This was the effect of his Shingu, the failed version that was supposed to rival Esdeath's Teigu
Dragon's Heart.
But this Shingu had a fatal flaw: its power consumption drained the user's lifespan, where one minute of use cost one year of his life. In his current state, his usage limit was only half an hour.
Esdeath moved like lightning, manifesting a new ice sword that sliced through the air toward his neck.
But Zhang Yong was faster. He vanished from his spot in the blink of an eye, only to reappear directly above her. He launched a roundhouse kick toward her head, and she shot off like a cannonball, shattering the palace wall behind her.
Zhang Yong turned toward the Night Raid members, his red eyes flashing with danger. "Now... it's your turn."
Tatsumi and the Night Raid members moved as one machine, but Zhang Yong was like a storm. Every one of their strikes was easily deflected, and every attack was punished with a stronger blow.
With lightning speed, he pierced through their ranks, striking weak points with precision, one after another. They fell to the ground, unable to move.
'This will be enough for me for the time being.'
He then turned toward Mine's body lying on the side and calmly extended his hand, manifesting the Millennium Life Tree and beginning to heal her.
As the Millennium Life Tree radiated a warm green light, Mine's wounds slowly began to close. She opened her wide pink eyes, meeting Zhang Yong's glowing red gaze.
"Zhang Yong...?" she whispered weakly, then looked around in shock at the sight of the Night Raid members unconscious on the ground. "What happened?"
"No time to explain now," Zhang Yong said sternly, nervously scanning the horizon. He helped Mine to her feet, then turned toward the Imperial Palace. "Arthur escaped, and Esdeath won't stay out of the fight for long. We need to move quickly. I need you to lead the men inside the palace and kill the Emperor."
Mine nodded slowly, then squeezed Zhang Yong's hand. "But... what about the others?" She looked toward Tatsumi, Akame, Najenda, and Leone, who were still unconscious. "We can't leave them like this."
"Leave them to me here. Go," Zhang Yong smiled calmly.
At that moment, the front wall exploded, and Esdeath emerged amid a cloud of dust and ice. Her body was encased in a crystal—a crystal that had arms and legs, a massive single mobile ice construct, like a huge suit of armor roughly five meters tall.
Esdeath launched her attack, her massive arms swinging with tremendous force toward Zhang Yong. The air froze around her, forming sharp ice blades that flew in every direction.
"Mine, go now!" Zhang Yong shouted as he pushed her away from the line of attack.
Mine hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and dashed quickly toward the palace, using the chaos to carry out her mission.
Zhang Yong grabbed his sword and began cutting through Esdeath's repeated attacks.
But suddenly, Susanoo appeared in his Magatama Manifestation form—his hair white as snow, his horns pitch black, with a disk floating behind his back.
"This isn't fair..." Zhang Yong whispered as he dodged a deadly ice strike from Esdeath, only to be surprised by Susanoo, who vanished and reappeared right in front of him, his shimmering sword slicing through the air toward Zhang Yong's neck.
Shing!
Zhang Yong recoiled backward, his arm—which had blocked the strike—bleeding black blood. "His speed doubled!" He realized that fighting both of them together was impossible.
Even with the Dragon's Heart, time was running out, his minutes of life burning away rapidly.
Esdeath didn't give him time to think. In the blink of an eye, she fired dozens of ice needles, which Zhang Yong barely managed to evade.
But behind him, the disk behind Susanoo transformed into a mirror, reflecting the ice needles back at Zhang Yong at double the speed.
In such a short time, the two had devised a combined killing technique, making their power terrifying.
Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!
Some needles pierced his body, but he endured the pain and used Earth Fold to appear behind Susanoo. "I don't have to fight you, Susanoo!" he shouted as he transformed his Blood Sword into a spear and aimed it at the Magatama on Susanoo's chest, attempting to tear out the source of his power.
The only reason Susanoo was moving against Zhang Yong was because Najenda had ordered him to. Since she was his master and she had been controlled, he could do nothing but obey her, even if she wasn't herself anymore.
The Reflecting Mirror on Susanoo's back opened up, blocking the strike and deflecting his attack, pushing him far back.
Zhang Yong felt as though the impact force had shredded the muscles of his arm, but he didn't have the luxury of time to think about the pain.
Before him, Esdeath was raising her two massive ice arms, preparing a crushing blow, while Susanoo moved like lightning and swung his sword.
"This is hardly fair at all..." Zhang Yong whispered as he tried to regain his balance. His red eyes flashed fiercely, but he realized that his remaining time was limited. 'The Dragon's Heart is consuming my lifespan so quickly... If this fight continues like this, I'll die before I can finish this!'
