"Qemetiel..."
Reine sighed. She knew Kerubiel wouldn't last and would be eliminated. At best, it could buy some time—but that was all. Its power was immense, yet not on the level of Belial, Athiel, and Qemetiel...
Especially Qemetiel. That ray alone could effortlessly annihilate stars and destroy an entire solar system at full output.
[I'm sorry... Yuki.]
Mayuri cried. She deeply regretted being unable to keep protecting him. She had been confident she could withstand the Beast. She wielded the power of five Order Spirits—but it wasn't enough...
Yuki, of course, didn't blame her. Instead, he was grateful. Thanks to the time she bought, they had managed to get closer to the Beast.
"Yuki, it's coming again!"
The Beast didn't give them time to rest. Once more, it attacked with Qemetiel. The formless, invisible ray fired—but Yuki was already prepared. The fire halberd transformed into a cannon and fired back.
"Camael! Megiddo!"
BOOMMMM
A collision erupted, but Qemetiel quickly suppressed Camael. The energies were on completely different levels—not to mention their nature.
One was fire. The other was annihilation. There was no comparison. The speed at which Megiddo was overwhelmed was astonishing...
"..."
Reine froze, narrowing her eyes as Yuki stood on the brink of defeat. Ain was charging from his chest.
But he never got the chance to fire.
Yuki's body flickered, and another Yuki emerged from the shadows, taking his place with Camael.
Grabbing Reine's hand, Yuki urged her forward and accelerated, afraid of being caught by Qemetiel.
"Don't stop! Run!"
BOOMMMM
Another explosion echoed behind them, but neither Yuki nor Reine looked back. It was obvious that Yuki's clone had been annihilated. Even so, the charge continued...
"Grrr~"
The Beast growled in anger. That damned Crown was obstructing it, limiting its power. It had only just awakened its strength and hadn't fully adapted yet.
It was understandable that its Demon Kings couldn't instantly kill their enemies—but that only fueled its fury. Its prey was escaping.
Both the man and the woman belonged to it. Both had to be suppressed.
So it stopped attacking. Its enemies wanted to get closer—and it wanted to feed. Its patience ran out.
It was time to go big.
The cursed mark on its metallic claw glowed, and everything inside the Domain changed.
[Activating Arms Coffin: Requiem of the Miracle]
Creeeak
The metal armor on its leg and arm melted away. Space before the Beast tore open like a Black Hole, and an ink-black Coffin began to emerge from the darkness. The oppression of the Coffin was so heavy that even the Domain reacted. The girls within the Crown swallowed hard as the world of colors was ripped apart and fell back to the first level.
The pressure was so overwhelming that even the Crown stopped rotating...
This was its strongest weapon...
[Authority of the Void]
Fummmm
The Coffin opened, and six black chains shot out. Three surged toward Reine and Yuki, while the other three lashed toward the Crown—specifically the vacant Thrones at its peaks—where they anchored themselves.
"...?"
At first, the girls didn't understand why the Requiem attacked the Crown. But their expressions quickly twisted into horror...
The Thrones began to darken as the black chains wrapped around them...
BRROMMMM
The entire Crown started to tremble. The Arms Coffin was corrupting the radiant Crown—and in doing so, tearing apart the Domain to free itself from its restraints...
The girls understood immediately and panicked. Without hesitation, they fought back against the chaos corruption, temporarily suppressing the support of the Dream Domain...
"There it is... it finally appeared..."
Yuki recognized the Coffin instantly. A smile spread across his face. He had succeeded.
He knew the Arms Coffin was the incomplete armor the Beast used—and that as long as it wore it, damaging the Beast was impossible. The armor's passive barrier relied on Schrödinger's cat quantum theory.
No matter how they attacked, the Beast wouldn't be harmed. The attacks would be negated by the nonexistence of the box.
A state where it both existed and didn't exist at the same time—a dead-and-alive state, where no one could know what happened inside the box.
After all, you can't hurt what doesn't exist.
But what exists can still kill you.
This quantum barrier was even more troublesome than a time-space barrier. Yuki had ways to break those—but nonexistence left no defense.
The only way to harm or touch the Beast was to open the box.
In this case, that box was the Arms Coffin...
"Keep running. I'll handle this... Zadkiel!"
ROAR
The Great Rabbit lunged at the chains. One of them easily bound it, preventing Reine from summoning her Angel as the Shadow split into countless clones.
"Metatron!"
They tried to fight back with Metatron's pillars, but it was useless. The second chain twisted like a viper and bound every clone.
"Raphael!"
Just as the third chain was about to bind Reine, Yuki used the Angel of storms to shove her away—taking her place and getting caught by the chain himself.
"...!?"
Propelled by Raphael, Reine shot forward like a cannonball toward the Beast.
The Beast was startled, but it didn't panic. Belial's branches covered its body and lashed out like whips toward Reine...
"Gabriel: Requiem!"
AaAAAaaaahhhh
A massive pipe organ materialized, and its melody paralyzed all the Demon Kings—Belial, the Arms Coffin, even the Beast itself.
This was why Yuki was always cautious with Miku. Her Angel was a true nightmare—for Angels and Demon Kings alike.
Especially for the Arms Coffin.
That melody had once been used by the Hero of the Void to raise his army's morale.
Each melody carried meaning—mourning the fallen, leading into war, and the final tune the Hero of the Void heard before being utterly destroyed.
The Arms Coffin knew it.
This was the melody of freedom, hope, Faith, and sacrifice.
Even a weapon of its caliber was paralyzed—long enough for Reine to break through its defenses...
"This is my limit... Luck."
Bound by the chains, with his remaining strength, Yuki used sound waves to shatter Belial's branches. Reine still retained her full strength to fight for control.
His role was over.
When the Beast regained mobility, Reine's hand had already touched it.
"Activating Kerk System..."
At that moment, Reine's body became translucent and was absorbed into the Beast's body. The Beast itself trembled violently...
They had become one again—and now fought for control.
Whether it was Reine, who possessed Ain Soph, or the Beast, who held Belial—one of them would prevail.
But Yuki had Faith in Reine.
She had destroyed every card the Beast held.
"..."
Time in the subconscious was unknowable.
Then the Beast opened its eyes. They were no longer lifeless—they had regained their light. It looked around until it met Yuki's gaze, still bound by the chains.
It sighed, and a portal opened behind it.
Yuki stared back, relief escaping his lips. He knew Reine had succeeded.
The Beast's expression also held relief—but even more sorrow.
It murmured something before turning and stepping into the portal.
Yuki didn't hear what it said, but he could read its lips.
A bad feeling crept over him.
He recognized that expression.
Fear took hold.
"Reine!!"
He struggled against the bindings, but it was useless. The Coffin's power was immense. Even with only half the chains remaining, the Spirits in the Crown were forced into a stalemate within minutes—and Yuki was left drained of strength.
Still, Reine's words lingered in his mind...
"Goodbye... my accomplice."