Meanwhile, Yamero's fight against Delta and Aldrod continued relentlessly.
When the smoke and dust finally settled, the two opponents slowly rose to their feet.
Their clothes were damaged, torn in places, but their bodies… intact.
An aura of energy, surprisingly passive, began to ripple around them.
The wounds closed before Yamero's eyes, the blood evaporated, the flesh regenerated as if it had never been touched.
Yamero, to himself:
So… they also have access to regeneration techniques.
Tch… nothing is ever simple. Aldrod cracked his right shoulder, then his neck, with a sharp, heavy sound.
Delta, for her part, casually removed her hoodie and let it fall to the ground, keeping only her white t-shirt, already stained with dust. His eyes shone with an unhealthy excitement.
Aldrod burst into a deep laugh.
"Well done, microbe."
"We thought we'd wipe you out with our combined attack… but you've surpassed our expectations."
His smile widened slowly.
"And that… is exactly what I wanted."
Suddenly, a much denser aura erupted around him.
A reddish, bestial, primal energy.
The air became heavy, almost suffocating.
Muffled roars echoed, as if emanating from a creature lurking deep within him.
Aldrod's eyes turned purple, a slit in their center, like a feline's.
His muscles contracted violently, growing in size and density.
Sharp canines emerged from his jaw, while dark hairs spread across his torso, his back… all the way to his eyelids.
His fingers clenched.
Long, sharp black claws erupted from his knuckles.
He roared.
A bestial cry, saturated with energy, unleashed a purple wave that swept hundreds of meters.
The ground vibrated, debris was hurled, the very air seemed to rip.
In the distance, Maki felt the crushing pressure.
Her gaze immediately turned toward the source of this monstrous aura.
"Yamero…?!" Without hesitation, she charged at full speed to reach him.
Aldrod, now transformed, raised his head and stared at Yamero with an animalistic grin.
"I have no choice." His aura exploded one last time. "I activate my mythical power."
He pounded his fist on his chest.
"The Beast Hunter."
Facing him, Yamero forced a smile, his eyes burning with defiance.
"Finally…"
"You're starting to get interesting." The real battle had only just begun.
Delta, too, didn't waste a second.
She slowly closed her eyes.
The sky above them darkened abruptly.
Clouds collided, thunderstorms erupted, streaking the heavens with violent lightning.
A furious wind rose, tearing up debris and dust, while darkness gradually engulfed the already ruined city.
The air swirled around Delta.
A colossal typhoon took shape, swirling around her body like an angry wind deity.
For a few seconds, her silhouette was completely hidden.
Then… the typhoon vanished in an instant.
Delta stood there, transformed.
Her body had taken on a form that was half-human, half-horse.
The lower half of her body was that of a white horse, but abnormally gigantic, every muscle sculpted by supernatural power.
Her upper body was protected by gleaming, intricately crafted armor, a majestic spear held firmly in her hand.
Atop her head rested a winged metal helmet, from which wisps of electrically charged air still escaped.
Her eyes opened.
They shone with divine pride.
"I must also use it to obliterate you."
Her voice echoed, carried by the wind.
"My mythical power…"
"Filomena, the Messenger of the Wind."
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
The pressure became crushing.
At that precise moment, Maki arrived on the other devastated half of Tokyo.
From a high vantage point, she made out the scene: Yamero, alone, facing two mythical monsters.
Her heart sank.
She took a step forward… then stopped.
Maki, thinking to herself:
If I intervene now… one of them might target me.
They could use me to lure Yamero.
I would become a liability.
She gritted her teeth.
I have to wait.
Suddenly, a wheel of energy appeared behind Yamero.
A bright, circular structure, crisscrossed by violent currents, adorned with three sharp pillars evenly spaced around its perimeter.
Yamero slowly tensed the muscles in his legs.
His veins bulged, his posture became heavy, grounded.
Silence fell.
Then—
BOOM.
He launched himself.
His starting point exploded, leaving behind a deep crater, the ground pulverized by the sheer force of his movement.
Yamero hurtled straight toward Aldrod and Delta.
Aldrod immediately launched his offensive.
His scarlet claws slashed through the air, unleashing a barrage of blood-red energy slashes that tore through space with a howl.
Yamero dodged with almost insolent ease, his body moving by reflex, gliding between the attacks like an elusive shadow.
The missed slashes didn't disappear.
They crashed further away.
The ground exploded under their impact, cracking for hundreds of meters.
The earth split in two beneath their feet, triggering a violent earthquake that shook the entire area.
Yamero, to himself:
At this rate… downtown Tokyo will soon be nothing but a memory buried beneath the ruins.
He barely had time to regain his footing—
Delta appeared behind him.
No presence.
No warning.
Before he could even turn around, his spear pierced the air and struck Yamero head-on.
CRASH!
His body was thrown dozens of meters.
Yamero tried to stabilize himself mid-air, tensing his muscles, trying to regain control…
But something was wrong.
He had lost all control.
Neither his trajectory.
Nor his speed.
Yamero, inwardly panicked:
What…? I can't control my movement anymore?!
Delta's spear had just activated its special ability.
From the moment of impact, Yamero's body was surrounded by wind particles invisible to the naked eye, perfectly distributed around him.
A network of air currents of terrifying precision.
Delta could now decide—
—Where he would go.
—How fast.
—And how he would crash.
A cold smile spread beneath the winged helmet. Delta slowly traced a circle with his spear.
Yamero began to spin, caught in an uncontrollable spiral.
