"How is this possible?!"
Realizing that the Bull of Heaven and her own Divinity had been completely nullified in the same instant, Kudou Asuka's face turned deathly pale.
This meant that the Evil Dragon Satan's attack would slam into her without any resistance.
At this level of speed and impact, even a body with Divinity couldn't possibly dodge or withstand it, let alone now that she had completely lost her divine-level power, her body reduced to that of an ordinary girl, just like in the beginning.
In her current state, forget a direct hit—she would be utterly pulverized into a bloody mist by the terrifying shockwave long before the Evil Dragon Satan even reached her.
One moment she was brimming with confidence, the next she was plunged into a fatal crisis with no way to escape.
"Asuka, look out!"
Fortunately, she still had her comrades.
Percher also realized something was wrong with Asuka. Though she didn't know why, her own physical abilities and powers were unaffected. Not only could she wield divine-level power, but she could also use the power of her Gastrea animal genes.
"KREEE!"
With a sharp cry, faint golden flames coiled around Percher's arms, and her speed reached the fifth cosmic velocity.
While her firepower couldn't compare to her teacher, Kasukabe Yō, she was indeed using the Sun-Wing Golden Flames, a top-tier Gift effective against both gods and dragons.
With Percher's current strength, she obviously wasn't brandishing the Sun-Wing Golden Flames to face the Evil Dragon Satan head-on.
She wasn't capable of that.
In fact, even at such close range, she could only just manage to pull Kudou Asuka back a hundred meters in the heat of the moment—a distance nowhere near enough to escape Satan's attack range.
But that didn't matter. She had comrades, too.
"Hmph!"
The instant Percher grabbed Kudou Asuka and pulled back, Kudou Ayato, bow in hand, shot past them, positioning herself in front.
As she passed, her long arrow, a mere product of the Third Stellar Particle, caught the Sun-Wing Golden Flames released by Percher, letting them spread to its tip.
Even with her Divine Realm-level martial arts, it would be difficult for Kudou Ayato to harm the Evil Dragon Satan, but with the enhancement of the Sun-Wing Golden Flames, it was a different story.
Facing such a powerful enemy for the first time, Kudou Ayato's heart pounded with anxiety. But the chance to save her usually prideful older sister when she was powerless filled her with a strange excitement—the thrill of forcing her sister to bow her head.
Creeeak—
There was no time, nor need, to aim. The bowstring was drawn to its limit, and all nine arrows were nocked at once.
The golden Sun-Wing Golden Flames had already incinerated the original arrowheads and were burning their way down the shafts.
Even with Kudou Ayato's skill, she couldn't land nine precise hits simultaneously. Fortunately, her target was massive; missing would have been the harder task.
Ayato aimed for the evil dragon's ruby eyes with all her might and, without a moment's hesitation, let loose.
"FWOOSH!!!"
The golden arrows tore through the air and the storm, striking the Evil Dragon Satan's eyes with precision.
A dragon's eyelids normally have a protective nictitating membrane, but under the power of the Sun-Wing Golden Flames, this membrane was instantly pierced.
Seven of the nine arrows successfully buried themselves in Satan's eye, causing a transparent, vitreous fluid to splash out.
"A hit!"
The joyful expression had barely formed on Kudou Ayato's face when she realized that, despite the hit to its eye, Satan's charge hadn't slowed in the slightest. If anything, it had grown more ferocious.
"GEYAAAA!!!"
The pain only enraged the great dragon. The seven arrows, arranged in a perfect pattern thanks to her incredible skill, had completely destroyed one of its eyes, but even half-blind, it continued its descent without pause.
This was a cataclysmic assault, far beyond anything Kudou Ayato could hope to stop.
Now, they were the ones closest to death's door.
Or rather, given the scope of Satan's attack, everyone within the Holy Cross Group's base—be it Saigō Homura, or Kudou Asuka and Percher who had only retreated a few dozen meters, or Kudou Ayato herself—was now enveloped by the immense shadow of death.
The members left to guard the base were by no means weak; their combined strength was at least on par with what Izayoi and Kasukabe Yō had demonstrated.
But with Kudou Asuka's Divinity and the Bull of Heaven sealed, they had no way to defend against an attack of this magnitude!
"Dammit... Are we going to die here?!"
Even the usually calm Saigō Homura couldn't help but despair.
With Divinity nullified, Satan was an enemy they couldn't defeat even if they gave it their all.
BOOM!
The evil dragon and the storm arrived in an instant.
Just as everyone's lives hung by a thread, a split second before everything was annihilated...
Thud!
A slender, heavily scarred figure with brown skin and white hair appeared before them all.
It was Typhon.
