The end

"Who are you?" Madara looked at Ria with his scarlet eyes.

Ria ignored him and turned toward the badly wounded Holy Knights lying on the ground. Since the city had only recently been occupied, the Holy Church's facilities and personnel here were still incomplete. They only had Knights stationed here; otherwise, they would not have been so helpless.

"We really were too hasty! Holy Light, Greater Healing Technique!"

Madara watched as a brilliant light erupted, restoring the Knights who had been too weak to fight. As they rose to their feet, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Interesting."

"Bishop Ria, we've disgraced the Holy Church," Ertai said in shame.

"No, you haven't. You are warriors worthy of the Holy Light! Go restore order in the city. The battle ahead is beyond your ability to take part in," Ria said, shaking her head at the Holy Knight squad with a smile.

"Yes!" all the Holy Knights answered excitedly.

Watching the squad leave, Ria turned to Madara with a solemn expression. "You're Madara Uchiha, the Asura of the Ninja World, aren't you? This isn't a suitable place to fight. Let's go elsewhere!"

"Hahaha, good! Then let's dance to our hearts' content!"

With that, the two sped out of the city.

"This will do," Ria said calmly, looking over a stretch of open plains.

"Fine." Madara nodded coldly.

"You still haven't answered my question. I don't dance with nobodies."

"Artoria, a Bishop of the Holy Church, and its future pope!"

"Then let me test the mettle of this Evil Cult's leader!"

"Don't worry! I won't disappoint you."

With that, the two began moving rapidly across the plains.

Thud! Thud! The sounds of their fists and feet colliding shook the surrounding air.

"Holy Light Shockwave!"

"Hmph!" Madara immediately flipped backward. "Earth Release, Earth-Style: Earth Wall!"

Boom! The powerful beam swiftly pierced the thick earthen wall. Madara immediately tilted his head, dodging the incoming light.

"Not bad!" Madara's Sharingan spun as he stared intently at Ria.

"Then how about this? Fire Release, Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

"Holy Light Gate!" An enormous gate of light blocked the fiercely surging flames.

"Youngster, I'm growing more and more impressed with your strength."

"Hmph, your admiration means nothing to me. Infinite Light Cluster, fire!" Countless points of light gathered behind Ria as she floated in the air. With a slight forward gesture of her finger, they turned into streaks of light and shot toward Madara in a dense barrage.

Boom! Boom! A prolonged series of explosions pockmarked the soft earth. When the smoke cleared, Madara stood surrounded by a blue skeletal frame, gazing at Ria with perfect composure.

"Not bad. But don't you know you mustn't look an Uchiha in the eyes when fighting one?" With that, Madara cast a Genjutsu on Ria.

Ria briefly dazed, then the corners of her mouth lifted. "Ridiculous. Is this your Genjutsu? You should know that every Holy Light Cleric endures a long stretch of darkness when taking up their class. They all possess unwavering wills. Your Ninja Genjutsu doesn't work on Holy Light Clerics!"

Madara's expression darkened slightly. When had he, the Asura of the Ninja World, ever failed with Genjutsu?

"Youngster, don't get too arrogant!"

"Tengai Shinsei!"

Ria raised her head toward the meteor hurtling down from the sky. "I must admit, you live up to your title as the Asura of the Ninja World. But that's all you amount to!"

Ria slowly rose into the sky, approaching the meteor. She extended her small, fair hand and gently pressed it against the falling rock. "Super Trial Technique!" Enormous golden rings spread outward in overlapping layers. Suddenly, a beam as vast as the meteor shot forth, instantly obliterating it into dust.

"I don't understand. You were already buried by the passage of time. Why appear in an era where you no longer belong? Can you tell me?" Ria asked calmly.

"Hmph, youngster, you needn't know so much. A naive brat like you couldn't understand my plan!" Madara said disdainfully, narrowing his eyes at Ria as she radiated golden light beneath the sun.

"Or are you afraid to say it aloud? You Ninja have always been so selfish, for hundreds upon thousands of years. First it was for your clans, then for your villages. But countless ordinary people live in this world! Why have you never opened your eyes to look at them, to see how painfully they struggle to survive?" Ria glared at Madara, her face filled with anger.

"What do you know? How could everything in this world go as you wish? The longer you live, the more you realize that reality is filled with helplessness, pain, and emptiness. Listen well: everything in this world works that way. Wherever there are winners, there must be losers, and new grudges will arise. What I intend to do is put an end to that entire chain of cause and effect!"

