The battle had begun, and its pillars were set in place ..
Gehrman vs. Wesker... and Abraham Starlight vs. Zibar.
The balance had shifted.
With a single move from the Engineer, the scales were evened, and the demons no longer held the advantage ..
If anything, the Shadow Sect now possessed the upper hand.
Gehrman wasted no time.
He advanced with the sole intention of destroying the demon before him ..
Wesker, the Fourth Seat.
The look in Gehrman’s eyes said everything.
For the first time in ages, he could fight at a level close to his former peak.
All thanks to the power he borrowed from Fulghor ..
A power that wouldn’t last forever, and Gehrman had no intention of wasting a single moment.
He extended his hand, and a brilliant sky-blue radiance burst forth, forming multiple circling rings around his arm.
"The Ruler’s Hand."
His heavy voice echoed as the ability took form ..
Four rotating circles ..no, clocks spun around Gehrman’s right hand, each one ticking with precision and stability.
"Shall we begin, then... Wesker?"
Before the demon could even react, Gehrman vanished ..
Reappearing in front of him with a lightning-fast left punch aimed directly at Wesker’s face.
Wesker barely managed to cross his arms in time, but the impact .. combined with the crushing sky-blue aura .. sent him flying until he slammed into the ground.
This Gehrman was nothing like the weakened version from the past.
And Wesker was about to learn that the hard way.
---
On the other side ..
Abraham stood in front of his son, shielding him with his own body.
"Father... I—"
Eyes red, Frey attempted to speak, but Abraham stopped him.
"There’s no need to say anything now... we’ll have plenty of time to talk ..
after we kill that demon."
He placed his palm on Frey’s chest, and a warm, radiant surge of aura washed through him ..
A comforting glow Frey hadn’t felt since the battle began.
Abraham’s power seeped into his body, soothing the pain and exhaustion in a near-miraculous way, leaving Frey stunned by the sensation.
Just like father, like son ..
Frey never imagined his father could transfer his power to others.
"Are you able to fight?" Abraham asked.
Frey pushed himself up, staggering slightly but smiling through the pain.
"One way or another... I can manage for a few minutes."
"Good. That’s more than enough," Abraham replied with a smile before turning toward Zibar ..
Frey turning with him.
Zibar approached with heavy steps, rage carved across his face.
He extended the stump of his severed arm, and instantly ..
The arm Abraham had cut earlier shot back into place as if magnetically reattached.
Zibar did not look pleased.
"What the hell is this?! Aren’t you supposed to be controlling your damned corpses?! I’m talking to you, Geppetto!"
Geppetto appeared at a distance, panic written all over his face.
"I—I don’t know! My ability revives the body, not the soul! Somehow... that man’s consciousness awakened, and I can’t override it anymore!"
He had tried repeatedly to reassert control over Abraham ..
But it was useless.
"You won’t be controlling me again, demon," Abraham said, summoning a blade of pure light into his hand.
"The moment my consciousness returned... your defeat was sealed."
"Don’t get cocky, human. Your strength is nothing before the Upper Demons," Zibar spat.
Abraham chuckled coldly.
"It may not be enough against the strongest of your kind...
But it is more than enough to kill the likes of you."
"We’ll see about that."
With fury, Zibar shot forward at full speed.
Abraham shoved Frey aside and met Zibar’s strike with his blade.
"Frey! Take care of the other demon—get Ada away from him!" Abraham shouted as he dove into a ferocious, high-speed clash with Zibar.
Frey nodded, then launched himself like a dark beam straight at Geppetto.
The puppeteer demon panicked the moment he saw Frey charging and turned to flee immediately.
He didn’t even attempt to fight.
The Rank 13 demon was never physically strong ..
His power relied entirely on the corpses he controlled.
And he had placed all his trust in Abraham’s body.
A trust that cost him dearly.
"Stay away from me!!" Geppetto screamed, firing dozens of beams of aura at Frey.
Frey tightened his grip on Dark Sister, allowing the Black-Hole Aura to surge through it, slicing through Geppetto’s attacks effortlessly.
"Father is incredible... he actually managed to restore my exhausted body... even if only temporarily..."
Abraham’s warm energy still coursed through his veins, letting him fight again at full power after spending everything earlier.
Frey could hardly believe what was happening, nor how Gehrman had turned the entire battle around and brought his father back.
Too much had happened .. but right now, Frey focused only on the demon before him.
The demon he would kill.
With the explosive power of the Black-Hole Aura, Geppetto had no way to defend against Frey’s blade.
No matter what barriers or attacks the Rank 13 demon summoned,
Dark Sister cut through everything.
"This is strange... you’re a high-ranking demon .. so why are you this weak?"
SLASH!!!
With a swift motion, Frey bypassed Geppetto’s defenses and severed the demon’s right leg.
"If only all demons were as weak as you... I would’ve ended this war ages ago."
"Damn you!! Don’t underestimate me!" Geppetto roared, reattaching his severed leg as both his hands spread wide, a surge of ashen aura erupting violently from within his body.
