In a world full of colors—a painted world created by Mona Lisa to fight Jeanne d'Arc.
Jeanne d'Arc looked confused because the place beneath her feet wasn't real. This was nothing but an illusionary world made by Mona Lisa.
"What is this place!?" Jeanne d'Arc asked in confusion.
"Welcome… to the world… of my dreams…"
'This world feels like nothing more than a painting. Even the clouds, the trees, and the grass I'm standing on aren't real. I wonder why she brought me here.'
Jeanne d'Arc raised her sword, ready to strike Mona Lisa. Either way, she had to get out of here and help Adam, who was fighting alone against two people.
"I don't have time to deal with you!!"
Jeanne d'Arc leapt forward and instantly appeared right in front of Mona Lisa. With all her strength, she managed to slash her down.
The impact of her attack caused massive damage to the surrounding area.
But Jeanne d'Arc was shocked—the person she struck wasn't the real Mona Lisa. It was only a copy.
"Impressive… physical… strength… well done."
Mona Lisa's eyes suddenly glowed purple as she stared sharply at Jeanne d'Arc.
BAMMM!!!
A laser suddenly fired from Mona Lisa's eyes at incredible speed. Jeanne d'Arc managed to dodge it, though it clearly caught her off guard.
"Such a strange power…" she muttered with a faint, satisfied smile.
Jeanne d'Arc pointed her sword at Mona Lisa.
"Looks like this is going to be a fun fight!"
– –
Adam and Leonidas locked eyes. Leonidas told Empedocles to sit back for now—he wanted to enjoy himself a bit with Adam.
With an irritated sigh, Empedocles sat at the edge of the city street, where time was still frozen. Even the colors there remained black and white—not yet fully restored.
"Where's Jeanne d'Arc?" Adam asked.
"No idea…" Leonidas replied with a wide grin.
The two of them began to move, trading punches. Adam landed a punch right on Leonidas' nose. Leonidas retaliated with a heavy punch to Adam's gut, sending him flying.
"What's wrong, Adam? Is that all you've got? Weren't you the one who crushed that giant whale earlier?"
Adam dashed in at full speed and landed a kick to Leonidas' face.
Leonidas didn't even have time to react—he was caught completely off guard.
The kick launched him far away, flying past Empedocles, who stood behind him.
Adam wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, while Leonidas laughed loudly, lying among a pile of smashed cars.
"Hahaha!!! Looks like I underestimated you. Alright then, I won't be holding back anymore!"
"Don't freak me out, idiot! Take this seriously!" Empedocles shouted toward Leonidas.
"Sorry, sorry… I was just testing him a bit. Now, let's turn it up a notch, hehe!"
Leonidas slammed both hands together.
Suddenly, the iron gauntlets on his hands evolved, growing larger with a small rocket engine on the back.
He jumped into the air and clapped his hands together. A spark of light flared from between his palms, and a powerful laser beam shot out—aimed straight at Adam.
BAMMM!!!!!
A blinding light filled the battlefield.
There was no sign of Adam moving. The laser beam from Leonidas' gauntlet was too intense and bright.
But slowly, the light began to fade, and Leonidas landed back on the ground.
"Ah! I may have gone a little overboard…"
Leonidas' laser blast caused massive destruction—almost half the city had been wiped out.
"You're insane! What if that laser hit me, you idiot!" Empedocles shouted from behind.
"Ah! My bad, my bad! I just couldn't hold in all this excitement! It's been ages since I had a fight like this!"
"You're unbelievable… But, well, looks like it ended pretty quickly."
Leonidas turned and started walking toward Empedocles.
BRAKKK!!!
A punch came flying from underground, smashing into Leonidas' chin.
Empedocles was startled, but couldn't react in time.
Leonidas was thrown upward by a sudden strike from Adam, who had appeared from beneath the ground.
Adam then leapt, landed above Leonidas in midair, and launched a powerful kick that sent Leonidas crashing back to the ground.
BRAKKK!!!
Leonidas lay helpless. Adam stood beside him, then slowly walked toward Empedocles, who was still sitting on top of a van.
"Leonidas—what are you doing!"
Just as Adam was walking closer, Leonidas suddenly grabbed his leg tightly.
He shot up, lifting Adam high into the air and attempted to slam him to the ground.
But with incredible reflexes, Adam twisted and—BAMMM!!!!—another hard kick smashed Leonidas in the face.
Leonidas wasn't done yet. He took his stance again, and suddenly, a rocket burst out of the gauntlet on his right arm and struck Adam directly.
Adam was thrown from Leonidas' grasp and slammed into a nearby building.
