"Heh, a race born from Eu's blood, and yet they spend their days hunting Eu. Isn't that betrayal at its finest?"
Raize cast a cold sneer at Seraphim, the woman he had saved so casually last time. A one-time rescue was the limit of his generosity; now, he felt no sympathy at all.
His words immediately silenced the remaining vampire ninjas. Seraphim wanted to retort, to argue that he was wrong, but her face darkened and her lips moved, yet no words came out.
Because it was the truth. Calling them traitors was undeniable!
On the human world's side, the vampire ninjas were utterly finished. Only those surviving in the underworld remained, and sooner or later, Raize would completely wipe these treacherous dogs from existence.
"…Young man, you are someone close to her, right? I think I understand why you came to attack. For what the ninjas have done, I sincerely apologize…"
His own daughter was in his hands, and he also knew about his and Ariel's plans. They were in a weak position. No matter how much he wanted the plan to succeed, he could not ignore the safety of his unconscious daughter.
"Shut up. Do you think there's any possibility of reconciliation at this point? Your vampire ninjas attacked my home. I slaughtered your entire village. Do you think I would spare you just because of your apology?"
"And most importantly, you just laid a hand on my Laffey…"
Raize accepted none of his softened tone. The ninjas who attacked his home were there to kill him. If he had been weak and defenseless, would things have turned out like this?
Raize's expression remained cold as he gripped the woman's neck and lifted her. In his palm blue flames ignited under teh eyes of the Demon Baron bloodshot gaze.
The vampire ninja girl in his hand did not even have time to scream. She burned away as swiftly as an eraser removing marks from paper, completely vanishing into nothingness.
"Lady Ayaka!!!"
"You!!! Pffwah—!"
The remaining vampire ninjas saw Ayaka, once their village leader, perish before their eyes. Their anger surged anew. The Demon Baron, witnessing his daughter dissolve into nothing, was so enraged he vomited a mouthful of blood.
His gaze was filled with hatred, as if he wanted to devour Raize and tear him apart.
Ariel beside him looked equally grim. Her childhood friend's daughter had died, for which she bore much of the responsibility, not to mention the lives of the vampire ninjas in the human world's village.
"Raize… sir, you've gone too far!"
"Hmph! This is nothing but child's play…"
A contemptuous cold snort met their anger and gloom. What was 'going too far' between enemies? It was laughable. There was only life and death.
Under the hostile and furious stares of his enemies, Raize clenched his fists, raised his foot, and stomped in a horse stance, generating a shockwave that spread outward.
With that movement, red mist erupted from his pores, creating violent fluctuations—a low, oppressive voice issued from his mouth:
"Living beings, all must be annihilated!"
The bloodthirsty intent spread instantly, engulfing the entire dense forest.
Raize, radiating a terrifying aura like a slaughtering Asura, did not care about their fury. Weaklings only needed to be exterminated.
Shua—
Raize's tall, muscular form drew a streak of blood-red light in the void. Even without acceleration, the speed was terrifying.
He landed in front of Ariel and the Demon Baron, leaping and spinning with his left leg down and right leg extended at a right angle, his body rotating like a helicopter rotor.
One of the three foundational hand-to-hand techniques of the Surge Wave style:
Whirlwind Kick
Enhanced with his terrifying murderous intent and Raize's distinct personal style, combined with the Rankyaku principles from a certain pirate world, this was an advanced version: the Celestial Demon Blade Kick!
His right leg, like a blade slicing the void, tore through the air, forming a crimson foot blade capable of cutting down all obstacles.
With Raize's powerful physique executing this move, the destructive force was catastrophic.
A tornado, sharp and slashing, instantly formed in front of Ariel and the others.
Ka! Ka! Ka! Ka! Ka—!!!!
Ariel, already alert, summoned two blades from her magical devices. Channeling her magic, she formed two tornadoes of considerable size, colliding violently with Raize's cyclone. The clash produced several piercing, disturbing sounds.
Ariel was formidable; in the country of Velliers, she was the only person wielding two transformable "magic weapons".
Yet her wind magic was no match for Raize, whose blade kicks had grown exponentially stronger.
Natural disasters were strong, but those trained in Surge Wave hand-to-hand were madmen; the key of murderous intent was to annihilate all. Storms could not stop Raize.
"What are you looking at? Take your leader and run. Don't get in the way!"
Ariel glanced at the remaining vampire ninjas behind her and kicked the Demon Baron toward them. They were in the way, and she had no time to babysit them.
The Demon Baron wanted nothing more than to fight alongside Ariel and kill the bastard who murdered his daughter, but his cursed and weakened body rendered him helpless.
Seraphim and Sarasvati quickly helped their leader retreat, casting extremely reluctant glances at the scene of destruction, knowing they could not intervene.
Even Ariel, facing Raize's brutal assault head-on, was under severe pressure. She had been told Raize was a superhuman of some ability by her student Haruna—but this? This was absurdly beyond normal.
In front of her, Raize spun rapidly, forming a massive tornado of sky-slashing force that ravaged the land!
Ariel's wind magic held for only a moment before collapsing. The dense vacuum slashes from Raize's cyclone now bore down on her.