Ren Kuroda gripped his blade with both hands.
Opposite him, the Dragon God—Ophis—had caught the descending divine blade with a single hand. Her right palm held it in place effortlessly, yet a thin line of golden blood trailed down from where steel met flesh.
The sight froze the three newly arrived leaders in place.
Sirzechs Lucifer and the other two stood there, utterly stunned.
The clash between the two had been brief—over in a flash—but the power unleashed in that instant was more than enough to shake even them to the core.
From the "serpent" they had witnessed earlier, they had already deduced that one of the combatants was Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God.
As for the other…
Though his appearance had changed drastically, Sirzechs and the others could still vaguely recognize him.
The one known as the "Strongest Yokai"—Ren Kuroda.
Ophis possessing such overwhelming strength was no surprise. She had always been feared by gods and devils alike. The sheer scale of her power was said to be enough to effortlessly annihilate any mythological system in existence.
But the one fighting her head-on being Ren… that was something they had never anticipated.
They had already tried to overestimate him—had even placed him on a very high tier in their evaluations.
And yet, reality proved they had still underestimated him.
His "Half-Demonization" wasn't shocking—they had gathered data on that ability during his battle with Vali.
But those masses of ominous black sludge, reeking of devouring malice… and the star map hanging above them that seemed capable of stripping away the very essence of race and power—what in the world were those?
Previously, the Underworld had assessed Ren's combat strength to be roughly on par with a "Dragon King."
Now?
That wasn't an underestimation—it was outright belittlement.
To put it bluntly, the power Ren was displaying now meant he could take on the "Two Heavenly Dragons" or even the "Five Great Dragon Kings" entirely on his own.
And "on his own" didn't mean one after another.
It meant all of them at once.
More importantly—he had managed to wound Ophis.
That alone was enough to place him firmly among the top five beings in the world.
"We can't let this continue," Sirzechs said, snapping out of his shock as his expression hardened. "If they keep fighting, this space won't hold."
He looked around grimly.
The space surrounding the battlefield had already begun to fracture, cracks spreading like a web through reality itself.
"Outside this is the real Kuoh Academy. If this dimension collapses and the shockwaves spill out…"
His voice dropped.
"It won't just be the academy. The entire town will be wiped out. The casualties would be unimaginable."
This artificial game space had been specially reinforced—designed to withstand battles at the level of a Demon King.
But neither Sirzechs nor Azazel had ever imagined that Ophis would appear here—
Let alone that there existed a monster capable of fighting her head-on.
The aftershocks of their battle had already surpassed the so-called "Demon King level." If this continued, the collapse of the space was only a matter of time.
Hearing this, Azazel and Michael both turned grim.
The three factions had only just signed the Kuoh Agreement, pledging peaceful coexistence and making the protection of humanity their shared priority.
If, immediately after signing, large-scale human casualties occurred…
How would the Biblical factions ever hold their heads high before the other mythological systems?
After such a grand agreement, the very humans they vowed to protect would be slaughtered in droves—
They would become a laughingstock.
"Vali," Azazel called out, turning toward the distant group. "You handle Ophis. We'll take Ren. We can't let them keep fighting—if this goes on, the consequences will be beyond control."
Though they now stood on opposing sides, Azazel had raised Vali for years. He knew well that this was not a situation Vali wanted either.
But before Vali could respond, the black-clad nekomata beside him—Kuroka—snorted in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right? Stop them? Did you even see that fight?" she scoffed. "Forget stopping them—getting anywhere near those two monsters is basically suicide."
Sun Wukong's descendant, Bikou, said nothing. He merely glanced at Vali, waiting for his decision. As yokai, both he and Kuroka were unaffected by Ren's "Simulated Star Map," giving them at least some degree of self-preservation.
Vali finally spoke, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the battlefield, filled with something like reverence.
"It's pointless. We don't have the power to stop them."
He paused.
"And we don't need to. The fight is about to end."
Each collision between the two shattered the ground and tore through space itself.
This—
This was the kind of battle Vali longed for.
Both fighters far surpassed him.
He wanted to step into that arena, to stand among them—but the gap was too vast.
Still, he swore to himself—
One day, he would reach that level.
"Ren's power is immense," Vali continued, "but that star map… and that black sludge… according to Albion, both come at a massive cost."
"There's no such thing as power without a price. The stronger the ability, the heavier the burden."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Haven't you noticed? The fight hasn't slowed—but Ren's demonic energy has. He hasn't been visibly injured, yet his breathing… his presence… it's starting to falter."
As if to prove his words true—
Ren, who had been teleporting continuously using the Heavenly Flash Sacred Sword, suddenly felt his energy spiral out of control.
His body faltered mid-teleport—
And he crashed to the ground.
A fatal opening.
Ophis did not hesitate.
She reached out with one hand and clenched the empty air.
In that instant, Ren felt his entire body lock in place.
"Infinite Restraint."
Dense magic gathered, forming a serpent shaped like the symbol of infinity—∞—which coiled tightly around him, binding him completely.
Even with Ren's current strength—
He couldn't break free.
The black yokai markings across his body writhed violently as the ever-reliable black sludge began to seep out once more, corroding the serpent that bound him.
Seeing that he still had the strength to resist, Ophis raised her slender hand again.
Before her palm, a radiant, seven-colored beam of magic rapidly condensed—
Then fired.
"BOOOOOOM—!"
The beam shot forth like a prismatic aurora, cleaving the earth in two as it tore across the battlefield.
The dazzling light swallowed Ren whole—
And even ripped apart the star map hanging in the sky.