EX Level 3

After Griffon took Sonia away, Yuri swung his arms a few times and said, "You know, my sword actually has three levels, but I don't usually like using the third."

Cain scoffed. "And? Are you planning to cut me down with that sword? Do you think I'm that little girl who can't even control her own power?"

As if to prove a point, Cain sent his S-Class magic power surging outward. Invisible pressure instantly enveloped the area, affecting Erza and the others as well.

Yuri ignored Cain's mockery and calmly turned the Red Queen's hilt.

He went on, "For one thing, very few people can force me to give it my all. For another, I really don't like playing repairman."

As his words fell, a blazing serpent of flame appeared on the battlefield, accompanied by the roar of an engine.

Then came a second, and a third! The engine grew louder as the fire serpents multiplied.

At last, they merged into a fire dragon that coiled upward into the sky, roaring and bellowing as it tore through the long-silent night.

EX Level 3—full-power mode!

"That's your trump card? It looks as ridiculous as you do." Seeing that Yuri still intended to fight him with the greatsword he had used against Sonia, Cain spoke disdainfully.

"It'll beat you so badly you won't be able to fight back!"

With that, Yuri moved.

Carrying the Red Queen, flames streaming from its blade, he vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Cain.

"?!"

Cain was startled. He had no idea when Yuri had reached him.

Even so, he instinctively raised a [Blood Crystal] in front of himself to block the attack.

Unlike a defective product like Sonia, who possessed only a tiny fraction of the power of blood, Cain, as the Blood Devil, could use many kinds of blood magic. It was also what he did best.

Even casting it in haste, he was absolutely confident he could stop Yuri... Crack!

A crisp breaking sound rang out. The Blood Crystal shattered explosively without holding for even a second.

The scorching heat radiating from the Red Queen's blade struck his chest in full.

A massive gash appeared in an instant, stretching from his left shoulder to his right abdomen. The flames clinging to the wound continued to sear Cain's flesh, quickly leaving a charred scar.

As the Red Queen's strongest mode, EX Level 3 was kept sealed away by Yuri in the vast majority of situations.

There were many reasons for that, but they really came down to two:

First, there was no need. Few opponents were worth Yuri giving his all in a head-on fight, so there was no need to use it.

Second, it was troublesome. As the Red Queen's strongest mode, EX Level 3 was naturally far more powerful than the other two levels, but that extraordinary power came from overloading its internal combustion engine.

In other words, if a fight went on too long, the Red Queen's propulsion system could break down at any moment.

Then he would have to fix it himself, which was a real hassle.

Impossible... How could I be... by a half-devil... Cain, who had been sent flying by a single slash, climbed to his feet clutching his charred wound and looked at Yuri through gritted teeth.

During their earlier negotiations, Cain's words had sounded pleasant enough, but he had really just been looking for a sucker to share the fire. Deep down, he looked down on half-devils like Yuri and could not accept the fact that he had been cut down by one.

"I see. I underestimated you. To make up for their own weakness, those humans really have come up with quite a few tricks," Cain said, his face dark as he tried to save face.

He believed he had merely been careless for a moment, and that as long as he got serious now, the brat before him still posed no threat.

"Vrrrm—"

The aggressive engine roar and a ferocious shout swept past his ears in an instant. With his full attention focused, Cain did indeed spot Yuri.

A deep-blue afterimage trailed by fiery red flames rapidly grew larger in his vision.

So fast! Cain thought... But he could still see him!

With a wave of Cain's hand, blood-red magic circles rapidly materialized behind him, revealing blood-colored spears that all shot toward Yuri at his command.

Yuri flickered through them at high speed, weaving and dodging within this "forest of spears." His figure appeared before every spear, only to vanish after the weapon pierced through it.

In the blink of an eye, Yuri crossed the "forest of spears" and reached Cain. He twisted and delivered an upward slash, adding another charred wound across Cain's chest and abdomen.

The two wounds crossed, forming a brutal X-shaped scar.

"Bastard..."

Cain, wounded once more, had barely begun to shout when an iron fist struck it squarely in the jaw.

"Fly."

"Bang!"

Cain, nearly three meters tall in his devil form, was sent flying high by the punch like a missile launching skyward, the rush of air sounding around him... and a figure still followed close behind.

