BAAAM
"My Lady!" Stan screamed in worry as he saw Aliza being thrown back after she was slashed by Aviza's dual swords.
Even though Lyria had already protected everyone using Luminiera's barrier, Aviza's attack was too strong, and they were still knocked back by the impact.
"Lamina Indicam!"
A magic circle appeared beneath Therese's feet as she leaped forward toward Aviza.
Using her extreme speed, she slashed Aviza while his guard was open, passing him in a single swift motion.
After the slash, she spun in the air, formed another magic circle, and jumped again—slashing Aviza once more.
"Maelstrom Blaze!"
She repeated the motion over and over, her blade enveloped in blue flames as she continued slashing Aviza relentlessly.
"Ughhh, annoying brats!!"
Aviza was pushed backward by Therese's attacks. Even when he tried to counter, she was simply too fast.
But the problem remained—her attacks didn't deal any real damage due to his armor. All she managed to do was leave shallow scratches across its surface.
Then, suddenly the attacks stopped.
She vanished from the magic circle where she was supposed to strike again.
"Huh?"
Aviza frowned, confused, looking around frantically.
"Where did she go!?"
"Up here!"
Therese's voice rang out above him, making him to look up.
Taking advantage of that moment, Therese slashed downward from above.
"Certamen!"
A vertical blue line appeared from the slash, lingering for a brief moment before glowing brightly—then erupting into blue flames.
"Gahhhh!?"
Aviza burned in place, raising both arms to cover his face as flames engulfed him—his face being the one part not protected by armor.
Seeing Aviza let go of both his swords and cover his unprotected face, Lyria immediately focused.
Touching the crystal on her chest, it responded as the crystal changed color to red and began to glow.
"Colossus."
Red particles poured out from the crystal, gathering in front of her.
She planned to use Colossus's ultimate attack, Dimension Slash, to bypass Aviza's armor and kill him instantly.
But to do that, she needed to fully manifest Colossus—and that would take a short moment.
"Damn you bunch of brats! I've had enough of this!!"
Lyria didn't have the time she thought she did as Aviza's body suddenly burst with dark essence, engulfing the blue flames.
"What the—! His pressure is increasing! Stan, bring Aliza back!" Therese shouted at Stan, who was tending to Aliza after she was thrown earlier.
"Don't, I can still fight!" Aliza refused to back down and tried to push herself up.
"Our attacks are useless against his armor. We should find reinforcements, my lady," Stan said.
Their bodies were already covered in wounds, and exhaustion weighed heavily on them—especially after protecting the townspeople, then fighting hordes of monsters outside the factory.
Now, facing Aviza on top of all that, they were completely worn down.
"First, you annoying blue-haired girl!"
Without warning, Aviza leaped forward, reaching toward Lyria, who was still in the middle of manifesting Colossus.
"Lyria, watch out!" Vyrn screamed as Aviza's monstrous hand shot toward her.
Lyria's eyes widened as Aviza closed in. Instinctively, she shut her eyes, bracing for the impact.
Clang
But the pain she expected never came—only the sound of steel crashing against steel.
"I've had enough of this!"
Djeeta's voice rang out as she blocked Aviza's hand with the Blade of Olympus.
"Haaaahhhh!"
Pouring more strength into her strike, she parried Aviza's arm upward and followed it with a vertical slash straight toward his body.
The blade easily bypassed Aviza's armor, blood spilling from the gap created by the slice—but Djeeta wasn't done yet.
Gathering energy into the blade, she pointed it forward and fired a blue beam of energy, blasting Aviza away and carrying him along with it.
"Djeeta, you're fine! I thought you got badly wounded from that kick!"
Vyrn said as he rushed toward her and hugged her tightly.
"Haha, I'm fine, Vyrn. Now get back a bit—I'm going to finish this quickly," Djeeta said with a small laugh, then turned her gaze toward Therese, Stan, and Aliza.
"Lyria, can you take care of them? Just leave Aviza to me."
Hearing that, Lyria looked at Djeeta's hand and noticed the sword she had never seen before.
With just a glance, she already knew—it was Rei's creation.
"I understand," she nodded, then ran toward the others.
"Beat the shit out of that Aviza guy, Djeeta! I'm cheering you from behind!" Vyrn shouted before flying away to follow Lyria.
Djeeta nodded, then turned her attention back toward the direction where Aviza had been blasted away.
Djeeta stood still, her gaze locked firmly on the figure ahead as her grip tightened around the Blade of Olympus.
The blue glow running along the blade pulsed faintly, as if responding to her resolve.
Not long after, a distorted laugh echoed from within the lingering smoke.
"Over and over again, you bunch of children keep resisting against me!"
Aviza's voice rang out, filled with madness and rage.
The dark essence suddenly surged outward, bursting violently and tearing through the smoke that concealed him. In an instant, his figure was revealed once more—his entire body engulfed in writhing black energy that twisted around him like living shadows.
Aviza slowly lifted both of his arms forward.
The two swords he had lost earlier trembled, then shot back toward him at terrifying speed, slicing through the air before landing perfectly in his grasp.
The moment he caught them, Aviza poured all of the dark essence surrounding his body directly into the blades.
A violent pressure exploded outward.
