"Goodbye then," Red Rose smiled and chanted.
"Rose Dragon."
The earth began to shake, and then countless thorny veins with blooming roses erupted from the ground outside the city.
Mountains burst open, forests cracked, rivers disappeared, and grasslands were scarred.
Within that destruction, countless thorny veins with beautiful roses emerged, gathering in the sky. A huge statue made of thorny rose veins began to form.
After a few seconds, the statue was finally complete—it was a massive serpentine dragon, an eastern dragon.
The dragon had a huge rose-shaped head with a width of a 10 mile. Its body stretched thousands of miles—exactly 8,000 miles in length.
Rose Dragon flew through the sky, roaming across the skies of the entire continent, announcing its majestic presence.
The dragon flew for a couple of minutes, then stopped and turned its head towards the city of Orario.
Its head loomed above the city, casting a large shadow, covering one-eighth of it.
"It's been decades since I last used this move," Red Rose said with a melancholic expression.
In the past, there was only one person who could defeat her—and she was a woman too. A woman known for her monstrous talent and sound magic.
Red Rose smiled upon remembering the girl who once rivaled her. She chuckled and shook off the thought. That girl was already beyond her—while she remained here, that girl had gone to the New World, starting a never-ending adventure. The once-equal rivals were now broken—one grew stronger and stronger, while the other remained stagnant for decades, held down by someone.
"I was also once a girl who fought for justice but was defeated by darkness. This is my mercy to you—a painless death," Red Rose said with a gentle smile.
Alise, Ryuu, Kaguya, and Lyra braced themselves to fight with all their might. Their eyes were clear—no clouded thoughts blocked their view, and no despair tainted their souls. Only the will to move forward and carry the justice they believed in.
Their fighting spirit erupted, thickening the air, making the surroundings feel as if submerged in water—a pure manifestation of spirit, a reflection of their resolve.
Red Rose said no more and waved her hand down.
But nothing happened. She frowned and looked up at the Rose Dragon she created. The dragon was unmoving—as if someone had hit the pause button.
'What happened?' she thought.
Before she could get an answer, something else occurred—a singularity emerged, a black hole the size of a house.
It sucked everything in its path, swallowing the entire Rose Dragon and the gravel below.
The earth began to shake. Gravity reversed, all drawn toward the black hole.
The black hole only lasted for a moment—just enough to consume the Rose Dragon—before dissipating. If it had lasted longer, the entire continent would have been swallowed. This was no ordinary black hole—it had no upper limit. It would grow and grow, devouring everything in its path.
Red Rose's senses blared, warning her that something extremely dangerous was coming. Then, suddenly, her senses calmed—making her even more vigilant.
If danger vanished, it meant a greater danger had arrived, not disappeared. After all, the entity that caused it could hide its presence. Only a master among masters could do this.
Footsteps resounded behind her. Red Rose instantly turned and leapt away, counterattacking.
Thorny veins the size of a large house erupted where she stood, lashing toward the footsteps.
They smashed the earth—along with whoever owned those steps—or so they thought. A cloud of dust kicked up.
Red Rose felt something coming and crossed her arms in front of her.
A kick appeared before her eyes, growing larger—and then it landed, smashing into her crossed arms, breaking both hands and several ribs.
She coughed out a mouthful of blood and was kicked away thousands of meters. Her body flew like a broken kite, dragged along the ground, digging a ravine. She pierced through rubble and slammed into a bell tower, finally stopping. Her body was deeply embedded in its wall—and she lost consciousness.
The Astrea Familia were stunned by the scene, speechless.
They hadn't seen the figure's movements. All they saw was Red Rose's body suddenly flying thousands of meters, slamming into the ground and through several buildings.
They looked at where Red Rose had stood—and there, they saw a man in a dark outfit, his face hidden beneath a hood. On his waist was a black longsword.
This man was none other than John.
They were stunned for a moment but quickly regained composure, taking combat stances, ready to fight at any moment. They assumed John was the one who kicked Red Rose—and defeated her.
"Who are you?" Alise asked coldly. But if you looked closely, you'd see her hands shaking, cold sweat forming on her neck and running down her back.
'This guy is extremely dangerous,' Alise thought as she looked at John. She felt nothing from him—absolutely nothing. His presence was there, but there was no power coming from him. He felt like a normal person. If he hadn't kicked Red Rose like a pebble on the roadside, they wouldn't even know he was this strong.
The others remained silent, trusting their captain to handle it.
John turned and saw the Astrea Familia. When he saw them, the first thing he thought was, 'They're more gorgeous than I thought. The anime didn't do justice to their beauty.'
John didn't respond immediately. He paused, debating whether to act like the mysterious and silent type—or the edgy and mysterious one. He thought for hours using thought acceleration before deciding. In his view, within that ability, eight hours passed while only a second ticked by in the real world.
The decision he made was: the Mysterious and Silent type.
He simply glanced at the Astrea Familia and left—leaving behind his name, or rather, his epithet.
"Meh Crimson."