Xialdre and Avias charged at each other. Xialdre pulled out his dagger while Avias brandished his trident. As their weapons clashed, the entire forest seemed to vibrate with the force of their collision. Avias swiftly pulled back his trident and swung it at Xialdre, who deftly blocked with his dagger before delivering a powerful kick to Avias's face, causing blood to spatter.
Avias retaliated with a punch aimed at Xialdre, who intercepted it with his bare hands, halting the blow completely. Sensing an opportunity, King Avias stepped back cautiously. In response, Xialdre hurled his dagger directly at Avias, breaking the sound barrier as it punctured Avias's armor, cracking it upon impact.
Seizing the moment, Xialdre charged at Avias, attempting a punch. Avias dodged and counterattacked with a thrust of his trident aimed at Xialdre's chest. However, Xialdre swiftly evaded the thrust and maneuvered below Avias, grabbing his leg and hurling him downward.
As Avias plummeted, Xialdre summoned thunder from the dark clouds above. Avias, using his trident, managed to block the thunderous strikes directed at him. Reacting swiftly, Avias hurled his trident at Xialdre with lightning speed. Xialdre evaded the attack in the nick of time, and the trident rebounded back to him. Xialdre managed to block the returning trident with his hand, but it pierced through, wounding him.
With a swift motion, Xialdre retrieved the trident and hurled it back at Avias, who was unable to dodge due to its incredible speed. Avias was struck, unable to outrun the weapon moving at the speed of light. Meanwhile, Xialdre conjured a sword from thin air, infused with fire, lightning, earth, and water elements.
Avias, with the trident still embedded in his chest, countered by engaging in a rapid exchange with Xialdre. Despite his best efforts, Avias gradually succumbed to Xialdre's relentless assault. He summoned fire magic instinctively, channeling its power without the need for an incantation: "Element of fire, Lord Daitrus of Hell, grant me your blessing!" A fiery blast erupted towards Xialdre, who managed to dodge the attack.
Xialdre responded in kind, unleashing a much stronger version of the same magic back at Avias. Avias dodged the first three blasts but was struck by the fourth, feeling the intense heat despite the heavy rain. Several subsequent blasts followed, further injuring him.
As Avias began to fall, a portal suddenly opened beneath him, hurling him towards Xialdre's position. Xialdre swiftly teleported away, causing Avias to collide with the sword Xialdre had summoned, resulting in an explosion of elemental energy.
Fatally wounded, Avias struggled to remain standing, gasping for breath. He was pierced by ice spikes that penetrated his armor, followed by stone spikes. Thunder struck from above, intensifying his agony. In a final act of determination, Xialdre charged at Avias, delivering a devastating punch to his face, sending him hurtling a thousand meters to the ground below.
Avias's impact created a massive crater, causing the ground to tremble violently. Xialdre, surrounded by ten tornadoes he summoned, lifted Avias back into the air. With a snap of his fingers, the tornadoes transformed into a fiery vortex, causing lava to erupt from the ground. The intense heat melted Avias's golden armor, turning it black as obsidian shards pierced his body.
In excruciating pain, Avias felt his body endure hellish torment as Xialdre closed in on him, unrelenting in his assault.
Xialdre's hand instantly healed from the trident pierce as he threw a flurry of punches directly at Avias's face, causing him to lose consciousness momentarily. He hurled Avias back down to the ground, and Avias regained consciousness immediately from the impact, vomiting blood in pain. Xialdre slowly descended back towards him, summoning more portals, each containing lava and pure acid.
"I can do anything I want," Xialdre exclaimed confidently.
"Well, not actually. My reality manipulation isn't strong enough yet due to the rest of my fragments still being alive," Xialdre muttered to himself.
"Though asserting that I can do anything will make the atmosphere more intense and intimidate him," Xialdre concluded in his thoughts.
Suddenly, a golden staff flew at the speed of light directly towards Xialdre. He leaped into the sky to dodge it, shifting his gaze to the attacker. It was none other than the Monkey King.
"King Avias, you really are hopeless, aren't you?" the Monkey King commented.
Avias and Xialdre both recognized the Monkey King simultaneously.
