The massive wave of erasure swallowed the Citadel, leaving nothing but white light across the battlefield. Yoshiro stood in the center of it all, his arm extended, completely certain that the fight was finally over. The screams had stopped. The chains had disappeared. Seiyan's energy network had been destroyed, and even Dracula's movements were nowhere to be seen. Yoshiro slowly lowered his hand.
"Finally..."
He looked across the empty battlefield.
"Silence."
But then...
A faint sound came from behind him.
CLANK.
Yoshiro stopped.
Another sound.
CLANK. CLANK.
His eyes narrowed.
Something was moving inside the white light.
Judas stood alone.
Her clothes were torn, her body covered in injuries, and her breathing was barely steady. Yet she remained standing.
Yoshiro stared at her.
"You're still alive?"
Judas slowly raised her head.
"Yes."
She looked toward the three warriors who had disappeared beneath the erasure.
"But they're not."
Yoshiro smiled.
"Then you failed."
Judas closed her eyes.
"No."
Her hands began glowing.
"I haven't."
A strange wave of restoration energy spread across the battlefield.
Yoshiro's smile disappeared.
"What are you doing?"
Judas placed both hands together.
"I've spent years restoring wounds."
The energy became stronger.
"Restoring broken bodies."
The white light around her began changing.
"Restoring damaged existence."
Her eyes opened.
"But I finally realized..."
The ground beneath her cracked.
"...I've been thinking too small."
Three enormous pillars of restoration energy erupted from the battlefield.
Yoshiro stepped backward.
"What..."
Judas looked toward the three pillars.
"I'm not restoring what they lost."
Her voice became stronger.
"I'm restoring what they could have become."
The first pillar exploded.
A figure appeared inside.
Dracula.
His body was surrounded by dark energy and electricity, but something about his presence had completely changed. He stood silently for a moment before looking at his hands.
Then he disappeared.
Yoshiro's eyes widened.
"What?!"
Dracula appeared several kilometers away.
Then behind Yoshiro.
Then above him.
Then beside Judas.
Then back in front of Yoshiro.
All of it happened before the surrounding debris had even finished falling.
Yoshiro looked around.
"...Where is he?"
Dracula smiled.
"You can't see me anymore."
He vanished again.
The second pillar erupted.
Reji stepped forward.
His chains emerged from the ground.
One.
Ten.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They spread across the Citadel, but they weren't simply wrapping around objects anymore.
They connected to the battlefield itself.
Reji looked at his hands.
"I can feel everything."
Yoshiro stared at the chains.
"What did you do?"
Reji raised his hand.
The chains immediately surrounded Yoshiro.
Yoshiro erased several.
More appeared.
He erased those.
Even more appeared.
Reji smiled.
"I don't need to catch you anymore."
The chains suddenly wrapped around the space surrounding Yoshiro.
"I can decide what stays."
Yoshiro's expression became serious.
The third pillar erupted.
Seiyan appeared.
His eyes were glowing with energy.
The entire Citadel suddenly became covered in countless luminous lines.
Yoshiro looked around.
"What is this?"
Seiyan slowly raised his hand.
"Horizon Breaker was only the beginning."
The energy lines stretched beyond the Citadel.
Across the sky.
Across the streets.
Across every possible route surrounding the battlefield.
Seiyan closed his fingers.
"Now..."
The entire network illuminated.
"...I control the horizon."
Judas watched the three of them.
Her restoration energy slowly faded.
Dracula looked toward her.
"What did you do to us?"
Judas smiled weakly.
"I didn't give you anything."
Reji looked at his chains.
"Then what is this?"
Judas answered:
"I restored your potential."
Seiyan looked at her.
"Potential?"
She nodded.
"The power you would've reached someday..."
Her eyes became emotional.
"I simply brought that day closer."
Dracula smiled.
"So this is what we could become?"
Judas nodded.
"Your strongest forms were always inside you."
The three warriors turned toward Yoshiro.
Dracula disappeared.
Reji's chains tightened.
Seiyan's Horizon network activated.
Yoshiro stood completely still.
For the first time since the battle began...
He didn't attack.
He looked at the three of them.
Then at Judas.
"...Interesting."
A smile slowly returned to his face.
"So you finally decided to show me what you can really do."
Dracula appeared directly in front of him.
"Yeah."
Reji's chains surrounded the battlefield.
Seiyan's energy lines filled the sky.
Dracula leaned forward.
"And now..."
He vanished.
"...try to keep up."
BOOOOOOM!
Yoshiro was struck from behind and launched across the Citadel.
Before he could recover, Reji's chains locked the area around him.
Seiyan immediately fired through the exact opening Dracula had created.
KRAAAASH!
Yoshiro was buried beneath the attack.
For several seconds, there was silence.
Dracula landed beside Reji.
Seiyan lowered his hand.
Judas watched carefully.
Then the rubble moved.
Yoshiro slowly stood.
Blood ran down his face.
His smile returned.
"Good."
He wiped the blood away.
"Very good."
The white energy around his body began increasing.
"But..."
His eyes became completely cold.
"...you've only made yourselves more interesting targets."
The sky above the Citadel turned white.
The three warriors prepared themselves.
Judas stared at Yoshiro.
She knew it immediately.
Their new power had changed the battle.
But it hadn't ended it.
Not even close.