibly strong…
And the Starcrusher Swarm King, facing this power directly, felt it even more intensely!
It clearly felt every inch of its body resonating with pure joy.
Joy at rebirth, joy at dying, joy at reuniting with other Emanators.
We'll always be together; they'll joyfully welcome me back…
But suddenly, Skaracabaz saw something, and that wave of joyful emotion ceased immediately.
Before its eyes stood a figure, half-human, half-insect, gazing at it mournfully.
This figure seemed to lament sadly that, after meeting other offspring, Skaracabaz would also return to THEIR side.
Yet even so, THEY warmly welcomed and embraced Skaracabaz.
Because it was THEIR offspring, THEIR companion who would never again feel loneliness—
!!!!
No!
Skaracabaz instantly snapped out of the joyful illusion.
How could it possibly be joyful about dying!?
It hadn't even eliminated the defiler of Propagation yet…
A searing agony flooded its mind, forcing it to see clearly its current state.
The entire right third of its massive body had been cleanly severed, drifting silently in space.
The glowing yellow radiance at the cut prevented any regeneration.
And standing calmly ahead, pure white and immaculate, was the silvery figure responsible for all of this.
With just that single strike, he'd eradicated millions of True Sting drones—and also cleaved away a third of its body.
"Oh? You actually woke up from that?" Sora genuinely felt a little surprised this time.
That Skaracabaz could escape the emotional torrent was truly incredible.
[I…won't…lose…until…I've crushed you, defiler of Propagation!]
"Well, sorry about that." Sora turned his blade, drifting slowly toward the enemy:
"In that case, I'll just have you taste every flavor of hell before you leave the stage!"
Hearing this, Titania couldn't help but twitch her eyelid slightly.
Why does it feel…like there's something a bit off about what Sora just said?
Was that… just my imagination?