The battlefield had gone silent.
Not because the war was over.
Because two people had already reached their limit.
Shion Kisaragi, the Poison Girl, was on her knees.
Her mechanical arms and legs were covered with cracks. Her body trembled under the crushing force of Demon Queen's Reverse Gravity.
Even her mask was beginning to loosen.
The mask that had been attached to her face for so long was hanging dangerously low.
Shion reached up.
She caught it before it could fall.
Her fingers trembled.
"Not yet…"
She forced the mask back against her face.
Then, with a sharp motion, she tightened its bolts again.
Click.
Click.
The pain was unbearable.
A strained cry escaped her.
"Ghh…!"
But she didn't stop.
She tightened the final bolt.
CLICK.
Shion slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were filled with determination.
"I'm… not losing…"
A short distance away, Mei Lian was also barely able to move.
Blood ran from a small wound on her head. Her arms and legs were badly damaged, and even her Eagle Spirit Beast was struggling to maintain its form.
Yet the Reverse Gravity technique was still active.
Neither woman could escape.
Demon Queen looked at them with amusement.
Shion suddenly forced herself forward.
"I can't lose…"
She tried to move.
But Demon Queen appeared directly in front of her.
Before Shion could react—
Demon Queen grabbed her by the throat and lifted her.
"Oh, Flower Girl…"
Her voice was almost playful.
"Those mechanical arms and legs…"
She looked at Shion's damaged limbs.
"I was the one who gave those to you, wasn't I?"
Shion glared at her.
Demon Queen continued.
"I had them installed with the help of that scientist. I thought all that pain would eventually make you useful to me."
She smiled.
"Oh my…"
Her smile disappeared.
"But instead, you betrayed me."
Demon Queen tightened her grip.
"You betrayed me after everything I gave you."
Shion's eyes remained cold.
"If I hadn't betrayed you…"
She took a breath.
"I would have died anyway."
Demon Queen stared at her.
"So if choosing the right path means dying by your hands…"
Shion's eyes hardened.
"…then I'm ready."
Demon Queen smiled.
"Oh?"
Then she grabbed Shion's right mechanical arm.
And pulled.
CRACK!
The mechanical limb tore free.
Shion's eyes filled with tears.
But she made no sound.
Not even a scream.
Demon Queen stared at her.
"Oh my…"
She sounded genuinely surprised.
"You're still enduring it?"
Shion's breathing became heavier.
Demon Queen grabbed the other mechanical arm.
"You know…"
She smiled.
"This one will hurt even more."
She pulled again.
CRACK!
The second arm came free.
Shion's eyes were trembling with tears.
But still—
Nothing.
No scream.
No plea.
Demon Queen tilted her head.
"Oh my. You're still holding on?"
She punched Shion across the face.
BOOM!
Shion was thrown through the air and crashed down near Mei Lian.
"Pathetic."
Shion rolled across the ground and fell directly back into the area affected by Reverse Gravity.
Without her mechanical limbs, the pressure became overwhelming.
Her body was unable to resist it.
The pain finally broke through her determination.
"AAAAAH!"
Her voice echoed across the battlefield.
And then—
Her consciousness faded.
But she wasn't completely gone.
Somewhere inside the darkness, she could still think.
Am I really going to lose like this?
Is this all my life was?
Am I really going to die here?
Her fingers moved.
Slowly.
She began crawling forward.
Toward Demon Queen.
"I…"
Her voice was barely audible.
"I don't want to lose…"
Then a name appeared in her mind.
A name she hadn't forgotten.
"Renge…"
Her childhood memories returned.
The little boy who always appeared whenever she felt alone.
The boy who would smile at her.
The boy who never treated her as weak.
The boy who gave her the courage to keep standing.
"You think…"
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"…I forgot you?"
She smiled faintly.
"I didn't…"
"You were always there…"
"When I thought I was beneath everyone…"
"You were the one who came smiling…"
"You gave me the courage to keep fighting this world…"
Her hand reached forward.
"Renge…"
Her voice became weaker.
"Please…"
"Save me…"
---
Far above the battlefield—
Renge Akihana was still lying against the massive Ancient Gate.
His body hadn't moved.
His consciousness seemed completely gone.
Until—
"…Save me…"
His eyes opened slightly.
"Save me…"
Renge's fingers moved.
