So what if Lugatium had been recreated?
It was true that the last time Izumi defeated it, he had relied on the power of Great Red.
But things were different now.
Izumi was no longer the weak fighter he once was—someone who had to gamble everything and rely on hidden trump cards just to survive.
This time, the situation had reversed.
Lugatium was destined to become Izumi's prey.
And Izumi would hunt it down once again.
Seeing the unwavering confidence in his eyes, Ophis stopped worrying.
She trusted Izumi.
More than that—
He was already stronger than her now.
Thinking about that, Ophis glanced at Izumi briefly before turning her gaze back toward the EXE World's camp.
...
As the battle continued, the forces of the EXE World were steadily pushed back by Izumi's side.
The battlefield quickly turned into a one-sided massacre.
Victory seemed inevitable.
At least… that was what everyone thought.
Then—
The situation suddenly changed.
From deep within the EXE camp, a terrifying aura erupted into the sky.
A moment later, a massive figure appeared in midair.
The towering body stood over ten meters tall.
The moment Izumi saw that familiar silhouette, his eyes widened slightly.
"…Lugatium."
Its true body was only about five meters tall.
But now, it was covered in a massive exoskeleton-like combat armor, making it appear far larger.
Countless grotesque cannon ports covered its body.
Just looking at them sent chills down one's spine.
The moment Lugatium appeared, the Heroic Spirits immediately sensed danger.
Without hesitation, they began retreating rapidly.
Not only them—
Rias Gremory and the others also pulled back at once, creating as much distance from the monster as possible.
...
Lugatium slowly scanned the battlefield.
Its mechanical eyes swept across the carnage.
The destruction of the EXE mechanical forces didn't seem to concern it in the slightest.
Its gaze was completely emotionless.
The countless cannons mounted across its armor slowly rotated downward—
Aiming directly at the battlefield below.
Then, without hesitation—
It opened fire.
BOOM!
Multicolored energy beams erupted from its body.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was engulfed in overwhelming firepower.
Its attack showed no distinction between friend or foe.
Both Izumi's allies and the EXE mechanical soldiers were caught within its firing range.
...
The moment Lugatium appeared—
Izumi had already moved.
Leaving Ophis behind, he shot forward through the air.
Just as Lugatium's bombardment descended—
The surrounding space suddenly distorted.
It was as if the battlefield had been cut off from reality itself.
The attacks aimed at Rias and the others were abruptly halted.
Instead, they detonated midair.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted in front of them.
Rias and the others stared at the scene in stunned silence.
If Izumi hadn't acted in time—
They might already be dead.
Seeing them still frozen in place, Izumi shouted sharply.
"Don't just stand there—run!"
His voice snapped them out of their shock.
Immediately, Rias and the others began retreating toward the camp.
They didn't dare remain on the battlefield any longer.
The fight unfolding here was already far beyond their level.
Even someone like Scáthach understood the gap.
The difference between them and this enemy was simply too great.
Once everyone had withdrawn—
Izumi shot forward alone.
Seeing him approach, Lugatium immediately accelerated backward.
At the same time, its countless cannons locked onto Izumi.
Then it fired again.
BOOM!!
A dense storm of attacks poured toward him.
Each individual shot carried power comparable to a Transcendent-class strike.
And that was merely its basic firepower.
From that alone, it was obvious how much stronger this version of Lugatium had become.
Facing the barrage, Izumi simply waved his hand.
Instantly—
The space before him twisted.
The incoming attacks suddenly reversed direction.
Their trajectories flipped.
They shot straight back toward Lugatium.
Realizing this, Lugatium immediately began flying at high speed to evade the returning bombardment.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After dodging the redirected attacks, Lugatium aimed its cannons again.
This time, the assault it unleashed was even more terrifying.
But Izumi didn't retreat.
Instead—
He chose to confront it head-on.
...
A crisp snap of fingers echoed across the battlefield.
Behind Izumi, enormous black holes began appearing one after another.
This was the moment of judgment.
HUMMMMM—
As the black holes expanded, immense energy gathered within them.
Then—
They unleashed their power.
The energy blasts collided directly with Lugatium's attacks.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The plains were instantly swallowed by a sea of fire.
From the safe zone far away, Rias and the others stared at the scene in shock.
The scale of the battle was beyond anything they had imagined.
Just the shockwaves alone could easily kill them.
...
After blocking another wave of attacks, Izumi activated a new ability.
Dragon's Afterimage.
A pair of jet-black wings unfolded behind his back.
But the wings immediately transformed—
Becoming two terrifying blades of energy.
They shot forward like twin guillotines.
SHING!
The sea of flames was split cleanly in two.
Lugatium's figure appeared in the gap.
Under everyone's watchful eyes—
The massive armor covering Lugatium's body was sliced apart.
If it hadn't dodged at the last moment—
Its body might have been cut in half.
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—
Mechanical alarms rang out.
CLACK.
HISS—
Without hesitation, Lugatium ejected the damaged armor and accelerated away.
A moment later—
The abandoned armor detonated.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion shook the entire continent.
The destructive force unleashed by two SSS-class fighters was unimaginable.
As the blast expanded—
Cracks began forming in the surrounding space itself.
Seeing this, Izumi frowned slightly.
He immediately activated his Authority over Space.
The fractured space stabilized.
This battlefield couldn't collapse.
If the spatial structure broke apart, everything Izumi had built here would be destroyed.
Just as the space stabilized—
Lugatium charged forward again.
Izumi didn't hesitate.
He rushed toward it as well.
Their fists collided.
One large.
One small.
BOOM!!
The impact released a violent shockwave that swept across the plains.
The ground beneath them collapsed several meters.
A Category 10 hurricane-level blast erupted from their clash.
But this time—
Lugatium suffered the worse outcome.
CRACK.
A sharp fracture echoed through the air.
Cracks spread across Lugatium's mechanical arm.
Seeing this, Izumi grinned.
"So you've got guts."
"You actually dared to trade blows with me."
He spun his body and launched a kick.
BOOM!
The strike sent Lugatium flying backward.
Izumi clenched his fist.
Inside his body, Stellar Particles gathered rapidly.
Brilliant light erupted from his hand.
"Perfect."
"You can be the first to test this move."
It was an attack Izumi had never used before.
He shouted the name of the technique.
"Avrora Beam!"
With a powerful punch—
The light in his fist erupted.
A blinding pillar of radiance shot forward.
Its speed was almost impossible to react to.
Lugatium didn't even have time to respond.
Even its internal computation systems running at maximum capacity couldn't calculate a way to evade it.
In the blink of an eye—
The radiant beam reached Lugatium.
And pierced straight through its body.