"Hahaha! Didn't you Ninja create all that pain and resentment yourselves? You possess immense power, yet instead of trying to make this world better, you serve as tools for killing. I suppose that's the extent of your mettle!" Ria laughed, clutching her stomach.

"Hmph, and what mettle do you cultists possess?" Madara folded his arms and looked coldly at the laughing Ria.

"Us? It's simple. We will lead all the suffering people, united beneath the Holy Light, to raise a cry this world has never heard in all its thousands of years!

"Do you know what that cry is? It's a cry of longing for a better life, a cry of people united as one, sworn to tear down the countless mountains weighing upon them even at the cost of their lives. It's the cry you fear!" Ria declared loudly, her gaze flashing like lightning as she stared at Madara.

"With a bunch of worthless weeds?" A trace of mockery flashed through Madara's half-lidded eyes.

"Yes, with a bunch of worthless weeds, with ants as lowly as dust. We weren't weeds or ants at first. But once you came along, that's what we became. We never wanted that.

"And today, one of those weeds, one of those ants, can stand against the Asura of the Ninja World through the Holy Light. Tell me, if millions upon millions of people like me appeared in this world, how would you Ninja stop them? How would those nobles stop them?"

"Heh, have you ever seen my true strength? What makes you overestimate yourself so much?"

"Then come on! Show me your true strength and let me see it!"

"Susanoo, Complete Body!" Madara formed Hand Seals, and blue chakra rapidly enveloped the enormous skeletal frame, forming a humanoid giant holding a Samurai Sword, with wings sprouting from its back.

"Slash!" The gigantic Samurai swiftly drew its Samurai Sword and unleashed an enormous slash at Ria in the sky.

Ria nimbly dodged the slash. "Hmph, so you turned into a giant! I can do that too!"

"God Descends!"

Countless particles of light rushed toward Ria, finally forming a sphere of light like the sun. Two pairs of pure white wings rapidly unfurled from its sides. As the sphere gradually contracted, a slender figure emerged: Ria, enlarged dozens of times over, clad in golden armor, with an enormous golden Knight's Lance in one hand and a Golden Greatshield in the other. She looked utterly divine.

Madara looked at Ria, who had suddenly grown into a towering valkyrie in the sky. "Hahaha, it's been so long since I've felt this exhilarated! Let's dance to our hearts' content today!"

"Madara, face the judgment of the Holy Light!" Ria shot upward at tremendous speed, passing through the thick clouds and reaching the starry expanse of space. Then she abruptly turned, became a streak of light, and plunged toward the ground with her lance pointed downward.

Friction with the atmosphere wreathed the lance tip in enormous sparks as she hurtled like a meteor toward Madara's position.

Madara's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the meteor plummeting from the sky. "Hahaha, it's been so long since I've felt such overwhelming pressure. The blood throughout my body is trembling. Come!" His Susanoo raised its Samurai Sword in both hands, then lunged fiercely upward to slash at the rapidly descending Ria.

Clang! The tremendous clash of lance and sword rang across the sky.

"You're outmatched!"

In an instant, the impact of her rapid descent drove Madara toward the ground.

Boom! An enormous crater formed in the earth in an instant!

Crack! Crash! The underground rock layers shattered one after another. Seeing that Madara was still safely protected by the Samurai, Ria increased the force in her hand.

Madara suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. "Youngster, I truly wish I could fight you at full strength!"

Crack! Crack! Fissures spread across the Susanoo protecting Madara. As Ria continued driving him deeper through the rock, it suddenly shattered like glass. The searing sparks at her lance tip instantly vaporized Madara as well!

Seeing that Madara had been utterly destroyed, Ria immediately halted her attack and shrank back to her normal size. She looked at the crater of unfathomable depth with a sigh. A few years ago, she would never have dared imagine that a battle between people could produce such a scene!

She swiftly flew back to the surface and briefly extended her senses. "Oh, there's still a bug underground!" A lance of light formed in her hand. She flew into the sky, aimed in a particular direction, and hurled it with all her strength!

Underground, Black Zetsu was suddenly overcome with terror. Just as he tried to flee, the lance of light shot through him, piercing him clean through!

Ria clapped her hands. "There, all the enemies are gone. I hope those greedy little ones haven't eaten all the Octopus Balls Meli made!

"Honestly, why do enemies always show up whenever Meli makes something delicious? Can't they pick a different time next time?" Ria grumbled quietly as she flew toward home.