The battle in Caelid continued, and the war shifted from a certain Imperial victory... to a complete siege threatening to wipe them all out.
The Ultras managed to overturn the situation by launching a sudden and overwhelming assault led by Beatrice the Witch and the Hollow, Simon Manus, who had remained hidden for most of the war.
The surprise strike was devastating. A massive number of Imperial soldiers inside Caelid were slaughtered.
On the other side, the sudden appearance of Wesker from behind made retreat impossible.
The Fourth Highest Demon was absurdly powerful .. powerful enough to annihilate their entire army alone, without the Ultras’ help at all.
The only reason the battle had lasted this long was because Frey Starlight and Snow Lionheart were holding him back.
The two of them were fighting with everything they had, pushing far beyond their limits, aware that the moment either of them fell... the war would be over.
At some point in the fight, the battle became a rapid clash where there was no room to think .. only to act.
Frey was using Black Hole Aura, but he was gradually reaching his limit.
Despite the vast reservoir of aura he possessed, the Black Hole Aura could not be used endlessly.
Yet it was the only weapon capable of wounding Wesker .. of inflicting real damage.
Black Hole Aura by itself was a world-breaking ability, one so powerful it rivaled the Soul of Light possessed by Snow.
This alone proved how terrifying Shadow Adaptation truly was ..
the embodiment of seven world-breaking powers fused into one.
Because of that—and because Snow was the natural counter to demons through the Soul of Light—
the two of them were able to endure by coordinating with perfect precision... combining their strengths.
While the two of them cornered Wesker, both felt the same thing at the same time:
They were reaching their limits.
Frey was barely managing to maintain the same overwhelming tempo of combat as his aura drained.
Snow, meanwhile, had brought out more of the Soul of Light than his body was ready to handle.
Both of them were on the verge of collapsing ..
yet neither allowed themselves to fall.
Not yet.
"If I fall... Snow will not survive on his own."
"If I fall... Frey will be overwhelmed."
At that critical moment in the battle, these were their thoughts.
Somehow, both ignored their own breaking bodies ..
and focused on each other instead.
Frey worried for Snow.
Snow worried for Frey.
And in that exact moment ..
something remarkable happened.
The way they fought changed.
They no longer acted as two fighters.
They acted as one.
Snow covered Frey’s weaknesses completely ..
and Frey did the same for Snow.
Normally, in a two-on-one, coordination improves the more the fighters understand one another.
But the level of understanding between Frey and Snow was absurd.
As if ..
"One man..."
Wesker said it himself, recognizing the truth before them.
This synchronized unity allowed the two to draw out power far beyond their individual ceilings ..
even Wesker found himself acknowledging the scale of what they were doing.
Wesker’s arms were coated in a black substance formed from his aura .. making his limbs harder than any metal in this world.
Drenching himself in that devouring power, he chose close-quarters combat ..
abandoning his Wave Manipulation for some reason.
Yet even as he parried their blades ..
"Both of you are outputting SSS-Rank power despite not having broken into that rank yet...
And both of you wield world-breaking abilities .. one being the natural bane of demons,
the other being the greatest weapon Nameless ever possessed."
"And fighting together like this... the result is truly extraordinary."
Wesker laughed.
"If your opponent were Zibar instead of me, it’s likely he would have lost.
Truly... astonishing."
Encircled by them, Wesker’s third eye opened.
"I have lived among you.
I have seen everything with my own eyes, Heroes of Humanity..."
BOOOOOOM!!
Snow’s blade collided against Wesker’s right arm, while Dark Sister fell upon his left.
From both sides, the two had him locked in completely.
"What you’re doing is impressive...
but this alone will never defeat me."
The space around them shuddered.
Frey and Snow both felt the shift instantly.
"Gravity...?"
Wesker manipulated gravity .. at a level so overwhelming the air itself became heavy.
Under that crushing weight, Frey and Snow were driven downward ..slamming into the ground with violent force.
The gravitational pressure buried them deep into the earth.
The entire battlefield froze under the suffocating force.
