"Annoying insect!"
Scaramouche roared, then reached out to grab Arlecchino, but he only caught empty air, as Arlecchino easily dodged it.
Before long, Arlecchino easily approached the Shouki no Kami's body, leaped up, and climbed up the Shouki no Kami's frame, eventually arriving at the Shouki no Kami's chest.
Arlecchino faintly felt the intense Electro Element fluctuations within, so she hesitated no longer and immediately swung the Crimson Scythe slowly behind her to gather strength.
The Crimson Moon emerged once again. Arlecchino wanted to use its terrifying aura to intimidate Scaramouche for a moment, and then she took this opportunity to erupt in a dense crimson light, finally fiercely slashing toward the Shouki no Kami's chest.
However, just as Arlecchino was about to slash down, she suddenly felt a terrifying omen of death that made her heart tremble. Without hesitation, she kicked off with both legs, her figure transforming into a crimson light as she fled into the distance.
The moment Arlecchino departed, a greyish-white pillar of light shot through the afterimage she had left behind in the very next second.
Shortly after, that greyish-white pillar of light struck the ground, directly carving a massive, fan-shaped groove into it!
Not a single sound was made, but this scene was all the more terrifying.
Seeing this image before her, Arlecchino's pupils suddenly constricted; the power Scaramouche had just demonstrated was far beyond her expectations.
Afterward, Arlecchino's gaze at Scaramouche filled with a bone-chilling cold, because Scaramouche had not only hidden that terrible power just now, but even the speed and strength of the Shouki no Kami itself had been significantly enhanced.
In other words, he had been hiding his true strength all along, even deliberately exposing flaws just to lure her into his trap and then completely eliminate her.
If she hadn't sensed something amiss and withdrawn in time, then even if she had hesitated for the slightest bit, she would have probably been directly evaporated by that terrible power.
What was that power? It seemed somewhat familiar? She felt like she had seen it before...
That's right, the Traveler had also emanated a similarly terrifying power before!
"Tsk, what a pity."
Scaramouche shook his head with a hint of regret, as if the furious rage he had displayed earlier was all just an illusion.
"I'll let you keep your life, Arlecchino."
"Scaramouche, you hid so much of your power from the very beginning."
"We haven't seen each other for so many years, I never expected your schemes to become so deep."
Arlecchino spoke with a serious expression; this time, even she felt the situation was troublesome.
"Even Rosalyne became a pawn in your game. When did you become so unrecognizable?"
"Hahaha, you know nothing of what I have gone through!"
After hearing Arlecchino's words, Scaramouche suddenly burst out laughing.
"Arlecchino, you cannot even begin to understand the anger and pain in my heart, so you can never understand my strength!"
"My suffering is far greater than yours!"
Scaramouche's laughter stopped abruptly, and he glared at Arlecchino with a grim expression as he continued.
"Do you know what this battle means to us?"
"Freedom and the chance to complete our unfinished business!"
"For you, this battle is a mere game, but for us, it is an ordeal!"
"The loser loses everything, the winner gains it all, and the same goes for us!"
Scaramouche clenched his fist, scene after scene flashing through his mind. His eyes suddenly blazed with fury, and a murderous intent filled his heart.
"I still have a score to settle."
"I have yet to let those two taste the agony of regret and a fate worse than death."
"Therefore, I must win!"
"As for you, Arlecchino."
"Fall right here!"
Countless bolts of lightning erupted from Shouki no Kami's body, quickly stained with a gray-white hue.
Scaramouche no longer held back his strength, erupting with all his power.
When the plan fails, all that matters is raw power.
"Heh, you alone are not enough to stop me."
Arlecchino sneered and fully unleashed her power. The Crimson Moon was no longer just a phenomenon in her vision, but had manifested solidly in this world.
At this moment, Arlecchino was bathed in a soaring blood-red light, a terrifying aura radiating from her body.
Seeing this, Scaramouche's expression turned slightly grave. Sure enough, Arlecchino had also been holding back part of her strength.
Meanwhile, Rosalyne was completely bewildered, even beginning to doubt whether she had ever been enhanced. How did it feel as if the battle between Scaramouche and Arlecchino was on a completely different dimension from her?