Leonidas' nose was bleeding. But he still stood firm and carried on as if nothing had happened.
He pulled something from his pocket—it was a cigarette. He lit it calmly.
"This isn't over! Don't think you can beat me with just that, Adam!!!"
Adam emerged calmly from the smoke that blanketed the area.
He stared at Leonidas with a cool, unreadable expression, then started walking forward—as did Leonidas.
Adam and Leonidas exchanged blows.
They fought like wild beasts, hungry and relentless.
Sometimes Adam dodged Leonidas' punches. Sometimes he couldn't escape the brute's grip.
Leonidas took all of Adam's hits directly—it barely affected him. His entire body might as well have been harder than steel.
"They're like wild animals…" muttered Empedocles.
"Hey! Leonidas, don't you dare lose, got it!"
Leonidas didn't respond to Empedocles' yelling.
His focus was entirely on Adam.
In fact—he might be enjoying this fight more than anything he's felt in years.
– –
Beneath a rippling blue sky, Jeanne d'Arc swung her sword, trying to locate the real Mona Lisa.
"Damn it! This is pointless. I'm just wasting time."
The number of Mona Lisa's illusionary clones kept increasing, and each one of them fired lasers from their eyes.
Jeanne d'Arc swiftly deflected every blast with her sword and began slashing through the clones one by one.
After taking out more than half of them, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. It looked like she had thought of a clever plan to fool Mona Lisa.
Jeanne d'Arc ran away from the illusions as fast as she could. All the clones lined up in formation and chased after her from behind.
Seeing her chance, Jeanne d'Arc halted and raised her sword high into the air.
"Hehe, got you, you idiot!"
"ARFANAMA!!!"
To everyone's surprise, Jeanne d'Arc launched a powerful attack that completely wiped out every single one of Mona Lisa's clones—leaving nothing behind.
Jeanne d'Arc planted her sword into the ground and shouted, calling out for Mona Lisa to show herself.
"Enough! Now come out and show me that ugly face of yours!" she yelled loudly.
The ground beneath Jeanne d'Arc started to tremble, and suddenly the wind picked up—like a storm was about to hit.
In the midst of the strong winds, a woman stood motionless.
She smiled and stared at Jeanne d'Arc with a mocking glare.
"Found you!"
Without hesitation, Jeanne d'Arc charged at Mona Lisa, who remained still despite the howling wind.
BAMMM!!!
Jeanne d'Arc's sword was blocked by something. Was it Mona Lisa who stopped it? Or was this another illusion?
Jeanne d'Arc looked up to see a massive statue blocking her strike. She quickly leapt backward.
"You've got to be kidding me… what is that!?"
A gigantic statue stood tall behind Mona Lisa, equipped with a round shield and a long cavalry sword.
"So you were hiding this all along!?"
"Surprised?... From now on… your opponent… is him…"
"LEONARDO!!!"
Leonardo?
"Whatever. I'll just smash that ugly statue to pieces."
Mona Lisa floated high into the sky.
A glowing thread extended from her fingertips, linking her directly to the giant statue.
As she moved her fingers, the statue moved as well—like a puppet on strings.
Now, Jeanne d'Arc had to face off against a titan more than twenty times her size.
The statue's eyes lit up red. It raised its sharp sword and pointed it toward Jeanne d'Arc.
She dodged the swing—it was slow, likely due to its enormous size.
Mona Lisa raised both hands, and all her fingers began moving together.
The statue suddenly soared into the air and charged at Jeanne d'Arc with full force.
Its speed drastically increased.
It continued its relentless assault, trying over and over to stab her with its lance-like sword.
Jeanne d'Arc managed to block all the attacks with ease, but she knew this was just wasting her time.
She jumped back and took a fighting stance.
Ready to attack, she dashed forward and swung her long sword, landing a hit on the statue's side.
"Hhhaaaahhhh!!!"
With all her strength, Jeanne d'Arc pierced the statue's stomach, slicing it in half.
This was her chance!
Without hesitation, she unleashed all her power and began chopping the statue into pieces.
"Blitzhieb!!!"
BAMMMM!!!
The statue shattered in midair, falling in fragments to the ground.
Jeanne d'Arc landed and stood firm, staring up at Mona Lisa.
"Is that really all you've got? That didn't even make me break a sweat!" she declared.
Mona Lisa said nothing, only staring down with a blank expression.
Her posture lowered slightly.
"You're… strong…"
Then, Mona Lisa pointed her finger at her.
"Now… fight… them…"
The ground started shaking violently, and the wind grew even stronger.
Jeanne d'Arc looked around in confusion.
Suddenly, the skies above began to crack open, and the painted world around her transformed into a vast outer space.
