Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and hooks—beyond the most common weapons, there were many with "regional flair," making the scene look like an ancient weapons exhibition. Weaving through the flashes of blades, Lancer maintained a cold expression as he drove his spear into the vitals of every enemy.
With every "Familiar" he killed, Lancer rage accumulated another layer, and that burning fury seemed to affect the weapon in his hand.
The flames burning on the blood-red spear licked at the surroundings, incinerating the encroaching enemies.
In this bizarre battlefield, Walpurgisnacht's laughter was piercing, but to Lancer, it sounded like a scream of agony. Perhaps the original Walpurgisnacht was once a pure Witch, but after absorbing the negative emotions of countless other passing magical girls, she had become a much more distorted existence.
The laughter was as painful as it was sad.
To save her, he had to kill it!
He dodged a Familiar coming at him from above. Simultaneously, the massive Walpurgisnacht snapped a piece off an unfinished building and hurled it at Lancer.
Amidst the whistling gale of the projectile, Lancer didn't dodge as usual. Instead, he lifted his right foot, traced a semicircle, and slammed it into the ground.
THUMP!
The impact between his foot and the ground was thunderous, echoing hundreds of meters away. Strangely, the ground did not crack this time. As he slowly lowered his head, his blood-red spear pointed toward the earth; the flickering flames on the blade seemed to die out as Lancer closed his eyes.
Faced with the massive building flying toward him, Lancer looked as if he had completely abandoned hope—until it was right in front of his face—
BOOM!!
With a roar, the upper part of the building slammed into a silver-gray magic circle. Countless fragments of stone and steel scattered in the dust. Olga Marie, who had appeared behind Lancer at some unknown moment, held her staff with both hands, her expression pained.
The weight of a skyscraper tens of stories high was terrifying enough on its own, let alone when thrown with the monstrous strength of Walpurgisnacht.
Even an enhanced Olga Marie couldn't hold out for long, but for Lancer, it was enough.
Almost exactly as the magic circle began to flicker on the verge of collapse, Lancer snapped his eyes open. The spear in his hand erupted in a sudden blast of fire; terrifying flames instantly swept through his surroundings, igniting the ground, the debris, and even the air.
His slightly lowered stance and tensed muscles were like a spring compressed to its limit, finally being released.
That previous stamp was to borrow momentum. Both Bajiquan and Baji Spear techniques have extremely strict footwork requirements; every thrust or punch must be grounded firmly. Lancer followed this principle. Although this move wasn't a specific technique from the Baji repertoire, it utilized that "borrowed momentum" (Jieshi).
Only with the support of the earth could he exert 100% of his full strength.
And that stamp was the fuse for the battle.
VROOOM!!
The transition from absolute stillness to absolute motion happened in a split second. Amidst the mournful howl of the air being torn apart, the spear—propelled by Lancer full strength and the explosive force of the flames—transformed into an orange-red meteor. It surged upward, instantly piercing through the overloaded defensive spell.
Crack—
Amidst the silver-white shards of the shattered spell, the spear struck the incoming building. It pierced straight through at the moment of impact; the center of the skyscraper was instantly ignited, and the entire structure began to burn in the flames.
After piercing the building, the spear's speed didn't slow down; if anything, the burning of the structure seemed to make it faster.
First the building, then the sky full of dust—the spear pierced through the giant's defensive arms, destroying them completely before slamming into its forehead.
For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. Then, a terrifying fire began to spread outward from the tip of the spear.
Strangely, even though its entire head was on fire, Walpurgisnacht continued to writhe frantically while letting out that bizarre laughter. But the laughter was cut short, because almost as the "Spear of Dead Splinters" (Gáe Bolg) struck her, another dark-red shadow surged out from the dust.
Lancer, clad in his blood-red leather armor and holding Zero—who had reverted to "Lance Mode"—was right on the spear's heels.
Never expecting a follow-up attack behind that devastating blow, Walpurgisnacht was struck in the abdomen. Blood-red ice crystals began to spread from her stomach, and her writhing body gradually stilled as it was frozen. But holding the spear's grip with both hands, Lancer suddenly had a bad feeling.
KICK!
He delivered a heavy kick to Walpurgisnacht's body. The blood-red ice crystals shattered instantly. Pulling "Zero" out, Lancer lunged toward the head. Catching the Gáe Bolg with his free hand, he leapt downward. Almost simultaneously, Walpurgisnacht's upper body disintegrated.
Countless parts, encased in ice or wreathed in flame, fell from the sky. The colossal frame seemed to stop completely. The brilliant blood-red ice and orange-red sparks decorated the gloomy sky like a radiant starscape.
Mami Tomoe and Kyoko Sakura saw this from the distance.
While marvelling at Lancer power, they felt incredibly excited. In their eyes, since Walpurgisnacht's body was destroyed, the battle was over.
"Heh, Kyubey made it sound so serious. The entrance was so dramatic, and yet it still got taken down."
A relieved Kyoko couldn't help but complain to Mami. But just then—
"Taken down? Did you misunderstand something? That man only destroyed Walpurgisnacht's 'stage.' Her true body is perfectly intact."
The voice was the same as ever—sounding like an innocent child—but it caused everyone's face to pale.
"Kyubey?! How are you still alive!"
Facing the girls' looks of pure disbelief, Kyubey simply tilted his head, looking at them with feigned curiosity.
"That man only destroyed one of my 'bodies.' I have as many replacements as I need. Besides, do you really have time to worry about that? Walpurgisnacht is about to reveal her true form. If you want to save this world, there is only one way—Madoka, sign a contract with me and become a magical girl."
Kyubey was incredibly calm about his own "death," even remembering to invite Madoka Kaname again. Mami and Kyoko stood in front of the three defenseless girls, and the atmosphere inside the spell became unbearably tense...