"Geez, Huahaha, I can't believe someone like you, Xialdre, exists," Sun exclaimed.
"Are you the Monkey King, created by the Dark God?" Xialdre questioned.
"So, anyways, finally a challenge," Sun responded with excitement.
Xialdre backed up expressionless as Sun threw a healing potion at King Avias, rapidly restoring his health.
"Huahaha, Avias, will you help me kill this dude?" Sun asked.
"Why should I?" Avias retorted.
"Well, I guess because currently you're the weakest among the three of us," Sun explained casually.
"Tsk, that's because I've been holding back all this time," Avias replied confidently.
"Well, don't you think it's finally time to reveal your full serious mode then?" Sun suggested.
"I guess so," King Avias replied.
They stood beside each other. Avias's armor flew back to his body, fully repaired as Sun poured a fixing potion over it.
"Should I be worried?" Xialdre exclaimed.
"I don't think so, though you should be," Sun commented with a smirk.
Avias's trident flew back into his hands, and his entire demeanor darkened. An immense aura surrounded them, exuding a presence that made anyone tremble in fear.
Xialdre remained unfazed, showing no hint of fear or concern. Sun, on the other hand, exuded pure confidence, expecting victory in this battle.
Meanwhile, Avias seethed with rage, the rain continuing to pour down around them as the girls watched from a distance, observing the intense standoff between the three powerful beings.
Roxy and Shinji sat beside each other, watching the commotion. Shinji shifted his eyes to Roxy beside him.
"Roxy, our journey is finally going to end," Shinji said with certainty.
Xialdre began walking slowly toward Sun and Avias, his hands in his pockets. Sun laughed as Avias charged at Xialdre at full speed, disintegrating the sound barrier. Xialdre dodged calmly.
The ground shook as Avias managed to grab Xialdre's leg. Xialdre felt a trident pierce his shoulder, just dodging it by reflex. Xialdre kicked Avias in the face, making Avias lose his grip on Xialdre's leg. Xialdre backed up as Avias, still enraged, charged again.
Xialdre created a wall of diamond, which Avias broke through. Xialdre leaped into the sky as Sun's staff flew directly at him. Xialdre dodged easily, but the staff transformed back into Sun, who swung it at Xialdre.
Xialdre blocked with his bare arms, feeling his bone crack. Sun's strength was a hundred times stronger than Avias, even in serious mode. Xialdre was flung back to the ground, where Avias caught him and slammed him down, attempting to pierce Xialdre's chest.
Xialdre dodged, maintaining his calm demeanor. He felt his arm giving up and flicked his finger, healing it instantly.
Xialdre flew into the sky, and the two kings locked their eyes on him. Xialdre summoned portals as Sun and Avias charged at him. The portals contained either blasters or tentacles, each ability copied by Xialdre. Sun grinned as he copied the attacks, summoning portals like Xialdre's.
Sun duplicated himself, and each clone flung itself at Xialdre in the sky.
Xialdre kicked the first clone but lost momentum. He blocked the second with his arms, then kicked it in the waist and uppercut it into the sky. Sun himself flung at Xialdre, landing a strong punch to Xialdre's belly, sending him crashing back to the ground, spitting blood.
Xialdre stood up as a gust of dust surrounded him. Avias emerged from the dust, throwing a punch at Xialdre, who dodged. Avias kicked Xialdre's knee, making him fall, and threw a punch at Xialdre's face as he was falling.
Xialdre rolled, avoiding the punch, and flipped himself up. The king swung his trident at Xialdre, who backflipped to avoid it. A lava eruption burst from the ground, hitting Xialdre directly.
Xialdre turned the lava to water as Sun charged at him, swinging his staff. Xialdre jumped out of the eruption, which had turned to water. As Sun entered the water, it turned to lava again. Xialdre made the eruption ten times stronger, throwing Sun into the sky.
Waves of fireballs launched at Xialdre, who skillfully dodged each one. The fireball wave surrounded Xialdre, who teleported out of it as a trident struck him in the waist.
"Looks like you predicted my next move," Xialdre exclaimed to Avias.
The trident began to burn and exploded, sending Xialdre several meters away to the ground.
