Silence enveloped the throne room as Nana and Masaru leaned against separate pillars. The echo of footsteps began to approach from behind them, accompanied by a soft, sinister chuckle. "Welcome, King Yami," the two chimed in unison.
However, they suddenly froze, as their eyes widened at the sight of a woman with bright pink hair, who was clad in unusual attire. Behind her lay a trail of dead guards, and in her right hand, she dragged Tsuandro by the hair, his head oozing blood.
"Hello, you two," she said nonchalantly, her voice echoing through the vast chamber before she continued, "I'm looking for King Yami; I have come here to collect him. Any idea where—" Her words were abruptly cut off as Masaru suddenly lunged at her, aiming to strike her with his fist.
With surprising ease, she dodged the incoming attack and caught his fist while it was still in the air.
Suddenly, a considerable amount of pressure started building within her limbs, allowing her to sidestep just in time to evade a sneaky explosion. Nana couldn't help but gasp at the woman's speed and agility as she narrowly escaped the burst.
"The name's Kieran, little girl," the woman whispered while a mysterious smile played on her lips. "It's a bit rude to try and kill people who are just here to say hello."
Infuriated, Nana shouted, "Get away from me!"
Drawing a tanto Blade from her side, she slashed it at the woman, cutting off a chunk of Kieran's hair.
Meanwhile, Masaru swiftly clapped his hands together, confining Kieran within a mystical barrier before beginning to constrict it, trying to crush her within the barrier itself.
"Divine Power, aid me," Kieran called out assertively while the whip in her hand started to get enveloped in a mystical blue hue.
With a subtle flex of her wrist, Keiran sliced through the barrier, shattering it into multiple shards of light as if it were some kind of weak glass wall.
But taking advantage of this, Nana and Masaru leaped into action, launching the fragmented shards towards Kieran, who was enveloped in an invisible explosion, causing the ground to tremble beneath them.
With worry etched across her face, Nana retreated, before she asked while gasping for breath, "Do you think we got her?"
"Masaru? Did you hear—" Her words trailed off and her eyes widened in horror as she noticed Masaru's face was turning a ghastly blue.
Only then did she notice that the whip had slithered around his neck, forcing him down to his knees with brutal force.
Panic surged through Nana's being, prompting a flurry of attacks that were aimed at the relentless whip. However, as the dust settled, a shocking sight unfurled before her eyes– the whip floated ominously on its own, without the need of a wielder.
Before Nana could react, a decisive chop landed on the back of her neck, nullifying her defenses.
Amidst the struggle, Masaru tried to preserve his consciousness and focused the remnants of his strength towards Ty, who remained encased within a formidable barrier which was made by multiple layers that had been meticulously applied one over the other to ensure that there was no possibility of escape for him.
Blood trickled ominously from Masaru's eyes as he crossed his fingers and channelled the last vestiges of his power, however, all of this was for nought as the barrier surrounding Ty began to waver and ultimately dissipated into nothingness.
In the blink of an eye, Ty started reconstructing himself while the throne room reverberated with the echoes of ominous laughter, enough to send chills down a normal individual's spine.
The throne room continued to resonate with the eerie laughter, while a powerful, dark aura began to cascade through the entrance and each step the figure took was imbued with a dreadful authority.
"Who said you could all have fun without me?" a voice boomed, filling the room with its intimidating presence.
The Yami King made his grand entrance, footsteps paired with another set, lighter yet filled with a dark essence. A pale-skinned, ominous figure trailed behind him.
Ty, who was now fully reconstructed with a newfound, formidable density to his form, was wielding the Flame Sword, ardently wrapped around his hands.
A look of shock flickered across Kieran's face, her eyes darkening as they locked onto the skeletal figure and recognised him.
"What are you doing here?" she inquired, her voice tinged with surprise.
"Save me!" Masura uttered pointing his finger at Ty, unable to discern that this was the very skeleton whom he had been trying to keep within his barrier.
Walking over to Masura and squatting before the fellow, Ty blankly stared at him before stating, "Save you? You got my best friend killed. Sure, I will save you."
After saying that, he drove the blade through Masura's stomach, all under the watchful eyes of King Yami, who observed all this with amusement.
"He was always weak, wasn't he?"
Ty's focus completely shifted to the Yami King as the black flames trailed down his back, before he lunged towards him intending to attack, however, he couldn't as an unknown attacker suddenly intercepted Ty, sending him crashing into the wall.
Kieran, still in silence, found herself speed-blitzed by the Yami King, who appeared just a few inches away from her and remarked, "I don't remember you from anywhere. Who invited you over?"
Kieran refocused on her objective, stating, "I have come to collect your soul. It has been deemed necessary for a higher purpose," after that, she delivered a kick to his chest, and deftly evaded a swift swipe of his hand that was aimed at hitting the top of her head, before skidding back on the ground.
Equipping a small metal fragment to her right eye, she pressed a small button to read his spirit level. To her shock, she discovered that he held over 10,000 souls inside of him.
"Just how many souls have you stolen? No wonder this world is lost," she exclaimed, while Yami King retorted, "Why would I keep count of fodders?"
A loud bang diverted their attention as they turned to look towards the rafters where Sogetsu was being held while being broken down by Elithira who was in her full demon form, showing her blackened skin and dark wings.
Shocked by this, the Yami King blurted, "I took over your soul; how is that possible?"
Completely ignoring him, Elithira embraced Sogetsu in a deep hug while Ty attempted a downward swing on the Yami King. However, the blade came to a sudden halt as soon as it made contact with his clothes.
Using his index finger, Yami King flicked the blade away, sending Ty crashing into the wall.
Covering his face with his hand, Yami King remarked, "All of this unneeded intervention. I think it's time that all of you die for good, so I can prepare for the conquest of the western sectors."
After saying that, he removed both his gloves, which gave rise to a black hue of energy that began to expand from his back.
Slamming his hands into the ground, it spread across the floor. Elithira, still holding Sogetsu, flew up, before breaking a hole in the roof, and placing him down at the top as she apologized, "I'm so sorry for leaving you."
"It was never my intention," Sogetsu, covered in endless wounds, tried to speak out, while his blue eyes that were filled with shock caught Elithira's attention as he grabbed her hand and pointed it toward the sky as thousands of purple strands of energy hung over the sky, slowly enveloping the entire planet.
Suddenly, Elithira's eyes widened as the realization of the angelic woman's appearance made sense.
"They are cleansing this planet with the Yami King's soul and the rest, and plan to reset this place," she muttered a look of shock on her face as she gazed at Keiran.