Suddenly, Susanoo vanished from his spot using speed enhancement, he attacked Zhang Yong quickly with his sword slicing through the air toward his neck. At the last moment, Zhang Yong used Earth Fold to evade the strike, but Esdeath was waiting for him at his emergence point.
Crack!
Her massive ice arm struck his side, sending him crashing through several successive walls. Black blood poured from his mouth, and he felt as though his ribs had shattered. "Damn..." He tried to get up, but Susanoo was already hovering above him, his sword aimed at Zhang Yong's chest.
Zhang Yong rapidly channeled his spiritual energy through his body and struck the ground. Ice exploded from beneath the earth like an icy spike, shooting straight toward Susanoo's chest. But the floating mirror on Susanoo's back immediately reflected it, diverting the attack's trajectory.
Susanoo seized this moment to raise his sword and sharpen it, swinging toward Zhang Yong with lightning speed. The translucent sword whistled sharply through the air, aimed straight for Zhang Yong's heart.
Using Earth Fold, Zhang Yong appeared behind Susanoo. He quickly raised his palm, gathering icy air around it.
Sealing Path - The Seven Seals: The Ice Seal
Zhang Yong struck Susanoo's body with his palm, and his form was frozen solid in a block of blue ice.
'This will only stop him for a few seconds. If I want to finish him, either I destroy his core... or I kill his user!'
Zhang Yong decided instantly in his heart. He turned his head toward Najenda. She had used Magatama Manifestation twice: once against the Jaegers, and once against Esdeath. This was her last time. She would die after Susanoo's transformation faded.
But for now, she was still feeding him her life energy. What he had to do now was kill her and absorb her soul!
Zhang Yong moved like lightning, vanishing from his spot to appear before Najenda, who stood motionless.
Zhang Yong raised his hand and formed a spear of ice, piercing her body with it.
"Sorry," he whispered as he pierced her chest.
Najenda suddenly convulsed, as if a chain had been severed. Her eyes regained awareness for a brief moment, and emotion began to float back into her gaze.
"Finish... the mission..." she whispered her final words before darkness engulfed her.
[Successfully absorbed the soul of the summoned being "Najenda". Souls absorbed (5/14)]
Susanoo immediately separated from the ice, his snow-white hair fading back to its natural color. A faint smile crossed his face before he closed his eyes and sat down on the ground. He had returned to a dormant state, waiting for his next master to appear after Najenda's departure.
The horns receded from Zhang Yong's forehead, and he returned to his natural form. By his current power measurement, he had less than three years left to live. Not that it mattered, except that his blond hair had turned white.
Above him, he sensed a killing intent falling toward him from the sky. He looked up quickly and saw it coming his way: the Grand Chariot. It was Wave.
Wave fell from the sky like a meteor, his powerful kick—Grand Fall—striking the ground with absolute force, causing a massive explosion of dust and debris.
Zhang Yong used Earth Fold at the last moment to teleport away, but the shockwave pushed him back several meters. He felt as though his ribs had shattered from the sheer pressure.
Wave was in his Teigu form: the Grand Chariot. It was a full-length, dark blue armor with a spectral, three-dimensional defensive projection generated from two plates.
"Commander, we've come to help you!" Wave said as he assumed a fighting stance.
Directly behind him, Kurome had caught up. "Commander, we've arrived. General Budo is fighting a Night Raid member."
"Ah, more obstacles..." Zhang Yong whispered, pressing his injured side. He felt time pressing down on him more and more.
At that moment, Kurome plunged Yatsufusa into the ground, and puppets began emerging one by one. She summoned four of them—one Zhang Yong recognized as Run, a former member of the Jaegers.
"Seven against one... that's not fair, is it?" Wave said, grinning fiercely.
But Zhang Yong didn't seem bothered. His eyes flashed defiantly. "Fair? In this world? You're funny if you really think I'm an easy target!"
'I need to hurry. The rest of Night Raid will wake up soon. If they all gather, I'll have no choice but to blow up the entire place with that move. So before that happens, I'll finish these people!'
Soul Path - Omega Soul
Life Path - Damage Transfer
Madness Path - Frenzy
Yin Path - Dark Night Blaze
A phantom figure rose behind Zhang Yong—with golden eyes and long hair, resembling Zhang Yong in his original body. A skull formed from violet energy rose above Zhang Yong's head and shot out behind him. Meanwhile, his hand traced across his body from his ribs to his arm, and the bones of his arm shattered, left twisted grotesquely. His spiritual energy exploded anew through his body, and his eyes turned a deep blue verging on darkness.
