Is Takatsuki selfish? He is, for the most part.
His behavioral logic has always been simple: for himself, and occasionally serving his own desires or conscience.
After getting to know some people, Takatsuki changed a bit, but still not by much. The most direct manifestation is that, in a dangerous situation like this, the only one he stepped out to help was Mei.
Not to mention the selfish Takatsuki; in this crisis situation, he could be said to be the safest among everyone present.
Among the Loki Familia, there was also one person who could "fly," and that was Ais.
With the help of the magic Ariel, Ais lightly tapped her toes on the falling rocks, allowing her to glide short distances in the air. Just as she wanted to save her foster mother, Riveria, a crimson figure suddenly burst through the wall.
"Revis!"
The familiar voice, the red hair, and the slit pupils like those of a lizard or perhaps a dragon—all pointed to the identity of the opponent.
In her hand, she held a pitch-black, giant evil sword, which she swung heavily toward Ais in mid-air.
Left with no choice, Ais could only raise the Desperate to parry. The massive kinetic energy generated by the collision of the two in the air pushed them through the air, violently smashing through the end wall.
Inside a corridor, Revis confronted Ais while holding the giant pitch-black evil sword.
"Ais, this is the final battle."
A thick sense of battle intent filled Ais, who had not shown much expression.
"Is there anything more to say?"
"No need."
"No last words, then?"
"No need."
Although both had a high sense of battle intent, unlike the restrained excitement and passion Revis felt, as if facing a mortal enemy, Ais's expression was very cold.
The two could not become good rivals.
The encounter between the two was merely connected by the threads of that bloodline.
"I will strike you down and end everything."
So Ais declared.
"I've heard such grand words before. Back on the 24th floor, the me who was still being fed by you was no longer a mere puppet. My eyes were burning, and I said some very arrogant things to you."
Revis was very satisfied. For her, who had already become a creature, fighting the girl born from her own mission had become her only reason for living.
Looking at the girl who would stand up again even if she was repeatedly defeated and let out a roar with the sword in her hand, the emotions that had long since died within her long mission were slowly reviving.
She was no longer merely a puppet of a mission; she had, of her own will, let go of the Ais she had once defeated, just to let the unyielding girl improve herself and fight her once more.
"I will not lose to you again."
Ais raised the sword in her hand. The girl of few words did not know how to transform the feelings in her heart into speech, but in her heart, a scorching emotion pulsed constantly. She could only use the sword in her hand to express her thoughts.
"Words are all well and good, but the result will only be a one-sided landslide."
Revis did not think highly of Ais. Although she looked forward to Ais's growth and eventual wilting, she did not think that in just one short month, Ais could grow to the point of defeating her.
The evil sword pointed down toward the ground, but the aura on her body rose constantly.
The blonde girl did not raise her sword either; instead, she pulled the trigger for the final battle in her heart.
"I'm coming."
With those gentle words, the vision in the girl's eyes changed. The person standing before her was not a human, but a creature—a mixture of human and monster, a species reinforced by the power gained from consuming magic stones, a genuine monster.
After going through confusion, the girl had once thought about what a monster truly was.
After seeing those Xenos who could laugh, cry, and have their own dreams, the girl had once asked herself: are they monsters?
Ultimately, does a so-called monster refer to a non-human being with a non-human form, or an aberration with a normal exterior but a twisted interior?
The girl could not judge.
But...
"I will use my own eyes to distinguish—"
As those words fell, Revis also noticed the abnormality in the girl.
In the golden pupils, black points of light scattered, and the iris was inlaid with a ring of pitch-black circles.
"...What?"
Revis saw the change in Ais, but she could not understand it. However, in Ais's eyes, Revis's identity was constantly changing.
From a human-turned-aberration back into a true monster.
Looking closely, her eyes were like those of a dragon, and her exaggerated strength was also like that of a dragon.
Ais felt her back burning intensely, as hellfire continuously broke out, twisting constantly and letting out roars, as if to tear the opponent to pieces.
But Ais restrained it; she restrained this twisted power.
She did not let this twisted power burn herself, but used this hellfire to crusade against the enemy.
[Avenger]
This was Ais's unique skill, which had a high-domain enhancement of attack power against monsters and a super-domain enhancement of attack power against dragons.
The original Ais never regarded Revis as a monster; since she wasn't a monster, she naturally wouldn't be a dragon species.
But now.
"Activate Ariel—Avenger"
Along with the chant, the familiar wind incantation linked with the strongest unique skill.
In an instant, the world changed. The green breeze turned into a pitch-black hurricane, letting out continuous roars.
The roar of the hurricane robbed Ais of her hearing. In her field of vision, the torrential hurricane raged constantly, completely becoming a vortex of wind.
It was no longer the originally beautiful melody of the wind; under the hellfire of revenge, it had turned into a violent wind that wanted to tear everything apart.
"!!!???"
Revis heard it; from above her head, a wail broke out. She knew that was the clone of the Corrupted Spirit that had been arranged above long ago.
They were letting out wails, and the source of the wails was the fear of this black hurricane before them.
Revis widened her green eyes. She, who had become a monster, witnessed for the first time with her own eyes the birth of a true monster.
"Roar, Nigel!"
Her right foot exerted force, launching herself toward Revis.
With just this one simple movement, the ground shattered.
The pitch-black gale was like a raging fire; just moving caused the surrounding walls and ground to shatter completely.
With a speed even faster than Ariel, Ais shattered anything blocking her path with an unstoppable momentum.
Looking at the pitch-black hurricane rushing toward her, Revis raised the greatsword in her hand high and struck out with all her strength toward the pitch-black wind. Since the opponent attacked from the front, she would not hold back, even at the cost of exposing a weakness to strike and defeat the enemy from the front.