After the commotion subsided slightly, Raiden Ei slowly landed on the remaining ground of the small island. She quietly watched Arlecchino lying on the ground not far in front of her. After a brief pause, she began to walk toward her step by step.
At this moment, Arlecchino's state was extremely miserable. Due to the powerful Electro Elemental impact, not a single drop of blood flowed from the sliced wounds, and only a burnt, scorched smell could be detected.
Arlecchino's face was also incomparably pale. Not only had her right arm been severed by Raiden Ei's single sword strike, but inside her body, terrifying destructive lightning was also raging continuously.
Moreover, the pain and despair inside Arlecchino's heart at this moment far exceeded the physical pain her body was enduring.
She had lost, and she had actually been defeated so utterly.
Although Arlecchino had already anticipated that she was no match for an ancient god like Raiden Ei, she never expected to lose so decisively, without even having the time to activate the Marks.
At this moment, Arlecchino wondered if the outcome would have changed if she had activated the Marks from the very beginning.
In the end, she found her answer: No!
A brutally harsh truth lay before her. Even though she had prepared for so long, even though she had already abandoned everything, there was still not a shred of hope of changing this outcome.
The Thunderous Power within her body continued to ravage her, but she no longer had any desire to stop this force. Her heart had already died.
If there were no hope, she would have continued to deceive herself, to hide herself, and to become the good [Father] in the hearts of the children. But this hope had been displayed nakedly before her, and she had failed.
The dull sound of Raiden Ei's footsteps reached her ears. Under Arlecchino's gaze, Raiden Ei slowly bent down and picked up her severed arm from the ground.
The three Marks Arlecchino had seized were still on the arm, now Raiden Ei's trophies.
Seeing this scene, Arlecchino's pupils suddenly constricted. Immense panic and killing intent filled her chest, her heart beating wildly as if on fire, and the blood in her entire body began to burn.
Countless Blood Spikes condensed and shot toward Raiden Ei.
Raiden Ei had not expected Arlecchino to still be able to launch an attack at her, and she couldn't help but frown.
She had already wasted enough power here, and she still had a real battle to face next.
Raiden Ei quickly transferred the Marks on the arm to herself, then immediately withdrew and threw out the severed arm in her hand.
However, those Blood Spikes had no intention of retrieving the arm at all, directly piercing it into a bloody mist and continuing to kill toward Raiden Ei.
A purple light flashed on Raiden Ei's body, and she swung out several swords almost at the same time, completely blocking the Blood Spikes' offensive, then prepared to leave directly.
After all, she had already achieved her goal this time, and there was no need to continue wasting time and power.
However, a figure approached her at an even faster speed. Raiden Ei felt the aura behind her and turned to look, and this single glance sent a powerful shock through her heart.
At this moment, Arlecchino's appearance had completely changed. Her pupils were now entirely black, her height had grown to about two and a half meters, and her entire body was covered in a layer of brown scales. Her black nails had grown long, just like the claws of a wild beast.
Eight blood-red appendages, resembling both tails and blades, extended from behind her, replacing the position of her original broken wings and emitting an extremely terrifying chill and killing intent.
Even the meridians, blood vessels, and bones of Arlecchino's right arm were rapidly reorganizing. In just this moment, a small section of her right arm had already grown back.
Such terrifying regenerative power and such a bizarre appearance even made Raiden Ei wonder if the opponent was still human.
In the next moment, Arlecchino used the sea surface to gain momentum, and her speed instantly surged further. She actually streaked through the air as a breathtaking blood-red light, directly slamming into Raiden Ei's figure and sending her flying.
Although Raiden Ei blocked Arlecchino's attack at the last moment, the power the opponent had unleashed was so overwhelming that she could not resist it. Her entire body was sent flying backward, crashing violently into the sea.
As Raiden Ei parted the sea and freed herself, the eight tails behind Arlecchino wrapped around the front, and a dark red energy sphere at their center had already charged to its limit. In the next second, a vast blood-red light completely covered the entire area around Raiden Ei.
Then, a dazzling purple light flashed once more between heaven and earth, and the torrent of vitality was sliced open by Raiden Ei's sword.
