The End and the Beginning-The Emblem

"Did Yuri win?" Erza asked, looking toward Cain, who had been sent flying deep into the forest.

"No, it probably won't be that simple." Griffon shook his head.

Griffon was naturally more sensitive to demonic power than Erza, who was purely a mage. He could clearly sense that Cain's power had not weakened, but had instead grown stronger.

And if Griffon could sense it, Yuri naturally could too.

A furious energy permeated the air, sweeping out of the darkness deep in the forest along with an oppressive sense of an approaching storm. It felt as though a ferocious beast had fixed its gaze on them, making their skin prickle and cold sweat pour down their backs.

"Roar!!!!!"

A roar suddenly erupted, echoing through the mountains and forest. It sounded like a wolf and a tiger, a lion and a bear. The terrifying pressure of the sound whipped up a blast of air, making anyone who heard it want to plug their ears.

The roar finally died down, only for the blare of a train whistle to follow shortly afterward.

"Whooo—!!!"

As the whistle sounded, a steaming mist of blood, gathered into a tight stream like an arrow, shot straight toward Yuri.

Yuri raised his magical arm in front of him to block it, avoiding direct contact. Even so, the terrifying heat could still easily scorch human skin.

Just like the high-pressure steam Cain had released earlier... no, its temperature was even higher!

At that moment, a dark figure flashed into view beside Yuri, a pitch-black fist hurtling straight for his head.

"Clang!"

Yuri's gaze sharpened. He raised the Red Queen to block, and a clear clash of metal rang out as he was sent flying backward.

Yuri got a clear look at the one who had ambushed him. It was Cain... of course, it could not have been anyone else.

But there was something strange about him now. Though he did not look much different, his body had shrunk considerably, until he looked only two meters tall. Had the magic that strengthened his body worn off?

No, judging by his magic power and the force of their clash just now, he had actually grown stronger. But had he seemingly lost his reason?

What Yuri did not know was that Cain had entered the third stage of Bloodborne Berserk, the High-Risk Threshold, burning his blood in exchange for an unparalleled boost.

But just as the name of the magic suggested, the High-Risk Threshold was extremely dangerous. The user would completely lose their reason, unable even to consciously control the pressure inside their body. If it accidentally exceeded the limit...

As Yuri flew backward through the air, a black claw rapidly grew larger in his vision. His opponent had already turned into a black phantom and given chase.

The claw's five fingers clamped around Yuri's face and slammed him viciously toward the ground.

Realizing what Cain intended, Yuri reached out with the Devil Bringer, grabbed the wrist of the hand on his face, and kicked him in the chin.

The hand gripping his face was forced open. Yuri flipped over and slammed Cain into the ground, instantly creating a human-shaped indentation. Cain's body sank into it, embedded deep inside.

"Taking revenge takes strength too. You want an eye for an eye? Are you even qualified?"

Cain could not answer Yuri's question. He twisted his body as he stood up, his bones cracking sharply. He flexed his wrist, then vanished from where he stood once more.

Yuri and Cain flashed past each other, then turned around at the same time.

"Clang—"

The Red Queen's blade collided with Cain's scale-covered arm.

Yuri immediately twisted the handle. The roar of the internal combustion engine rang out in an instant, and three tongues of flame burst forth. EX level three!

The sudden surge of force knocked Cain's arm aside, and the Red Queen struck his defenseless chest with a full-powered slash.

But the sight of his defenses breaking and blood spraying out did not repeat itself. The Red Queen's blade struck the blood-streaked black scales covering Cain's body, producing nothing but a shower of sparks.

Yuri's attack had failed, and Cain seized the opportunity to throw a punch.

Yuri bent backward to dodge it, then drew the Blue Rose and unloaded a barrage into Cain's chest.

The armor-breaking rounds were as effective as ever, successfully shattering the armor on Cain's chest. The penetrating rounds followed close behind, shooting into him.

Cain raised his right leg high and brought it down at Yuri like a battle-axe.

Yuri flipped, spinning his body forcefully through the air like a brief whirlwind, and kicked Cain in the back of the head. Cain staggered several steps, and Yuri took the opportunity to put some distance between them.

But before he could raise his greatsword and advance again, the bullet holes from the Blue Rose had already healed. The bullets lodged between Cain's muscles were forced out one by one, and hard scales once again covered his chest.

