The moment Ren was about to finish Kesshō with his final slash, a potion suddenly splashed onto him, hissing against his skin with a flash of violet light.
Kesshō, lying on the floor and barely breathing, opened one bloodshot eye and saw someone standing behind Ren.
Elden Louve, holding a torn satchel filled with glowing potions, gave a crooked grin.
"That'll hold him for a bit," he muttered.
Ren growled, trying to move, but his limbs were stiff, paralyzed by the alchemical seal burning into his skin.
He turned his head furiously only to be met with another potion, this one crashing against Kesshō's chest.
The golden liquid soaked into him, and his wounds began to heal instantly. Kesshō gasped, his body revitalizing.
He pushed himself up and shouted, "STOPP!!"
But Lorths, eyes blazing with fury, didn't hesitate.
He threw a punch radiant with light a divine blow.
It collided with Ren's side, a crack echoing through the battlefield.
Ren's ribs shattered. He coughed blood and froze in place.
High above, the Eye in the Sky trembled with deep laughter.
[Deep Voice]
"I'm enjoying this show, Lucien."
Lucien Veylor stood nearby, smirking like a madman.
"I am, too"
SHING!
Before he could finish, a gleaming blade sliced toward his head.
Aster Malrick had launched it with a war cry.
Lucien dodged it in a blink, soaring into the air.
From the left, a black mist swirled into a beautiful woman Velmira Noir, clad in a battle gown of feathers and blades.
From the right, her sister descended like judgment Kaela Noir, holding the Blade of Truth, glowing white-hot.
"Begone, filth," Velmira whispered as she cast a locking spell that froze Lucien in mid-air.
Kaela followed with a furious strike, slicing into him and slamming him to the ground.
But the earth exploded with a surge of dark magic, and the shockwave blasted Kaela backward, smashing her into a nearby building.
Velmira gritted her teeth, raised her staff, and chanted in Latin,
"Miserere Nobis."
A massive holy cross descended from the sky and obliterated the area where Lucien stood.
BOOOOM! The ground trembled violently.
But from the blast, a figure walked out, shattering the cross with his blade.
Aster Malrick came crashing down, driving a second sword straight at Lucien.
The clash shook the whole block.
Elden Louve began healing Lorths quickly, pouring vials over his wounds.
But then
Ren's demon eyes snapped open, glowing brighter than before.
"You're next," he growled.
CRACK!
He broke free from the potion's binding spell.
Elden backed off immediately as Kesshō and Lorth stood shoulder to shoulder, their faces grave.
Then it came
A roar from Ren so monstrous it shook the heavens.
His body twisted and cracked unnaturally.
Muscles expanded. Veins bulged.
But these veins were no longer red they pulsed white and crimson.
His transformation had begun.
His skin turned pale like bone. Crimson sigils carved themselves across his chest and arms. His hair grew longer and began to glow like embers.
A horn began forming on the side of his head. A third eye slowly opened on his forehead slit and burning with demonic light.
The blood around him flowed upward, forming tendrils, as his sword merged into a massive crimson gauntlet that pulsed like a heart.
He had become something else.
Name of Transformation: "Crimson Vein Deicide Form"
Meanwhile
Aria lay nearby, still shielding Itsuki's unconscious body. Arisa was healing Souta with a trembling hand, sweat pouring from her brow. Souta clenched a potion, his breathing shallow.
Ayame had escaped into the forest, leaving the burning city behind.
Then
A second roar erupted.
The Eye in the Sky began to expand.
Not just watching
It was preparing to descend.
The city cracked beneath them.
The Eye in the Sky pulsed like a cursed star, bleeding shadows.
And in the center of it all, Ren Akagawa's new form stood… monstrous.
Crimson Vein Deicide Form.
A living weapon of blood, hate, and rage.
The cursed transformation had torn through the sky itself.
Lorth of the Ivory Cross stepped forward, teeth clenched, body burning with holy pressure.
"if you can hear me… demon this is your last chance."
But Ren didn't answer. His glowing demon eye bled.
His third eye stared through Lorth, unblinking, unreadable.
He vanished BOOM.
A thunderclap of movement.
Ren was already behind him.
CRACK!
One fist slammed into Lorth's back, launching him forward
But Lorth spun mid-air, catching his footing with divine light swirling around his arm.
"You want pain?" Lorth growled.
"Then I'll remind you what God's Light feels like."
FWOOM!
A light-infused punch collided with Ren's ribs shattering part of his corrupted skin.
The monster staggered. Blood poured out but he smiled.
"Finally," Ren whispered, voice layered with hellfire.
"Someone worth ripping open."
Kesshō Kikan stood on the edge of the battlefield, healing but alive.
Body trembling, watching both fighting become the thing they were trained to kill.
He bit down on his pain.
"I'm not letting this world end, I can't sit here while watching those two"
He unleashed a binding seal: white chains wrapped in ancient runes shot from his arms.
They wrapped around Ren's demon arm and shoulder
But Ren grinned and pulled.
The chains shattered like glass.
He turned to Kesshō, blood now steaming off his skin.
"Try harder."
In a blur, he rushed Kesshō.
But Lorth returned, slamming Ren sideways into a broken cathedral wall.
BOOM.
Debris and blood filled the air.
Inside the dust
Ren stood again.
Body twisted. One eye hanging loose.
He pulled it back into the socket with a sickening pop.
"You hit harder than the others," he said.
"But it's not enough."
His body began mutating again blood turning from red to glowing white-hot, his veins bursting with sacred and cursed energy.
A second transformation.
The Crimson Vein Ascension.
The demon gauntlet split open to reveal fleshless claws, and a pair of wings made from cursed ribs extended behind him.
Lorth and Kesshō stood side-by-side.
Breathing heavy.
Lorth wiped blood from his jaw. "We end this now."
Kesshō nodded. "Together."