WHOOOOOM—
A massive burst of wind erupted from him, powerful enough to make the entire factory shake. The ground cracked beneath their feet, the walls groaned, and even the cave itself began to tremble as if on the verge of collapse.
"Everyone, hold on!" Lyria shouted.
She immediately activated her power, summoning a radiant barrier around Aliza, Stan, Therese, and Vyrn. Light enveloped them just in time as debris began to fall and the shockwaves tore through the area.
However, Djeeta was too far ahead.
Lyria clenched her fists, her eyes filled with worry. She wanted to extend the shield to Djeeta as well—but the distance was too great.
At the same time, another fear crept into her heart.
"Katalina… Jessica… please be safe…"
She had no choice. Right now, she had to protect the people in front of her.
Meanwhile, Djeeta did not flinch.
The violent wind battered her clothes and hair, the pressure pressing against her body like an invisible weight—but she stood firm.
Her blue eyes remained steady, unwavering, completely focused on Aviza as he continued gathering power.
With a slow, deliberate motion, Djeeta brought her other hand up and wrapped it around the hilt.
Using both hands, she raised the Blade of Olympus high above her head.
The sword responded immediately.
The blue light intensified, surging along the blade as boundary power flowed into it, crackling with energy that distorted the air around her.
Meanwhile, on the surface where the mansion stood, in the sky the clear blue sky of a sunny day was suddenly swallowed by dark clouds.
From within them, blue thunder began striking repeatedly, spreading across the sky and leaving the townspeople below confused and uneasy.
Even though lightning filled the sky, none of it struck the ground—it remained suspended above, painting the sky with countless streaks of blue thunder.
"That's weird… the weather suddenly changed like this," Sandalphon said as she looked up.
There was no sign of rain, making the sudden thunder even more unnatural.
"What do you think, Rei?" Sandalphon turned to her right—
"Huh?"
—but the person she expected to see was no longer there.
Rei had already disappeared from her side.
The lightning continued to rage across the sky before suddenly striking Aviza's mansion.
The lightning followed the trail of the Blade of Olympus that Rei had thrown, passing through the same hole and then zigzagging wildly toward the blade.
It moved instantly toward the factory below, racing straight to its destination—the Blade of Olympus.
Lightning surged into the blade, zapping it repeatedly as Djeeta continued gathering her power.
"Dieee!" Aviza roared as he fired dark beams from both of his swords toward Djeeta.
Djeeta shifted her stance, thrusting forward while lightning still wrapped around the blade, crackling violently around it.
She jumped forward and clashed head-on with Aviza's attack, creating a massive shockwave of destruction that tore apart everything around them.
"Hold oonnn!" Vyrn screamed as he held tightly onto Therese.
The Blade of Olympus easily overpowered Aviza's attack. The dark beams began to crack before shattering completely under the blade's force.
"What!?" Aviza yelled in shock as he watched his attack break apart.
But Djeeta kept moving forward.
In the next moment, she was right in front of him.
"Reginleiv: Divine Absolution!" Djeeta shouted as she drove the blade straight into Aviza's stomach, releasing all of the lightning and the blade's power into him.
"Arghhh!" Blood spilled from Aviza's mouth as destructive energy flooded his entire body.
Even the dark essence was overwhelmed, torn apart and erased by the power surging inside him.
Cracks spread rapidly across Aviza's body, glowing from within as the destructive energy rampaged through him.
The dark essence tried to resist.
It writhed violently, surging outward in chaotic waves, desperately attempting to escape the destruction consuming its host. But the lightning bound to the Blade of Olympus pinned it in place, sealing every path of retreat.
Aviza's eyes widened.
"No—this power… this isn't possible…!" His voice distorted, breaking apart along with his body.
The blade remained buried deep in his stomach, its blue light intensifying until it eclipsed the dark essence entirely. Lightning arced violently across Aviza's armor, racing through every crack, every fracture, tearing him apart from the inside.
His armor shattered first.
Fragments of corrupted metal peeled away and disintegrated into blue sparks before they could even hit the ground.
Then came the body beneath.
Aviza let out one final, broken scream as the cracks spread to his neck, his arms, his horns—until his entire form looked like shattered glass held together by glowing light.
The dark essence inside him collapsed in on itself.
And then—
BOOOOOOM—
A blinding pillar of blue lightning erupted upward, punching through the factory ceiling and into the sky above.
The shockwave swept through the underground chamber, but this time it carried no malice—only clean, overwhelming force. The dark essence was erased completely, leaving nothing behind for it to cling to.
When the light faded, Aviza was gone.
No body.
No remains.
Only fading blue sparks drifting silently through the air, dissolving like ash caught in the wind.
The Blade of Olympus hummed softly in Djeeta's hands before its glow gradually dimmed, the lightning dispersing as the weapon returned to stillness.
Djeeta stood there, breathing heavily, the blade lowered at her side.
Slowly, the trembling of the factory stopped.
The oppressive pressure vanished, replaced by a heavy, almost unreal silence.
From behind her—
"…Did we… win?" Aliza asked quietly.
Djeeta didn't turn around immediately.
She stared at the empty space where Aviza had stood, making sure—absolutely sure—that nothing remained.
Only then did she exhale.
"…Yeah," she said, her voice steady but tired.
"It's over."
The Blade of Olympus let out a faint, final crackle of electricity—almost like an answer—before falling completely silent.