"ROAR!"
Chaka exploded forward like a black cannonball.
His claws tore through the desert wind with terrifying force, sharp enough to split stone apart on contact.
He had seen Igaram fall.
That image alone was enough to ignite all the fury in his body.
The aura erupting from him no longer resembled that of a human.
It was the savagery of a beast king.
Even the animals hiding beneath the desert sand instinctively curled up and trembled.
At the same time—
"Screech!!"
A falcon cry ripped across the sky.
Pell descended from above at terrifying speed, spiraling winds wrapping around his body. The pressure from his dive flattened the sand below him layer by layer.
The two guardian deities attacked together.
One from the sky.
One from the ground.
Kairos watched them quietly.
Then—
he tightened his grip on Mugen.
Buzz.
The pale blade trembled softly.
Strange energy flowed across its surface like flickering lightning.
"Calamity Summons…"
Kairos' voice was calm.
"Second Illusion Blade."
Mugen suddenly blurred.
Then—
split.
One blade became two.
Kairos caught the second sword with his left hand in a reverse grip.
The desert wind howled between the ruins.
Pell closed in from above.
Chaka charged from the front.
And Kairos finally moved.
A violent pressure burst from his body without warning.
The air cracked like thunder exploding across the desert.
"Third Illusion Style…"
Kairos lowered both blades slightly.
"Explosive Slash."
The twin blades flashed.
Two arcs of light crossed through the air at the same time.
For one brief instant—
the world turned gold.
The slash was too bright.
Too violent.
It looked less like sword-light and more like a miniature sun erupting directly in front of the ruins.
Pell's sharp falcon instincts instantly screamed danger.
Retreat.
He needed to retreat immediately.
But below him, Chaka had already reached Kairos.
And Chaka understood it too.
The moment the sword-light appeared, the fur on his arms began curling from the heat.
Even his claws felt as if they were melting.
"Get back!!"
Chaka roared.
But instead of retreating himself, he forcefully twisted his body and swung his sword downward with all his strength.
If Pell escaped while he retreated too—
then the explosion would swallow the ruins behind them.
Princess Vivi was still there.
So Chaka chose to meet it head-on.
Pell's eyes sharpened.
Retreat vanished from his mind instantly.
His wings beat violently.
The spiraling wind around his talons grew even fiercer as he dove straight into the golden light.
Then—
the collision happened.
Boom!!!!
The explosion sounded like heaven itself splitting apart.
A shockwave burst outward across the desert.
Sand erupted into the sky.
Stone pillars shattered.
Even the clouds above Alubarna were blown apart.
For a moment, the entire capital thought another sun had appeared.
People stumbled into the streets in terror.
"What is that?!"
"There are two suns!"
"My god—!"
The desert glowed gold beneath the explosion.
And inside that overwhelming light—
Kairos calmly stood holding a newly drawn blade.
The Demon Sword Thousand Blades.
Its dark-blue glow flickered faintly against the golden storm around him.
The twin Mugen blades in his hands had already faded away.
Meanwhile—
far ahead—
Pell and Chaka crashed heavily across the sand.
Their bodies carved long trenches through the desert before finally stopping.
Smoke rose from their scorched clothes.
Both guardian deities struggled to breathe.
Their arms trembled uncontrollably.
Kairos looked at them for a moment.
Then he frowned slightly.
"…That weak?"
Honestly, he was a little disappointed.
He had expected more from Alabasta's guardian deities.
But then again—
maybe it wasn't entirely their fault.
Perhaps they simply appeared too early in the story to ever receive stronger portrayal afterward.
Kairos lowered his gaze toward the Demon Sword Thousand Blades.
Only he knew what that slash truly contained.
It wasn't just Yū Kanda's Explosive Slash.
And it wasn't just Mugen's power either.
The real core of that attack—
was the Demon Sword Thousand Blades.
A blade that Kairos had deliberately kept sealed for three entire months.
During those months, he continuously fed energy into the sword without drawing it once.
Then, the moment it left the sheath—
all of that stored power erupted together.
A technique Kairos had personally developed during his year of training.
"Creation Star…"
Kairos lightly exhaled.
"Hidden Sword Art."
Inspired by Kurogane Ikki's Ittō Shura—
but completely different in execution.
No self-destruction.
No violent backlash.
Instead, it relied on accumulation.
Patience.
Nurturing the blade over time until the stored force reached its limit.
And the slash that had just lit up half of Alabasta—
was the result of three months of stored power exploding all at once.
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