The moment Lucy darted across the battlefield, two spectral owls swooped down from above, their piercing screeches tearing through the air.
She barely had time to look up before they struck her feet. Both creatures dissolved on impact, seeping into her skin like black frost.
Pain shot through her legs.
CRACK!
Ice spread from her left foot, rapidly climbing over her ankle and locking her leg in place.
"Tch… What the hell?"
Lucy gritted her teeth as she felt the freezing Renshi invading her body.
"Just one touch is enough to freeze me. I can't let those things get close again."
She abandoned her wings and shifted entirely to Switch Mode, vanishing in a succession of rapid bursts. She reappeared at different points across the battlefield, changing direction so unpredictably that even the falling frost struggled to follow her movements.
But Eren had already recognized her weakness.
Flames erupted beneath his feet, propelling his enormous body into the sky. He tightened his grip on Storm Breaker, its molten edge growing brighter as he poured more Renshi into the weapon.
BOOM!
His colossal axe came crashing down.
Lucy vanished just before it struck. Storm Breaker smashed into the ground where she had been, sending a powerful shockwave across the battlefield.
She reappeared behind him, but Eren immediately twisted around and swung again.
CLANG!
Lucy barely managed to raise her blade in time. The impact sent her sliding backward through the air, her frozen leg making it difficult to maintain her balance.
Eren gave her no opportunity to recover. Every time she activated Switch Mode, he answered with another explosive burst of movement, forcing her to spend her energy evading his attacks rather than finding an opening to strike.
"Damn it," Lucy muttered, narrowly avoiding another swing. "How am I supposed to fight both of them at once?"
As though responding to her frustration, three more spectral owls descended from above.
Two struck her hands. The third slammed directly into her chest.
CRACK! CRACK!
Ice burst across her arms, stiffening her fingers until she could barely keep hold of her sword. The freezing Renshi spread over her shoulders and tightened around her chest. Each breath became agonizing, as though she were inhaling shards of glass.
Her movements grew sluggish.
Even activating Switch Mode was becoming a struggle.
Eren noticed immediately.
The flame giant threw back its enormous head. Molten light gathered inside its open jaws, gradually condensing into a concentrated mass of fire. The glow illuminated the battlefield as its energy continued to build.
Then it unleashed its breath.
A blazing beam tore through the sky, heading straight for Lucy.
Her eyes widened.
Her arms were frozen, her wings could barely move, and the ice constricting her chest made it almost impossible to breathe.
She couldn't dodge.
"AHHH…"
Before the beam could engulf her, the ground beneath them trembled violently.
A suffocating aura erupted from Peaches.
Dark Renshi surged from his body in enormous spirals, darker than the night sky. It twisted upward like a raging abyss, swallowing the light around him as a massive barrier of darkness formed between Lucy and the approaching attack.
KAAAA-THOOOOM!
Eren's fiery breath slammed into the barrier.
The collision shook the entire island. Flames exploded outward, while the clouds overhead split beneath the pressure of the opposing forces. Waves of heat and dark Renshi swept across the battlefield, tearing through the remaining trees and sending shattered rocks tumbling into the sea.
Yet Peaches' barrier remained intact.
Lucy's exhausted body finally gave out.
Her frozen limbs refused to respond as she began falling from the sky.
"Lucy!"
Peaches abandoned the outer edge of his barrier and shot toward her. He caught her just before she hit the ground, carefully pulling her into his arms.
"It's okay now," he murmured, his voice heavy with regret. "You don't have to worry anymore. I'm sorry I let them hurt you."
Lucy struggled to open her eyes. Despite the pain coursing through her body, she managed to lift one trembling hand and gently touch his face.
Something inside Peaches seemed to break.
Dark Renshi began spreading across his skin, forming twisting patterns resembling living black tattoos. The markings crawled over his arms, crossed his chest, and climbed along his face, growing denser with every pulse of his aura.
He lowered his head, unable to meet her gaze.
"I never wanted you to see me like this, Lucy."
His voice trembled.
"You're the only new person I've ever been afraid of losing. I pretended I could use the light inside me because I wanted you to feel safe around me. I thought that if you saw that side of me, you might believe I wasn't so different from everyone else."
His fingers tightened slightly around her.
"But this darkness…" He swallowed, his voice growing quieter. "This has always been my truth."
He paused before continuing.
"I just hope you won't look at me differently because of it."
Peaches gently lowered Lucy to the ground. Placing one palm against her head, he released a controlled stream of dark Renshi into her body.
FWOOOOOSH!
The black energy flowed through the frozen pathways, consuming the Renshi responsible for immobilizing her. The ice covering her limbs began to crack, breaking apart before dissolving into wisps of vapor.