Typhon, whom Kudou Asuka had stopped earlier, now bent his knees and faced the Evil Dragon Satan head-on.
Compared to the colossal evil dragon, his fragile body was like a drop in the ocean, a leaf about to be swept away by a tidal wave.
Seeing him fight, even Saigō Homura held no hope. He just felt an overwhelming sense of injustice.
Why? Why do villains like them get to win in the end?
The thought had barely surfaced before it was cut short. The moment the Evil Dragon Satan and Typhon collided, a sliver of white light radiated from his palm.
"That's right, Izayoi-nii said he was still holding back."
The memory struck Saigō Homura, and his eyes widened, a sliver of hope he didn't dare believe in blooming in his heart.
Before him, Typhon clenched his fist around the beam of white light. Once he was certain the target was locked on, he unleashed it without mercy.
"Shine beyond the end! Another Cosmology!"
The searing white light stole everyone's vision, shattering even the concept of heaven and earth.
Before his sight was consumed by the pure white radiance, Saigō Homura saw Typhon's body get struck by Satan's draconic afterimage. In the next instant, the world fell silent.
Seconds later, when their vision returned, all they could see was an empty sky and Typhon's body falling to the ground like a tattered rag.
Percher blinked in disbelief, staring at the now-empty, ruined battlefield.
"I... I think we won!"
Kudou Asuka scanned the surroundings. There was no trace of the enemy; its massive body had vanished completely in an instant.
"To think he took down a dragon of that level in a single blow..." Kudou Ayato murmured in awe.
They all knew Typhon had a trump card, but none of them had expected it to be this terrifying.
An attack that could so easily defeat an enemy of this caliber would be an instant kill against almost anyone.
"No wonder Black Rabbit was so cautious... Is this the power of a Four-Digit 'Rule-Breaker'..."
Only now did they finally understand just how absurd Typhon's true power level was.
"This is just too overpowered... What did he mean by 'Another Cosmology'?" Percher asked, confused.
The others shook their heads; they had never encountered the term before.
Just then, Saigō Homura snapped out of his shock.
"This isn't the time for that... We need to save him!"
Saigō Homura immediately dashed toward Typhon's location.
The others finally remembered—Typhon had been severely injured even before this.
"To the underground medical lab!" Kudou Asuka said quickly.
"The underground facilities aren't badly damaged! The medical staff evacuated there too."
"Good!"
Saigō Homura immediately scooped up the completely unconscious Typhon and rushed down through an emergency access tunnel.
Although he had annihilated the enemy, Typhon had taken a considerable blow himself to ensure his attack landed. For his already precarious physical condition, it was a fatal level of damage.
If he didn't receive immediate medical attention, he might very well die.
Saigō Homura had been caught in the shockwave but was uninjured, so he quickly got Typhon to the emergency room, where the medical staff began treatment.
Outside the operating room, he had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Percher limping over, supported by Kudou Asuka, with Kudou Ayato spraying them both with a medical spray.
"You guys?"
Saigō Homura stared at his comrades, stunned.
"You were injured too?"
He had been so focused on Typhon's critical condition that he hadn't even noticed.
"It's fine, just a scratch," Kudou Ayato said, shaking her head dismissively.
Though she had been shielded by Typhon, she had been standing too close to the epicenter of the impact and had gotten scraped up a bit.
But she occasionally got minor injuries like this during training, so it was nothing.
"I'm fine, too. Just twisted my ankle. It'll be good as new once the bone is set," Percher also said, shaking her head, not concerned about her own injury.
With a Gastrea's healing ability, as long as the bone was properly realigned, she'd be back to full strength in an instant.
"Compared to me, you should be more worried about Asuka."
Percher looked at Kudou Asuka beside her, her eyes filled with concern.
"Ojou-sama? You're hurt too?!" Saigō Homura exclaimed, looking over in surprise.
Kudou Asuka was moving normally and didn't seem to have any problems.
"Don't worry, I'm not hurt. Percher did a very good job protecting me."
Kudou Asuka shook her head, clenching her fists and biting her lip in frustration.
Percher had indeed protected her well; she didn't have a single scratch.
"Then why..."
Saigō Homura looked at Percher, confused. If she wasn't hurt, why did she say they should be more worried about Asuka?
Percher hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should say anything. Just then, Kudou Asuka spoke up.
"It's nothing..." she said, her voice trembling slightly as she struggled to maintain her composure.
"It's just... my Divinity still hasn't been unsealed. I've temporarily reverted to my original state."
"What?!"
Only then did Saigō Homura realize the gravity of the situation.
In other words, Kudou Asuka had almost completely lost her ability to fight.