Yuri frowned, put away the Red Queen and the Blue Rose, and flexed his Devil Bringer.

"Boom—!!!"

The Devil Bringer, flashing with an azure glow, collided with a fist wrapped in pitch-black, bloodied scales.

Unlike any of their previous clashes, their magic powers churned violently against each other in the air.

Cracks also appeared in the ground beneath their feet.

Countless fragments of stone rose into the air, drawn upward by the magic power, only to be ground to dust by the opposing forces. The terrifying energy formed a semicircular barrier.

The invisible force burst outward in an instant, whipping up a howling gale.

As the two remained locked in a stalemate, Yuri's Devil Bringer suddenly blazed with light. The magic power spilling from it formed a dazzling azure arm.

The magical arm extended from the Devil Bringer and sent Cain flying nearly a hundred meters with a punch.

But like a tireless machine, Cain crossed that hundred-meter distance in an instant and attacked Yuri again.

Cain seemed to know he was no match for Yuri in strength, however. He stopped some distance away from Yuri and abruptly swung his arms.

His arms, originally not much longer than an ordinary person's, turned into long whips in an instant and swept toward Yuri.

Clearly, this was a magical trait from Qliphoth, made even stronger after being reinforced by Cain's magic power.

Cain had not used it before, most likely because the two did not get along.

Now that he had lost consciousness and was fighting on pure instinct, he had instead brought this power fully into use.

Yuri was about to raise his hands and catch the two whips when the scales on Cain's arms suddenly sprang out, turning into countless tiny blades.

Compared to before, they were less like whips and more like chain swords that could extend and retract at will. A single hit would at the very least tear flesh open.

As the chain swords drew close to Yuri, Cain even flicked his arms, sending the two weapons crisscrossing back and forth as though they meant to cut Yuri in half at the waist.

Yuri abandoned the idea of catching them. He used Shunpo, his flickering figure leaving an azure afterimage behind.

The chain swords tore the afterimage apart, and it dispersed into scattered points of light.

Long-range combat was not Yuri's strong suit. His figure flickered repeatedly as he closed in on Cain.

Cain withdrew the chain swords, then waved his arms in undulating motions. The two weapons immediately turned into wave after wave surging toward Yuri.

But Yuri was like an agile fish in water, weaving freely through them and continually evading the incoming attacks.

Yuri swept past the waves of chain swords and arrived in front of Cain. Azure light shone in his hand as he swung the Devil Bringer in a fierce punch.

"Hm?"

Unlike the solid impact of his previous punches, this one felt as though it had struck cotton. At some point, a shield-like net with its scales retracted had appeared in front of his fist.

The net was as resilient as willow branches, bouncing the Devil Bringer back in one motion and forcing Yuri to retreat several steps with it.

Only then did he realize that the surging waves from before had long since become a web meant to trap a beast. It was covered in thorns and snapped shut the moment its prey was caught, determined to strangle it.

The chain-sword-like arms continued to extend and writhe, forming a cage around Yuri in an instant, as though they would swallow him whole the next second.

Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and the only light remaining in the night... gradually faded.

[Yamato]

"Clang—!!!"

A clear, piercing blade's cry rang out from the dark cage, cutting through the night sky.

Unlike the Red Queen's thrilling, wild ferocity, this penetrating cry seemed capable of piercing eardrums. Even from a great distance, it made one shudder.

Let alone Cain, with this terrifying spectacle unfolding right before him.

Inside the cage of chain swords, surging magic power swelled and expanded! As though it had undergone some fundamental change, it suddenly became terrifying.

Even with nothing left but instinct, Cain could not help staggering backward when he sensed the aura before him.

His instinctive choice was the right one. Shortly after Cain retreated, a dazzling blue-white light suddenly blossomed inside the cage,

as though countless blades were churning and surging within it.

In an instant, a frenzy of slashes swept forth, freely cutting and destroying everything before them.

The immensely resilient cage, which had withstood the Red Queen's slashes and the Devil Bringer's blunt blows, collapsed in an instant, scattering into flying pieces of flesh and blood.

The dark clouds were cut apart by the clear moonlight, which illuminated the night sky once more.

A figure, wreathed in the radiance of the moon, shot out of the disintegrating cage. The Devil Bringer flashed blue as Yuri held his hand blade-straight and thrust it toward Cain's heart.

Cain's eyes widened, his pupils contracting sharply. He sensed the same lethal threat as before from that hand.

