Provoked by Kazel's taunt, the spirit beast snapped.
It launched into the sky, veins unraveling like serpents from its back—five in total—then fired them at Kazel in a rapid burst, like a living shotgun.
"Heh."
Kazel's manifested beasts shimmered out of existence. A pulse surged from his body."Amplify."
He gripped his halberd in one hand and, with a single sweeping arc, parried all five veins, deflecting them like twigs before his might. As both feet hit the ground, Kazel bent his knees—then launched himself into the air like a missile.
The spirit beast blinked.(Ngh?!)
Still mid-air, it couldn't maneuver—it could only brace. Arms crossed, armored and ready.
Too late.
Kazel came down like a falling star, halberd raised overhead, crashing it down with such violence that a shockwave cracked the sky.
BOOM!
The spirit beast was blasted into the ground, the earth fracturing beneath it.
Kazel landed softly, dust swirling around him, his expression calm. Eyelids half-lowered, like he hadn't even tried.
Nobu's breath caught. Saya's knees wobbled. Ondira's eyes widened, wordless.
But then—a blur in the dust cloud.
The spirit beast shot out from the crater like a bullet, appearing right behind Kazel in the blink of an eye.
"And?" Kazel murmured, glancing over his shoulder as if he'd expected it.
The beast roared and swiped a massive claw—
But Kazel was already crouching low, palms to the ground.
THWUMP—
He launched upward with explosive force, knees jerking, and delivered a brutal upward kick that sent the spirit beast flying back, its massive frame tumbling through the air like a ragdoll.
"I thought you said it was zero to one," Kazel muttered, watching the spirit beast tumble through the air like a broken comet.
In one smooth motion, he reached back and gripped the tail of his halberd, still using only one hand. He twisted into a tight spin midair—a somersault powered by precision and strength—and built a storm of momentum.
CRACK!
The halberd's blade struck the spirit beast's armored abdomen a heartbeat before it hit the ground, turning the fall into a launch. The beast was hurled across the battlefield, crashing into the cavern wall with such force that it left a deep crater etched in stone.
Zao watched, paralyzed.
(A-Are you really... just a porter...?) he thought, eyes wide as he caught sight of the fresh gash carved into the beast's thick armor. A wound—it had been wounded. Truly.
(Can he do it...? He can do it...) Saya's eyes trembled, pupils dilated with awe and hope.
From the sidelines, Nobu narrowed his gaze.
(To think the Land of the Lamb birthed a monster like him...)His thoughts deepened with sharp clarity.(That halberd work... masterful. Not a single wasted step. Such calm execution... His body responded before his mind even painted the image. That's no beginner...)(That... is the mark of a master.)
The spirit beast dug its claws into the shattered wall, muscles twitching with rage. A thunderous roar echoed through the battlefield as it launched forward like a missile.
"Come!" Kazel barked, stance wide, halberd raised.
A flurry of claws met a storm of steel.
The air rang with blistering impact after impact, like rapid-fire bullets, metal crashing against metal. Sparks burst from every contact, each parry from Kazel sharp, precise—minimal effort, maximum control.
"C'mon! Harder!" Kazel shouted, grinning wide as he began pushing back. The tide reversed—now the spirit beast was on the defensive, arms recoiling with every powerful swing.
"What in the..." Nobu's lips parted in disbelief.Ondira blinked, stunned silent.
"I thought you wanted to hunt me down?" Kazel taunted, his voice cutting through the clash like a blade. His hands blurred, arms a whirlwind of mastery. "This is the strength of a hunter? You're still winded from her strike, huh? That much damage already? I'm just taking the cake here! Show me something! Fight back!"
He made a sudden feint—a whip-quick motion that sliced through air.
The spirit beast reacted instinctively, parrying nothing.A fatal mistake.
Kazel's grin widened.
Then—
A voice.Faint. Distant. From another life.
"You know what they call you these days?"
"A wannabe king?" Kazel answered automatically, almost amused.
"They call you… The Wargod."
The memory struck like lightning. Kazel's eyes sharpened, and with all the weight of that forgotten name, he thrust forward, halberd straight and true.
The blade pierced clean through the spirit beast.
Silence.
Then blood.
Saya's eyes shimmered with light—real, unfiltered joy.
"We won…"
Her voice barely left her lips when—
(Chance!)From the edge of the battlefield, Lazelos burst forth, emerging from the shroud of his Storm Lynx camouflage. His blade gleamed, already mid-swing—a perfect horizontal arc aimed for the spirit beast's exposed neck.
The strike landed—Clank!
The sword stopped cold.
"W-What…?" Lazelos muttered, eyes wide.
Before he could even breathe, the spirit beast's hand twitched.
Then it moved—fast, final—and clamped around Lazelos's face.
And crushed.
A wet, brutal crunch. Bone and blood splattered. His body went limp.
Just like that—
The horror returned.
"Heh." Kazel smirked as he released the halberd, letting it etched. He leapt back, putting some space between himself and the spirit beast.
"You didn't even flinch," said the beast, eyeing him with something close to disbelief. "Your companion just died in front of you... and you didn't even blink."
The halberd slid further through the beast's body—until the blade exited fully, falling with a dull clang. What remained was a gaping, grotesque wound that pulsed with dying energy.
"Why?" the spirit beast asked.
Kazel stepped forward slowly, brushing dust from his shoulder.
"Once you've stood at the apex of the world, you understand what's worth your emotions."
They approached each other—two predators meeting again.
"Apex…"
"Besides," Kazel shrugged, "I don't even know the guy. I'm just a porter."
"If you're a porter," the beast growled, "then most of you aren't worth mentioning."
