While Melusine was locked in battle with the reversed Tohka, up aboard Fraxinus...
"Oooh! Incredible—this feels like watching a high-budget blockbuster!"
"I knew Miss Lancelot was strong, but this is insane. She's moving so fast I can't even see clearly."
"Can't we turn the resolution up any higher?"
"Wow, another building just collapsed… I guess we should be glad DEM evacuated the area to keep civilians unaware of Spirits. Otherwise, the damage from Lancelot and Tohka's battle would've been catastrophic."
"Miss Lancelot is seriously dependable… If she hadn't been here, I can't even imagine how bad this would've gotten."
"And she's cool, too."
"Right?! Super cool! Especially when she said 'I am the strongest' with that deadpan face—it was so reassuring!"
"Ehehehe… Lancelot… so cool… I love her…"
"Same here… If she'd just plant that cold, expressionless foot on my face, rubbing it in with her heel and the icy floor beneath, ahhh~! Just imagining it gets me all hot…"
Everyone turned to stare in horror at Kannazuki Kyouhei, who was now clinging to himself and writhing like a worm.
And then—WHAM—he was promptly sent flying by a crimson-faced Itsuka Kotori with a spinning kick.
"Th-thank you, Commander…"
Kyouhei smiled dreamily from where he landed, just before Kotori stomped on his rear end several more times for good measure. The rest of the Fraxinus crew—especially the women—recoiled from him like he was some unclean object.
After that, Kotori angrily scraped her shoe against the floor a few times, like trying to wipe something nasty off it, before turning to the others.
"Don't just crowd around like this!"
With the ship's main display damaged, they were stuck using a hastily repaired small monitor—barely the size of a tablet.
And yet, a crowd had formed, all trying to watch the fight between Melusine and the reversed Tohka.
"Can't we at least get a bigger screen?" Kotori muttered in frustration.
No one dared answer. Her mood had been volatile ever since Shidou was brought in for treatment.
Anyone with eyes could see it—Kotori was deeply worried. After all, when Origami had brought Shidou aboard, he'd looked so pale that they honestly thought he was dead.
The others—Yoshino, Yamai Kaguya, Yamai Yuzuru, Yatogami Tohka—all had successful treatments and were only waiting to regain consciousness. Only Shidou remained in critical condition, still undergoing emergency care.
And now, Kotori could do nothing. She couldn't help Shidou. She couldn't assist Melusine. All she could do was wait—helplessly, restlessly. The frustration gnawed at her.
Right now, the only thing she could do was pray. Pray that Melusine could bring Tohka back. Pray that Shidou would recover. Pray that some higher power might answer.
Suddenly, an earth-shaking boom erupted in the sky. Shockwaves blasted outward in every direction.
The reversed Tohka fell from the heavens like a meteor, slamming into the ground with tremendous force, carving a crater before bouncing back up and just barely managing to stabilize herself mid-fall. She gritted her teeth, forcing her battered body to keep moving, her focus locked entirely on her opponent.
A piercing sound tore the air apart. The azure meteor descended again—Melusine—plummeting toward the just-recovered Tohka like a bullet.
Tohka bit down and retreated, not daring to clash directly. But the blue comet didn't smash into the earth as expected—it twisted in midair, defying physics, and veered directly toward her.
Bang!
The collision echoed across the sky. Tohka was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through the wall of a nearby office building.
She landed amidst shattered desks and a blizzard of white paper. Shaking her dizzy head, she looked up—to find Melusine walking toward her with an air of effortless composure.
It was the same look she'd worn throughout this battle—like some grandpa out for a stroll, feeding birds.
Tohka pulled a potted plant off her head—no doubt something left behind by a stressed office worker—and staggered to her feet. She barely managed a step before falling back to her knees.
No matter how she shook her head, the dizziness wouldn't go away. Her ears rang constantly.
Footsteps echoed closer. Each one seemed to land directly on her chest.
She reached out, grabbing a broken office desk.
Fingers dug in. Tohka roared and hurled the desk at Melusine with all her might.
Still unhurried, Melusine raised her left arm, her bracer blade snapping into place. Without even visibly moving, the desk split in two mid-air.
The halves flew past her harmlessly—revealing Tohka, who had leapt in behind it with Paverschlev raised high.
BOOM!
The shockwave blasted through the entire floor, instantly collapsing every support wall.
With the load-bearing structures gone, the ceiling was ready to fall—but Tohka's attention was on something far more pressing.
Paverschlev, wreathed in purple fire and destruction, was no longer clashing with Melusine's glowing dagger.
It had been caught by a single, slender hand.
That cursed blade, capable of sundering earth and sky—Melusine had stopped it barehanded.
"Looks like you're just about at your limit."
Her voice was cold. She gripped the sword's edge with her right hand—and with her free hand, clenched a fist.
The sense of danger was immediate, slamming into Tohka's mind like a sledgehammer. Her body jolted. She tried to retreat.
But—
"Think you can escape from me? Naive!"
Melusine's energy locked onto her, and that fist she'd been readying finally exploded forward.
A radiant beam of energy erupted from her fist—so powerful, it seemed to tear the world apart.
BOOM!
A black blur shot out of the collapsing building, piercing through five skyscrapers in a straight line without slowing down.
The office tower collapsed into a cloud of dust.
From the center of the smoke, a meteor streaked skyward—Melusine, glowing faintly as she hovered midair.
"Ahh…"
She sighed.
"This is getting boring… feels kinda like bullying a kid."
