The battlefield was still shaking.
The five hundred soldiers standing before Lily, Yuna, and the surviving World Martial Artist General were not ordinary soldiers.
They were the remaining elite army of the Demon Queen.
Each one of them had conquered planets before.
Each one possessed a terrifying ability—to absorb the spiritual energy of their opponents and turn that stolen power into their own.
Lily looked at the army in front of her and sighed.
"Five hundred…"
She stretched her shoulders.
"That sounds annoying."
Yuna quietly nodded.
"Very annoying."
The General cracked his knuckles.
"Then let's finish this quickly."
The three moved forward together.
The first wave of demons rushed toward them.
Lily stepped forward and blocked a punch.
BAM!
She immediately countered with a spiritual-energy strike, sending the soldier backward.
But the moment her energy touched him—
The soldier absorbed it.
His aura suddenly became stronger.
Lily stopped.
"…Oh."
The demon grinned.
"Thank you for the energy."
Lily stared at him.
"So that's your ability."
Another soldier rushed toward her.
She ducked beneath his attack and struck him with a physical punch instead of using spiritual energy.
THUD!
The soldier stumbled backward.
Lily smiled.
"Fine."
"No more free energy for you."
She began fighting purely with hand-to-hand combat.
Nearby, Yuna was doing the same.
She teleported from one place to another, dodging attacks and using only small amounts of spiritual energy when necessary.
WHOOSH!
She appeared behind one enemy.
BAM!
He fell.
Another attacked from the side.
Yuna vanished.
WHOOSH!
She appeared above him.
BAM!
But the battle was slowly taking its toll.
Every time Yuna used her spiritual abilities, the enemy soldiers tried to absorb the energy.
Her movements became slightly slower.
Her breathing became heavier.
She touched her shoulder.
"…They're draining us."
Lily looked at her.
"I noticed."
The General suddenly charged through the enemy formation.
He didn't possess a Spiritual Beast.
He didn't have a special energy ability.
He only had his body and martial arts.
BAM!
One soldier went down.
WHAM!
Another was knocked away.
The General spun and blocked a third attack.
BOOM!
He was pushed several meters backward.
He planted his feet.
His breathing became heavier.
"These guys…"
He wiped his forehead.
"…are monsters."
But he smiled.
"Good."
"It's been a while since I've had a proper fight."
He charged again.
The battle continued.
One enemy fell.
Then another.
Then another.
But the five hundred soldiers refused to stop.
They surrounded the three fighters from every direction.
Lily took several hits while protecting Yuna.
Yuna teleported repeatedly to keep the enemies away from the General.
The General continued fighting despite his exhaustion.
Slowly, their spiritual energy began disappearing.
Lily's fire power remained sealed.
Yuna didn't summon the Snow Lion.
Neither of them wanted to reveal their strongest abilities yet.
They were saving their trump cards.
But the enemy army was forcing them closer and closer to their limits.
A demon suddenly struck Lily.
BAM!
She crashed onto the ground.
She immediately rolled away before another attack could land.
Lily stood again.
Her breathing was heavy.
"Okay…"
She looked at the enormous army.
"I've changed my mind."
"I don't like these guys."
Yuna appeared beside her.
"I agree."
The General landed nearby.
"They're absorbing too much energy."
Lily looked at both of them.
"Then…"
She raised her fists.
"…let's stop giving them anything."
The three rushed forward.
This time, they fought differently.
No unnecessary spiritual attacks.
No transformations.
No powerful techniques.
Just pure combat.
Lily used punches and kicks.
Yuna used teleportation and precise strikes.
The General used every martial-arts technique he had learned throughout his life.
BAM!
BOOM!
THUD!
One after another, the enemy soldiers fell.
But the three heroes were reaching their limits as well.
Lily's legs were trembling.
Yuna was breathing heavily.
The General could barely keep his stance steady.
Still—
They continued.
A final group of soldiers surrounded them.
Lily looked at Yuna.
Yuna looked at the General.
The General smiled.
"Together?"
Lily smiled.
"Together."
The three charged.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive shockwave swept across the battlefield.
When the dust finally settled—
The five hundred soldiers were defeated.
Silence.
Lily stood motionless.
Yuna slowly lowered her hand.
The General remained standing for a few seconds.
Then—
His knees gave way.
THUD.
Lily sat down beside him.
"I'm done."
Yuna slowly sat down too.
"Me too."
The General laughed weakly.
"At least…"
He looked across the battlefield.
"…we won."
The three sat there, exhausted, unable to continue fighting.
But far away from them, Leo remained standing.
And inside Leo's consciousness…
Something else existed.
A darkness sealed behind an ancient boundary.
The Black Sword.
Its true history had existed for thousands of years.
Long before Leo was born…
Long before the Lion Clan existed in its present form…
The sword had traveled through the Universe.
Eventually, Earth's gravity pulled the mysterious weapon toward the planet.
It fell onto Earth.
And from that day onward, the Lion Clan became its guardian.
Generation after generation, the responsibility was passed down.
The sword had absorbed power through countless battles and countless deaths.
With every accumulation of power, its appearance became darker.
Until eventually—
It became completely black.
The Lion Clan never truly understood everything about the sword.
They only knew one thing.
It had to be protected.
But during the ancient demon attack on the Lion Clan, something went terribly wrong.
The Black Sword lost control.
Its power became too dangerous.
And eventually—
It was sealed inside Leo.
Inside his consciousness.
Inside that mysterious darkness.
Leo himself still didn't know the complete truth.
The complete history of the Black Sword…
The reason it had been sealed…
And what it truly was—
would remain hidden.
For now.
Because someday…
World Martial Art of Hell would reveal everything.
Back on the battlefield, Lily slowly looked toward Leo.
She could see him standing in the distance.
Yuna also looked toward him.
The General took a deep breath.
The three had defeated the Demon Queen's army.
But they knew the battle was nowhere near over.
And somewhere beyond their sight…
The Demon Queen was still watching.
Waiting.
To Be Continued…