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"What is that sword’s power?!" Erika asked in disbelief.
"It’s called Emptiness," Elena explained. "It’s a self-taught sword technique. I’m confident it can cut through this space and get us out, but... the dinosaurs are getting too intense. I’ll need everyone to cover my back."
The group exchanged glances and nodded. They had no other choice. Harumi, in particular, preferred to save the Imaginarium Cores they had gathered for her brother’s sake.
"Alright then, it’s decided," Matsuo said. "The target area matters. I sensed a disturbance in space—that’s where the Domain is weakest. Co with !"
Matsuo deactivated the static barrier and led the group through the jungle. As they ran, more dinosaurs spawned endlessly, hundreds of them roaring furiously and chasing after the party.
Yasuke carved through them with his katana, keeping the beasts at bay, until they finally reached the area Matsuo had pointed out.
"Here. Aim right there."
The spot stood directly in front of a towering cliff that dropped into a deadly fall—the highest point in the Domain. Harumi nodded and began channeling her Stance of Emptiness, her aura surging with a pure, empty white glow.
Matsuo pointed at the empty space just above the cliff’s edge. "That’s the weakest point!"
Elena nodded, rushing forward. She channeled her power and surged her aura to its limits as she prepared to strike.
As she gathered her strength, she kept her katana sheathed. The reason was simple: among the skills she had inherited from her Avatar, she had fully mastered the Draw Technique.
Drawing the sword increased both attack power and speed by tenfold. That was why many samurai kept their blades sheathed until the final mont—it was an integral part of the technique.
Behind her, the others threw themselves into a brutal, endless battle against the tide of dinosaurs. Blood splattered everywhere, mixing with the roars of ancient beasts and the desperate cries of her friends.
"Hold..."
Elena clenched her teeth, pushing more and more energy toward her absolute limit.
"Hold...!"
She poured every ounce of power into her sword as the empty aura began to stack in layers.
One layer.
"Hold!"
Two layers.
Three layers.
Four layers.
"Hold...!"
With each new layer, the total power of her technique multiplied again and again.
Five layers.
Six layers.
She heard Anna scream as sothing bit into her. Elena gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to turn around and help. She couldn’t.
"Hold!"
Seven layers.
Eight layers.
Nine layers.
"Aaaahhhh! Elena, hurry!"
"HOLD!"
Ten layers!
"NOW!"
Elena unleashed a roar that ca from the depths of her soul. In one fluid motion, she drew her blade using the Sword Draw Technique and released the Blade of Emptiness folded ten tis over.
And then...
SLASH!
Nothing.
"...?"
It was only a small, insignificant cut. No one felt any change in the air. The attack seed completely useless.
It hadn’t worked.
Their eyes widened in horror. Everything had been for nothing.
But suddenly, all elents surged from Elena’s aura—fire, water, earth, wind, and more. The stances and breathing techniques rged into one.
Only then did Elena begin to truly reawaken her power through that single strike.
"Heaven Stance."
Because to unleash its full potential, she needed to layer Heaven Stance on top of it.
Thus...
"Empty Blade Arts."
Elena released all her aura at once, shedding everything else as unnecessary weight. She beca truly empty of all things.
Yet through that very emptiness, everything within her poured out and filled the space around her.
Reality itself warped.
"Heaven Sword."
SLAAAASH!
TRUUUM!
BOOOMMM!!!
RUMBLE!
It happened in an instant.
A titanic slash tore the sky apart. A violent tremor hurled everything away as the ground cracked and shattered under imnse pressure. A massive explosion followed, sending distorted fragnts of spaceti flying in chaotic destruction.
Finally, the tremor caused space itself to fracture, revealing a massive white crack.
In truth, they no longer needed to escape.
Elena’s attack had been so overwhelming that the entire Domain ca undone, shattering into countless glass-like pieces. In the next mont, everyone found themselves back inside the Museum.
She had done it.
Elena had channeled the full power of her Avatar, further amplified by everything she had cultivated. In that mont, she had beco even stronger than she was in her pri.
However, the toll was devastating. The imnse drain left her completely empty. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
"T-That was amazing! Elena—wait?!" Matsuo exclaid. "Are you okay?!"
"She split the sky itself?!" Erika cried. "W-What the hell?! I’ve never seen my dad do anything like that!"
