The Alternative World trembled once again.
The alien sky, filled with clusters of deep-blue stars, gradually became veined with luminous fractures as the collision of overwhelming powers continued to intensify. Valt Nacht remained suspended within the endless void, his breathing growing noticeably heavier. His Victorian black suit was marked by countless fine tears left behind by the relentless barrage of attacks, yet the half-black, half-white mask still bore the very same smile.
His crimson eyes shifted from one Dragon Elder to another, reconstructing simulation after simulation within his mind.
But the more possibilities he calculated...
the clearer one conclusion became.
A conclusion he refused to accept.
The coordination of the Four Dragon Elders was nearly flawless.
They left him no opening.
Not even a single opportunity to seize the rhythm of the battle.
The Water Dragon Elder slowly stepped forward.
The dark-blue scales covering his Humandragonic body emitted an icy radiance, causing countless transparent crystals of frost to bloom throughout the surrounding space. Without the slightest change in expression, he slowly raised one hand.
Instantly—
the temperature across the entire region plummeted.
Even moisture invisible to the naked eye froze solid.
The starlight itself lost its brilliance.
The movement of particles surrounding Valt slowed until they were on the verge of complete stillness.
"Water does not always destroy through waves."
His deep voice echoed with unquestionable authority.
"Sometimes..."
"...it merely needs to remove the heat from everything that still lives."
A colossal magic circle unfolded beneath Valt.
Every trace of freezing energy converged into a single phenomenon revered among dragons as—
Abyssal Absolute Zero.
Within an instant, the surrounding space transformed into a prison of ice, freezing nearly every movement Valt could make.
Valt attempted to raise his hand and activate his black cards.
Even that simple motion had become unbearably heavy.
Crystals of ice spread relentlessly across his arm...
his shoulder...
and gradually over much of his body.
The analysis within his mind continued without end.
Simulation after simulation.
Every result reached the same conclusion.
His reaction speed had been forcibly reduced.
His range of movement had been drastically restricted.
The instant he attempted to shatter the frozen prison—
the Fire Dragon Elder had already appeared behind him, wearing a faint smile filled with absolute confidence.
"Now."
A single word.
Yet that single word became the signal for the entire formation.
The Fire Dragon Elder returned to his true draconic form.
His body expanded until it dominated a vast portion of the heavens.
His crimson-gold scales reflected blazing light like a newborn sun.
With a single swing of his massive tail, engulfed in dense infernal flames—
he struck Valt directly across the side.
The impact produced no ordinary explosion.
Instead—
the space behind Valt collapsed instantly,
forming a colossal passage that pierced through the boundary of that Alternative World.
Valt was launched once again.
Through layers of space.
The force behind the blow was so overwhelming that Valt's body became a living projectile tearing across the cosmos. Every star caught along his trajectory detonated the instant he pierced through it, collapsing into incandescent supernovas before being reduced to drifting cosmic ash. Entire star clusters were ripped apart by the shockwaves trailing behind him, while distant galaxies were split open as though an invisible blade had carved a straight path through their spiral arms. His flight showed no sign of slowing. He continued hurtling toward the farthest reaches of the Alternative World, where even the fabric of reality grew thin. Upon reaching its outermost boundary, the impact of his momentum caused the edge of that world itself to fracture. Countless luminous cracks spread across the dimensional barrier before it finally shattered, opening a passage into yet another Alternative World beyond.
Through dimensions.
Beyond the boundaries separating worlds.
Until—
he entered an entirely different Alternative World.
Before him stretched a colossal planetary system.
A gigantic golden parent planet dominated nearly his entire field of vision.
Its mass was estimated to be nearly seven hundred and eighty times greater than Earth's.
Orbiting around the massive world were numerous colossal moons, each measuring more than twice the size of Jupiter.
One of those gigantic satellites lay directly in Valt's trajectory.
BOOOOM!!
His body slammed into its surface.
Entire continents fractured instantly.
The oceans covering the moon surged into the sky.
Towering mountain ranges were reduced to dust from a single collision.
Valt had yet to recover—
when the Wind Dragon Elder appeared.
This time, he no longer retained his Humandragonic form.
His true draconic body stretched majestically across the endless void.
His wings spread wide like two vast continents, while the storms surrounding them sliced through space with every beat.
His emotionless eyes remained fixed upon Valt before one enormous foreleg slowly rose.
"Disappear."
The kick descended.
The colossal moon shattered into countless fragments.
Valt was hurled away once more, tearing through enormous chunks of rock scattered across the void.
His momentum never ceased.
He crashed into the second moon—
shattering its crust.
Then the third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
The sixth.
Each collision unleashed shockwaves that swept across the entire planetary system.
His path carved a continuous line of destruction clearly visible even from the golden parent planet.
Far away—
the Four Dragon Elders finally came to a halt.
They no longer pursued him.
The Earth Dragon Elder looked toward the others.
"It is time to end this."
The four slowly repositioned themselves into a perfect circle.
The powers of the four elements gathered toward the center.
Fire.
Water.
Wind.
Earth.
They did not clash.
They merged.
The radiance born from their convergence gradually transformed into a black-and-gold light that defied the ordinary laws governing light itself.
The entire Alternative World trembled.
The parent planet began to crack.
The orbits of its moons shifted.
Even the surrounding vacuum rippled violently.
The Four Dragon Elders slowly opened their mouths in perfect unison.
Their power reached its absolute peak.
"Behold."
"This is the end bestowed upon those who dare challenge the Dragon Race."
With a single breath—
the four streams merged into one.
Draconic Genesis Cataclysm Breath.
A black-and-gold pillar of annihilation erupted through the void.
Its path ripped apart space itself.
Every moon standing in its way was obliterated.
Then—
it completely engulfed Valt.
Leaving not even the slightest possibility of escape.
The light continued onward.
Farther.
Larger.
Brighter.
Until it gradually faded into the farthest reaches of the endless void.
At the place where Valt had last been seen—
his body slowly began to disappear.
His black suit dissolved into countless particles of light.
His mask faded away.
Even his silhouette unraveled piece by piece...
until not a single trace of his existence remained.
The Four Dragon Elders remained silent for several moments.
Then—
they turned away.
"It is over."
...
Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak...
A long, drawn-out creaking sound suddenly echoed throughout existence.
It did not come from the air.
Nor from space.
It seemed to originate from something far more fundamental.
The entire Alternative World shook.
The Four Dragon Elders stopped simultaneously.
For the first time since the battle had begun—
their very souls trembled for reasons they could not comprehend.
Slowly—
they turned back toward the place where the Draconic Genesis Cataclysm Breath had just been unleashed.
There was nothing.
Only emptiness.
Then—
one of the Dragon Elders sensed a presence behind him.
His eyes widened.
All four turned at once.
Standing quietly behind their formation...
was a man dressed in an immaculate Victorian black suit.
The half-black, half-white mask still bore the exact same smile.
A single black card slowly spun between his fingers once again.
And the crimson eyes of Valt Nacht...
were still watching them—
without the slightest change in emotion.