As Yuri's feet came down again and again in midair, intricate magic circles shimmering with deep-blue light appeared one after another, allowing him to move through the air as if on level ground.

His rapidly flickering afterimages allowed him to catch up to the "intercontinental missile" he had sent flying as quickly as possible, and even overtake it.

Yuri moved ahead of Cain's flight path, then turned back toward him at tremendous speed with the Red Queen in hand.

The instant the two met, a scorching circular slash lit up the night sky, leaving another searing wound across Cain's lower back.

But that was not the end. Yuri kept using [Shunpo] and [Double Jump] to move through the air, performing a grand dance of fire and sword with Cain at its center.

Scarlet blood sprayed through the air, and violent feelings kept surging up. Yuri's attacks grew more savage with each strike.

A driving drumbeat seemed to echo, echo through his mind!

It was not the engine whirring beside his ears, but adrenaline-pumping music made up of a raspy voice, wild rock, and a melody that made his leg bounce uncontrollably!

"Move fast, baby—don't be slow!"

"Step aside—reload—time to go!"

The corners of Yuri's mouth stretched into a smile, and all the magic power in his body seemed to thrum along with the music.

His heart surged! His blood boiled!! He was absolutely HIGH!!!

"S-so amazing!" Erza exclaimed, dumbstruck as she watched Yuri in the distant sky, pinning Cain down so completely that he could not move.

"See? I told you there was no need to worry. That guy has never lost since he started out." Griffon poked his head out from the side and boasted proudly, as though he were the one with that long list of impressive victories.

"Come to think of it... so he can fly on his own. Then what exactly are you for?" Paying no attention to Griffon's antics and boasting, Erza asked in all seriousness.

"Pfft!"

Erza's question instantly deflated Griffon, as if she had stabbed him in the "heart."

He protested, his composure shattered, "How is that the same?!"

"How is it different?"

Griffon explained, "Although [Shunpo] and [Double Jump] are extremely versatile, they're combat magic. They're fine to use in a fight, but if you use them for long-distance travel, no matter how much magic power the user has, they definitely won't be able to keep it up."

"I see." Erza nodded thoughtfully and said bluntly, "So your job is transportation?"

"Pfft!"

Erza dealt Griffon a finishing blow, leaving him unable to get back up...

Meanwhile.

Cain had been pinned down in midair by Yuri for quite some time, his body covered in wounds of every size.

Although they healed rapidly, they could not keep up with Yuri's slashes.

Just as Yuri went all out and prepared to bring his sword down on Cain's head, his movements suddenly slowed, gradually grinding to a halt.

At some unknown point, threads of blood had filled the air, binding his body.

This was naturally Cain's doing. A closer look made it easy to see that they were the same kind of blood threads that had trapped Sonia earlier.

They had probably been woven in secret from the blood splattered through the air, with the express purpose of interrupting Yuri's combo rating... I mean, his rhythm of attack.

Just as Cain planned to take advantage of Yuri's immobility to heal his wounds and launch a counterattack,

The sight that appeared before him made him unable to believe his eyes.

Yuri paid no heed to the threads binding his body, forcibly pulling against them as he walked toward Cain.

"Squelch!"

Scarlet liquid sprayed through the air, falling like spilled red wine mingled with the cold moonlight and staining the bright moon a blood red.

Countless wounds, as if inflicted by death from a thousand cuts, sliced him up until he looked like a tattered plastic bag by the roadside.

Even so, Yuri continued walking toward Cain one step at a time. "You think you can stop me from moving with something like this? Isn't that a little ridiculous?"

A drop of cold sweat ran down Cain's forehead, and he swallowed involuntarily.

The reason he dared to disregard his wounds and even use them to launch a counterattack was not merely his devil body.

Granted, a devil body was far superior to a human's in strength, speed, and regenerative ability.

But leaving aside the fact that the guy was only a half-devil, even an ordinary pureblood devil would not dare do this!

He had Qliphoth's formidable vitality and resilience as a plant devil, as well as his own ability to control blood. Combined, the two gave him a nearly immortal body.

But what did that half-devil have to rely on?!

Looking at the blood-soaked madman before him, whose very pupils seemed to shine red, Cain could not help feeling a chill.

At that moment, their roles seemed to have completely reversed.