Facing the surge of purple energy in front of him, Kaito did not retreat. Lightning erupted from his body, wrapping him like a crackling cloak. In an instant, he shot into the air.
With a single motion of his right hand, dazzling thunder gathered. A long blade of pure lightning took form, dark arcs dancing along its edge. In his grasp appeared a black thunder sword that radiated destruction.
He swung, unleashing a crescent slash of black lightning.
The massive purple dragon's head split cleanly down the neck as if it were nothing but fragile stone.
For a moment, the sky seemed to rain violet embers, scattering like sparks in the wind.
From the altar below, the Sprite roared, its monstrous voice shaking the cavern. "Impossible! How could you wound me?" Its eyes glowed with wild disbelief.
Kaito gave no answer. A faint sneer played at his lips as his gaze remained calm and steady.
The Sprite's body had been sealed long ago. What remained was nothing but a soul given form, a manifestation of corrupted spiritual chakra. To Kaito, it was already clear—his black lightning was the perfect counter.
Had the demon still possessed flesh and soul combined, perhaps it would have posed more of a threat. But as a disembodied spirit? Its power was hollow compared to his.
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" the Sprite screamed, writhing in fury.
A dazzling purple brilliance erupted from its body, filling the entire cavern with sinister light.
The half-severed dragon reformed, growing rapidly until an enormous new head materialized. With a roar, the mass of purple energy converged, fusing into an even larger dragon, its presence suffocating.
The beast's gaping maw opened, purple energy compressing into a dense, destructive torrent.
A tide of corrupted chakra surged outward, swallowing everything in its path. The stone walls melted into nothingness as the torrent consumed the cavern.
Kaito's thunder sword expanded in response, lightning roaring as it grew into a colossal blade. He placed it firmly before him, intercepting the incoming tide.
Retreat was not an option. Shion was behind him. If he evaded, the tide would consume her instantly.
With a quiet sigh, he steadied his grip. What a troublesome girl.
The cavern shook as purple energy clashed with the giant thunder sword.
Kaito poured more chakra into his weapon, lightning flaring brighter and brighter until the cavern was filled with its radiance.
The Sprite screamed again. "How! Who are you to resist my power?"
Cracks of thunder answered. From the thunder sword erupted a brilliance darker than night, a surge of black lightning so overwhelming it seemed ready to split the world apart.
A roar echoed—not from Kaito, but from within the lightning itself.
From the sword burst forth a massive black thunder dragon, its body writhing with destructive arcs. It opened its jaws wide, devouring the incoming tide of energy whole.
The Sprite froze, its eyes wide in disbelief.
The dragon's stomach swelled with the absorbed power, then contracted, stabilizing as if nothing had happened.
Unlike ordinary lightning, this was the culmination of Kaito's power, born from both his Thunder Fruit and his will. The black thunder dragon dwarfed even his greatest sword strikes in sheer force.
Already, lightning was the natural enemy of corrupted spiritual chakra. Now with this thunder dragon unleashed, the Sprite's fate was sealed.
"Roar!"
The thunder dragon lunged, crashing into the Sprite's massive purple construct.
The cavern shook as the two forces collided, but it was no equal clash.
The Sprite's dragon, formed of countless smaller heads and pure spiritual energy, was ferocious but unstable. Every strike from the thunder dragon dimmed its light, tearing chunks of it apart.
Again and again, the thunder dragon bit into its enemy, devouring fragments of purple energy and assimilating them into its black lightning body.
From the ground, Shion watched in awe, her lavender eyes trembling.
This… this wasn't in my vision. How can he hurt the Sprite's soul? I thought only I could seal it. Then how…?
Her mind spun, unable to comprehend the scene unfolding before her. Everything she thought she knew about fate was unraveling.
The Sprite's roars grew desperate. "Impossible! Impossible! Die! You will die!"
Its true body on the altar convulsed. The stench of blood filled the air as its enormous maw opened wide, condensing all its remaining power.
Purple energy compressed at terrifying speed, forming a beam so dense that even space around it warped.
The Sprite bellowed, its voice echoing like thunder across the cavern.
"Super Destructive Magic Light!"
The compressed energy detonated, firing upward in a colossal purple column that tore through stone and sky alike, a weapon capable of annihilating everything in its path.
The beam screamed toward Kaito, its pressure alone threatening to crush anything caught within it.
But Kaito's eyes only narrowed, his grip on the thunder tightening.