"MASTER!" the girls yelled.
As they tried to help, their slave contracts began to hurt, forcing them not to move.
Sun turned his gaze to them and slowly walked towards them, but suddenly his feet froze. He looked at the caster and saw it was Furina. Furina glared at Sun intensely. Sun multiplied himself, charging at Furina. The girls couldn't move, but Furina, not yet Xialdre's slave, could.
Avias charged where Xialdre had landed, but Xialdre was gone. As Sun was about to strike Furina, a strong tornado passed, flinging Sun's clones aside while the main one stayed. As Sun slammed his staff at Furina, Xialdre blocked it, hugging Furina in the process.
Xialdre's head bled as Furina saw the impact with her own eyes. Blood fell onto Furina's cheek as Xialdre questioned her.
"Where were you?" Xialdre asked.
"I helped Alisha defeat the platinum and diamond knight," Furina explained.
"I see," Xialdre replied, before being dragged by Sun and slammed to the ground. Xialdre teleported Furina inside Xyrene's shield.
Xialdre continued to be beaten by Sun, but teleported into the sky. He created a tornado from the ground, but Sun was not dragged by it and charged at Xialdre.
Xialdre turned it to fire, but Sun was fire-resistant. Sun swung his staff at Xialdre above. Xialdre dodged and summoned thunder, striking directly at Sun.
Xialdre backed up as Avias threw his trident at him. Xialdre dodged, but the trident maneuvered itself in mid-air, following Xialdre as he kept dodging it.
Sun summoned a hundred of his staffs, making them follow Xialdre. As one hit Xialdre, it exploded, followed by more hitting him. Finally, the trident thrust into Xialdre's chest, causing him to vomit blood in mid-air.
Xialdre remained standing, his face expressionless and his heart cold. He sighed and looked at Sun and Avias charging at him.
Xialdre flung a tree from the ground into the sky, hitting Sun. But the tree broke, unable to break through Sun's endurance.
Sun swung his staff at Xialdre, who dodged. A trident was then swung above him, and Xialdre dodged again. Sun teleported behind Xialdre, who continued to dodge as Avias attempted to thrust his trident at him.
Xialdre kicked Avias in the chest, throwing him back slightly. Sun swung his staff at Xialdre again, who dodged and kicked Sun in the head, sending him slightly airborne. Avias charged at Xialdre with a full-force swing of his trident. Xialdre dodged as the trident spat out a flame blast, which he also dodged. Sun summoned three of his clones, and they charged at Xialdre.
Xialdre punched the first clone, grabbed the second by the face, and headbutted it. The third clone swung its staff at Xialdre, who dodged and kicked it into Avias's blast, disintegrating it.
The main Sun attempted to hit Xialdre in the forehead, but Xialdre dodged as Avias maneuvered his blast. Xialdre tried his best to avoid it, but the clone he had punched grabbed him and sacrificed itself, jumping into the blast while holding onto Xialdre.
Xialdre broke free from the clone's grip by punching it in the face and kicking it in the jaw, disintegrating it in the blast.
Avias stopped his blast, and Xialdre grabbed him by the face, dragging him into the air and throwing him to the ground.
Sun successfully hit Xialdre in the waist. Xialdre gripped Sun's staff and maneuvered himself around it, kicking Sun in the face mid-air.
As Xialdre held onto the staff, he felt its weight pulling him down. He let go just in time before it could crush his hands. He healed his wounds as Avias summoned lava eruptions from the ground, which Xialdre dodged skillfully. Sun called out for his staff, and it moved by itself back to Sun's hand.
Xialdre remained standing despite the onslaught. Sun summoned more clones, each attacking Xialdre, who blocked all of them while Avias unleashed a wave of fire. Xialdre blocked it with a single hand.
"This fight has lasted much longer than I anticipated," Xialdre exclaimed as the storm ended.
The sun shone down on them, illuminating the battlefield that had been active for over twenty-four hours. Xialdre continued to dodge, noticing King Avias finally losing mana. Sun, however, remained energetic, laughing as he too observed Avias's fatigue.
"Huahahaha, Avias, losing mana and stamina already?" Sun taunted.
"Shut up, I need to end this already," Avias retorted.