"Why don't I show you now what I can do?" Zhang Yong said as he launched the skull made of Yin energy toward them.
The violet skull exploded mid-air, unleashing a shockwave of dark energy that pushed Wave and Kurome backward, while the four puppets moved slowly under the effect of the spiritual pressure.
The giant shadow behind him raised its phantom hand, grasping the puppets in an invisible grip, then crushed them into paste in its palm.
At the same time, Zhang Yong raised his hands to his sides—one up, one down. Death Qi appeared in his left hand as a in a black color, Life Qi in his right as a golden color, and they began spinning in a circle, chasing each other. The manifestation did the same, and a massive sphere of energy appeared before them like a Yin-Yang, beginning to spin rapidly. The air rippled, and the ground beneath their feet cracked as if about to collapse.
Wave, who had quickly regained his balance, stared in disbelief at the growing sphere. "What is that...?!" he shouted, but his voice was lost in the humming sound of the sphere.
"It's over," Zhang Yong said with a calm smile, his tone carrying a decisive edge.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the energy sphere exploded.
A colossal shockwave swept through the area, turning everything in its path to ash. Walls, ground, even the air itself seemed to tear under its force.
Wave stood in front of Kurome, holding her close, using his back to shield her. But his armor shattered like glass under the pressure, and he withstood the remaining force with his human body. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth as his bones cracked under the immense power of the attack.
"Wave!" Kurome screamed, her eyes widening in horror as she watched him collapse before her.
"I'm... glad you're okay," Wave smiled for the last time as his eyes were about to close.
An ice spike pierced through both their bodies, killing them instantly.
[Successfully absorbed the soul of the summoned being "Wave". Souls absorbed (6/14)]
[Successfully absorbed the soul of the summoned being "Kurome". Souls absorbed (7/14)]
[Host has reached Level 62]
Zhang Yong withdrew the ice spike, and the two bodies fell to the ground.
He stored the Yatsufusa sword in his inventory while grasping the Grand Chariot sword in his hand. Due to the blow, this sword could only work twice more before breaking completely. Zhang Yong had no way to repair it; he lacked the necessary materials and the time.
Zhang Yong thrust the Grand Chariot sword into the ground and shouted, "Grand Chariot! "
A blue glow enveloped Zhang Yong, and the apparition of an amphibious Danger Beast rose behind him before being quickly coated in light, manifesting as the full blue armor. Zhang Yong raised his hand and summoned a blue spear into his grip. The Grand Chariot was a more advanced version of Incursio, though each had their similarities and differences.
"It's time to show what I can do." Zhang Yong smiled and began twirling the spear in his hand, a sense of nostalgia washing over him as memories of the Spear Path resurfaced. In that memory, he had fought alone against an army of ten thousand men and emerged victorious, only to die three days later from his wounds.
Esdeath could only stare at Zhang Yong. She didn't feel the slightest bit of anger—the only thing she could do was avenge them. For her, she lived by one philosophy: the weak die, the strong live. The Jaegers had died, and to her, that meant they were weak. Therefore, she had made her decision: she would dedicate this battle to their memory.
She looked at Zhang Yong with frozen eyes as her massive ice construct began moving again. "I will kill you for them."
Esdeath charged toward Zhang Yong with immense speed, her two massive ice arms swinging with force.
Zhang Yong raised his blue spear, and the ice weapons clashed against it with a force that shook the earth.
Zhang Yong leaped high into the air, turning his head and aiming his spear downward as he prepared to release.
Spear Path - Dragon's Rush
The blue spear shot down like a thunderbolt, transforming into a massive golden dragon that tore its way toward Esdeath at the speed of lightning.
Esdeath did not retreat. She raised her two massive ice arms in a defensive stance, forming a thick ice wall before her to block the attack. But the Dragon's Rush spear pierced through the wall as if it were glass, shattering it into thousands of flying pieces. Esdeath recoiled backward, her massive ice construct cracking from the impact.
She raised her hand toward the sky and sent all her power into the atmosphere. Suddenly, it began to snow heavily like a thick Russian winter.
Then she placed her arm on the ground, and thousands of ice cavalry soldiers appeared, surrounding the area like living statues.
'Damn! The Winter Field increases her overall power, and her soldiers will receive a boost due to its properties!' Zhang Yong's eyes widened.
He then turned his head toward Night Raid and immediately noticed, 'Wait, one member is missing. Akame! Where is Aka—'
Zhang Yong's thoughts stopped as a strike landed on his armor, sending him flying far away.