Rosalyne felt that she shouldn't be standing here; she should have stayed in the coffin.
After her resurrection, she suddenly couldn't think of anyone she could still defeat!
Soon, Arlecchino swung her scythe again, and the crimson wave of energy was instantly absorbed by her. Then, eight blood-red blades condensed and hovered around her body, like the eight legs of a spider.
"Scaramouche, I have indeed underestimated you before."
"But now, I will truly regard you as my opponent."
"I will personally tear open your chest, gouge out your heart, and crush your body!"
A staggering killing intent coalesced on Arlecchino's body, then materialized into a massive blade, slashing toward Scaramouche.
"Hahaha, try and do it if you can, you ant!"
Scaramouche controlled Shouki no Kami to rise into the sky, then countless Electro Elemental Power swarmed toward his hands. A thunderstorm orb emitting a terrifying aura of destruction appeared in Scaramouche's hands, rapidly expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After reaching its limit, Scaramouche added a layer of Power of Nihility to completely envelop the thunderstorm orb, making it no longer dazzling, but the fluctuations it emitted became even more terrifying.
Scaramouche swung his hand with all his might, smashing the thunderstorm orb down toward Arlecchino's position, where it collided with the blood-red blade that pierced heaven and earth.
At this moment, Arlecchino appeared exceptionally calm compared to Scaramouche.
The instant before the crimson blade and the thunderstorm orb collided, she completely activated the Mark on her hand, and a massive amount of energy surged into her body. The blood-red waves that had already quieted down surged violently once more, and the power emitted by that crimson blade further exploded.
Under Scaramouche's astonished and furious gaze, that crimson blade sliced the thunderstorm orb in half with almost no resistance, then continued its momentum and slashed toward Scaramouche.
Because the speed was simply too fast, although Scaramouche tried his best to dodge, he was still directly hit. The next second, both his arms were severed at the root, and the body of Shouki no Kami also sustained extremely severe damage.
Arlecchino did not plan to give Scaramouche a chance to catch his breath. Drawing upon the remaining energy within her body, her own speed reached its absolute limit, crossing a vast distance in just an instant and leaving a dazzling crimson trail in the air.
Under Scaramouche's astonished and furious gaze, Arlecchino swung the Crimson Scythe and directly carved an "X" slash into the chest of Shouki no Kami, tearing a large hole in its chest. The next second, the scorching Electro Gnosis appeared in Arlecchino's hand.
"No, give it back to me!"
Scaramouche roared as Shouki no Kami erupted with blinding Electro light from all directions.
Yet the next moment, a Crimson Scythe stabbed directly into the face of Shouki no Kami, gouging out a large hole and revealing Scaramouche inside with an incredibly hideous expression.
Arlecchino pushed off with her feet, her body retreating backward as the crimson wings unfolded. She then gripped the scythe tightly in both hands, and after a brief pause, swung out hundreds and thousands of crimson slashes, instantly covering the head of Shouki no Kami.
Shouki no Kami's movements suddenly froze, and after only a few seconds, it fell limply toward the ground. Even so, Arlecchino's assault did not stop.
Only after completely obliterating Shouki no Kami's head did Arlecchino pant heavily several times in a row. Then, flapping the crimson wings behind her, she approached Shouki no Kami.
Shortly after, amidst a field of shattered components, Arlecchino found Scaramouche, who also had nothing left but his broken body.
Swish
With a flash of blade-light, Scaramouche's right hand flew into the air, only to be snatched up by Arlecchino.
Using the method she had learned earlier, Arlecchino successfully transferred the Mark from Scaramouche's hand to her own before carelessly tossing the severed arm aside.
"You didn't try to activate the Mark. It seems my assumption was correct."
"Though you are playing this game with us, losing the Mark means you lose your right to participate completely."
"So, after I activated my own Mark, you—the only one left among the three of us who still possessed one—hesitated."
"It was that very hesitation that sealed your defeat."
"Otherwise, you might have actually caused me a bit of trouble."
