20

7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIondcVIcws

1. Barrage and Thrust

Senbonzakura gritted her teeth, pushing off the ground with the tip of her foot to propel herself forward like an arrow released from a bow, charging straight toward the positions of Yosuke and Sasuke.

However, before her blade had even reached the halfway point, the dragon-bone greatsword in Yosuke’s hand swept across with astonishing speed. The two brothers, sharing a single torso, were somehow able to execute two completely different rhythms of attack simultaneously from the same body! Senbonzakura was knocked back three steps, a numb, stinging sensation vibrating through the webbing of her hand.

"Little girl, did you really think you were only fighting one person?" Yosuke grinned wildly, his six fingers gripping the hilt with terrifying strength. "Sasuke and I share more than just this shell; we share—each other's rhythm!"

Even as he spoke, the magi-crystal cannon on Sasuke’s shoulder behind him began to glow faintly, clearly brewing its next charged blast; yet Yosuke’s offensive showed no sign of lag. One close and one distant, one fast and one slow, the two cooperated with seamless perfection, acting truly like a single combat entity endowed with two independent logical frameworks for attack.

Corgoroth’s crystal eye rapidly pierced through the core key: "They aren't relying on cooperative synchronization—they are sharing nerves and thinking in sync."

"So what?" Amber sidestepped to evade a sweeping shockwave, her revolver precisely striking a mad dragon apostle attempting to flank them from the side, her tone still carrying a trace of lazy nonchalance. "A monster like this has to have some kind of weakness, detective?"

"Sharing a single body means they must share the exact same rhythm of breathing and blood flow," Corgoroth calmly analyzed, his mechanical prosthetic arm rotating quietly as the crow-claw iron hook prepared for action. "If we can disrupt the rhythm of either side—"

"Then the other side's rhythm will fall apart too," Senbonzakura grasped the insight immediately, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes. "Interesting."

2. Breaking the Formation

Taking a deep breath, Senbonzakura stopped clashing head-on with Yosuke’s blade, shifting instead to dart around their flanks with lightning-fast footwork. She deliberately sought out tricky, unpredictable angles—fainting a strike to lure Sasuke into pursuing, then abruptly withdrawing to sabotage their otherwise flawless attack rhythm.

At first, Yosuke remained unruffled, but gradually, his movements began to develop subtle hitches. The magi-crystal cannon on Sasuke’s shoulder, which had been charging its second full-power blast, was disrupted by the erratic, stuttering rhythm of Yosuke’s breathing. The dark golden light condensing at the muzzle flickered unstably, failing to fully gather its energy.

"Damn little rat, stop playing your sneaky tricks!" Sasuke's expression darkened, a sliver of agitation piercing through his frenzied smile for the very first time.

At that exact split second, Corgoroth lunged forward fiercely! His mechanical arm fired the crow-claw iron hook with pinpoint precision—not targeting their bodies, but wrapping tightly around the barrel interface of Sasuke’s magi-crystal cannon.

"Amber!"

"Got it!"

Amber’s figure instantly soared into the air, her finger pressing the trigger of her revolver as a rare hint of seriousness edged into her voice: "Let's hope this works even on freaks like them."

The bullet embedded itself deeply into the cannon barrel interface held fast by Corgoroth, detonating in a burst of dark purple electrical arcs! The dark golden energy accumulated inside the magi-crystal cannon instantly reversed flow, letting out a piercing shriek as it savagely backlashed into Sasuke’s body!

"Ugh—!"

Sasuke let out a muffled groan, his single knee buckling slightly. The shared body stiffened violently from the violent backwash of energy, and Yosuke’s fiercely aggressive blade momentum suffered a nearly fatal opening.

"Now is the chance!"

Clang————!

Senbonzakura’s figure transformed into a golden streak of light, her sovereign blade wrapped in overwhelming dragon might as it slashed viciously toward the opening! The instant the long blade was about to touch the enemy, the airflow and sword intent within her compressed to their absolute limits, causing countless petals of pure sword-qi cherry blossoms to materialize out of thin air all around them.

"Secret Art—Cherry Blossom Qi-Blade Helm Splitter!"

With a sharp cry from Senbonzakura, her entire body launched upward into mid-air like a shooting star defying the heavens. In a flash, the sovereign blade in her hand morphed into a heaven-splitting giant blade tearing through the night sky. With a fierce swish-sh-sh , countless qi-blade cherry blossoms raged downward in the wake of the blade’s trajectory, layered slashes instantly enveloping the massive physique entirely!

Slash! Slash! Slash!

It was the piercing sound of countless sword qi simultaneously tearing through flesh. The overwhelmingly domineering cherry-blossom qi-blade helm splitter precisely dealt a devastating blow to the monster's right side. The blade tore through Yosuke’s shoulder, sending blood flying. Yosuke let out a scream, stumbling backward as the dragon-bone greatsword in his hand nearly slipped from his grip.

Thud, thud, thud...

The monster's heavy giant feet retreated continuously across the ground, crushing countless rock fragments. On the left side, the crazed head of Sasuke let out a reluctant, weird 'ee-ya' shriek, seemingly feeling the pain from the heavy blow suffered by Yosuke; while on the right, the wounded Yosuke wore an even gloomier expression, letting out low, hissing gasps of pain as he desperately used his six fingers to tighten his grip on the trembling dragon-bone greatsword, his eyes burning with a furious, maddened intent to kill.

3. The Twin-Headed Dragon

"Damn it, it hurts..." Yosuke’s eyes bloodshot and wide, he grimaced as he clutched his bleeding shoulder. His original crazed smile instantly twisted into a vicious, malevolent scowl while Sasuke yelled, "Kill her! Kill them all! Tear them to pieces!"

"The game... is over."

Yosuke’s voice suddenly stopped sounding human. When the words squeezed out from his throat, they were laced with a low, drawn-out dragon roar that threatened to shatter eardrums.

Sasuke let out a nearly frenzied, ferocious laugh, and instantly, a wave of arrogant dragon aura burst from the shared body—an aura strong enough to suffocate all three of them. It was no longer the desperate, ferocious overdraft of strength from before, but a much more primitive, absolute oppressive presence closer to that of a "god"—as if something long-sealed had finally torn apart its shackles.

"Not good—fall back!" Corgoroth shouted sharply, his mechanical arm hauling Senbonzakura, who stood at the front, behind him.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the neck shared by Yosuke and Sasuke abruptly elongated and twisted! Flesh and skin tore apart, then miraculously healed and restructured themselves as two heads separated amidst a frenzy of expanding bones and scales.

The original human form completely disintegrated at a rate visible to the naked eye—four pitch-black, massive dragon wings tore out from the spine, beating violently to shake off a sky full of dust; two thick, ferocious tails whipped wildly behind them, the kicked-up air currents strong enough to grind surrounding boulders into dust!

That was no longer a "human," but a truly authentic twin-headed dragon!

It lowered its head to look down at the three of them. Within the four dragon eyes across its two heads, the exact same crazy and cruel flame burned simultaneously. The corner of the left dragon head's mouth retained the familiar, crazed smile of Sasuke; the right dragon head silently opened Yosuke’s cold, lifeless, gloomy eyes.

It spread its giant claws, and the dragon-bone greatsword previously held in its hand now felt as light as a feather in its palm, swung around as casually as a child playing with a toy.

"This is going to be trouble." Amber rarely ever put away her playful smile, her voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity. "They weren't even using their full strength just now. Everything before was... just a warm-up."

4. Beyond Hope

Gritting her teeth, Senbonzakura lunged forward once more, her sovereign blade wrapped in all her remaining dragon might as she slashed fiercely toward the dragon's foreleg!

Facing that impenetrable defense, her dual pupils burned with resolute fighting spirit, driving her remaining sword qi into a wild frenzy. Her long blade carved a breathtaking pink storm through mid-air—

"Secret Art—Cherry Blossom Qi-Blade Slash!"

Hum——————!

Accompanied by a high-pitched blade ring, an overwhelming pink sword radiance burst from the sovereign blade. Countless cherry blossom petals transformed into tiny, unstoppable qi-blades, roaring downward in a violent tempest with this heaven-shaking strike!

Clang——————！！！

A deafening metallic collision exploded outward, the powerful counter-shock force generating a visible ripple of air that sent surrounding rubble rolling away with a clatter.

Yet the moment the blade touched those scales, it left behind only a faint white scratch, failing to even draw a drop of blood.

Roar————!

The dragon let out a thunderous, mocking roar. Under the scouring of the cherry blossom sword qi, those scales only reflected an even colder, eerier glow. Senbonzakura was blasted back by the immense recoil, losing her balance in mid-air as she tumbled backward multiple steps.

"Impossible..." Her face instantly turned pale white.

Whoosh——————!

A violent gale swept across the entire clearing without warning. The dragon disdainfully flicked its tail, its seemingly casual strike carrying a cataclysmic, violent force that slammed Senbonzakura—blade and all—flying away, crashing heavily into the rock wall several yards out before she let out a muffled groan and failed to rise again.

Bang-thud————！！！

The hard rock wall cracked in web-like fractures under the impact, a torrent of rubble burying her halfway within.

"Ugh... Ah..."

Senbonzakura's delicate face turned deathly pale, her internal organs tumbling chaotically within her chest. Pressing a hand over her heart, a sweet taste rose in her throat accompanied by a painful dry heave, causing her to instantly vomit a mouthful of fresh blood mixed with visceral fragments onto the scorching ground, staining the surrounding stones in a startling, shocking display.

She attempted to push herself up using both hands, but the intense agony caused her entire body to tremble. Her beautiful eyes welled up with crystalline tears amidst the pain, gasping painfully while letting out a weak, unwilling moan, before ultimately collapsing helplessly against the rock wall, completely losing the strength to stand up once more.

"Senbonzakura!" Corgoroth shouted sharply, pouring the very last remnants of his prosthetic arm's magi-ash into the demon-slaying cannon and firing a beam of light straight toward the corner of the dragon’s left head! However, the power that was once enough to stagger a golden wyvern now landed on this true twin-headed dragon without even causing it to blink.

Amber’s panther-like claws, which could slice through steel with lightning speed, were completely repelled and deflected the instant they touched the dragon scales.

"We are... simply not on the same scale." Corgoroth breathed heavily, cold sweat dripping down his temple as the power furnace inside his prosthetic arm completely ran dry, emitting a heart-stopping grinding screech. He had never felt so truly aware of the insurmountable chasm existing between himself and the ancient monster before him.

The right-side head of the dragon slowly opened its massive jaws, and Yosuke’s flat, lifeless voice rumbled from the depths of the dragon's throat:

"Lacking even the qualification to struggle, yet you dared stand before the successor of the True Dragon King."

Gritting his teeth, Corgoroth forced his exhausted body upright, intending to rush forward and protect the fallen Senbonzakura and the bruised Amber. However, the dragon's second massive tail struck first, sweeping across the entire mountain path where the three stood!

The rock beneath their feet shattered and collapsed with a deafening roar!

"Corgoroth——!" Amber's cry of shock was instantly swallowed by the echoing roar of the collapse.

Caught off guard, the three figures plunged downward together with the fractured mountain path, piercing through the churning fog and falling straight toward a deep, bottomless abyss where a crimson glow surged far below.

It was a volcanic magma abyss that boiled year-round, hot enough to devour and consume everything in its path.

As they fell, Corgoroth managed in a daze to grab the wrists of Senbonzakura and Amber beside him, pulling them desperately into his embrace. A scorching heatwave washed over them as a blinding crimson glare swallowed his final field of vision—

And then, everything faded into darkness. 7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHLTWvQe0B

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2