⚠️ Warning:
This chapter contains scenes of intense violence, bloodshed, and graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.
.....
A wave of darkness surged across the colossal wall, hurtling toward a guard.
"Block the attack!!" he screamed, warning the others—but it was too late.
KABOOOOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted as the dark wave struck him... scattering his limbs like ground meat.
Korgami advanced toward the remaining guards... but...
A colossal hammer etched with alien runes materialized from the right, aimed at Ragnar... who bent backward at a fifty-degree angle, letting it whistle past his violet-sigiled eyes. It slammed into the barrier.
BOOOOM!
The barrier sparked violently upon impact... yet instantly self-repaired.
The hammer returned to the hand of a mountain-sized guard who stood unshaken before Ragnar.
"Hah! So you dodged my ambush... clever for a shadow!" he boasted, arrogance dripping from his voice.
Ragnar remained silent, poised like a statue—until Korgami's command echoed in his mind. Suddenly—
Ragnar unleashed a pressure wave—a tide of absolute blackness—that swept across the wall's surface until it collided with the barrier...
"Look at this shadow-dreg daring to tread where only guardians belong!" The giant guard laughed mockingly, directing his own pressure wave toward the barrier.
The opposing forces CLASHED.
The barrier groaned under the strain. The wall's foundation trembled beneath them.
"Won't attack? Then I'll strike first! Or are you just weak?" the guard taunted, desperate for a reaction. Ragnar gave none.
"You underestimate me? I'll show you the cost of mocking your superior!"
He swung his titanic hammer at Ragnar, aiming to crush him in one blow—
—But Ragnar CAUGHT it. And SHATTERED it into dust.
"H-how?! He crushed an S-class hammer like glass—" the guard stammered, disbelief contorting his face.
"Finished, human?" Korgami's voice cut through the air, devoid of emotion. "Then die peacefully."
"Finally! The shadow speaks! Now we fight—that hammer was trash anyway!" The guard lunged bare-handed, fist morphing into a colossal spike aimed at Ragnar's chest.
Ragnar dodged. Drew his sword. SWOOSH!
A single slash—
SEVERED the guard's arm at the shoulder.
"Guh—AAAGH!" Fresh crimson blood fountained as he collapsed to one knee. "M-My arm?! He cut—"
Before shock could fully register—
Ragnar's fist BLASTED his chest.
CRACK!
The guard hurtled backward like a broken doll—slamming into the barrier before rebounding toward Ragnar.
This time, Ragnar wasted no motion. Darkness coiled around his blade.
"Severing Parallel Darkness."
The strike didn't just cut—it CLEAVED the guard vertically from skull to groin.
"Ggk—!" A final gasp escaped him before his halves hit the ground.
Ragnar turned emotionlessly toward the reinforcements.
Within two seconds, the last guards fell—dead before they could scream.
---
Silent in the sky, Korgami watched. Below, in the crater, the golden-armored Commander faced the bone-plated beast, its obsidian hide gleaming like night-forged steel.
The Commander raised his fist, gathering pure energy for a final blow. The beast roared:
"Show me, human... what will you do?!"
Korgami's violet eyes ignited.
"The opportunity..." he whispered, gazing at the dark crystal floating before him.
Then—he unleashed his power.
Darkness Energy.
His mortal body screamed in protest—Ragnar's warnings echoing—but he pushed beyond.
SSS-rank energy ERUPTED, dwarfing the SS+ combatants below.
"AGHHH!" Blood gushed from Korgami's nose, ears, eyes. Yet violet lightning crackled around him.
The barrier SHUDDERED. Stone walls CRACKED.
Ragnar snapped his gaze upward. The Commander and beast remained oblivious, charging their attacks.
"Kekeke... Die, human!"
"We'll see who dies, bone-pile!"
They lunged—techniques colliding—
—Korgami MOVED.
Time STUTTERED. Earth HEAVED. A violet flash—and he stood BETWEEN them.