"…Renge…"
His shoulders slowly lifted.
For the first time since his collapse—
Renge moved.
"Shion…"
His voice was almost a whisper.
Then—
Something strange happened.
The blood scattered across the battlefield began floating upward.
It rose from the ground.
From abandoned weapons.
From the bodies of fallen warriors.
The blood moved through the air like countless red streams being pulled toward a single point.
Demon Queen's expression changed.
"Oh my…"
She looked toward the Ancient Gate.
"So it finally happened."
A dark smile appeared on her face.
"It seems…"
"Something has awakened."
The blood began gathering around Renge.
Demon Queen laughed softly.
"The Blood Demon."
"But he isn't fully awakened yet."
She looked excited.
"Even if he were…"
"A Blood Demon still doesn't have enough power to defeat a Demon Queen."
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
A gigantic red pillar of energy erupted from the Ancient Gate.
The massive Hell Gate itself cracked apart.
The shockwave swept across the battlefield.
Dust and debris flew everywhere.
Even the Demon Queen looked surprised for a moment.
"Oh my…"
The red energy slowly disappeared.
And something remained inside the smoke.
A perfectly round shape.
A sphere made entirely from blood.
It began opening.
Slowly.
Like a flower.
And from inside—
Someone stepped out.
Renge.
But not the Renge everyone knew.
His shirt had been completely destroyed.
Only his pants remained.
One side of his body still looked almost normal—the side connected to the Eye of Lotus.
But the other side was completely different.
The side containing the Eye of Laligros had turned blood-red.
Red markings covered his skin.
His hair was stained with the same crimson energy.
And his eye…
It no longer resembled the Eye of Laligros that Renge once possessed.
Its pattern had become something ancient.
Something impossible to recognize.
A long crimson tail emerged from behind him.
Renge wasn't standing.
He was floating.
His tail supported his body while he sat in the air.
And then—
He laughed.
Not Renge's laugh.
Something else.
Something childish.
Something completely insane.
"Hahahaha!"
He bounced lightly on his tail.
"Finally!"
He laughed again.
"Finally, a human summoned me!"
He looked around with innocent curiosity.
"I honestly didn't expect anything from this world anymore."
He touched his own chest.
"But finally…"
"I got a body."
His smile widened.
"And this body…"
"The Eye of Blood."
Demon Queen watched silently.
The Blood Demon continued.
"Do you know why this eye is called the Eye of Blood?"
His crimson eye glowed.
"Because the flower connected to it…"
"The Laligros…"
"Bloomed because demon blood once fell upon it."
His smile became wider.
"Thousands of years ago…"
"I was killed."
"When my blood spilled onto a flower…"
"That flower changed."
"It became the Blood Flower."
He pointed toward his eye.
"And this human…"
"Connected with that flower using his spiritual power."
"That connection eventually became this eye."
He laughed.
"So…"
"The demon whose blood created that flower…"
"Was me."
"Hahahahahahaha!"
He bounced on his tail like a child who had just received a new toy.
"Finally!"
"After thousands of years…"
"I can have some fun!"
---
From the distant mountain—
Lily, Yuna, Chenwei, Leo, and the surviving World Martial Artist General were watching.
Lily immediately stepped forward.
"Renge!"
She was about to jump from the mountain.
But Leo raised his hand.
"Wait."
Lily stopped.
"Leo?"
"Don't."
He stared at the battlefield.
"The show isn't over yet."
His expression became serious.
"Let's see what my big brother can do."
Then—
The Blood Demon disappeared.
There was no movement.
No warning.
Only—
WHOOSH!
The air itself exploded from the pressure.
Demon Queen's eyes widened.
"What—?"
The Blood Demon appeared directly in front of the Black Hell Dragon.
His crimson fist slammed forward.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire battlefield shook.
Demon Queen and the Black Hell Dragon were swallowed by the explosion.
---
Everyone on the mountain stared.
Yuna's eyes widened.
The surviving General slowly closed his eyes.
He listened to the distant sounds of battle.
Then he spoke quietly.
"So…"
"This is the power of the Blood Demon."
"The Eye of Laligros…"
He remained completely still.
Then added—
"But he won't be able to control that body for very long."
The sounds of battle continued in the distance.
And somewhere inside that crimson monster…
Renge's consciousness was still fighting to return.
To be continued…