Scaramouche glared at Arlecchino, his eyes filled with resentment. Her deduction was completely accurate.
He had indeed hesitated for that reason, and in that single moment of indecision, Arlecchino had seized the opportunity to utterly defeat him. She had given him no chance to activate the Mark a second time, swiftly severing his arm to prevent him from wasting the Mark and leaving her with nothing.
"Damn it!"
At this moment, Scaramouche's eyes were filled with resentment. He had taken Arlecchino seriously enough from the start, even though he was ostensibly stronger than her, yet he still formulated a one-hit-kill plan.
He never expected that Arlecchino, that sly snake, would hide so much of her strength, making her impossible to defend against!
In the end, Arlecchino's unhesitating activation of the Mark also caught Scaramouche off guard. She had fought for so long yet still possessed only a single Mark on her hand. So, what exactly had she been fighting them for all this time?
The injustice gnawed at him!
He had finally secured another chance, only for Arlecchino to shatter it.
Scaramouche thought resentfully as he repaired his body and the damaged parts of the Shouki no Kami.
Because Scaramouche already understood the Shouki no Kami perfectly, he could use spiritual power to repair its damaged areas. He had used this very method to make the Shouki no Kami move again earlier.
His strength was clearly no weaker than Arlecchino's. Under normal circumstances, the outcome would never have been decided so simply. Yet she had seized the opportunity by harnessing the power of the Mark.
However, losing the Mark did not mean all hope was lost; he might still have a chance!
As long as it wasn't the absolute worst-case scenario, he still had hope!
Thinking this, Scaramouche gave Arlecchino one last, deep look, then controlled the newly repaired Shouki no Kami to ascend into the sky and withdrew.
Seeing Scaramouche's movement, Rosalyne did not linger either, watching Arlecchino warily as she gradually flew away.
Seeing the two leave, Arlecchino did not pursue them to finish them off.
Whether it was Scaramouche or Rosalyne, they were now Heroic Spirits. Completely eliminating them would take a considerable amount of time, and she did not want to waste her precious time here.
Arlecchino seemed to sense something and slowly turned around.
At this moment, Sangonomiya Kokomi and her group had already landed on Seirai Island a short distance away, then hurried toward the place where the battle had broken out.
The crimson wings behind Arlecchino flapped powerfully, and her body soared directly into midair.
After pinpointing the exact location of the Mark's fluctuations, a torrent of blood erupted from Arlecchino's body, before she herself transformed into a streak of bloody light, painting the sky with an eerie hue as she closed the distance to Sangonomiya Kokomi and her group at maximum speed.
Meanwhile, the other side, Sangonomiya Kokomi halted immediately upon sensing Arlecchino's terrifying aura, then seriously ordered everyone to go on alert.
"Someone is coming," Sangonomiya Kokomi reminded them.
Of course, her reminder was unnecessary. As the distance between Arlecchino and them shrank, the others also gradually sensed a heart-stopping killing intent.
"Good luck, Traveler!"
After cheering for Lumine, Paimon immediately retreated behind everyone else, only then feeling a slight sense of security.
Seeing this, Lumine helplessly shook her head, then slowly drew the Dull Blade, watching the distance with full vigilance.
Soon after, Arlecchino's figure gradually enlarged in their eyes, and the smell of blood grew even thicker.
After seeing Arlecchino clearly, Paimon curiously flew to the front again and asked,
"Arlecchino, why is it you who's coming here? We thought it was an enemy!"
"Oh, by the way, weren't you fighting an enemy just now? The commotion was huge!"
Hearing Paimon's words, Sangonomiya Kokomi raised her hand in a gesture, signaling everyone not to make a move for the time being.
"I was indeed fighting someone else before."
Suddenly, Arlecchino slowly nodded and spoke.
"Now I have already defeated them."
"So next, it's your turn."
"If you're smart, how about you obediently hand over the Marks in your hands?"
"Otherwise, I can't guarantee whether your bodies will be missing a few pieces."
Lumine threw the panicked Paimon behind her, then swung her sword upward with all her might, sending a sword slash flying toward Arlecchino as her response...