It was at this moment that Raiden Ei discovered Arlecchino's figure had already vanished from her original position.
In the next instant, a dark red figure appeared from her side and rear. Raiden Ei immediately counterattacked, repelling her opponent.
The opponent also used this force to pull away from Raiden Ei at an even faster speed, hiding in the darkness once again.
Before long, the figure reappeared, aiming for Raiden Ei's vital points with an even more fierce momentum.
By now, Arlecchino's eyes had completely lost their luster, as if she had fully degenerated into a cold killing machine, willing to sacrifice everything to take Raiden Ei down with her.
After a few more attacks, Arlecchino's right hand had completely regenerated, and her threat level immediately surged.
Raiden Ei had no idea what had happened to Arlecchino, but her power was now even more terrifying than before. She could even sense a profound aura of majesty emanating from her opponent.
Of course, even at this moment, Arlecchino's raw strength was still somewhat inferior to Raiden Ei's. However, her combat experience was simply too vast. She was like a hunter patiently searching for her prey's weakness, posing a constant threat to Raiden Ei while making it impossible for her to escape.
Arlecchino gave her almost no chance for a direct confrontation, instead focusing solely on her movements and delivering a lethal strike only when necessary.
Seeing this, Raiden Ei felt a slight sense of urgency, but she still had no intention of activating the Mark.
Persephone had said before that not only did the winner need to achieve final victory, but the final wish limit would also depend on the victor's performance.
Raiden Ei wouldn't analyze the specific details of Persephone's words. She simply understood it to mean that the victor should try to preserve as many Marks as possible.
Raiden Ei worried that if she didn't have enough Marks, her sister might not be able to return, even if she achieved final victory.
Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, Raiden Ei would not activate the Mark.
It seems I have no choice but to force a breakthrough!
Raiden Ei hesitated slightly before finally making her decision.
"Shogun, it looks like I need to borrow your power for a moment."
Just as Raiden Ei finished speaking, a terrifying lightning flash erupted around her body, and purple Oni Armor gradually manifested.
Once the Oni Armor fully formed, an even more terrifying aura burst forth from Raiden Ei's body.
Then, Raiden Ei swung the forty-meter greatsword, forcing Arlecchino out. At the same time, a terrifying bolt of lightning struck down, carrying a dense will of destruction.
This time, Raiden Ei held back almost nothing; she didn't want Arlecchino to continue stalling against her.
However, before the lightning could land on her, Arlecchino protected herself with eight blood-red tails. The lightning strike that hit Arlecchino only caused her movements to pause momentarily, while a mist of blood exploded outward.
But soon, Arlecchino regained her footing and once again charged at Raiden Ei, intent on killing her.
Seeing this, Raiden Ei's expression remained utterly calm. As Arlecchino's claws were about to strike her body, Raiden Ei took two steps back. Immediately after, her entire body slipped into an Electro Element Eye that tore open the space behind her. Then, the Eye closed, and Raiden Ei's figure completely vanished, leaving Arlecchino's strike to hit nothing but air.
Arlecchino swept her gaze around, seemingly searching for Raiden Ei's location. Shortly after, she suddenly raised her head, only to see two massive arms extending from the sky, wielding a forty-meter greatsword. With an aura powerful enough to erase and destroy everything, it swung down to slice Arlecchino apart.
In that moment, it was as if time itself had fallen into a state of stillness.
And in the next second, the surrounding scenery and Arlecchino herself seemed to become displaced, before completely splitting apart.
Arlecchino's lower body was instantly turned into a cloud of blood mist, while her upper body was sent flying backward, covering hundreds of thousands of meters before smashing a massive crater into the sea!
Raiden Ei's figure reappeared in this realm. Feeling Arlecchino's aura gradually weakening, she tightened her grip on the Musou Isshin, then loosened it again. Finally, she cast a deep glance at the spot where Arlecchino had fallen, then turned and departed.
In Raiden Ei's perception, the fluctuation of another Mark was rapidly approaching this direction.
Sensing the opponent's aura from afar, Raiden Ei basically guessed the identity of her opponent this time, and her mood became slightly heavy.