"Any last words?"
The beast's eyes flared. "Die."
It swatted Kazel like a fly.
"KAZEL!" Ondira shouted.
From the settling dust, his voice emerged lazy and amused.
"Well, well… it's always nice hearing a beauty like you calling my name so tenderly."
Kazel sat atop broken stone, bruised but grinning. He stood, cracking his neck.
"And as for you…" His eyes found the beast again. "I see you've chosen to die trying rather than flee with hope. I can respect that."
His gaze shifted.
"Nobu, toss me your sword."
Nobu didn't question. His body moved before his mind. The blade flew through the air—a curved eastern blade, light and deadly. Kazel caught it with one hand.
"Not much for blocking, huh?" he said, inspecting the katana. "Good. I don't plan to."
He stepped off the rubble, the dust parting for him like a curtain.
"I'm going all out, Shishi."
"Understood," the twin Shishi echoed in perfect synchronicity.
Then it hit them—a change. His aura shifted. The very air felt heavier, charged. For Nobu and Saya… it was all too familiar.
He had done this once before.
At Scale Dalgona.
"Last."
"Beast."
"Standing."
"WINS!" Kazel's voice rang like a war bell as he delivered the first strike.
Steel met claw.
Then—chaos.
A violent symphony erupted as they tore across the battlefield. Blades flashed, claws swept, shockwaves shattered stone.
Every clash sent sparks flying. Every movement blurred the eye.
Kazel ducked under a slash, twisted, then slashed upward in a clean arc—metal screaming against armor. The spirit beast roared, retaliating with a thunderous stomp that cratered the earth. Kazel was already gone, leaping high above with the twin Shishi's aura blazing behind him like comet tails.
A dance of death.
Kazel's strikes were precise—elegant, even—while the beast fought with wild fury. It was a storm of instinct versus the refinement of a warrior-king.
"IS THIS ALL?!" Kazel shouted mid-flurry, his voice booming. "SHOW ME SOMETHING WORTHY OF DYING FOR!"
The spirit beast responded with a vicious charge—but Kazel met it head-on.
Their clash echoed like thunder trapped in a canyon—raw, relentless.
Kazel twisted, sidestepped, and countered in fluid rhythm. His katana screeched across the armored hide of the spirit beast, cutting deep, but not enough. The spirit beast howled and retaliated with a frenzied barrage of claws, but Kazel weaved through them, parrying with the back of his blade, feet dancing over fractured stone.
(You're getting desperate) he thought, eyes glinting with cold thrill.
The spirit beast lunged forward with a roar, aiming to pin him against the cavern wall. Kazel ducked under and slammed his elbow into its gut, then followed with a rising slash that carved across its chest. The momentum pushed the beast back—but instead of retreating, it crashed forward again, crazed and wild.
"GAH!" Kazel was forced into a full block. The impact sent tremors through his arms and cracked the ground beneath his feet.
Then—BOOM!
The spirit beast slammed into him again, sending Kazel crashing through a stone column.
The ceiling groaned. Loose debris fell like rain.
Suddenly—light.
Kazel's body skidded to the far side of the cave… and through it—through the very hole Ondira had carved earlier. He tumbled out into the open air, rolling across the damp grass as the twilight sun greeted him with a dusk blaze.
The spirit beast didn't hesitate. It followed with a deafening roar, bursting out of the cave like a demon unchained.
They faced one another in the clearing, standing amid broken earth and trampled grass, blood staining both ground and skin. Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
This would be the final clash.
There was no energy left to waste, no trick left to play. Numbness had crept into their limbs, but not their hearts.
Now, or never.
Some watching might've called it foolish. Kazel could've stalled. Waited. Let the blood loss slowly eat away at the spirit beast. But that wasn't what this was about.
It was about honor.
About respecting the beast not as an enemy, but as a warrior—one who chose to fight to the bitter end.
Kazel saw more humanity in the beast than in the men who had once called him tyrant. And perhaps, in this battle, the beast saw something noble in Kazel too.
And so, he smiled.
A genuine, quiet smile—not of victory, but of shared spirit.
No deceit. No gimmicks.
Just two fighters. One katana. One claw.
Twilight kissed their faces.
And they moved.
Faster than thought.
The earth quaked as they clashed one last time—Kazel's blade a blur, the beast's claws a gleam of silver fury.
A flash.
A roar.
A silence so loud it drowned the wind.
---
Ondira leapt out from the cave, heart racing—only to catch the final moment.
The dusk-lit clearing stood still.
Kazel didn't even glance back. He straightened his posture, calm as stone, and began walking forward.
Behind him, the spirit beast's body stood frozen—before, all at once, it split apart. Eight clean slashes, unleashed in a single heartbeat, carved through its armored frame.
The body crumbled to the ground, defeated.
Victory—Kazel's.
He approached Ondira, blood still dripping from his cheek, the eastern blade now quiet in his hand.
"Not bad," she said, her voice low but warm with awe.
"You have to take responsibility, Ondira," Kazel said.
Before she could ask what he meant, his hand reached up—gently slapped the white mask off her face.
And then, he kissed her.
Firm. Certain.
Ondira's eyes widened. Shocked. Her Hydra flared behind her, an explosion of wrath in spirit form—but…
Then it froze.
The manifestation cracked, flickered, and dispersed like mist in the wind.
Her fingers hovered in the air, trembling.
Kazel staggered.
"NGH!" A gasp escaped his lips as his body convulsed—his heart slammed against his ribs, his muscles twisted, veins bulged black under his skin.
Agony surged like a tidal wave.
And then…
Darkness claimed him.