Avias summoned a portal as large as a football field, and a dragon of equal size emerged. Avias teleported into the dragon's head while Xialdre backed up several hundred meters into the air. Sun laughed, leaping into the air and enlarging his staff.
"I present to you all, the Ruyi Jingu Bang," Sun yelled.
Xialdre remained calm and expressionless. Avias, stunned at Sun's staff, stood speechless. The staff was ten million meters big, or ten thousand kilometers. The girls were speechless, sensing death upon them. Roxy and Shinji were also shocked and speechless, feeling the same dread.
Xialdre flicked his finger, summoning a portal domain that sucked all the girls inside. Trembling at the size of Sun's staff, they couldn't believe such an attack existed. Once all the girls were safe, Xialdre sighed and opened the domain portal again, looking at the girls inside.
"Master, DON'T!" Natalia yelled.
"Please... You cannot survive this," Asabe shouted.
"Big brother, you're my only family left," Isayao cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't, Master. You're my life. If I can't be with you anymore, then I can't live," Clementine pleaded.
"No, Master, please. Go inside. We don't want you to die," Rain called out.
"I cannot go inside my own portal domain," Xialdre commented.
"Then we're coming with you!" Furina yelled.
"I don't want to die," Tailin exclaimed.
"Me too," Alixian replied.
"Death is unbearable. We're still young. So please, at least let Master do this for us," Lilly exclaimed.
"Master, don't die out there," Elara inquired.
"I cannot die yet. I still have to return to the Satalias Continent and rule," Alisha stated.
"Master, please find a way to save yourself. Why not go inside Natalia's magic domain pocket?" Emiko suggested.
"That's not possible. Magic pockets can only hold people weaker than the caster, and I also cannot go inside my own magic pocket," Xialdre explained.
"Master, if you really want to stay out there, please remember this: we love you," Yuri confessed.
"MASTER, DON'T!" Asabe yelled. "PLEASE!"
"I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU, MASTER!" Xyrene shouted.
"Master Xialdre, don't do this," Natalia exclaimed.
The girls who truly desired Xialdre were in tears: Natalia, Clementine, Asabe, Xyrene, Furina, and Rain. Those who still lacked trust in Xialdre remained quiet.
"I knew this time would come," Xialdre muttered to himself.
"The true test of trust. Those who want to stay with me will cry, and those who don't will remain silent."
"I understand not all of them want to stay and be ordered around or become slaves. To be honest, I didn't actually want all of them to stay."
"Since the moment my eyes met theirs, I've been seeing through them. The first was Clementine."
"That time I looked her in the eyes, it showed true loyalty. The same goes for Natalia, Asabe, Xyrene, Rain, Isayao, and Furina."
"Though for Alisha, I saw pure hatred that slowly softened. Yet, her hatred still lingers. She still hates me but has forgiven me. Her heart has fallen for me like a puppet, and I don't want it to stay like that."
"I want proper love and trust, not bound by strings and control. As for Tailin, her only goal was to travel, though her real goal is still to rule the Satalias Continent. The same goes for Alixian and Alisha."
"Yuri has hatred towards me buried deep in her heart. She doesn't know it yet because her heart is covered by my strings, making her fall for me like a dog. It's not shocking because ever since she was born, she was a slave. Making her my slave again probably wasn't okay for her mental health."
"Emiko, on the other hand, seems to be just tangled in my web. She is desperate for my love and will do anything I order. Though she is tangled in my web, she really doesn't have any negative feelings towards me."
"And to be honest, she is most likely someone I could trust."
"As for Elara and Lily, they cannot stay with me. At least that's what I saw. They both have their own lives and will probably need their own private adventures in the future. Especially these two Elves, I doubt they'll stay with me."
"In the end, no one has as much love for me as Arisawa. She is literally my wife in my other lives. She loves me with all her heart."
"She obeys me, she doesn't want anyone hurting me unless it's minor, and out of all the girls, she's probably the one I can put my full trust in."
Xialdre smiled at the girls, silencing them with a single comment, "Love you all."
Arisawa was still unconscious as Xialdre left. With that, the portal closed, locking all the girls in pure darkness.