His body was pulled into a violent rotation, accelerating again and again for several endless seconds.
The world blurred.
The sky, the ground, the ruins merged.
Then—
Delta brutally pointed his spear at the ground.
"Get down."
Yamero was violently slammed against the earth.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The ground exploded deep within, fracturing to its very foundations.
Layers of concrete, asphalt, and rock were pulverized, sucking everything downwards.
A massive crater formed.
Debris, dust, collapsed structures…
Everything was swallowed up into the bowels of the earth.
Silence fell for a moment.
A heavy silence. It was as if Tokyo itself had just held its breath.
Maki's heart sank.
A dull anguish gripped her chest as her gaze remained fixed on the immense, smoking crater.
That power… that violence…
She knew what it meant.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
She immediately pulled it out.
"Maki? Are you alright?" Daru's voice rang out, tense and worried.
"Yes… I'm fine, Daru." His voice was calm, but his gaze never left the battlefield.
Aika's voice then burst in, more urgent:
"What are these tremors?! What's happening over there?" Maki took a deep breath before answering:
"Yamero has stumbled upon successful prototypes, on the same level as Momoshi… There are two of them.
Their power is… terrifying.
The tremors, the storms, all of it… it's them." A brief silence.
Then Daru, his tone more serious:
"Is... Yamero alright?" Maki remained silent for a few seconds.
Her gaze froze.
Something moved in the crater.
A moment later, a figure burst violently from the depths, shattering the rubble and dust in a dry explosion.
It was Yamero.
Bare-chested—his t-shirt had vanished, swallowed by the impact—
his body untouched,
his eyes blazing,
and that arrogant smile etched on his face.
Maki felt an immense wave of relief wash over her.
At the other end of the line, Daru understood immediately.
"Let me guess... That damn Yamero hasn't breathed his last yet."
A faint smile played on Maki's lips.
"No.
Not yet."
Then, becoming serious again:
"Have you found a way?" Aika's response was immediate:
"Yes.
And we have to go to the Sahara Desert to carry it out."
"Then go ahead." Maki's voice was firm.
"You and Daru, don't waste any time.
Yamero and I will join you later.
Just send us precise coordinates."
"But Maki—" Daru tried to intervene.
"She's right." Aika cut him off.
"She has to stay and support Yamero.
"We don't have time to lose.
"Every second counts."
Then, addressing Maki directly:
"Agreed.
I'll keep sending you our coordinates to your phone.
"Good luck."
"You too." The call ended. Maki put away her phone, slowly raised her head and stared at Yamero, still standing facing his two opponents, defying the chaos.
Aldrod clapped his hands slowly, a predatory grin stretching across his bestial face.
"Good, good… You're holding up remarkably well.
It's… almost admirable." His eyes gleamed with an unhealthy excitement.
Yamero, on the other hand, remained perfectly relaxed.
"And yet… I'm only warming up." Delta narrowed her eyes.
Without wasting a second, she extended her spear toward Yamero.
A compressed orb of wind formed at its tip, vibrating dangerously.
At the same instant, Aldrod slashed through the air with his claws, unleashing bestial red slashes.
The two attacks hurtled toward Yamero—
But suddenly…
They abruptly changed course. The wind orb and the claws deviated, attracted each other…
and crashed into one another in a violent explosion.
A deafening impact.
Silence.
Aldrod and Delta remained frozen, stunned.
Aldrod, to himself:
Damn… what just happened?
The first time, our attacks hit him…
But this time…
Did he manipulate the energy?
Delta frowned, his gaze drifting to the wheel behind Yamero's back.
Delta, to himself:
It's that wheel…
It must have triggered this phenomenon.
Yamero burst out laughing.
"I just provoked a fight between your attacks so they'd leave me alone, hahaha!"
Then his expression changed.
His smile vanished, replaced by a cold, imperious stare.
"This wheel behind my back… I call it the Imperial Wheel." He paused, letting the words sink in.
"It allows me to align two objects or entities with equivalent force and speed. From there… they are irresistibly drawn to one another, until the clash." He had barely finished speaking— Yamero and Aldrod lunged at each other. Aldrod charged on all fours, like a raging beast. Yamero lunged straight at him. A punch flew. Yamero spun around, grabbed Aldrod's arm, yanked it violently, struck his calves with a sharp blow to throw him off balance, and then followed up with a massive punch to the ribs. Aldrod was sent flying, shattering the debris. Yamero immediately turned to Delta.
She teleported.
Then again.
And again.
But—
Aldrod, despite the distance, continued to converge on her, as if drawn in.
Delta's eyes widened.
"What...?!" Seizing the perfect moment, Yamero appeared behind her,
grabbed her hooves violently,
and hurled her straight at Aldrod.
The two bodies collided head-on, triggering a shockwave that leveled the surrounding ruins.
They quickly got to their feet, panting, covered in rubble.
Delta cried out, furious and incredulous:
"How is this possible?! You said it only worked if the speed and force were equal! This time, they weren't!" Yamero stared at her, perfectly calm.
"Not exactly." He pointed to the wheel behind him.
"The Imperial Wheel has three pillars.
Strength. Speed. Direction."
His aura pulsed slightly.
"If one of the parameters is missing,
the other two automatically amplify to compensate for the missing value."
His gaze sharpened.
"You and Aldrod are at the same level of strength.
So even without equivalent speed…
you are inevitably drawn to each other."
A cruel smile spread across his face.
"Teleportation or not…
it won't change anything." Silence fell for a moment.