The world didn't just roar.
It collapsed into a single moment—
a single heartbeat—
a single choice.
Luci and I launched toward each other like two meteors on a collision course.
Gold light.
Black lightning.
Demonic shadow.
Celestial fire.
When our powers collided—
KRRRRRRRRAAAAAA—BOOOOM!!!
The air caved inward.
The barrier around the house split into ribbons of magic.
The ground cracked open like it was made of sugar glass.
Ami, Yergba, Sam, Grey, and Tey were thrown back from the shockwave, skidding across the earth.
I barely stayed on my feet.
Luci didn't even stagger.
She smiled with teeth too sharp.
"Aki… look at you," she purred.
"Swinging god-tier weapons like someone who knows what they're doing."
I gritted my teeth.
My arms trembled under the insane power coursing through the Twin Celestial Blades.
"I don't know what I'm doing," I spat.
"But I'm still gonna hit you with everything."
Luci lunged.
Her horns pulsed.
Her shadow-beast surged behind her, claws dragging across the ground.
She swiped—
I blocked with the light blade.
The clash detonated—
BOOM—!!
The force blasted me backward. My shoes carved trenches in the dirt as I stumbled, barely staying upright.
Luci didn't let up.
She was on me again.
Swing.
Claw.
Horn strike.
Shadow bite.
I blocked.
Dodged.
Parried.
Barely.
Every hit sent lightning down my arms.
Every block felt like my bones cracked.
She moved too fast.
Faster than I could follow.
And she knew it.
Luci smirked as she spun and kicked—
her heel glowing with demonic energy.
It connected with my ribs.
THUD—!
Pain exploded through my torso.
I flew.
I flew.
Crashing through a mound of dirt, gasping, choking for air.
My vision blurred.
Gold static crackled around me.
The celestial blades hummed, almost worried.
Luci approached slowly, savoring every step.
"Is this all your divine weapons can do?"
She tilted her head.
"You're still weak, Aki. Pathetic. Delicious."
She vanished.
Reappeared behind me.
Her claw formed at my spine—
But a flash of blue lightning slammed into her side.
Yergba flew in like a cannonball.
Her fist—glowing, shaking, overcharged—hit Luci's jaw with an electric crack.
Luci actually slid backward a few feet.
Yergba landed beside me, panting, barely standing.
"I got… your back… idiot…" she wheezed.
I stared.
"Yergba—your arms—!"
Sparks danced wildly across her skin.
Her right arm looked like it was going to explode.
She clenched her teeth.
"I'm not… letting you fight alone…"
She forced a grin.
"No Keeper of mine fights solo."
Luci wiped her lip.
Blood.
Her smile sharpened.
"Ohhh, you shouldn't have done that."
Ami dropped down in front of me next—
hair unbound, eyes blazing, sword aura flaring red like a berserk angel.
"Aki," she gasped, "don't stop swinging. The second you hesitate—she wins."
Sam stumbled to my other side, barely staying upright, bruised, bleeding, but defiant.
"I'm… not letting her touch you again…"
Grey and Tey took positions behind us, guns raised, their last magazines loaded.
Grey muttered, "Null rounds: final clip."
Tey whispered, "If we miss these shots, we're dead."
For the first time—
we stood together.
All of us.
Broken.
Bleeding.
Barely alive.
But together.
Luci watched us assemble with a delighted shiver.
"Oh, this is PERFECT," she moaned softly.
"All of you standing for the little Keeper. Ready to die for him."
She raised her glowing horns.
Shadow surged.
"ASCENDED DEVOURER ART—
HORN CATASTROPHE: VOID FEED."
The shadow-beast behind her opened its jaws—
—revealing a swirling void, blacker than night, hungrier than death.
Ami screamed:
"MOVE—!!"
I felt it before I saw it.
Gravity.
Pain.
Pressure.
A force that dragged at my very soul.
The void lunged—
Grey and Tey fired—
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG—!!
Null bullets tore through the air, ripping chunks from the beast's jaw.
Yergba slammed her fists into the ground, detonating a lightning wave that disrupted the pull.
Ami swung her sword, unleashing a crescent slash of burning red.
Sam used her last strength to throw a shield spell across me.
And I—
I stepped forward.
Not away from the void.
Into it.
Luci's eyes widened.
"Aki—?!"
I stabbed both celestial blades into the gravitational maw.
Golden light and black lightning surged—
colliding with the void at point-blank.
My arms screamed.
My lungs burned.
My vision went white.
But I pushed.
I pushed.
"NOT… AGAIN…!" I roared.
The void cracked.
Luci staggered back in shock.
The shadow-beast shrieked as golden light pierced its core.
A massive explosion ripped across the battlefield—
KRAAAAAA—SHAAAANG—!!!
When the dust cleared—
The void was shattered.
The beast was evaporating.
Luci was clutching her chest, panting, blood dripping down her face.
And I—
was still standing.
Barely.
Shaking violently.
Ami stared in awe.
Yergba laughed through the pain.
"THAT'S MY KEEPER—!!!"
Grey's jaw dropped.
Tey's eyes widened.
Sam sobbed softly, relief flooding her face.
But Luci…
Even bleeding, even wounded—
She smiled.
"…you… you actually hurt me… Aki…"
Her horns flared again.
"You're getting better."
She raised her hand—
A final attack forming.
Ami tried to move.
Yergba tried to move.
Grey and Tey pointed their guns.
Sam staggered in front of me.
But Luci's aim wasn't at me.
It was—
Sam.
Time slowed.
Her demonic spear formed.
She threw it.
Sam didn't even have strength to scream.
"NOOOOO—!!!"
I launched forward.
Blades in hand.
Power roaring through me.
Everything I had.
Everything.
I swung.
Light and darkness collided with the spear—
KRA-KOOOOOOOM—!!!
The shockwave threw everyone off their feet.
The spear shattered.
My blades cracked.
My chest burned.
The world spun.
And then—
Everything went white.