Carl's fingers brushed over the cold, pitch-black tip of the cursed blade Muramasa. He paid no attention to the changes happening to Joy Boy, his entire focus consumed by Muramasa.
At this moment, the darkness and Haki concentrated on Muramasa had reached an absolutely terrifying level—yet all of it was being forcibly compressed.
Compared to the earth-shattering scene on Joy Boy's side, Carl's side seemed almost unnaturally quiet.
From the golden heart, white blood vessels spread out ever denser, forming what looked like an enormous white web when viewed from below.
Lily fixed her gaze on the golden heart Joy Boy had left behind. Golden lightning crackled in her left hand, while demonic black energy gathered in her right.
Before she could launch another attack, the golden heart suddenly swelled in size, then began bouncing along the white "web" below it, gaining height with each elastic recoil.
Seeing this bizarre phenomenon, Lily immediately unleashed the power she'd been storing. A tornado-like energy storm erupted from her hands.
The energy storm slammed into the web, instantly releasing a thick cloud of white mist. Within it, one could faintly see the golden glow slowly being enveloped in layers of black.
Yet the golden glow kept pulsing upward—until, with a final bounce, a powerful shockwave blew away all the white mist.
The massive golden heart embedded itself deep into the white web, and the web stretching across the sky visibly sagged around it.
Then, with a sudden surge of rebound force, the golden heart shot toward the airborne Carl like a cannonball.
...
Time seemed to stop.
Carl's pupils turned into slow-rotating black holes. His body was covered in a black coating, and his long black hair flowed down behind him like a waterfall.
He let go.
Muramasa floated in the air, rapidly spinning in the same direction as the rotating black holes, its tip aimed directly at the soaring golden heart.
"King's Sword: Godslayer."
The voice echoed from the darkness in all directions, like a divine whisper.
The next instant, Muramasa turned into a black meteor and shot downward, crashing into the golden heart.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only transparent shockwaves rippling outward from the point of impact. The entire space shifted in alternating flashes of black and white.
The whole world bore witness to this cataclysmic vision—until it stopped, and the sky returned to a cloudless, clear blue.
...
The battle atop the Red Line had raged from night until day. The moon had vanished. On the horizon, the sun was now rising.
Those who witnessed this could only gulp in disbelief. All around the Red Line, the chaos of battle had slowly stilled.
Suspended in the sky, Joy Boy's figure was motionless. His body was covered in horrifying black cracks.
He shakily lifted his head to look at the high-up Carl.
Carl's upper garments had been torn apart, now vaporized into rising black mist, revealing his chiseled torso to the world.
He spread his palm.
Several streams of darkness surged into it, once again taking form as the cold-glinting Muramasa.
"Huff..."
Bathed in sunlight, Carl inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. His gaze fell to the unmoving Joy Boy below.
Joy Boy's face twitched. He opened his mouth as if to speak—but the cracks on his face deepened with the motion, and flakes of white skin drifted off, revealing blackened pits beneath.
With one last act of defiance, he raised his only remaining arm and clenched it toward Carl, as if trying to crush him in his palm—but the motion caused that last arm to shatter as well.
Now armless, Joy Boy's eyes were filled with hatred and unwillingness. He tried to summon the drums of liberation again, but only a hollow feeling echoed from his chest.
The golden heart—the source of his power—had been obliterated by darkness during the collision. With it, he had lost not just his strength…
But also his life.
Only now realizing this, Joy Boy's expression went blank. The last vestige of his Nika power faded into a wisp of white smoke, vanishing into the air.
...
Without the support of Nika's power, Joy Boy's body plummeted rapidly toward the black sea below.
Under the pull of gravity, his already-ravaged body could no longer hold itself together—and completely disintegrated midair.
By the time he hit the now-normal seawater, only half a face remained—missing everything below the eyes.
That half-face floated on the surface, and the eyeballs still slowly rotated, their pupils reflecting a barely visible black dot high above—Carl's figure.
...
Carl didn't spare even a glance downward. He calmly flew to Lily's side.
Lily gave the bare-chested Carl a sideways glance before lowering her eyes and quietly asking,
"Joy Boy is dead, isn't he?"
"You saw it yourself, Lily-sama."
"I want to hear it from you."
Carl tilted his head slightly, studying Lily's unreadable expression. When she realized he wasn't going to reply, she looked up and locked eyes with him.
After a moment of silence, Carl released his grip on Muramasa. The cursed blade dissolved into a stream of black light and sank into the back of his hand.
He flexed his wrist.
Then, to Lily's surprise, he made a completely unexpected move.
Carl suddenly grabbed Lily's pale wrist. She shuddered, and before she could react, she was already being pulled downward.
Her instincts kicked in—she summoned her demonic power, and a series of clawed demon phantoms appeared behind Carl.
But Carl acted as though he hadn't noticed. He kept dragging her downward. The demon projections vanished in less than a second. Lily only furrowed her brows slightly and murmured,
"Don't grip so tightly."
Carl's brow twitched ever so slightly. Though he seemed defenseless, the black blade-shaped mark on the back of his hand had already started to stir. Had Lily attacked, Muramasa would've burst out instantly.
Now that their common enemy Joy Boy had been eliminated, the "temporary alliance" between Carl and Lily was essentially over.
But Lily's behavior in the fight made Carl feel she didn't hold any real malice toward him.
He decided to test her.
Even he hadn't expected her to act so… obedient.
"Maybe I should've just stabbed her earlier."
Carl thought to himself.
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+150 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg