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I. Blade of Resonance

The shattered stones of the Dragon’s Altar still bore faint warmth, and the heavy stench of blood lingered thick in the air.

Senbonzakura slowly drew the King’s Blade. The weapon trembled in her grip, emitting a low, frantic hum that beat like an anxious heart.

"This blade has never been this restless," she muttered, her brows furrowing as she watched a faint, threadlike ray of golden light leak from the edge, pointing resolutely into the depths of the island. "Looks like Arthur is over that way—Dragonspine Ridge."

"Dragonspine Ridge?" Corvus peered toward the distant mountain range shrouded in perpetual, dense mist, his brow subtly knitting. "Doesn't sound like a welcoming place."

"It was once the resting place of ancient Dragon Kings," Guinevere said, leaning weak but resolute against Lancelot. "According to legend, when a Dragon King exhausts their power, instinct drives them back there to heal through the earth's dragon veins. Ever since Arthur vanished, the Mad Dragon King has kept that range under tight blockade—it's precisely this day they feared."

She paused, looking down at the sleeping Lancelot in her arms before turning toward the still-unconscious Long Qianqian, her voice softening with pity. "I will stay behind to care for Lancelot and help maintain the barrier; otherwise, the Mad Dragon Apostles will soon realize something went wrong at the altar. As for you—" She looked toward Corvus, Amber, and Senbonzakura. "You must set out immediately. A moment's delay, and the Mad Dragon King's forces might reach Arthur first."

Corvus glanced down at Long Qianqian lying in his arms.

He gently laid the girl down on the soft blanket beside Guinevere, tucked the edges of her trench coat tightly around her, and slowly stood up, resuming the calm, sharp composure of a seasoned detective.

"Amber, Senbonzakura," he turned, his gaze cutting like steel. "Let's move."

II. Fangs in the Mist

The entrance to Dragonspine Ridge was choked by a perpetual blanket of clammy, ash-gray fog. The air felt heavy and wet, and the slippery green moss coating the jagged rocks underfoot demanded caution with every step.

"Watch out," Senbonzakura warned, her hand coming down instantly onto her hilt as she halted. "Mad Dragon Apostles ahead... and plenty of them."

Amber narrowed her eyes, thumbing the hammer back on her loaded revolver. "Seems the Mad Dragon King guessed our destination, too. Their aura is a mess—a mix of ordinary hunters, public security officers who went missing long ago, and even... a few former villagers."

Her tone betrayed a rare trace of disgust. "Infusing demonic blood is hardly a gentle procedure. Anyone who survives to become a 'Mad Dragon Apostle' is a desperate wretch who gambled their life away."

Before her words faded, a piercing, beastly howl tore through the fog.

Over a dozen twisted dark silhouettes bounded out of the mist. Though built on human frameworks, their bodies were now choked with grotesque scales and jagged bone spikes. Their eyes glowed with an unhealthy, blood-red light as guttural roars spilled from their throats.

"Let's go," Senbonzakura sneered, drawing her steel with a sharp hiss. "Time to show them what true dragon power looks like."

With frantic red embers burning in their eyes, the Apostles rushed forward like a surging tide.

Senbonzakura set her posture, both hands locked onto the King's Blade. As the monstrous faces closed in, the atmospheric current around her shattered— Iaijutsu Draw!

A blinding arc of golden light sliced through the void. The swift burst of sword pressure bisected the three leading Apostles at the waist in an instant. Seamlessly shifting her wrists, she delivered a heavy diagonal slash, tearing wide open the beastly defensive line. Before the momentum dissipated, she lunged forward, her blade's tip striking out like a cold star. Accompanied by the wet crunch of tearing flesh, the King's Blade cleaved down several surrounding foes, carving a crimson zone of absolute silence in the center of the battlefield.

Simultaneously, on the other flank, the crystal eye of Corvus flickered with a dim blue light. His dynamic vision reduced the chaotic battle into slow motion, pinpointing every blind spot in the Apostles' defense with absolute precision.

Wielding his heavy steel sword with effortless leverage, his blade struck out like a venomous snake, puncturing an enemy's throat with a sickening squelch. Another Apostle lunged from his blind spot; without turning, the internal gears inside Corvus's cold mechanical arm engaged with a sharp clatter. A raven-striker short blade snapped outward from the mechanism. A blind reverse-thrust pierced cleanly through the attacker's heart, leaving blood to trickle down the engraved steel grooves.

At the most fluid position on the field, Amber let out a low, primal call.

Her heels transformed in a flash into sleek, streamlined feline hind legs. Pushing off the ground with tremendous force, she left the stone beneath cracked as her body turned into a golden blur, weaving through the chaos. The frantic claws of the Apostles tore through nothing but her lingering afterimages. Amid the howling wind of her rapid movement, Amber calmly raised her revolver as fire spewed incessantly from the muzzle.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every gunshot was answered by a burst of blood. Even while shifting at leopard-like speeds, her trajectory remained horrifyingly precise—every bullet struck true, drilling straight through the foreheads of the oncoming Apostles and leaving behind a trail of lifeless, collapsing husks.

Yet the respite was short-lived. Just as they finished clearing the wave of ambushers and prepared to push forward, a vastly different sound echoed from deep within the mist—a slow, thunderous thud of heavy footsteps.

III. Shadow of the Mad Dragon

The ground shuddered violently without warning as the mad aura suffusing the area condensed into a physical, suffocating pressure. Accompanying those heavy footfalls, a grotesque, towering figure slowly tore through the bloody haze.

It was a tyrant of dual-headed mutation.

Twin heads of entirely different men sat side-by-side on his massive shoulders. The head on the right looked grim and sinister, its eyes cold and deep as dry wells, gazing down at the prey without a trace of life—yet radiating a calculating malice that chilled the marrow. In stark contrast, the left head wore a maniacal grin stretched unnaturally from ear to ear, its hollow eyes burning with a diseased, destructive euphoria as its shrill laughter sent visible shockwaves pulsing through the air.

The monster's torso structure was even more bizarre.

From the left side sprouted two dark, heavy arms. One arm was abruptly severed at the elbow, its stump fused seamlessly with a massive Mana Crystal Cannon that hummed with a faint blue glow. Complex mana-conduction lines writhed through the flesh like living parasites, while the core of the power crystal emitted a high-pitched, deafening charge. The second left arm hung loosely, resting backwards against the creature's waist as if helping to support the massive frame, its posture oddly graceful in a twisted way.

In contrast, the right side embodied unadulterated violence. A colossal right arm—resembling the limb of an ancient giant—bulged with knotted, tree-root muscles. Most terrifying was the giant hand itself, which bore six thick, elongated fingers. At this moment, those six fingers gripped the handle of a massive Dragonbone Cleaver.

Dark bloodstains hung stubbornly to the pale bone blade, radiating a suffocating dragon pressure and grief with every breath the monster took.

"Ryusuke Ryuuguu, Sasuke Ryuuguu," Corvus said, his voice dropping below zero as the gears in his mechanical arm gave a suppressed, low whine.

"Oh?" The maniacally grinning head on the left—Sasuke—looked the three over with gleeful intrigue. "You wretches actually made it all the way here. Brother Ryusuke, these folks are a bit trickier than I thought."

"Doesn't matter," Ryusuke replied from the right, his voice low and utterly devoid of inflection. "Gawain was a useless fool, unable to block even minor trash—he deserved to die. Now that the True Dragon King's power has awakened, we are the ones who must inherit it."

His sinister eyes swept over the King’s Blade at Senbonzakura’s waist, his lips twisting into a cruel smirk: "Little girl, hand over that blade, and I might grant you a clean death."

"Ha," Senbonzakura sneered back, meeting his gaze without a flinch as she eased her blade half an inch from its scabbard, releasing a glint of chilling light. "If Ouroboros could escape from your clutches back then, I'd like to see how much real power you two 'conjoined horrors' actually have left today."

Sasuke licked his lips in excitement, slamming the butt of the Dragonbone Cleaver into the earth, sending shattered rock flying in all directions. "Fascinating, fascinating! Brother Ryusuke, how about letting me play with these ones?"

Ryusuke didn't answer. He simply raised the massive mana cannon on his left shoulder. Deep within the muzzle, a ball of dark-gold energy began to gather, emitting a bone-grating hum. The air temperature spiked instantly, making every breath burn the lungs.

Corvus flicked his gaze sideways, exchanging a rapid look with Amber and Senbonzakura.

Knowing what to do without a word, the three split up into a spread formation, surrounding the twin-headed horror that blocked the entrance to Dragonspine Ridge.

BZZZZZZZZT—!

The ear-ringing hum peaked! Sasuke's maniacal head let out a shrill screech as the Mana Crystal Cannon's core detonated in a blinding flash.

BOOOOOOM—!

A beam of dark-gold energy several meters wide roared forth like an enraged dragon, carrying a tide of destructive heat! The scorching beam split the air, missing the three by mere hairsbreadths as it kicked up a wall of blistering wind.

Senbonzakura used her extreme reflexes to turn into a white streak, retreating sharply to the right; Amber's leopard hind legs exploded with force, leaving a golden arc high in the air; Corvus slid low along the ground, his mechanical hand clawing into the stone to stabilize himself. Hanging by a thread, all three barely escaped the devastating blast.

KA-BOOOOOOM—!!!

The energy beam struck the sheer cliff face behind them dead-on.

Accompanied by a mountain-shaking rumble, the ancient, rock-solid cliff wall was punched through like wet paper! Countless jagged stones and scalding magma rained down everywhere in a chaotic deluge as smoke and dust swallowed the battlefield. The entrance to Dragonspine Ridge shook violently under the impact, as if on the verge of total collapse.

Through the rising smoke, the sinister head on the right turned slowly. Six massive fingers tightened their grip once more around the handle of the Dragonbone Cleaver, sending out a series of crisp, terrifying bone clicks...

"Arthur is at the end of this path," Senbonzakura said in a low, unyielding voice. "I don't care whose shadows you are or whose memories you inherited—today, not one of you steps a foot further."

Sasuke burst into an almost delirious laugh that echoed endlessly through the fog-shrouded mountain pass:

"Hahaha... Then let this grand master show you arrogant little bugs what true despair feels like!"

The Dragonbone Cleaver sliced through the air with a deafening howl—and at the entrance to Dragonspine Ridge, the desperate battle officially began. 7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJugv3kVw1T

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