The complex of buildings was reduced to rubble as the world lost its color. A red dragon had suddenly appeared overhead, its body nearly ten times larger than the one at the research base.
Its colossal size exuded an overwhelming pressure; its roars could conjure hurricanes, its wings could part the clouds and waves, and it could turn the very earth into an abyss.
"A diversion! Damn it!"
The moment the monster appeared, everyone understood the enemy's plan.
The evil dragon Satan at the research base was just a decoy to split their main forces. Their real target was the Holy Cross Group's headquarters.
"What's their target? Us... or Typhon?" Saigou Homura thought rapidly.
At this point, it was too late for regrets.
In truth, their previous decision hadn't been a mistake. When the enemy attacked the research base in front of everyone, the fastest among them, Kasukabe Yō, had to go. They couldn't just stand by and watch people die.
And to ensure the safety of the remaining victims, they needed another fighter to go along and provide support.
Even if they had known the enemy might pull a stunt like this, it was a necessary risk.
Otherwise, even if Izayoi hadn't gone to help, the enemy could have abandoned their attack on the Holy Cross Group headquarters and chosen to focus their assault on Kasukabe Yō, which would have put her in grave danger.
Ultimately, the enemy had hidden themselves too well, allowing them to seize the strategic initiative.
The only question was the purpose of this attack.
No matter how powerful the enemy was, once exposed and their targets were on alert, their effectiveness would be greatly diminished.
While he was lost in thought...
"WHOOSH!"
The sound of something tearing through the air arrived, but the sense of danger was faster than sound.
"Homura, look out!"
Kudou Asuka, who had just summoned the Celestial Bull and was preparing to counterattack, noticed Saigou Homura's perilous situation.
"Tch!"
Kudou Ayatori rushed over with swift steps, but she was a step too slow.
A jet-black shadow blade emerged from the depths of the shadows, aimed straight for Saigou Homura's head.
The blade glinted with an ominous cold light, possessing a sharpness that neither a Godhead holder nor a Third Stellar Particle Codex Holder could block.
At this critical moment, the one who blocked the attack was, surprisingly, Saigou Homura himself.
"CLANG!"
A similar jet-black shadow blade, acting on its own to protect its master in Homura's moment of panic, extended from his shadow and clashed with the evil dragon Satan's shadow blade, only to be instantly shattered.
With Saigou Homura's power, the summoned shadow blade was not strong enough to block Satan's shadow, only managing to delay it for a fleeting moment.
However, that single moment was enough to buy time for reinforcements to arrive.
"Begone!"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, Typhon's battered body moved in front of Saigou Homura. A fist wreathed in lightning directly shattered Satan's shadow blade.
At the critical moment, being the closest, he had saved Saigou Homura.
After blocking the attack, Typhon looked up at the giant evil dragon above.
"The Lingering Shadow of the Dragon... I don't know why a power related to the Dragon Kind would appear now, but if this is an incarnation of Satan, it's not surprising it would possess a similar ability."
As he spoke, he turned his head, looking at Saigou Homura, whom he was protecting, with great confusion.
"What's strange is, you're clearly human. How did you master the Lingering Shadow of the Dragon?"
As a Full-Authority Domain, Typhon was knowledgeable and immediately recognized the origin of this power, but he had truly never seen a case like Saigou Homura's.
Hearing Typhon's question, Saigou Homura scratched his head.
"So this move is called the Lingering Shadow of the Dragon? Lady Leticia lent me this power to study, and I used my BDA to simulate it. I thought it was a BDA unique to Lady Leticia!"
Saigou Homura had mentioned before that he had studied Leticia's and Kudou Asuka's abilities, believing their essence to be a type of A.
The result of this research was the Lingering Shadow of the Dragon that he could now partially summon.
Although it was still rather fragile and nowhere near Leticia's level, for a researcher like him, it was more than enough for basic self-defense. Even outside of combat, it was a handy tool to assist in his development work.
"Leticia?"
Typhon, who had been slumbering since the dawn of Little Garden, had naturally never heard the name of a vampire from a later era.
He shook his head and didn't ask any more questions.
"Protect yourself. This enemy is a handful!"
Trivial matters could be set aside for now; defeating the Satan before them was the priority.
"Right."