A heartbeat later, countless tendrils of aura burst outward, ripping through the air as they shot toward Frey from every direction.
He was surrounded .. trapped on all sides.
But before a single tendril could touch him, Frey moved his dominant hand.
A storm of afterimages erupted behind the Dark Sister, created by the sheer speed with which he swung it.
A moment later, the blade unleashed a barrage of dark aura arcs, shredding the tendrils into fragments that scattered across the battlefield.
Frey cut through the attack with ease, then leveled his sword at Geppetto.
"You’re the bastard who dared to defile my father’s corpse. Don’t even dream of leaving this place alive."
BOOOOM!!!
The Dark Sister roared as Frey unleashed a massive beam of aura born purely from Black Hole Aura.
The beam devoured Geppetto’s body in seconds .. melting flesh, bone, and soul alike.
The assault lasted several long seconds before the demon finally managed to roll away, barely escaping death as he tumbled across the ground.
His body was a disaster—charred, shredded, bleeding from dozens of open wounds.
He tried to stand...
Only to find Frey already in front of him.
A fraction of a second later, he heard the wet, sickening sound of steel piercing flesh as the Dark Sister was driven through his chest.
Using the momentum, Frey rammed Geppetto backward until his body crashed against a massive slab of rubble.
Pinned there, Frey pressed the Dark Sister deeper, carving a hollow cavity through the demon’s torso.
Geppetto clawed at the blade with both hands, desperate, trembling—but it didn’t budge an inch.
Frey stared coldly into his eyes for a heartbeat...
Then channeled Black Hole Aura through the Dark Sister again, letting it pour violently into the demon’s insides.
Geppetto screamed ..an agonized, broken shriek .. as his body tore apart from within, shredded at terrifying speed.
Frey reduced him to ruin before finally ripping the blade out, letting the demon collapse to the ground like a discarded rag.
Geppetto was barely alive .. crawling like an insect, dragging himself through the dirt in a pathetic attempt to flee.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Frey blocked his path in an instant, planting his boot firmly onto Geppetto’s head.
"Didn’t I tell you? You die here today."
He lifted the Dark Sister, preparing the final strike.
In that moment, the Rank 13 demon felt fear unlike anything he had known—real, final, suffocating fear.
"P-Please! Don’t kill me!! I’ll do anything .. just don’t!!"
Geppetto trembled violently under Frey’s foot, scrambling desperately for any chance to survive.
But Frey didn’t even consider the demon’s pleas.
"You dared meddle with my father’s corpse. You dared stain him with your filth, Geppetto...
You committed an unforgivable sin .. and its only punishment... is death."
With a furious thrust, Frey stabbed the demon again, blood gushing violently over the shattered ground.
"Don’t worry," Frey growled.
"You won’t share my father’s fate. I won’t leave your corpse behind. I’ll tear you apart until nothing remains of your filth in this world!"
The Dark Sister swung relentlessly.. again and again ripping Geppetto’s body into pieces.
He screamed for a long time, begging for mercy...
Begging his masters...
Begging Zibar...
Begging Wesker...
But neither could help him.
Both were locked in mortal combat against overwhelming foes.
Geppetto was completely alone.
And thus, his life ended at the hands of Frey Starlight.
Frey annihilated him utterly, until nothing but drifting black dust remained.
Proof that the Rank 13 demon had vanished from existence.
But then .. something strange happened.
From the remains of Geppetto, a warped surge of dark aura erupted... the lingering essence of his necromantic ability.
With its master dead, nothing remained to restrain the undead he’d been controlling.
The result...
All the corpses he had resurrected were suddenly freed .. rampaging mindlessly across the world like berserk killing machines.
A new catastrophe had begun.
But Frey knew nothing of that .. nor did he care.
By killing Geppetto, he had finally completed one of the objectives of his final mission.
Standing calmly amid the fallen earth, he gazed up at the sky .. his eyes glowing a deep, ominous violet.
The moment Geppetto died... Frey felt it.
A surge.
A change.
As if his entire body evolved—flooded by a majestic force that renewed every cell within him.
Shadow Adaptation: 5/7.
A new stage unlocked.
A new surge of strength.
Shadow Adaptation... his greatest weapon... had grown again.
Still half-dazed, Frey turned his head toward Ada.
She was in terrible shape, covered in blood .. but alive, protected by the strange barrier.
She was safe.
That was enough.
Frey then looked toward another direction ..
Toward the battle between his father and the High-Rank Demon.
His fist clenched as power surged through him anew.
Without warning, he launched himself toward them.
Abraham Starlight had died once to save him ..
And Frey would not allow it to happen again.
This time, he would fight for him.
Fight beside him.
Long ago, Frey had decided:
He would never be a spectator again.
His father’s return was a dream...
A dream he refused to let slip away.
So, without a moment’s hesitation..
Frey charged into the battle against Zibar, joining his father in their decisive fight.