Only Joyce and Mei could hear Sirin's voice, but the moment that black figure appeared on the battlefield, everyone's eyes were drawn to it, its name on the tips of their tongues.
"Is that… the Demon King…?" Kiana, still riding the giant wolf, her hand clamped shut over its mouth, slowly lowered her raised, trembling fist.
The wolf, its head protected by its forelimbs, looked up and let out a pathetic howl towards the Demon King in the sky.
The black, flame-like aura around the Demon King flickered. Its bloodthirsty eyes slowly turned towards Kiana and raised a hand in her direction.
Shu's pupils contracted, a powerful sense of crisis flooding his mind. He no longer cared about revealing his position, turning and screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Kiana! Get out of there!!"
Get out? Where?
How big was the Demon King? As big as the Homu residents. But how big was the beam of light unleashed from its small, comical, round hand?
The dragon itself was no bigger than a grain of rice.
It was truly an attack that blotted out the sky. Shu had just raised his hand when the black light reached Kiana, stealing the light from her azure eyes.
The train, the Titan mechs, the ruins of the royal city, the toys and Homu guards… Kiana, Bronya, Nobel, even half the world's monsters… all vanished, along with half the world itself.
A look of horror was still etched on Shu's face. He saw the confusion on Kiana's face, even as her body instinctively tried to dodge.
Maneuverability? Useless against an attack that covered half the world.
Besides, they were never faster than light.
"KIANA—!!" Shu's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, his gaze fixed on the pale, empty land revealed after the light faded.
Mei staggered back half a step, her body swaying, her face a mask of disbelief.
"This… this can't be…" Joyce murmured, her hands trembling as she controlled Arahato.
The scene before them was like a drawing that had been erased. The black light left behind a vast, empty whiteness, no trace that anything had ever existed, just a flat, white plain stretching to the horizon.
Sirin's legs gave out completely, and she collapsed to the ground.
"The Demon King…" she stared blankly at the figure in the sky that had destroyed half the world with a casual gesture, the light completely gone from her eyes.
How could they possibly win? She didn't even have the courage to draw her sword!
A clap of thunder roared from the ground. A streak of light shot into the sky, trailing flames as it rapidly approached the Demon King.
Might of An-Utu burned in Shu's hand. He raised it high above his head and brought it down on the Demon King's side with all his might. The surging flames had reached their peak, waiting to explode at point-blank range.
The Demon King glanced over, waving a hand impatiently, as if swatting away a noisy mosquito.
Shu's body froze in mid-air, the fire in his eyes extinguished.
In that instant, it felt as if a hand had pierced his chest, grabbed his heart, crushed it, toyed with it, and then carelessly shoved a pulp back in.
Then, he felt the unstoppable force from the side, just like when Sirin had slammed him into the ground, leaving him powerless to resist.
Shu had charged with all his might, but now he was flying away several times faster. The intense acceleration instantly shattered his bones, tore his muscles, and destroyed most of his organs, nearly killing him on the spot and evaporating all his [Hope].
Shu vanished over the horizon. The Might of An-Utu, its power unreleased, tumbled in the air for a few moments before falling silently, embedding itself in the ground at an angle.
The flames slowly dissipated. The fire hadn't even earned a second glance from the Demon King.
It scanned the world, now resembling a yin-yang symbol, and quickly locked onto the only thing still standing on the ground: Arahato, and the two figures it sheltered.
Joyce knew instantly she was targeted. She ignited all of Arahato's thrusters, rocketing straight for the world's border.
There was no safe place left in this dream. The only way to escape the Demon King was to flee the world itself!
Seemingly intrigued, the Demon King raised its hand. The black flames around it flickered slightly, and the speeding Arahato suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of parts.
Then, the Demon King pointed its hand at Joyce, a malevolent glint in its eyes.
As if waiting for Joyce's reaction, she, falling rapidly with the scattered parts, glanced back. The bracer on her wrist suddenly disintegrated.
The cloud of parts stopped falling. They began to circle around Joyce, disassembling and forming a storm of nanometal.
The Demon King raised an eyebrow with interest, watching the metal storm dissipate.
A gigantic cannon barrel appeared in the air. All the nanometal that had comprised Arahato now formed this starship-grade main cannon!
This was the pinnacle of modern war machines, the true reason the nations of the world feared Future City!
Alongside [Utopia] and [Sequence Zero], it was one of Future City's three great technological marvels: [White Cell]!
The Orbital Asteroid Annihilator Cannon!!
"Come on!" Joyce stood atop the giant cannon, pointing at the Demon King above. "Since you call yourself a 'King,' let's see if you can bear this crown!!" she roared.
The blinding light from the cannon's muzzle outshone the night, bleaching the entire world white. The searing glow was like a new sun, just as people had seen in the past when it shattered asteroids for Earth.
The image of a star being shattered!
A thick beam, carrying a massive amount of energy particles, surged towards the Demon King, meeting its disappointed gaze head-on.
With another casual wave, the gushing beam was turned back. All the energy particles were brutally redirected back into [White Cell] itself.
For the first time since its creation, [White Cell] experienced a catastrophic misfire… a light beam weapon exploding in the barrel was unheard of.
[White Cell]'s power was unleashed as intended, but not on the Demon King. It proved that the strongest spear was not the strongest shield; it had successfully destroyed itself.
But where was Joyce?
The Demon King looked into the distance. Mei was carrying a figure, using her magnetic attraction device to flee rapidly into the distance.