Rage. Deep Inside.
Aizen's golden eyes burned brighter than lightning itself as Lyra's fading light vanished before him. His roar shook the heavens, shaking the battlefield with a storm of despair.
"Aizen—calm yourself!" A voice rang out like the sun breaking through storm clouds. Descending in brilliance was the God of Light, true ruler of the Sky Continent. His divine aura pressed upon Aizen's chest, easing the fury threatening to devour him.
But not enough. Not when she was gone.
Before them, the colossal Destroyer Dragon roared, a sound so vast it shredded the sky into violet fissures. Its scales shimmered like dying stars, and its wings eclipsed entire kingdoms.
And yet—it was smiling.
It knew it had broken him.
---
Then came the titans.
The Leviathan and the Bakunawa, celestial behemoths that dwarfed mountains, surged forward in synchronized might. Their titanic forms struck against the Destroyer God, their combined mass shaking the seas and shattering continents beneath their weight. They pinned her wings, their monstrous bodies straining with divine force.
But the dragon goddess did not falter. The pressure was meaningless.
"Now, Aizen!" Mark's voice echoed. "Strike before it's too late!"
---
Lightning surged from Aizen's body, dark storm clouds spiraling around him like a cloak. His rage condensed into pure technique. He clenched his fists, and the ancient beast-blood within him awakened.
"True Beast Fang!"
The words echoed with the roar of all Black Lions across history. His strike cut through the air, and alongside him—appeared another.
Vaelith Umbryss. The First Black Lion. His ancestor.
Together, ancestor and descendant unleashed the dual True Beast Fang, crashing into the Destroyer God's chest. The force split mountains, carved rifts in the oceans, and for a single, fleeting instant—the impossible seemed possible.
The Destroyer God's scales cracked. Her body crumbled.
Cheers erupted among the gods. "We've won!"
But victory was a lie.
The fractures glowed with purple light. Slowly, surely, her body knit itself back together. With a snarl, the Dragon God snapped her wings free and in a blur of speed faster than sight—she struck.
In one dreadful instant, both the Leviathan and Bakunawa were torn asunder.
"No…!" Aizen's heart sank as the titans, guardians of creation itself, collapsed into dust.
The Destroyer God loomed, stronger than before. Her voice rang like thunder across the cosmos.
"You thought you could end me? I am eternal."
---
Aizen clenched his fists tighter, his body bleeding energy. "Then I'll use everything."
Lightning burst from him, arcs scorching the ground. He pushed his body beyond its limit, pouring sixty percent of his magicules into one strike.
"True Beast Fang—Stormbreaker!"
The colossal blow ripped through the dragon's form, her body collapsing into nothingness. Silence followed. The world itself held its breath.
Had they… won?
Then the ashes shifted.
A silhouette emerged, walking through the smoke.
It was no longer a dragon.
A woman stood there—more terrifying than the beast before. Her hair cascaded in streams of dark violet, her eyes glowing with the light of galaxies. Her beauty was divine, her presence unbearable.
The Destroyer God—reborn in human form.
Her power surged, doubling, then tripling. Fifty percent of her strength unleashed.
"Impossible…" one god whispered.
"No. This is only her half-power." Another trembled.
---
Aizen staggered. His blood poured, his life force burning away. His breaths came ragged, but his eyes never faltered. He had only one choice.
"If this costs me my life—so be it."
Mark shouted desperately. "Aizen, don't! You'll die—!"
But it was too late.
Aizen unleashed everything. His entire being, his entire soul, his 100% True Beast Fang.
The attack was a storm beyond storms, lightning consuming the heavens themselves. It struck the Destroyer God's human form, tearing her apart, disintegrating her in an explosion of brilliance.
The world fell silent once more.
Aizen collapsed, his body fading, his lifeforce spent.
"It's… over…" he whispered.
But it wasn't.
From the ashes of her human form rose a horror greater than before. A colossal dragon—her true form—emerged once again. Larger. Stronger. Tentacles sprouted from her wings, writhing in the void. She roared, and the entire world trembled.
The gods fell back, weakened. The Celestials struggled. The seals shattered.
It was hopeless.
And in that hopelessness, Amethyst stood frozen, watching from afar.
"No… it's the same… the same as my dream…" His voice cracked, tears streaming. "Father… Mother… they died exactly like this. It's all true…"
He fell to his knees as the apocalypse unfolded before him.
The world was ending.
---
And then—silence.
Aizen's vision blurred. His body gave out. The last thing he saw was Lyra's face in his mind, smiling as she once did during breakfast.
Then—darkness.
---
"Raizen!"
The shout snapped him awake.
Raizen Hayashi blinked, looking around wildly. He was no longer on the battlefield. No gods, no dragons, no collapsing world. Instead—he was in his bedroom, the soft afternoon sun streaming through the window.
And there she was. His little sister.
Sarah Hayashi.
"You know you shouldn't sleep with your girlfriend in the same bed, you know!" she scolded, pouting with folded arms.
Raizen froze, his heart racing. Beside him, beneath the sheets, he saw a familiar silver-haired girl breathing softly. Miyako Mizaki. His girlfriend.
He staggered, mind whirling. "What… what is this?"
Sarah tilted her head. "What's wrong, onii-chan? Did you have a nightmare?"
Raizen clutched his chest. The memories of battle, of Lyra's blood, of the Destroyer God's roar—all of it crashed into him.
"Yes…" his voice trembled. "A nightmare… too real to be a dream."
Sarah frowned. "You're acting weird."
Raizen shook his head, sweat dripping. "No. This… this isn't a nightmare. It's regression. I've gone back."
His eyes hardened as resolve flared within him. He turned to Miyako, gently brushing her hair back.
"Miyako…" he whispered. "It's time to wake up."
(End of chapter 74)