**| The Cyber Ascension | Arc 8 — "Ganchio sae | Volume 8 |
Chapter 87 : "Lunar Cage — When Gods Are Forced to Bleed" |**
The sky screamed.
Blue-black flames ripped through the blood-red clouds as Yuzurei dropped from above like a guillotine descending from heaven itself. The massive black bird folded its wings mid-air, allowing him to fall freely—five katanas glinting like executioner's teeth.
Sanji Youta barely had time to react.
SLASH.
A flash of blue-black fire.
Sanji Youta's arm spun through the air, severed cleanly at the shoulder, blood erupting like a volcanic spray.
For the first time—
Sanji Youta staggered.
Yuzurei didn't linger.
He twisted mid-air, boots kicking off Sanji's chest, and leapt back onto the bird, which screamed beautifully as it shot upward, tearing the sky apart.
Below them—
Sanji Youta's blood boiled as it spilled onto the ground.
The arm hit the earth with a wet thud.
Silence.
Then—
The flesh twitched.
Bone cracked.
Veins snapped back into place.
The arm regenerated grotesquely, muscle knitting itself together with a sickening squelch.
Sanji Youta flexed his fingers and laughed.
Sanji Youta:
"Heh… now that woke me up."
"Ah… crap."
Karasuya's voice was calm—but the sweat rolling down his neck betrayed him.
He stepped forward, boots crunching against scorched stone, eyes locked onto Sanji Youta.
Karasuya interlocked his hands.
The air collapsed inward.
Karasuya:
"Lunar Cage… Death Cell."
The world snapped.
An invisible force slammed shut from every direction, compressing reality itself. The sky vanished. The horizon folded inward. Sound died.
A perfect 99-meter sphere formed.
Inside it—
Only Karasuya
and
Sanji Youta.
Outside the cage, everyone felt it.
Haruko's barriers trembled violently.
Eirien's breath hitched.
Jin Yuan's knees buckled for half a second.
Kiyoshi:
"…that's bad."
Inside the cage—
Sanji Youta looked around, then grinned wider than before.
Sanji Youta:
"Oh? A playground?"
Karasuya didn't answer.
He coughed.
Blood spilled from his lips, dark and heavy.
Karasuya:
"…Cueo Seal."
He slammed his palm downward.
Reality fractured.
A massive cosmic box erupted around Yuzurei's position—etched with rotating lunar symbols, gravitational seals, and dimensional locks. Space folded inward, trapping Yuzurei inside a collapsing prism of stars and void.
The box sealed shut with a sound like a coffin locking.
THOOM.
Silence.
Karasuya dropped to one knee.
Karasuya:
"Ahh—!"
Blood poured from his mouth now.
His vision blurred.
His organs screamed.
Inside his head—
"Crap…
The stronger the one I seal…
the more my body pays the price."
His heartbeat thundered like a war drum.
Bones creaked under invisible pressure.
Then—
Sanji Youta rolled his shoulders.
Cracked his neck.
Smiled.
Sanji Youta:
"Time for fun."
The Lunar Cage Death Cell activated fully.
The pressure shifted.
Reality rebalanced.
Karasuya's shattered body suddenly surged with power—raw, violent, overwhelming.
His muscles tightened.
His veins burned.
His heartbeat synchronized with Sanji Youta's.
Power equalization complete.
Karasuya gasped as his senses exploded outward—speed, strength, perception—all dragged forcibly up to Sanji Youta's level.
His feet cracked the ground beneath him.
Karasuya:
"…ahh… so this is your world."
Sanji Youta's eyes gleamed with pure excitement.
Sanji Youta:
"Good. Now I don't have to hold back."
They stepped forward—
At the same time.
The air between them detonated.
Outside the cage, the heavens trembled.
Inside—
Two monsters prepared to tear reality apart.
Karasuya wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled.
Karasuya:
"…let's get started."