Leo's back was turned.
The ring above his head still rotated slowly, glowing like a crown forged from pure energy. His wings—vast, radiant, terrifying—beat once more as he began to walk away from the battlefield.
But this form…
was never meant to last.
Thirty minutes.
That was its limit.
Suddenly—
Leo's steps faltered.
His knees buckled, slamming hard into the shattered ground. The ring above his head cracked with a sharp criiing sound and shattered into fragments of fading light. His wings disintegrated into burning feathers, vanishing mid-air.
"Ghh—AAHHHHH!!"
A violent scream tore from his throat.
Dark smoke began pouring out of his body, thick and black, wrapping around him like chains. His veins pulsed unnaturally, black shockwaves ripping through his muscles again and again, as if his own power was punishing him for using it.
His hair—once red and white—slowly returned to its original color.
The ruler of the multiverse was gone.
Only Leo remained.
He clawed at the ground, nails cracking against stone, his voice breaking as pain overwhelmed him. His body convulsed violently, each spasm stronger than the last.
"I—can't—hold it—!"
The Spirit Beast roared one final time inside him…
and then fell silent.
Leo's scream echoed across the ruined stadium—raw, broken, human.
Then—
Silence.
His body collapsed forward, completely unconscious.
From the sky, a figure descended rapidly.
Chen Wei caught him just before his face hit the ground.
"Idiot…" Chen muttered, gripping Leo tightly. "You really went beyond your limit."
He could feel it—Leo's energy was unstable, shattered, barely holding together. The battlefield was still trembling from the aftermath, but the fight was truly over.
Chen lifted Leo onto his shoulder and turned away.
As he left the arena, far beyond space and time—
Inside a mysterious crystal floating outside the universe—
Two glowing eyes watched everything.
"Hmmm…"
A deep, ancient voice echoed.
"That boy's enemy… no—
that villain…"
The crystal pulsed.
"He may be worthy… of becoming my successor."
The image faded.