Clearly, this was all the wolf's doing. The giant beasts had even abandoned their siege on the two Titan mechs to focus on Arahato.
The two swords by Shu's side began to glow, ready to clear a path. Suddenly, a small device flew into Arahato's hand.
Following it, Mei, pulled by a magnetic force, zipped to Shu's side. She flicked the blood off her two katanas and quickly moved to his side.
Sirin immediately hid behind Shu, peeking her head out to look at Mei.
"Shu, are you okay?" Mei quickly scanned Shu from head to toe, then sighed in relief.
Shu desperately wanted to ask why Mei and the others had suddenly arrived with a train, but now was clearly not the time.
"Mei, you're just in time," Shu said, relieved. He stepped aside, revealing Sirin. "Look after her here. I'm going to get the Key of Remembrance."
Mei nodded immediately. "Don't worry."
Mei's battlesuit wasn't built for head-on combat; speed and agility were its strengths. Navigating the dense horde of beasts and getting through the flock of crows to reach Shu was already a difficult feat.
Here, with Arahato drawing most of the fire, Mei would have no problem protecting Sirin. Even if Arahato couldn't withstand the siege, Mei could easily find a safe place for herself and Sirin.
Shu thought for a moment, then left one sword behind, taking the other as he leaped from Arahato's hand.
Joyce, of course, saw the handoff between Shu and Mei. She immediately stopped advancing, planting herself on the spot and focusing on fighting off the swarming giant beasts.
Arahato's change in behavior soon caught the wolf's attention. Its red eyes narrowed, sensing something was amiss. Just as it was about to howl again, that familiar sense of crisis returned.
Schrodinger's Titan mech had shot into the sky! And it was making a sharp turn, diving straight for it!
The wolf hastily summoned a giant beast to block the suicidal charge. It had just opened its mouth to command the other beasts to chase Shu when a fist appeared out of nowhere and slammed its face into a comical expression.
The immense force sent the wolf tumbling across the ground, only stopping when it crashed into a pile of monsters.
"You smelly wolf! If we're gonna fight, let's fight! Can you stop your yapping?!" Kiana's fist was still steaming. She stood with one foot on a monster's corpse, yelling Haki at the stunned wolf.
Schrodinger's charge was never meant to kill the wolf, but to deliver Kiana to its vicinity.
The Titan mech's straight-line speed was indeed much faster than Kiana's, but its actual maneuverability and agility couldn't even compare to Mei's battlesuit, let alone Kiana in her Key of Genesis.
By delivering Kiana into the wolf's range, the wolf would be forced to constantly issue commands to protect itself, sending monsters to stop her. With these commands tying up the wolf's attention, it would be difficult for it to issue other orders.
Watching the wolf shake its head and get back on its feet, Kiana clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her hand instinctively went to the gem on her chest, but after a moment of hesitation, she lowered it.
"No… can't go over 10%. Shu reminded me…" she muttered, then clenched her fists again and charged the wolf under Schrodinger's cover.
Joyce against the giant beasts, Kiana against the giant wolf, and the others on the train against the black tide—all three fronts were at a stalemate. Shu reached the chaotic area without expending much [Hope].
The moment he stepped into the area, he felt a brief daze. The next second, the defenses he had prepared broke through the Key of Remembrance's indiscriminate aura.
Quickly dispatching the monsters in his path, Shu picked up the white-glowing Key of Remembrance.
At the same time, his peripheral vision caught sight of a longsword stuck in the ground.
That plastic texture, that cheesy-looking blade… wasn't that the Hero's Longsword?
Hadn't he given it to Mei for safekeeping?
Shu hesitated, then stepped forward and gripped the hilt of the holy sword, intending to pull it out and take it with him.
But even as he turned to leave, the sword remained firmly planted in the ground, yanking him back.
Shu's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the dull, unmoving holy sword.
How? He was currently empowered by [Hope], his strength likely even greater than Kiana's. The sword was just stuck in the ground, not caught on anything. Why couldn't he pull it out?
He thought he understood why Mei had left it here… Without the title of Hero or Knight, no one could pull it out.
But he had been able to wield it when he was the Demon King, right?
"Tch…" Shu cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to use [Hope], a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across the perpetually dark sky.
Shu looked up sharply. At the same time, the Key of Remembrance in his hand lost its glow, and the surrounding monsters began to awaken from their confusion.
"What's wrong?" Joyce was the second to look up. Several of her sensor readings had suddenly changed abnormally. Some had spiked to ridiculous levels, even overloading into a jumble of code!
The giant beasts stopped their frenzied attack. Arahato stared at the dark sky, assuming a battle-ready stance.
Beside Mei, Sirin's face suddenly turned deathly pale.
"Bella…" A tear escaped from the corner of Sirin's eye as she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Mei noticed Sirin's distress and quickly knelt down, speaking as gently as possible. "Sirin, what's happening?"
Sirin's eyes were filled with terror and despair. She looked at the giant black shadow emerging in the night sky and spoke with a trembling voice.
It was a scarred figure, bearing the cuts from Arahato and the wounds torn by Bella… but these scars only made it more ferocious.
But all of that paled in comparison to the figure standing on the dragon's head… It had the appearance of a Homu, but like the other monsters, it was pitch black with crimson eyes.
Even someone like Shu, who had rarely seen a Homu, could feel an overwhelming, mountain-like pressure from this round-headed creature.
"The Demon King… is here…"