As a dragon, Melusine held immense pride. Aside from perhaps Takamiya Mana, there wasn't a single person in the world she considered a real opponent. This battle? Barely more than sparring with a child.
It reminded her of high school, when she played badminton with the girls. She had such fine control over the shuttlecock that she could always return the shot gently, right back to the other side. Everyone found her easy to rally with—and a bunch of girls liked playing with her for it.
Come to think of it… that might've been the time she was most popular with girls.
Ah… the feeling of being popular…
Lost in that thought, Melusine spaced out mid-battle.
After all, this fight was way too easy.
But then, from the distance, dark clouds and smoke began to spiral and converge—an ominous dusk-hued vortex, as if to drag the entire world into its end.
From above, a throne descended from the clouds.
Someone had seen it and thought: A divine command. A destined conqueror. The throne and victory belong to her. She shall rule the material realm.
Yatogami Tohka.
On the Tree of Life of Kabbalah, she corresponds to Malkuth—the tenth sephira, symbolizing the Kingdom, the material world. A young girl seated upon a throne. Her guardian angel was Sandalphon, twin of Metatron—the angel of vengeance and justice, who judged mortals on God's behalf and whispered unborn children's genders to expecting mothers. Not found in canonical scripture, but mentioned in the Book of Enoch.
Now reversed, the angel had become a demon—aligned with the Qliphoth's tenth sefirah: the sin of materialism. Her demonic counterpart was Nehema, the impure spirit from the Zohar, a companion of Lilith, who spread epilepsy among children and gave birth to demons with Adam after Eve fled him following Cain's murder of Abel.
"So she's preparing for her final move?"
Melusine could sense power flooding toward the throne from all directions.
So this was it—the final attack.
Within the storm, the reversed Tohka raised Paverschlev and cleaved through the ancient throne before her.
The shattered throne reformed and merged with Paverschlev, transforming into an even larger sword.
A sword of judgment for the gods. A blade of despair for the damned. A divine punishment and infernal retribution.
A sword that brings the end.
Its name—
"The Sword of End!"
Even from afar, Melusine could feel its terrifying power. It could obliterate the entire city into nothingness.
And yet—
"No. This isn't right."
Melusine shook her head. Something was off.
Is it really just raw output? Is this sword—or Yatogami Tohka's power—really that simple?
Kurumi manipulates time. Miku controls "sealing" and "unlocking" as concepts. Nia is a watered-down version of omniscience and omnipotence.
And Tohka? Also a Spirit—could she truly possess no unique ability? Was her only power compressing spirit energy and releasing it through Sandalphon?
That didn't add up.
In some timeline, Tohka had slain all other Spirits. If she could do that… surely her ability wasn't that ordinary?
"…Still, now's not the time to think."
Feeling herself locked in by the Sword of End, Melusine shook out her arms.
"Focus on the problem at hand. Like how you can't think about the English section during the math test."
"…That said, what am I supposed to do about this?"
It was an awkward situation.
This attack was obviously a massive area-of-effect. Slicing the entire city in half would be child's play.
Melusine's Noble Phantasm focused magical energy into a single point—great for duels, not so great against AOE attacks. The backlash would likely reduce the surrounding area to rubble.
Best case? A Dragon Ball-style beam clash. Unfortunately, her current Saint Graph didn't support that kind of technique.
Unless…
She abandoned the name "Lancelot" and activated her third-skill Horizon of Light A—evolving into her third form.
"Emmm…"
Melusine scratched her chin.
"…Better not. It's not time yet."
Once she used that skill and entered her third stage, she couldn't go back. That form would be permanent.
And while she thought her half-dragon appearance was extremely cool… it'd make things like going shopping or sleeping a huge hassle. Those dragon wings and tail were no joke.
When she first pulled Fairy Knight Lancelot, she'd thought using her third skill would let her revert forms. That turned out to be a mistake.
No wonder her friends always kept their own Lancelots in first or second ascension…
Shape-shifting belongs to Ptolemy…
Let's save that for when I fight her, Melusine decided internally.
Then, raising her eyes, she looked toward the figure in the storm.
"RAAAHHHHHH!"
With a furious roar, Tohka brought the massive sword down—like a pillar supporting the heavens.
And thus… the end descended.
Light, sound, matter—all were swallowed by the flood of destruction. Everything was reduced to dust, like sand swept away by a tsunami.
And then—Melusine did something that made everyone's jaws drop.
She spread her arms wide, as if surrendering.
Tohka had no idea what Melusine was thinking—just stared as the flood of light crashed straight into her.
It pushed Melusine back, overwhelming her.
Destruction burned across her body. But her arms held firm, clinging to the attack itself.
"Guh—! Aaaargh!"
Her voice shook. Her heart pounded like a war drum, channeling magical energy through every vein and muscle.
Her eyes blazed like twin suns. Melusine roared—and threw the torrent of destruction skyward.
The night sky exploded in purple light.
Everyone watching froze, their faces blank, like their worldview had just shattered and was trying to rebuild itself—including Tohka.
A blur appeared before the stunned girl. Melusine's fist buried itself in her gut.
Already weakened, the blow knocked the last of her strength away. Her consciousness faded as her limp body fell into Melusine's arms.
"I… I'll remember you…"
The words were low, bitter, grinding through clenched teeth.
Melusine looked down.
A peaceful, delicate face. Fast asleep.
"She's holding a grudge now, huh?"
Melusine tilted her head. "Well, not like it matters. She'll turn back into Yatogami Tohka when she wakes up. I doubt we'll meet again."