"Earth Spikes!"
"AAAAAHHHHH—!!"
At that moment, Guy unleashed his Shingu Rare Suit beyond its limits—not merely draining his stamina, but his very life force!
Splurt!
Blood gushed from his seven orifices, his veins rupturing beneath his skin. Within seconds, his body was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Yet even as his helmet shattered, his blood-soaked eyes still gleamed with fierce determination.
Yes, Guy was a notorious lecher, harboring unspoken feelings for Cornelia and constantly teasing the cute girls of the Elite Seven. But he was also a man his comrades could rely on.
Though the attack was called "Earth Spikes," under Guy's life-burning activation, its range expanded immensely.
With one final act of precision, he used his control to sink Najasho's lifeless body deep into the earth, burying it completely from sight.
Feeling the surging, explosive force coursing through him, Guy glanced one last time at Najasho's fading form. A faint sadness flickered in his eyes.
Brother... that's all I can do. I'll be joining you soon enough.
The sorrow vanished, replaced by unwavering resolve. "Earth Spikes—Thorned Forest!!!"
Rumble...!
The ground roared. Countless massive triangular earthen spikes erupted from the soil, piercing upward in wild, unrestrained fury.
Their growth was almost instantaneous—within seconds, a dense forest of earthen thorns spread outward for over a hundred meters, devouring everything in its path.
It was Guy's ultimate technique—the last stand of a man burning his life to strike one final blow.
Merraid, who moments ago had been treating the hunt as a playful game, immediately shifted her expression. The instant the first spike emerged, she leapt back, instincts warning her of danger.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Ancient trees were pierced and thrown aside, while the fallen Revolutionary soldiers—dead or barely alive—were skewered without mercy. Those who had somehow survived the earlier battle were now truly dead.
"Leader... what is this?" Daniel and his men arrived just as the growth ceased, staring in stunned silence at the forest of spikes.
"Nothing more than the last struggle of a cornered beast." Merraid's half-lidded eyes narrowed, her voice losing its lazy tone. For once, she was serious.
The accompanying Revolutionary officers exchanged nervous glances. Had they rushed in earlier, none of them would have survived that suicidal counterattack.
Then, from within the forest of thorns, came Guy's final roar, echoing across the battlefield—"Green!! It's your turn!!!"
"Game over."
Merraid clenched her fists, her figure blurring as she vanished.
At the center of the spike forest, Guy collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud.
His entire body was drenched in blood, his skin torn open everywhere. A pool of crimson spread beneath him, staining the ground.
Suddenly, the wall of earth before him split apart. In a blink, Merraid appeared, her movements smooth and merciless. Her violet claws flashed.
Shhk!
The sharp, purple nails sliced downward like five blades. Blood erupted from Guy's cleaved body, splattering at Merraid's feet. Droplets hung in the air, twisting midflight.
"Green, hmm? Any more tricks left?" she murmured, wiping the blood from her hand. Her expression hardened as she turned toward the direction Tsukushi had fled.
"You can't escape."
She surged forward, crossing the thorned forest Guy had given his life to create.
It wasn't long before she caught sight of Tsukushi—slowed by the weight of carrying three unconscious comrades.
"Got you—" But before she could lunge forward, Merraid froze.
Her steps halted. Her eyes darted around the forest, her face tense. "This feeling... what is it? Something... something is about to destroy everything!"
Her temples and brow twitched uncontrollably, her heart pounding as a visceral, primal dread gripped her.
This sensation—she had only felt it once before, long ago, during the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament at the Imperial Fist, standing before Great General Budo and Selene.
No... this is bad...!
"Die!"
At the edge of her vision, Merraid caught a glimpse of a bespectacled man pressing a switch.
A split second later—BOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted, a blazing ring of fire spreading outward in a wave of destruction. The ground split open, trees were uprooted entirely—roots and all—blasted skyward.
But that wasn't the worst part.
Green's weapon of choice... was incendiary bombs.
And this was—a forest.
The first explosion acted like a fuse, igniting one after another. A chain of detonations echoed through the night as the forest lit up in a furious blaze.
Flames devoured trees, leaves, even the soil itself. A sea of fire swept across the woods, the inferno illuminating the darkness like a second dawn.
Behind them, Daniel stared blankly at the hellish scene before him, momentarily speechless.
Under the blood-red night sky, though the flames had yet to reach them, even from a kilometer away the searing heat washed over their exposed skin, stinging painfully as sweat poured down their faces.
"Chief Administrator, do we still advance?" one soldier asked, his voice trembling.
"Retreat!" Daniel barked immediately.
...
"Cough... cough... I really underestimated you... almost fell for your trap."
At the epicenter of the blast, all combustible material had been consumed. From the charred black soil, a soot-covered arm suddenly thrust upward. A figure clawed her way out from beneath the debris.
As she moved, the brittle crust of burned material cracked and fell away, revealing smooth, pale skin beneath—unmarred and radiant even amidst the soot.
It was Merraid.
At the last moment, she had encased herself within a dense cocoon of insect-type Danger Beasts, burrowing underground to barely survive the explosion.
Her long hair, however, had been mostly scorched away, leaving her nearly bald. A pity—for such a stunning beauty to emerge so ravaged.
Across the smoldering clearing, Tsukushi and Green emerged from their own makeshift shelter, coughing amid the smoke.
Merraid's violet eyes flared with murderous rage.
"How unfortunate... you almost killed me. This time, I'll show no mercy. You both... will die!"
"No, I don't think you will," a calm voice interrupted her.
The sudden voice came out of nowhere, echoing eerily across the scorched field. Merraid froze mid-step, her brow furrowing. How... how had someone gotten so close without her noticing?
Tsukushi and Green, the last survivors of the Elite Seven, also stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes widening as they turned toward the sound.
There—high above, under the silver moonlight—two silhouettes hovered in midair.
A gentle, melodic voice followed.
"Hello there. My name is Arisa Benares."