Everything that happened next in Shinjin Lake would be recorded in the annals of Kamioda Shrine.
"On this day, the seal of Shinjin Lake was broken."
"Horned Serpents swarmed the land like locusts."
"Calamity descended like a nightmare."
"Against such overwhelming violence, none could stand their ground."
"Until an even greater violence emerged."
This was the account preserved in the records of Kamioda Shrine.
When the endless tide of Horned Serpents surged forward like a stampeding army, three men stepped forth, unleashing a storm of ferocious magical energy.
Thus, true violence descended.
"Sagara!"
Vatler channeled his surging mana into a torrent, giving form to a colossal serpent.
It was one of his nine Beast Vassals—a vicious green serpent stretching dozens of meters in length.
The serpent erupted from the torrent of mana, roaring like a dragon. Its burning gaze swept over the approaching horde of Horned Serpents, unleashing a searing flash of light that carved through the battlefield like a beam cannon.
"Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!"
Explosions erupted in rapid succession, flames bursting forth where the light touched, incinerating the oncoming Horned Serpents in an inferno.
It happened in an instant.
The Horned Serpent army was torn apart, their formation shattered as Vatler's overwhelming force broke through their ranks with a single strike.
In that one attack, tens of thousands—perhaps even hundreds of thousands—of Horned Serpents were annihilated.
It was a feat not even the JSDF's Special Attack Mage Unit could achieve.
Yet this was only the beginning.
"Turn them into acid—Meretseger!"
With Iblisveil Aziz's resounding call, a thick purple mist unfurled behind him.
From within the haze emerged a massive cobra, its size rivaling that of Vatler's Beast Vassal.
The moment the colossal serpent appeared, it released a noxious fog that spread rapidly.
"Ssssss...!"
A sickening, corrosive sound filled the air as the Horned Serpents that charged into the mist suddenly stiffened, then dropped from the sky one after another, convulsing. Their bodies smoked and melted, dissolving under the effects of the deadly miasma.
This fog was a poisonous mist capable of corroding anything it touched.
This was the power of Iblisveil's Beast Vassal—an ability to endlessly generate toxins potent enough to corrode human flesh and dissolve all matter.
Originally, this Beast Vassal did not belong to Iblisveil. It had once been under the command of the Second Princess of the Dynasty of Destruction. But after Iblisveil devoured her, the Beast Vassal submitted to him, becoming one of his own.
While Iblisveil's other Beast Vassals possessed formidable destructive power, this one was different—it silently melted everything in its path. Though it lacked the overt devastation of the others, its insidious nature made it all the more chilling.
If allowed to unleash its poison unchecked, it could turn hundreds of kilometers of land into a wasteland—forests withered, earth barren, transformed into a toxic swamp. A truly terrifying force.
In this battle, Iblisveil annihilated even more Horned Serpents than Vatler, dissolving entire swarms into pools of blood and gore.
Yet, beyond Iblisveil and Vatler, an even greater violence loomed.
"Come forth."
Rozen's voice resounded across the battlefield.
"Kiffa Ater."
The moment that name left his lips, the expressions of both Vatler and Iblisveil shifted.
In the next instant, the sky was torn asunder.
A massive meteor wreathed in searing flames pierced through the clouds, breaking through the atmosphere before the eyes of all.
The meteor's true form was that of a colossal weapon—a divine blade once wielded by the gods to slay demons. With a blade over a hundred meters long, it descended from thousands of meters in the sky, pulled down by an unfathomable gravitational force.
"The Seventh...!?"
Without hesitation, Iblisveil flared his mana wings and shot backward in retreat.
"It seems our Divine Child isn't holding back at all!"
Vatler burst into laughter, even as his body dissolved into mist and vanished.
Himeragi Yukina and Kuraki Shirona's expressions also changed.
"Senpai!"
Yukina cried out.
"Fall back—now!"
Shirona shouted a warning, immediately manipulating her spirit threads to pull the JSDF soldiers away.
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
Haba Yuiri and Hikawa Shio barely had time to react before Akatsuki Hisano yanked them back in retreat.
Even the Horned Serpents seemed to sense the impending doom, freezing in place before frantically scattering.
But it was already too late.
The colossal meteor descended before all eyes, crashing directly into the heart of Shinjin Lake.
"Boom!"
A deafening roar erupted as the black trisula blade struck with the force of a falling asteroid. The explosive shockwave shattered the earth, split the lake apart, and the instantaneous heat vaporized all the water, causing Shinjin Lake to detonate. The recoil sent a kilometers-wide vortex of destruction radiating outward, flattening the surrounding forest—trees crushed, uprooted, obliterated—erasing Shinjin Lake from existence in an instant.
Naturally, the Horned Serpent horde at the epicenter was wiped away like fragile paper, vaporized in the blinding surge, leaving not even ashes behind.
This single strike turned the land within dozens of kilometers of Shinjin Lake into dust, leaving nothing behind.
When the dust settled, all that remained was a crater—so vast it resembled a basin or valley, its scorched earth billowing smoke, devoid of all life.
"...Well then."
Vatler and Iblisveil, now hovering in the distant sky, stared at the devastation before turning their heated gazes in one direction.
At the crater's edge, Kuraki Shirona, Akatsuki Hisano, Yuiri, Shio, and the surviving JSDF soldiers sat frozen, their minds blank in the face of such destruction.
Even Yukina, clutching Nagisa and Avrora, was left speechless.
Their survival was owed partly to Tobias and Kira summoning their Beast Vassals to block some of the shockwave—and partly to Kinu, its blazing wings spread wide, shielding them from harm.
Then, a figure stepped forward, calm as if taking a leisurely stroll.
"Now, we can talk properly."
Rozen's voice was cool as he addressed the gathered survivors.
Yet no one could muster a response.
The events of this day would be seared into their memories.
Never to be forgotten.