Blanc's death

Outside the town engulfed in towering flames.

Mira had carelessly let the Beast King injure her, leaving her temporarily unable to fight.

"Damn it, I let my guard down..." Mira struggled to prop herself up, gritting her teeth as she watched the Beast King rampaging nearby. "Elfman, go meet up with Lisanna and leave together. It's too dangerous to stay here!"

"I'm not leaving, sis." Covered in wounds, Elfman struggled to his feet, gasping for breath. His entire body tensed, his fingertips white against his clenched fists as his breathing grew heavier.

"What kind of man would abandon his family and run away!"

"Don't try to be a hero, Elfman! You're only holding me back by staying here. I can fight without worrying once you're gone!" Mira urged him loudly, willing to belittle him if it meant forcing him to leave first.

"You're the one pushing yourself, sis. You can't even stand up, can you?"

Elfman turned to look at Mira, who was still sitting helplessly on the ground, and forced a reassuring smile onto his face.

"Don't worry. A real man will always protect his sister."

Then his breathing gradually steadied. He raised a hand to wipe the blood from his lips, fixed his gaze on the Beast King, and took a deep breath.

"If I can't beat this guy anymore, then..."

With those resolute words, Elfman charged straight at the Beast King. The moment he drew close, he spread his arms.

"Take Over!"

An enormous magic circle unfolded out of thin air, forcibly drawing the Beast King's massive body into Elfman through its magic power.

"Did it work?" Mira watched the swirling dust ahead anxiously.

Elfman did not answer. He remained in his Take Over stance, but his eyes had rolled completely back, and his body curled up in agony.

Then a violent, inhuman roar erupted from deep within his throat!

The roar was filled with unbearable pain, madness, and fury, as though his soul were being torn apart and transformed.

Elfman's body began to swell and mutate, until he took on the form of the gigantic Beast King!

Not a trace of awareness remained in those beastly eyes, only chaotic madness.

Take Over had failed. Elfman had become the Beast King's puppet.

"Elfman! Snap out of it!" Horrified, Mira shouted her brother's name, hoping to awaken his consciousness.

But Elfman, now transformed into the Beast King, gave no response. Instead, he advanced toward Mira step by step, radiating crushing pressure.

"Mira!" Just then, Lisanna flew in from afar after taking over a Bird Soul and hurriedly landed beside her.

"Everyone in town has evacuated to safety. What happened here?" Lisanna asked uneasily.

"Run, Lisanna."

"I was too careless. Elfman forcibly took over the Beast King to protect me!"

"Then this guy is...!" Lisanna, who had been hurriedly helping Mira up, abruptly froze and turned to look at the Beast King.

"But the Beast King's magic power was too strong. Elfman lost his reason."

"How could this happen? What's going to happen to Elfman?"

"If we don't wake him up soon, the beast will devour him completely."

At that, Lisanna slowly lowered Mira back down, took a deep breath, and walked toward the enormous beast.

"Lisanna, what are you doing?"

Lisanna walked straight toward him without faltering, forcing a gentle smile.

"Elfman, what's wrong?"

"It's me, your little sister, Lisanna. Have you forgotten Mira too?" The Beast King tilted his enormous head in confusion.

"You could never forget us, could you, Elfman? Because both Mira and I love you more than anyone!" Lisanna looked firmly into the Beast King's eyes.

At last, Elfman broke his silence. Clutching his head with both hands, he roared and flew into a frenzy.

Lisanna believed her brother would remember her. She did not retreat from his frenzy, but instead spread her arms, ready to welcome his embrace as she had countless times when they were little.

"Let's go home together!"

Yet Elfman still showed no sign of regaining his senses. The rampaging Beast King finally lost all patience. With an enraged roar, he brought his enormous claws crashing down, trailing a fierce gust!

Terror flooded Mira's face, and her mind went blank. But her instinct to save Lisanna made her tear the necklace from her neck and throw it toward her sister.

"Lisanna!"

The necklace arrived before Elfman's attack. As the blow descended, its Defense Magic activated instantly.

A transparent barrier unfurled in a flash, sheltering Lisanna securely within it.

Boom!

The Beast King's heavy blow struck the barrier, sending ripples across its surface, but could not push even half an inch farther.

Lisanna flinched. She looked at the magical barrier around her, then at her brother, who had just tried to kill her, and a flicker of lingering fear crossed her eyes.

Then it turned into profound sorrow. Would Elfman never wake up?

Crack.

After taking that blow, the barrier seemed to have exhausted its magic power. Cracks spread across its surface like a spiderweb before it shattered into scattered streams of light. The necklace fell to the ground, its luster gone.

The Beast King roared again and raised his enormous claws for another attack.

Mira had started toward Lisanna as soon as the barrier appeared, but her severe injuries made moving difficult. Only now did she reach her sister, thrusting out a hand to shove her aside.

"Run, Lisanna!"

Though pushed away, Lisanna did not leave. Instead, she immediately reached back to pull Mira away with her.

One insisted that the other run, while the other refused to abandon her sister. They remained locked in a stalemate.