"That was incredible swordsmanship!" Yasuke said. "Ah, Master... I think she’s not in good condition..."
"I know...!" Harumi rushed to Elena’s side. "Elena! Are you okay?"
"She’s not," Anna said urgently, already infusing her with mana. "All her energy was drained by that attack! Give her so Imaginarium Cores, please!"
"But..." Harumi hesitated.
"Why are you hesitating?! She did this to save us!" Anna snapped.
"...Right." Harumi nodded and handed over four cores. Elena slowly began to absorb them, the rainbow energy rapidly replenishing her inner reserves.
"Haaa... Haaa... Ugh..." Elena’s breathing gradually steadied as she opened her eyes again. "D-Did I do it?"
"You did!" Elisa said. "That was incredible, Elena!"
"You saved us all!" Monica added happily.
"I-I’m glad..." Elena sighed. "I... I think we should get going. Where’s Frank?"
"I can sense him and the Heroic Spirit," Yasuke replied. "They’re not far... inside another Domain! What? Was he trapped with it?"
"We have to save him!" Harumi said. "Frank usually doesn’t take this long to defeat his enemies. It must be stronger than he expected. Let’s hurry!"
"Wind Wolf, carry Elena!" Anna ordered, gently placing her girlfriend onto the wolf’s back. "Co on, let’s move!"
The group hurried through the museum corridors until they reached the location Yasuke had led them to—a huge crack in space.
"Wait, what’s tha—"
BOOOMMM!!!
A massive explosion erupted. Matsuo quickly activated his backup talisman, conjuring a divine barrier that shielded everyone from an attack that would have left them badly wounded.
"What the hell, dude?! One thing after another—I swear I’m going insane!" Erika shouted angrily. "What was that?!"
"I’m trying to see!" Matsuo replied, using his Magic Aura to clear the smoke.
When the smoke parted, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
They saw the entire Domain where Frank and the Heroic Spirit had been fighting shatter and rged with the Museum, forming a chaotic vortex of floating land fragnts and distorted colors.
"What’s going on now?!" Elena asked.
"I don’t know but stay alert!" Harumi said. "Matsuo, lift us up before we fall!"
"On it." Matsuo nodded and raised the barrier, revealing a colossal battle unfolding far below them.
RUMBLE!
A giant humanoid dinosaur lizardman roared with terrifying might. The three-headed, ten-ard creature swung weapons made of bone and slashed with razor-sharp claws at a massive eight-headed serpent.
It was a kaiju-level clash. Their strikes continuously fractured the Domain around them. Yet what shocked the group even more was the enormous teor looming in the sky, drawing dangerously closer.
"What is that?! What’s happening?!" Elisa cried.
"A teorite?!" Matsuo asked in disbelief.
"Frank!" Harumi spotted him unconscious on a large mountain, lying inside a freshly made crater.
"That monster... is that the fabled Yamata-no-Orochi?!" Yasuke asked, his voice shaken. "Why is such a beast here? And why... why is it a Heroic Spirit linked to my master’s future husband?"
Yasuke revealed the truth to the group. The giant eight-headed serpent was the mythical demonic dragon of ancient Japanese legend, summoned by Frank in a desperate last-minute effort to defeat the monstrous Dinosaur Spirit.
And it seed to be winning. The Dinosaur Spirit was losing ground, its body rapidly falling apart, covered in deep, bleeding wounds that refused to regenerate as quickly as before.
"GRRRR...! D-DAMN YOU! A FAKE LIZARD BORN FROM HUMAN FEAR! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHO I TRULY AM! I WILL SMASH YOU AND CRUSH YOU WITH THE MIGHT OF THIS TEOR!!!"
The creature roared in fury, raising all its arms toward the sky as the teor accelerated its descent.
"What an annoying fellow you are."
"However, it appears that my master’s friends have arrived."
"You’ve lost, and you didn’t even accomplish your main goal, fool."
"Now you’ve grown desperate. How delightful it is to see the mighty fall."
Yamata-no-Orochi spoke with a gentler, almost elegant voice than anyone had imagined such a fearso being would possess. It laughed softly at the dinosaur, speaking as if it itself were not an equally mighty entity.
This only enraged the Dinosaur Spirit further. It roared monstrously as the teor hurtled ever closer.
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