"You... you... traitor!!!"
Yashiro used his last remaining strength to let out an unwilling roar.
"Our Lord... will never... forgive you!"
Chris's face was filled with the venom of betrayal.
Then, their bodies completely dissolved into countless motes of light, slowly dissipating.
Having completed this heaven-shaking strike, Shermie seemed to have exhausted all her strength. The golden lightning around her body gradually faded as she returned to her normal form.
"Boss..." She looked toward the VIP spectator area, a tired, credit-seeking smile on her face. "I... I did my best. The rest... is up to you."
The entire venue remained in dead silence.
Everyone had been completely stupefied by this sudden "traitor" plot twist.
Just moments ago they thought humanity was doomed, and now the villains had... infighting?
This plot was more dramatic than the most melodramatic soap opera!
Meanwhile, in the VIP spectator area, Cloud slowly rose from his seat and gave Shermie a thumbs up.
"Beautifully done."
He knew that Shermie's strike had bought them the most precious advantage!
However, things were far from over.
Just as everyone thought the crisis had passed, an aura even more terrifying than Yashiro and Chris combined—filled with endless darkness and malice—suddenly spread from the void!
"Those who betray... our tribe..."
An ancient, raspy voice—impossible to tell if male or female, as if coming from the depths of the Nine Hells—echoed in everyone's souls!
"—Shall suffer... eternal damnation!"
The moment the voice faded, the soul-lights of the just-dissipated Yashiro and Chris were forcibly gathered by an invisible power!
"My Lord!"
Yashiro's voice, full of madness and venom, rang out again!
"Since you have betrayed us! Then let this world be buried along with us!"
"Forced Sacrifice! Open the Gate of Time and Space!"
His shattered soul transformed into a massive brown magic circle covered in ancient runes, slamming into the void!
Space cracked open like a shattered mirror, revealing a massive, pitch-black rift!
Behind that rift was endless darkness and chaos!
Following that, countless figures wearing white priest robes—their features indistinct, radiating an aura both sacred and eerie—poured out from that rift like a flood!
Divine Tribe citizens!
And several Divine Tribe elders whose auras were far more powerful than ordinary citizens!
"Not enough! Still not enough!" Chris's shrill voice also rang out. "With my Fate of Flames as the sacrifice! With my body as the vessel! Welcome... my Lord... descend!!!"
His shattered soul transformed into a cluster of pure purple flame, shooting skyward, forming in the air an eerie purple sun that seemed composed of countless eyes!
"Pray! Offer yourselves!"
"For our Lord's glory!"
All the Divine Tribe citizens and elders, in this moment, fell to their knees, hands clasped together, beginning a fervent prayer in an ancient language incomprehensible to mortals.
Their bodies, as they prayed, began to dissolve bit by bit into the purest "Divine Power," streaming endlessly into that purple sun in the sky!
The entire Tokyo Dome was completely engulfed by a despairing dark energy!
The sky turned completely black.
The only "light source" was that purple sun radiating endless malice!
"What... what is happening?!"
"Is this the apocalypse?! I haven't finished watching the new anime yet!"
"Mom! I want to go home!"
The audience fell into complete panic, scrambling frantically for the exits.
And at that moment, something happened that made Kyo Kusanagi's eyes nearly burst from their sockets!
In a corner of the spectator seats, a girl wearing a high school uniform, with long black hair and a gentle, serene face—Yuki, Kyo Kusanagi's beloved girlfriend—her body began floating upward, completely beyond her control!
Her eyes lost their light, becoming hollow and blank.
"YUKI—!!!"
Kyo let out a heartbroken roar. He wanted to rush over, but his injuries were too severe—he didn't even have the strength to stand.
In the distance, Cloud's gaze sharpened.
Reviving Orochi required eight "maidens" with special powers as sacrifices.
Over eighteen hundred years, the Divine Tribe had quietly found seven of them.
And this final one, the eighth...
Was the reincarnation of Princess Kushinada—Yuki!
"With the blood of Kushinada as the key! With the souls of the Eight Maidens as sacrifice!"
That ancient voice rang out once more!
Yuki's body began floating slowly toward the purple sun in the sky!
Once her soul was completely absorbed, Orochi would descend upon the world in his complete form!
"I won't let you!"
At that critical moment, a white figure appeared before Yuki as if by teleportation!
It was Cloud!
In his hands, he held an ancient mirror radiating ethereal light.
The Yata Mirror!
"Kagura wives, lend me your power!"
Cloud roared, pouring his Chaos power madly into the Yata Mirror!
Far away in the Kagura clan's forbidden grounds, Chizuru Kagura and Maki Kagura both seemed to sense something. Simultaneously, they channeled their shrine maiden powers without reservation, transmitting them through some mysterious connection!
"Light of Yata—Soul Preservation!"
The Yata Mirror blazed with brilliant light, and a pure white beam that tolerated no defilement instantly enveloped Yuki's body!
"Ahh—!"
A pained cry escaped Yuki's lips.
Her soul was forcibly separated from her body by the Yata Mirror's tremendous power, then drawn into the mirror world!
Yuki's body, now soulless, went limp and fell from the sky like a puppet with its strings cut.
Cloud caught her with one hand, then flash-stepped to place her safely beside Kyo Kusanagi.
"Watch over her. I've temporarily saved her soul."
Having done this, Cloud slowly raised his head to look at the sky.
Due to the loss of the crucial "Kushinada" soul, the purple sun in the sky instantly dimmed!
That nearly-formed, world-destroying aura also showed a hint of instability.
"—Damn... mortals!!!"
For the first time, that ancient, ethereal voice carried a tone of rage!
"Even if... the sacrifices are incomplete..."
"Even if... power is diminished..."
"I... am still... a GOD!!!"
...
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