Color gradually returned to Lucy's face.
She gasped, drawing in a deep breath as sensation returned to her fingers and legs. Her body still ached, but the crushing pressure around her chest was finally gone.
Peaches withdrew his hand and slowly rose to his feet.
Across the battlefield, Eren stared at him in disbelief.
"What… what did he just do?"
His gaze shifted toward Lucy.
"He broke through her first phase…"
Raven's expression hardened, though even she couldn't hide her shock.
"Dark Renshi neutralizing the freezing effect of my Chronicles?" she muttered. "That shouldn't be possible."
Peaches paid neither of them any attention.
The dark markings pulsed across his skin, and the ground beneath his feet began to crack under the pressure of his aura.
He turned toward his enemies.
His expression was calm, almost frighteningly so.
"You tried to kill Lucy first."
The darkness surrounding him surged.
"So I'll start with you."
BOOM!
Peaches vanished.
Eren's eyes widened as the air before his flame giant distorted. Before he could reposition his weapon, Peaches appeared directly in front of the colossal creature, gripping the handle of a massive hammer forged from condensed dark Renshi.
The weapon scraped against the ground with a deafening sound.
KRRRRRSH!
Its enormous head was already several times larger than Peaches himself, carving a deep trench through the earth. But as he raised it, the hammer continued to expand until it dwarfed even the flame giant. The sheer weight of the weapon caused the ground beneath him to collapse.
"That speed…"
Raven stared in disbelief.
"That's not ordinary Switch Mode," she whispered. "He's moving beyond the limits of Phase Zero? I don't think that's possible."
"Don't just stand there staring, you bastard!" Eren roared. "He's still only one man!"
Peaches looked up.
His hammer grew even larger.
Its shadow swallowed Eren's giant as Peaches lifted the weapon above his head with one hand.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"
The flame giant opened its jaws and unleashed another concentrated beam of fire.
Peaches didn't move.
His eyes ignited with black light.
KRRRSHHH!
Two beams of dark Renshi erupted from his eyes, cutting through the incoming flames. The opposing attacks collided in midair, their forces locked against each other as the surrounding atmosphere twisted beneath the immense pressure.
Peaches held his ground, his enormous hammer poised overhead.
Eren immediately recognized the danger.
"Raven, distract him. I'll attack from his blind spot!"
Raven clenched her teeth and prepared to activate Switch Mode. If they could force Peaches to divide his attention, Eren might get close enough to land a decisive strike.
But just as she moved, a circle of glowing Renshi symbols appeared above her head.
She froze.
"What…?"
The symbols rotated slowly, releasing a faint pulse of energy.
Raven immediately activated Switch Mode and vanished, reappearing several meters away.
The circle followed her.
Her eyes widened. She switched again, appearing behind a broken stone pillar, but the symbols remained directly above her head.
"No way. It's tracking my movement?"
A calm voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Did you think I'd just stand there and watch?"
Raven turned sharply.
Lucy stood several meters away, still recovering from her injuries. Her breathing remained uneven, and her body had yet to regain its strength.
Nevertheless, she raised her sword.
"You're not going anywhere."
Her blade flashed.
SHIIING!
The Renshi circle above Raven shattered.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then thousands of spectral blades materialized in the sky.
Raven's face drained of color.
"Wait…"
The blades descended like a silver storm.
She tried to evade, but the first wave struck before she could complete her movement. One blade sliced across her shoulder, another pierced her thigh, while dozens more tore through her icy wings and armor.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Raven cried out as the relentless barrage drove her toward the ground. She attempted to form an ice barrier, but the blades struck faster than she could reinforce it, tearing through her defenses and cutting her from every direction.
Meanwhile, Peaches' expression softened into the faintest smile.
"That's my girl."
He brought the hammer down.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The enormous weapon crashed into the flame giant's raised arm.
The impact shook the island from end to end. The earth beneath the giant's feet collapsed, sending a shockwave racing across the battlefield as cracks spread throughout its molten body.
Eren roared and poured more fire into his arm, desperately trying to hold the hammer back.
For a moment, the two forces remained locked together.
Then the giant's arm began to buckle.
Its fiery muscles twisted under the crushing pressure, and fractures spread from its wrist toward its shoulder. Molten fragments broke loose and rained across the battlefield.
Eren's eyes widened.
He poured even more Renshi into his body, but the hammer continued descending, forcing the giant lower with every passing second.
The ground split beneath its feet.
And Peaches, still holding the weapon with one hand, stared down at his struggling opponent without the slightest hesitation.