But after tugging at each other for a while, both suddenly froze in confusion. Was the Beast King's attack really this slow?

They turned toward Elfman almost simultaneously, only to see that the right arm he had been about to swing was held firmly by a well-defined human arm.

Veins bulged along Elfman's arm as he appeared to strain to wrench it free. Yet no matter how hard he tried, it did not budge.

The figure before him seemed to hold it casually, but no amount of effort could move that grip an inch.

Seeing that the sisters had finally noticed him after their drawn-out emotional scene, Blanc's mouth twitched, and he teased them.

"You can keep tugging at each other a little longer. I'll let Elfman go once you're ready."

Lisanna's face lit up with delight. "Blanc!"

A flicker of joy crossed Mira's eyes as well. But then she realized he had seen every bit of her embarrassing, disheveled state, and her pretty face grew warm.

She awkwardly turned her head away and said stubbornly, "Y-you... what are you doing here?"

At that moment, the Beast King finally realized he could not overpower the strange being before him with one hand alone, and furiously swung his other enormous claw down.

Blanc happened to be getting tired of holding on anyway, so he released his grip. Still pulling with all his strength, the Beast King immediately lost his balance and lurched backward.

Then Blanc brought his hands together. The ground cracked open, and countless thick trees shot up like pythons, coiling around the gigantic Beast King layer upon layer and pinning him in place.

No matter how he struggled and roared, he could not move.

Blanc turned and winked smugly at Mira.

"The necklace. I told you, didn't I? Besides the Defense Magic, there was a little surprise."

"I'm the little surprise."

Seeing that Elfman had been restrained, Lisanna relaxed, then asked in confusion, "What's going on? How did you get here, Blanc?"

"Besides Defense Magic, there was another spell in the gifts I gave you." Blanc dusted off his hands.

"When the Defense Magic activates, the other spell activates too, transmitting the location's coordinates to me remotely."

"Then I can use those coordinates for long-distance Spatial Movement and reach a friend who's in mortal danger."

"That's amazing!"

Stars of admiration sparkled in Lisanna's eyes as she exclaimed.

"So the gifts you gave us had that function too, Blanc! You really thought of everything!"

Mira pursed her lips, but an unprecedented sense of reassurance washed over her. As long as he was here, everything would be fine.

Then, noticing that her brother was still struggling, she hurriedly called out.

"Stop chatting and find a way to bring Elfman back to his senses!"

Blanc turned to look at Elfman, who was still bound in place by the trees.

"Lost consciousness, huh? Then I'll beat some sense into him."

Blanc released Elfman, then controlled the trees to launch him into the air. He turned the remaining trees into vines and repeatedly lashed Elfman as he hung airborne.

He only stopped once the Beast King's savagery slowly faded from Elfman's eyes and calm gradually returned.

At the sight of that brutal beating, a vein instantly bulged on Mira's forehead. Having recovered some strength, she stormed over to Blanc and demanded darkly.

"Hey, what are you doing to my brother? You didn't have to beat him like that, did you? Why do I get the feeling you're bullying Elfman for fun?"

"Huh? Of course not."

Blanc spread his hands and blinked innocently.

"I'm using physical pain to leave a psychological scar on the Beast King's consciousness. That way, he won't dare cause trouble again. It'll be a huge help when Elfman suppresses him in the future."

Mira gave him a flat, deeply suspicious stare.

"Really?"

Beside them, Lisanna's eyes became comically tiny dots. She stood there utterly bewildered, unsure whose side to take.

Then she suddenly noticed that Elfman, who lay on the ground looking unconscious, had not returned to human form.

Instead, he shakily raised his arm again, forcing himself to launch one final attack at Blanc and Mira before him.

Blanc noticed too. He's still conscious after that beating? This Beast King can really take a punch. He prepared to deliver a stronger blow to knock him out outright.

But suddenly, Blanc sensed a powerful surge of space-time magic power strike toward him. Without much hesitation, he seized Mira by the shoulder and flung her behind him, sending her far away.

The next moment, the space-time magic power struck Blanc, and he felt himself being pulled.

Blanc immediately recognized what was happening. Anima?

Elfman's attack arrived right on cue as well. Although the blow looked powerful,

Blanc made no move to defend himself, because there was no longer any need.

Streaks of golden light shone from his body. Just as Elfman's fist fell, Blanc dissolved into golden light, as though Elfman had punched him into dust.

Once the Beast King delivered his final blow, his consciousness finally dissipated, and his body slowly reverted to Elfman's form.

Having witnessed Blanc rapidly dissolve beneath Elfman's fist, Mira felt as though she had plunged into an icy abyss.

The world before her seemed to lose all color and sound in an instant. Her pupils shrank to pinpoints, and she froze where she stood, utterly dazed.

Indescribable terror and despair gripped her throat like venomous snakes. The reality before her was so absurd that she could not believe it!

Mira's face instantly twisted with unbearable pain. Desperately stretching her hand toward the empty space, she let out a heart-wrenching scream...

"Blanc!!!!"