It was a fear that, even with his undying body, he would still be easily destroyed.

Cain instinctively retreated to dodge, but Yuri had come too suddenly, and Cain had already been overcome by fear.

So even though he retreated at once, a gash was still torn across his chest.

The wound was not large, only twenty centimeters. Before, it would have healed in the blink of an eye. But now, for some reason, Cain could not repair the injuries to his arm and chest even after gathering all the magic power in his body.

"Give up. Injuries caused by the Yamato aren't so easy to heal."

At that moment, a voice like an elegy from hell sounded beside his ear. Cain looked up in terror toward the source.

A fierce blaze filled his vision. Yuri descended from the sky, gripping the Red Queen in both hands, and drove it into the wound that could not heal.

Then he kicked off Cain with both legs and swung the Devil Bringer as he flipped to the ground.

A giant arm formed from magic power immediately appeared and seized Cain as though he were a chick.

Cain struggled with all his might, to no avail. In pure strength, he was no match for Yuri.

Truth be told, though Cain had lost his reason, he had indeed become difficult to deal with.

His fine, smooth scales made it hard for the Red Queen to break through his defenses, and the armor broken by the Blue Rose would be restored in the blink of an eye.

Although the Devil Bringer's blunt blows could strike directly through to his insides, the highly resilient chains would also reduce their power to a minimum.

Yet this seemingly flawless ability had a fatal weakness...

Overload!

For machinery running at high speed for a long time, excessive pressure and temperature could easily push the load beyond its limits, causing what was known as an overload.

Strictly speaking, the Red Queen's third level was a form of overload. So once it was kept active for too long, there was always a risk of it breaking down.

And Cain's current state gave the same impression.

Although Yuri did not understand Cain's magic, he was half a mechanic and still knew some basic principles of how machinery worked.

If Cain's body were regarded as a machine, then he was currently operating under overload.

The steam he had released earlier had served not only to drive back and injure his enemy, but even more to cool him down and relieve the pressure inside his body.

And the Red Queen's role was to use its red-hot blade to keep raising Cain's internal temperature.

Once the temperature and pressure inside him rose too high without being released, his entire body would seize up like the Red Queen, or even...

"Boom!!!!!"

An explosion sounded.

Like a kettle with its vent blocked, the steam inside Cain could only continue expanding after its outlet was blocked by the magical arm, until it was compressed to its limit and suddenly erupted!

With a thunderous blast, an invisible heat wave surged in every direction.

Even though the explosion occurred inside Cain, its power was still astonishing. Yuri's magical arm dissipated, and Cain himself looked like a steamed crab, smoke rising from all over his body. The scales that had covered him had also blown apart, sending flesh and blood flying. Only sticky strands of blood barely held the sections of his body together.

If not for the Plant Devil's traits, he would probably have been blown to pieces long ago.

Seeing this, Yuri reached out and grabbed the horn on Cain's forehead, spinning him around repeatedly before using a throwing technique to hurl him into the air. Then he slowly raised the Devil Bringer.

The next second, the Red Queen, which had been blown away, landed squarely in Yuri's hand, and the engine's passionate roar once again set the whole scene ablaze.

Yuri's lips curled upward, and he leaped into the air.

He stopped holding the Red Queen back. Using the terrifying thrust of its jetting flames and the force of inertia, he danced through the air like a spinning top of fire.

The Red Queen's blade swept repeatedly across Cain's broken body, its elongated trail of flame joining end to end at Yuri's terrifying speed.

As dawn gradually rose in the east, a dazzling, scorching fireball appeared in midair, enveloping Cain like a great sun.

Burn! Scorch to ashes! Burn sin away!

Until he had become a lump of charred remains that could no longer regenerate and fell from the sky.

"Why...?"

In the final moment of his life, Cain, with only one breath left, regained consciousness.

He lay on his back, unable to see the dawn. The world was completely dark, yet he could still clearly sense someone beside him.

Yuri stood nearby. He knew what Cain was asking and replied, "Perhaps because half my blood is still human..."

After a moment's thought, he added, "And I met a good bunch of people."

"..."

Whether because he lacked the strength or chose silence, Cain turned completely to ash as the true sun rose.

Erza arrived after hearing the news.

As the rays of the rising sun dispelled the darkness, they happened to fall across the young man's face, illuminating the birdlike emblem on his left arm and bringing it into the girl's view.