Not being a combat type, Saigou Homura didn't try to act tough. He quickly took two steps back, keeping Typhon in front of him.
At the same time, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the video feed that hadn't been disconnected yet.
Just as he thought, at the research base where one evil dragon Satan had already been defeated, another had appeared. It was desperately attacking the surviving victims, trying to pin down Izayoi and the others.
Evidently, the enemy could have deployed multiple combatants from the start. They had only revealed them one by one to avoid alerting their targets.
And now, the enemy had launched their all-out assault. As for the target of that assault...
"GEYAAAA!!!"
Satan dived down again, a shockwave sweeping over everything.
The world-destroying momentum was clearly aimed at Typhon, but no matter how Saigou Homura looked at it, he felt the creature's ruby eyes were locked onto him.
In other words, the real target of the enemy's feint... was him?
Saigou Homura never would have imagined that he would be the enemy's primary target.
And against Satan's attack, even with his current physical abilities, he had no way to dodge.
Fortunately, Typhon stood before him and blocked the full force of the impact.
The roaring boy withstood the immense pressure, his gravely ill body notwithstanding, and took a step forward to charge.
Though just a slender child, he radiated a presence no less imposing than the enemy's.
"Wait!"
Saigou Homura then remembered that although Typhon was strong, his condition might make him even less suited for battle than Homura himself.
At that moment, the Kudou sisters arrived.
"Mr. Typhon, please rest for a moment!"
A gentle mist of water stopped the poised Typhon. The Celestial Bull, now swollen to the same size as Satan, reared up on its hind legs.
With immense Raiden crackling on its horns, it met the diving evil dragon like a divine beast propping up the heavens.
Raiden clashed with shadow blades, horns collided directly with the dragon's head.
Azure Raiden, crimson flames, jet-black shadow blades, and a colossal explosion echoed across the entire Pacific Ocean.
In this clash of divine beasts, the Celestial Bull, empowered by Kudou Asuka, actually managed to instantly halt the evil dragon Satan's assault.
Although the Celestial Bull was not as durable as the evil dragon Satan and soon dissipated, its power of watery immortality allowed another Celestial Bull to form and take its place before it completely vanished.
Amidst the storm of flashing lightning, Kudou Asuka covered her chin with her folding fan and spoke in the dignified and elegant tone of a young lady.
"Whatever prejudice you may hold against me, this is my territory and that of my classmates. There is no reason for a gravely ill patient like you to step in."
"I do not know what reservations you have about your Godhead, but among everyone here, I am the most suitable person to deal with this monster, am I not?"
As she spoke, she didn't forget to apply pressure.
While the Celestial Bull grappled with the evil dragon Satan, two more Celestial Bulls materialized, launching a pincer attack aimed at Satan's abdomen.
However massive the evil dragon Satan was, the Celestial Bulls Kudou Asuka created when she got serious were just as massive.
And from the look on her face, this was not yet her limit.
No one knew just how large a Celestial Bull legion a serious Kudou Asuka could assemble.
The enemy seemed to have planned a sneak attack for when the main base was at its weakest, but from the current situation, it appeared Kudou Asuka alone was more than enough to handle them.
"Oh, right!"
Watching Kudou Asuka's brilliant performance, Saigou Homura finally realized.
"As they are both mass-producible 'A's, the Celestial Bull shares the same advantage of being able to be mass-produced. With the young lady here, forget one evil dragon—she could handle even two more!"
Using the enemy's own type of power against them was unexpectedly effective.
"Hmph!"
Who do you think I am?
Kudou Asuka gave a proud smile, snapped her fan shut, and was about to command her Celestial Bull legion to tear the evil dragon Satan to shreds.
But at that very moment, the evil dragon Satan beat its wings, assuming a charging stance.
"?"
Kudou Asuka was momentarily confused.
Charge? What was it going to charge with? With so many Celestial Bulls in its way, how could it possibly break through?
However, before she could reach a conclusion, with a CRACK, Satan transformed into a brilliant crimson meteor.
In that instant, all the Celestial Bulls suddenly dispersed, turning from evenly matched divine beasts into nothing more than ordinary water vapor.
At that same moment, Kudou Asuka felt her Divinity being completely sealed.
And in the next instant, death descended.