The only one left standing in the sky was Wesker ..
alone..
declaring himself the absolute superior lifeform.
He stretched out both arms ..
revealing dozens of bleeding wounds left by Frey and Snow’s blades ..
And with a blink, the wounds healed.
Meanwhile, beneath the crushing pressure, Frey and Snow struggled to even breathe...
"See now? Didn’t I tell you?"
Wesker’s voice echoed across the entire battlefield.
"This is all it takes for me to bury you both.
The moment I choose to use Wave Manipulation... you collapse."
He smiled .. unchanged from the very start of the battle.
"So what now?
Tell me, Frey. Tell me, Snow."
The air trembled.
"Should I abandon Wave Manipulation again... and fight you like a savage brute—just to give you a chance?"
"Or should I simply end this here and now?"
Wesker.
Highest Fourth Seat Demon.
His true mastery .. Wave Manipulation.
Wesker is counted among the top five Wave Manipulators in existence .. and there are only four others who can rival him in that field.
Unleashing his true power meant nothing less than the beginning of catastrophe for humanity.
In those desperate moments under crushing pressure, Wesker started to laugh, scornful.
"Do you really think that by fighting here you will spare the lives of those weak humans of the Empire? Is that what you believe?!" Wesker shouted, his terrifying voice sweeping through the ears of every man present.
"Who do you think I am? Who do you think you are fighting right now?!" he roared, pointing at the Imperial lines.
"Let me enlighten your ignorance, soldiers and so-called heroes of the Empire .. learn this well: the fate of your loved ones is no different from your own. While you struggle here to survive, the Empire is being consumed by fire!"
Wesker’s words shook the field.
From the moment he appeared, the end had begun .. not only for the soldiers before him, but for the Empire as a whole.
"Geppetto is advancing now with his army, and many High Demons are inside Imperial soil... they are exterminating its people and spilling their blood one by one! Your families, your loved ones, your friends — they are being wiped out right now, one by one!" Wesker screamed madly.
"Do you hear that, Frey?! Your family! Among them .. your sister’s Soul is hanging there!!"
Those words landed like thunder, the final blow that crashed over Frey.
He immediately opened his system HUD in disbelief and scrambled to check Ada’s status.
Her name flashed among his close contacts .. in a terrible, deadly crimson.
That color appears only when something has befallen the person... the same crimson had shown during the chase when Danzo and Sansa teetered on the edge of death.
That red alone was enough for Frey to know Wesker was not lying.
Starlight’s thoughts followed the same horrific cascade.
Beyond the demonic sea, the Empire’s lands were burning.
All Imperial forces were here on Ultras territory; there was no one left to defend those people on the other front. In other words, what was happening there was simple extermination without resistance.
Realizing that, Frey felt his head burn as if something inside him was about to explode.
He bit his lip so hard blood spilled to the ground.
His eyes bled red, veins crawling across their whites.
Frey’s body trembled .. and unconsciously he released a far greater amount of Black Hole Aura, breaking free from Wesker’s gravity.
Wesker smiled with delight at the sight.
He had been pushing Frey to the edge; Frey knew that. He couldn’t help but erupt after what he’d heard and seen.
"I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve with all of this, Wesker... but be sure .. you’ll gain nothing good from toying with me any further. Either I kill you here and now... or I die trying!" Frey roared, shattering the ground beneath him and lunging at Wesker.
"Frey!! Don’t fall for his provocation .. that’s what he wants!!" Snow shouted, trying to stop him, but to no avail.
Frey slammed into Wesker without preamble, unleashing a torrent of lethal strikes that tore the sky itself.
Watching, Snow realized Frey could not defeat Wesker even under such horrific strain.
The attacks were violent and thunderous, one after another .. Snow was stunned for a moment .. but the defining mark was that Wesker blocked every strike Frey hurled without trouble.
Falling to the ground, Snow glanced at himself.
He was still in his strongest form .. The Anointed War State .. but his condition was pitiful.
His golden shield in his left hand had shattered and cracked terribly.
His golden helm was broken, leaving half his face exposed.