"WHA—?!" both roared.
No time for shock.
Korgami grinned—madness in his eyes.
"Let me show you the cost of underestimating your better..."
With his last breath, he slammed the dark crystal into the beast's forehead.
"WHAAAAAT?!" the beast shrieked, unable to dodge—its claws brimming with power!
Korgami GRABBED both their wrists—
AND EVERYTHING EXPLODED.
The detonation echoed 1,888 kilometers. Sky SHATTERED. Clouds VAPORIZED. Earth SPLIT.
A blast 1,000 times stronger than a nuke.
Chaotic weather followed—sunset swallowed by sudden rain, washing ash from ruins as if the universe mocked mortal struggles.
The shockwave reached B-class cities across Varyon...
Through the smoke... three shadows emerged:
First Shadow: A towering man in heavy golden armor... light fading... purple scarf torn.
Second Shadow: A massive bone-plated beast... drained... hollow.
Third Shadow: A man in tattered black robes... long hair whipping in gales... face moon-pale, eyes and ears bleeding BLACK—proof of power that shattered his flesh.
Korgami stood gripping both the Commander's and beast's hands—a cruel tableau. He was DRAINING their life force.
"How... dare you siphon me... wretched human?!" the beast rasped, too weak to scream.
Before it finished—
Korgami RAMMED the black crystal into its skull!
THUD!
The impact sent the wounded Commander flying.
"GYAAAAAARGH!"
An unearthly howl tore from the beast as agony consumed it. "Human! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Korgami plunged his hand THROUGH its bone-armor—ripping out steaming entrails.
"GGGRK! I'LL KILL YOU WHEN THIS PA—"
The Commander stared, lips trembling: "No human could do this... You're a demon in human skin!"
Korgami turned, grinning bloodily: "Demon? YOU heroes made me the universe's joke! 'Demon' is too kind for your hypocrisy!"
"What do you mean?!"
"That 'hell-cell' you jailed me in? That old man... tortured me daily! Why?! Because I DEFENDED myself against a B-class 'hero'! He wanted me to kneel to spoiled nobles... but my power SURGED—and KILLED him!" Korgami stepped closer, hurling gore aside. "I woke in academy ruins... rain on my broken body... no one helped. Imprisoned AGAIN. Freed a year later... to find EVERYTHING I loved—DESTROYED. Call that JUSTICE?!"
"I don't know of this! I've guarded this barrier ten years! Even when—" The Commander choked, "—when my wife and son died last week... during the Four Leaders' attack on Sector S... I couldn't even attend their funeral! I was HERE... protecting humans from dark beasts!"
"Then seize THIS chance!" The Commander lunged, ignoring pain: "Strike the beast NOW! Kill it!"
Korgami laughed—MADLY—stolen energy healing his wounds: "Play hero?! AFTER YOU BROKE ME?!"
"I don't want you to be a hero! Just... be human enough to save us! Quickly! Before it summons more beasts through the barrier rift!" The Commander begged, blood mixing with rain. "I'll tell the guards you're no threat! They'll help you cross to the Beast Continent! JUST... HELP US NOW!"
"Sorry, 'hero'..." Korgami shook his head slowly, eyes burning. "This beast... is MINE now. The crystal in its skull... is far deadlier than you know."
"What?!"
Suddenly—the beast stopped howling. It shambled toward Korgami... and BOWED like a dog.
The Commander froze—but his shock was short-lived.
"And..." Korgami hissed like a viper, "...those guards? None remain to hear you."
The Commander looked up at the barrier atop the titanic wall—
—And saw Ragnar standing there. A sword of pure darkness in his hand... DRIPPING blood. Behind him... the butchered bodies of barrier guardians who'd protected humanity for decades. The giant guard's muscle-bound corpse—SPLIT vertically from skull to sole!
The Commander's eyes widened—his chest heaved—then a scream tore through the rain:
"NOOOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DOOOONE?.."