The consumption of this battle with Arlecchino was somewhat beyond her expectations. Originally, the gap in strength between her and the other party was not much, and in addition, the two had very high resistance to Electro Elemental Power, making it difficult to decide the winner or loser in a short period of time.
Under these circumstances, the fight between the two of them to the end was basically a contest of who could hold out longer.
Because Raiden Ei had consumed a lot in the battle with Arlecchino, the result of this battle was more unfavorable than before.
Not only that, the damage to Raiden Ei's body also reached 86%. Arlecchino's final burst of power indeed brought her no small amount of trouble.
Under such circumstances, facing Raiden Mei in battle was obviously unwise, but Neuvillette's side had already taken action, meaning there was not much time left.
Raiden Ei knew she was not skilled at planning, but she knew how to analyze the current situation from the reactions of others. This was her combat talent, allowing her to easily dominate most battles.
The current situation was very unfavorable for Raiden Ei, but things were never meant to be smooth sailing anyway. Raiden Ei firmly believed that she would be the final winner.
With this thought, Raiden Ei transformed into a purple light and flew toward the direction where the Mark's fluctuation was approaching.
Shortly after Raiden Ei left, on a small island not far from the area where Arlecchino had fallen, Arlecchino used her hands to drag her body out of the sea, then immediately ceased all movement and fell into a coma.
At this moment, Arlecchino's body once again recovered to its normal state, but the flesh and blood of her lower body wriggled, actually growing to the position of her thighs in such a short time...
At this moment, Aether sensed the disturbance of the battle in the distance and immediately set off without hesitation.
At this moment, there was not a single Abyss Monster by his side. Over the past two days, Dainsleif seemed to have developed a grudge against him, even going so far as to sustain heavy injuries just to assassinate the subordinates he had newly summoned.
After Dainsleif killed the third wave of Abyss Monsters sent as reinforcements, Aether completely abandoned the idea of summoning them again. He had already learned his lesson during the second wave and had not sent Hongyan and Hongyu, which preserved his two future generals and prevented the Hong Family from following in the footsteps of the Purple and Blue Families, also becoming a family of loyal martyrs.
Because he lacked manpower, and because Inazuma was now teeming with powerful experts, including several whose auras even he deeply feared, Aether did not wander around aimlessly. Instead, he waited for the moment his sister would voluntarily reveal herself, while also forming some ideas about winning this game.
Although Aether did not sense his sister's aura during this battle, it did not mean she would not be there. In any case, the distance was not too far, and Aether prepared to go take a look.
After all, it was better to be safe than sorry. If something were to happen to his sister, he would not even have the chance to regret it.
Moreover, he could use this opportunity to lure Dainsleif out. Aether knew the other man was definitely following him from the shadows, and he had already decided to take this chance to eliminate the threat once and for all.
Coincidentally, he had no Abyss Monsters with him this time. He could completely capture Dainsleif and hide him in a secret place.
This way, the other man would no longer have the chance to interfere with his plans, and it would also prevent his subordinates from harboring any objections.
Aether transformed into a golden light, directly soaring out of the Tatarasuna Canyon into the sky, then rushed toward the place where the commotion of the battle was coming from.
Shortly after Aether left, a purple-black light also shot into the sky, then chased after the direction Aether had disappeared.
At this moment, Raiden Ei had already clashed head-on with Raiden Mei.
Both of their goals were the Mark on the other's body, and they were also "old acquaintances." They had no intention of talking at all, and the battle broke out immediately.
Because the two of them were holding nothing back this time, the commotion of the battle was even more terrifying.
The aftershocks generated by their fight could easily make the sea churn and islands sink.
The area within the range of their battle had almost become a Forbidden Zone for all life. Even the lightning from the sky could easily blast a massive hole into the sea.
However, Raiden Ei failed to notice that the seawater eroded by the Electro Element and the Thunderclouds in the sky were rapidly spreading during her fight with Raiden Mei, even reaching the vicinity of the Kujou Encampment.
Having only heard rumors before, the people currently at the Kujou Encampment now witnessed the scene with their own eyes, as if the apocalypse were approaching. Their expressions turned extremely tense. They, and the more distant Narukami Island, were about to face a life-or-death ordeal.