With his body completely restrained, Ren Kuroda had taken Ophis's attack head-on—
And yet, he had survived.
The power known as "All the World's Evil" didn't just amplify strength through corruption—it also granted astonishing regenerative abilities.
After Ophis's strike, Ren had been blasted deep into the massive chasm. His body had suffered devastating damage at first, but thanks to his innate regeneration and the influence of that dark power, most of his physical injuries had already healed.
But external wounds were only part of the problem.
What truly troubled him now… was the condition inside his body.
Neither "All the World's Evil" nor the "Simulated Star Map" were powers that could be easily controlled or used. And this ti, Ren had not only used both simultaneously—
he had used them against the strongest beings imaginable.
The result was predictable.
Once his explosive state ended, his demonic energy had been completely drained—worse, it had been pushed far beyond its limits.
It was like installing a race car engine into an ordinary commuter vehicle.
Sure, it could run—for a while.
But the rest of the system couldn't keep up with the fuel consumption.
That was Ren's current situation.
If not for Ophis's final blow, things might have remained barely manageable.
But the combination of severe injury and excessive power usage had left him utterly paralyzed.
"…Yeah, I definitely overdid it this ti…"
Lying amid a pile of shattered rubble, Ren watched as drifting fragnts of space devoured and tore apart everything around him, his expression filled with weary resignation.
"With my current physical strength, even without demonic power, I probably won't get shredded by spatial turbulence…"
He let out a faint breath.
"But if I get dumped into so dinsional gap… getting back won't be easy."
If he were in peak condition, this situation would have been nothing.
But now?
He was weaker than he had ever been.
Aside from lying there like a corpse, he couldn't do a thing.
—
Just as a fragnt of space drifted closer, threatening to swallow him—
a soft, azure glow enveloped his body.
An unseen force lifted him gently into the air.
In the collapsing world, teetering on the brink of destruction, a massive nine-tailed fox stood with its head raised toward the heavens, letting out a resounding howl.
Beneath it, a vast blue magic circle shone brilliantly.
Empowered by overwhelming yokai energy and barrier techniques, the surrounding rubble—boulders, shattered buildings—rose into the air, suspended as if gravity itself had been reversed.
The golden nine-tailed fox—
the true form of Yasaka, supre commander of Kyoto's yokai.
Her lineage traced back to an ancient, unparalleled great demon.
With her radiant golden eyes, Yasaka scanned the countless floating fragnts.
And when she finally spotted Ren among the debris—
she let out a cry of unmistakable joy.
In truth, this wasn't their first attempt.
They had already repeated this process several tis.
Ren's energy was nearly exhausted—there was no way to track him through demonic or yokai aura.
So they resorted to the simplest thod possible.
Yasaka used her barrier techniques to lift entire sections of rubble into the air, then searched them visually.
Once one area was cleared, they moved on to the next.
Again and again.
anwhile, the nekomata and the samurai spirit poured all their strength into maintaining a protective barrier around Yasaka, shielding her so she could focus entirely on the technique.
Fortunately, thanks to their contract with Ren, they had a rough idea of his location.
And after several rounds of searching—
they finally found him.
Seeing that he was alive and relatively intact, relief and joy spread across their faces.
Using her telekinetic control, Yasaka began drawing Ren's body toward them.
Everything seed to be going smoothly.
They thought they could finally leave.
But then—
as if fate had chosen the worst possible mont—
a massive spatial rift tore open right where Ren was.
The rift exerted a terrifying suction force.
Ren, unable to move, was imdiately caught in its pull.
Yasaka's expression tightened as she reacted instantly, increasing the strength of her telekinetic force.
But after repeated uses of her technique—and with the rift rapidly expanding—
she was slowly being overpowered in the tug-of-war.
The nekomata and the samurai spirit looked on in desperation, practically frantic.
They wanted to help—
but they had no strength to spare.
The spatial turbulence was growing more violent by the second.
If they dropped the barrier, they wouldn't be able to assist Yasaka—
and worse, Yasaka herself might be dragged into the rift instantly.
"This space is about to collapse," Ren called out weakly, watching them struggle. "You should leave while you still can."
His voice was calm, but there was sincerity behind it.
"With my body, I'm not that easy to kill. As long as I'm alive… I'll find a way back eventually."
He was moved.
Yasaka and the others weren't like him—they didn't have his abnormal physique or regenerative abilities.
For them, this collapsing dinsion was incredibly dangerous.
And yet, they had stayed.
They had searched for him tirelessly.
Precisely because of that—
he didn't want them to suffer because of him.
"…You're right," a voice suddenly said.
A burst of crimson demonic power erupted behind Ren—eerily similar to Rias's, yet far more potent, carrying an overwhelming aura of destruction.
"Soone who survived an attack from Ophis…"
The voice continued, calm and composed.
"…isn't going to be killed by sothing like spatial turbulence."
The raging spatial rift—devouring everything like a black hole—
was instantly annihilated by a single blast of that crimson energy.
With the rift gone, its pull vanished.
Yasaka was finally able to draw Ren safely toward her.
The mont he reached her, she imdiately returned to her human form—
and pulled him tightly into her arms.
"This space is reaching its limit," said Sirzechs Lucifer, tearing open a passage through space before Yasaka could even speak her thanks. "We're leaving—now."
—
Kuoh AcademyOccult Research Club Room
The modest clubroom was now filled with an unusual number of people.
Among them were figures of imnse authority—
the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, and even the leader of the Angels themselves.
All eyes were fixed on a single spatial gate before them—
waiting.
Waiting for those inside to return.
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