The moment the words left his lips—
"circuit sequence zero…"
—the air itself twisted.
June Augustus no longer looked like the same man.
His body collapsed inward, fat compressing, bones tightening, structure rewriting itself as if reality had been given permission to correct a lie. His posture straightened. His shoulders broadened. His presence sharpened.
And then—
A staff appeared in his hand.
A long, obsidian shaft crowned with a glowing blue crystal, humming with a deceitful, almost playful energy.
June smiled.
But it wasn't the same smile anymore.
It was something… crooked.
"Artificial Circuit — Loki."
The name alone felt wrong.
Not heavy like power.
Not oppressive like divinity.
But slippery.
Untrustworthy.
Alive in a way that suggested it had intent of its own.
His voice dropped, smooth and mocking.
"Let's see how well heroes deal with a trickster."
Kaelven took a step back instinctively, eyes narrowing.
"…yeah, I knew something was off."
The moment June moved—
He was already gone.
A blur.
No—
Not speed.
Displacement.
Kimotsu reacted first.
Blade drawn.
"—Left."
He turned—
Too late.
CRACK.
June's staff slammed into his ribs, sending him skidding across the ground, tearing through stone.
Denma moved next.
Pure instinct.
He appeared in front of June and threw a punch strong enough to shatter a mountain—
June didn't block.
Didn't dodge.
He simply… wasn't there.
And Denma's punch tore through empty space.
"Too slow."
June's voice echoed behind him.
THUD.
A precise strike to the spine dropped Denma to one knee.
Faith reacted instantly—
"Idun — Rejuvenation Bloom."
A wave of golden-green energy surged through Denma's body, restoring him mid-collapse.
Gene yawned lazily—
"…annoying."
His eyes glowed faintly.
"Morpheus — Dream Distortion."
The battlefield shifted.
Reality blurred.
June's figure split into five.
Then ten.
Then a hundred.
Jess clicked her tongue.
"Great… illusion vs illusion."
Her wings flared—
"Nemesis — Balance Lock."
A ripple of white-gold energy spread outward—
And suddenly—
Only one June remained.
The real one.
Standing there.
Smiling.
"Ah… that's troublesome."
Within Kaelen's domain—
Time dragged.
Each movement left afterimages.
Each breath echoed.
Gina—no—
Persephone now—
stood across from him.
Her form fully realized.
Black wings spread.
A dark tail swaying behind her.
Skin marred with crimson and shadow.
Eyes hollow.
Hungry.
"…how do you know that man?"
Her voice carried a strange distortion now, like multiple tones layered into one.
Kaelen Veystrum didn't even hesitate.
"He's a monster."
A step forward.
Axiomfall humming in his hand.
"In fact… if we fight him together…"
A faint smile.
"…we would all lose the same."
Her pupils shrank.
"…so you're not worthy of knowing."
That hit something.
Her aura flared violently.
"—He's the nemesis of the underworld."
Kaelen tilted his head slightly.
Then smiled.
Cold.
"You won't live to see him in the underworld."
A pause.
A step closer.
"At least… not this version of you."
She moved first.
A blur of black and crimson—
Her claws aimed straight for his throat.
Kaelen didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Just—
breathed.
"One Breath."
Time slowed further.
Her movement stretched—
Predictable.
Visible.
He stepped in.
Twisted.
And—
SLASH.
Axiomfall cut through her guard.
She blocked.
Barely.
But—
—multiple lines appeared across her body.
Thin.
Precise.
Delayed.
Then—
they opened.
Blood spilled.
Persephone laughed.
Loud.
Unstable.
"…this won't do shit to me."
Her body began to regenerate—
—or at least—
It should have.
But something…
was off.
Kaelen's smile widened slightly.
"…oh?"
He adjusted his grip on Axiomfall.
"I found out a way to slowly kill you."
Her laughter faltered.
"…what?"
"Tell me…"
He stepped closer.
Each step deliberate.
Heavy.
"…are your wounds healing?"
Silence.
Her eyes dropped.
To her arms.
To the cuts.
Still there.
Still bleeding.
Still open.
No regeneration.
No recovery.
Nothing.
For the first time—
fear flickered across her face.
Axiomfall began to glow.
Not just blue anymore.
But—
blue intertwined with something deeper.
Ancient.
Primordial.
The aura of a dragon that existed before systems, before constructs, before artificial power.
The power of Alyth.
Kaelen spoke quietly.
"Artificial circuits replicate function."
A step closer.
"They imitate."
Another.
"They simulate."
He raised the blade slightly.
"But they don't understand origin."
His eyes glowed.
Blue.
Sharp.
Alive.
"This…"
He tapped the blade lightly.
"…isn't something you can replicate."
Meanwhile—
Outside the barrier—
Everything escalated.
Denma charged again, faster this time.
Faith reinforced him mid-stride.
Kimotsu flanked left.
Jess locked movement paths.
Gene distorted perception.
Kaelven stepped forward—
Cracking his neck.
"…finally something interesting."
June—no—
Loki—
laughed.
And stepped forward to meet them.
No tricks this time.
No illusions.
Just—
pure hand-to-hand combat.
And in the next instant—
They all clashed.
Fists.
Blades.
Energy.
Bodies moving at speeds that shattered the ground beneath them.
Each strike calculated.
Each movement lethal.
Each second—
a war of skill, deception, and raw force.
Inside the barrier—
Kaelen stood over Persephone.
Blade glowing.
Eyes steady.
Outside—
Six warriors and one monster collided in a storm of violence.
And at the center of it all—
Loki smiled.
Because chaos…
was exactly where he thrived.