"Now… LEONARDO!!!... 1000 units."
Jeanne d'Arc gasped in disbelief.
The statue she had just defeated—once a single opponent—now stood multiplied by at least a thousand, if not more.
The statues stood with their backs to Mona Lisa, like soldiers ready for war.
Nothing about them had changed—their size and weapons were exactly the same.
Jeanne d'Arc trembled slightly, but then gripped her sword tightly with both hands and pointed it toward Mona Lisa.
"Interesting! Now this just got way more exciting!!"
– –
The battle grew more intense!
Adam and Leonidas stared at each other, exhausted, but still standing strong.
Empedocles, unbothered, was still lounging atop the van, watching the two of them calmly.
"What's wrong!? Already tired?" said Leonidas, wiping blood from his face.
"Who knows. To me, this barely counts as a warm-up," Adam replied, spitting to the side.
Leonidas grinned with excitement at Adam's answer.
He sprang forward, throwing a punch backed by a rocket burst from his gauntlet.
The rocket kept firing, pushing Adam backward.
Adam held his arms crossed in front of his face to shield himself.
As he lowered his arms, Leonidas—now right beside him—unleashed a rapid barrage of punches that forced Adam into a defensive stance.
"Come on! What's wrong with you!? You can't even move!"
Adam didn't respond—he was fully focused on defending.
When he saw an opening, he jumped back quickly.
His breathing was ragged.
His arms were red and bruised, and his entire body was covered in wounds and dripping blood.
"Oiii! Leonidas!!!" Empedocles shouted from behind.
"Isn't it my turn now? I'm getting really bored over here!"
"Shut up! If you want someone to fight, go find your own!" Leonidas barked.
"But… 2 against 1 isn't fair. I stand for justice, you know! Even when Heraclitus left his money with me, I didn't touch a single coin!"
"Ha! What does that have to do with me!?"
"Ugh! You muscle-brained oaf, you're hopeless!"
Empedocles jumped down from the van and slowly approached Leonidas.
"Let's just finish this quickly. Mona Lisa's probably almost done. That woman might blow her top if we keep taking this long."
"Tch! Don't get in my way!"
"Okay, okay! But I want to fight too."
Empedocles held out his palm toward Adam.
Flames burst forth and shot straight at him.
Adam dodged by leaping into the air—only to find Leonidas already above him.
Leonidas delivered a crushing blow to Adam's head.
Another rocket blast from his gauntlet slammed Adam into the ground.
Empedocles stomped the earth with his right foot.
The ground beneath Adam shot upward, launching him back into the air.
Leonidas caught him mid-air and hurled him with full strength.
Adam crashed into a row of buildings, then collapsed to the ground.
"Damn it!!! They're not giving me a single chance…"
As Adam tried to get up, Leonidas was already in front of him.
He kicked Adam in the stomach, launching him into the air again.
Blood spilled from Adam's mouth.
Empedocles spread both arms wide and unleashed a massive, blazing fireball aimed straight at Adam.
"FlameFlash!"
Adam quickly twisted his body so that the fire blast launched by Leonidas only hit his back.
BRAKKK!!!
Adam collapsed, weak, onto the ground.
He didn't even have the strength to stand.
His whole body went limp, and his vision started to blur.
"Looks like it's over," said Empedocles.
"That was a little boring. I honestly wonder how someone like you managed to defeat Cleopatra..."
Leonidas walked over to Adam.
He looked down at Adam, lying there helpless on the ground.
Adam slowly moved his hand and tried to get back up.
"Tch!! Someone like you… and you're the vessel? Whatever. At least your life's about to get a lot more peaceful."
Leonidas raised one of his hands.
His gauntlet suddenly evolved, growing even larger.
"Goodbye—"
BRAKK!!!!
"Eh…?? Leonidas!?!" Empedocles shouted.
Just as he was about to finish the fight, Leonidas was suddenly thrown back from where he stood—struck by an unknown force.
Adam slowly opened his eyes and looked forward.
Standing right in front of him was Terwelu, upright and calm.
His body was wrapped in blazing black flames.
"...Terwelu?..."
Terwelu gave a small nod and shifted his gaze behind him.
Adam followed Terwelu's line of sight—and there, through the fog, he saw two silhouettes walking toward him.
"Seriously... I've been waiting forever, you know. And you go off fighting alone in a place like this?" said Nico.
"Nico…? And…" Adam replied, trying to stand.
"Oh! I think we've met before. But just in case you've forgotten, let me introduce myself."
A man who looked a little older than Nico stepped forward and began to speak.
"My name is Yuki Teppei. Nice to meet you, Adam."