The city of Romix was in flames after Bloom Newgate had assaulted the city with her royal fleet. Currently, the soldiers stationed there were trying their best to fight back and were finally able to do so with both the queen and Jin Makoto preoccupied.

“Attack! Repel them back! Reinforcements are on the way! Survive until then!”

A soldier commanded his comrades while charging to meet Bloom’s soldiers who descended on the ground. Whether it was the sky or the ground, countless battles were underway.

*Bam!*

One battle that was particularly intense was the one between Shòuxìng and Jin Makoto.

*Bam!*

Shòu cut through a truck with glaive while chasing Jin Makoto, who mercilessly thrust his sword at his neck in response. Shòu avoided the blade by leaning to the side; he then hit Jin on the side of the head with an elbow. Jin stumbled forward and Shòu kneed him in the midsection.

*Bam!*

Jin jumped and headbutt Shòu in nose forcing his head back. Jin then hit him with two hooks and stepped in his chest when he took a step back.

“Thruster on!”

*Bam!*

Shòu was blown away with burns all over his chest from Jin activating his boots. Jin twisted his body in the air after flying back and then flew towards Shòu while thrusting his sword at his heart.

“Ah!”

Shòu surprisingly took the initiative and moved towards him and slammed his fist into Jin’s face while allowing himself to be stabbed in the shoulder. He then grabbed Jin by the hair and then kneed him the face while laughing.

“You son of a-”

Jin clenched his teeth and then hit Shòu with an uppercut to the chin which rose him off the ground. He flew up with his boots and hit Shòu with a roundhouse to the side of his head. He even controlled the thrusters on his boots to boost the power of his kick. Shòu’s body spun like a corkscrew while it was blown into a building.

“Hah~! Hah~!”

Jin stood there breathing heavily with blood flowing down his face. He spat the blood gathering in his mouth on the ground and then shouted.

“Shòuxìng, you bastard! I know that you’re not seriously hurt so stop hiding and come out and fight!”

“I was going to do that without your shouting.”

Shòu came out of the building covered in blood as well.

“Good. It’s my job to put down all treacherous subordinates. Come over here and let me kill you.”

“My life isn’t so cheap that I would give it to you, dickhead.”

“Then I’ll just take it.”

The two charged at each other simultaneously.

“?!”

They both stopped and then leaped back.

*Bam!*

Something fell out of the sky and landed between them. When the dust settled they saw two familiar men standing before them.

“Ace and Sora?!”

“Yo, do you mind if we cut in?”

Ace immediately charged at Shòu while Sora went for Jin.

“Damn you, stay out of this!”

Jin slashed at Sora who disappeared and reappeared behind him.

“Sorry, but the boss’ orders!”

Sora created an invisible blade made of sound and rush at Jin who swung his sword. The swords clashed and Sora was instantly forced back. Jin chased after him and slashed at his neck, Sora ducked under it and thrust his palm forward.

“Resound!”

A powerful blast of sound hit Jin and propelled him back. Before he could prepare to counter Sora attacked again with a spear in his hand, that came out of nowhere. Jin stepped forward and deflect Sora’s strike with his sword. He then slashed at Sora’s sides, Sora turned his spear downwards and blocked the strike before thrusting at Jin’s head. Jin slightly twisted his body to avoid it and then countered with a thrust to Sora’s chest. The sword tip hit an invisible wall, unable to reach Sora.

“Kusanagi!”

Sora’s eyes widened when he saw wind gathering in front of him and then concentrating at the tip of Jin’s sword.

“Strike!”

Sora was hit by an overwhelming amount of wind that blew him away and demolished several buildings that were behind him. Despite being fast enough to protect himself inside a sound barrier, he was still flung around to the point that he wouldn’t be surprised if he died at any second. When the storm faded he found himself laying on a mountain of rubble with his body aching. He sat up with a frown.

“I’m really not getting paid enough for this shit.”

Meanwhile, Ace and Shòu were duking it out in an intense battle of fists. Ace was in his Brawler Character and was using his Beastly Vita to add magma monster-like features to his body.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

Their fists repeatedly slammed on each other’s bodies nonstop.

“Hahaha! So what do you think, Kaido?! The last time we fought I couldn’t take one of your punches but now I’m eating them for lunch!”

Ace laughed even after receiving a powerful blow to the stomach. He hit Shòu with fast jabs that burnt his body because of the magma trait granted to Ace from his Beastly Vita.

“Dammit! Just what’s up with Miko and his apostles?! You guys are so annoying!”

*Bam!*

Ace was suddenly flattened with a punch to the face. He was hit so hard his body bounced off the ground.

“Annoying? Hahahaha!”

Ace suddenly rose off the ground like a zombie while wearing a bloody grin.

“That’s just fine by me! As long as you’re no longer looking down on me, then I’ll be as annoying as ever!”

*********

Elsewhere, Natasa was clashing with Bloom who was attacking her from above; even going as far as throwing airships at her.

*Bam!*

Natasa punched through one of the airships while laughing and continued to make her way towards Bloom.

“Impressive. You’ve gotten a lot stronger since we were in the orphanage. You even learned how to fly using your ability.”

Bloom looked down on Natasa as she flew towards her.

“I’m the literal Incarnation of 1000 Beasts! There’s a ton of beasts who can fly, so why can’t I?!”

“As always, your way of thinking is abnormal.”

Bloom thrust her hand down and a powerful force charged towards Natasa, who maneuvered out of the way.

*Bam!*

Meanwhile, a giant palm-print appeared on the ground.

“I’m not a fly so I refused to be squashed!”

An image of a flaming hawk appeared behind Natasa as her body engulfed in flames. She opened her mouth and gathered the flames in her mouth before firing it at Bloom, who flew out of the way and charged at Natasa. Purple haze covered her fist as she threw a punch at Natasa.

*Bam!*

Natasa was hit despite being hundreds of meters away from her.

“Blegh?!”

She vomited out blood and started coughing uncontrollably.

“Oh? You actually remained in the air? Looks like I underestimated how tough you are. Then I’ll get a bit serious.”

Bloom’s fists were once again covered in a purple haze. She then threw a barrage of punches down at Natasa. Natasa looked up and saw dozens of giant transparent fists coming towards her.

“Looks like I still can’t take her yet…”

She grinned and then charged towards the fists while laughing.

“I’ll take your fists with pride, Bloom Newgate! I’ll devour your techniques, grow, and eventually surpass you!”

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

Natasa’s body danced in the air as she was bombarded by the giant fists and instantly forced out of the sky. Fists marks formed in the earth and the ground burst apart. Natasa’s laugh could be heard even while she was being pummeled into the ground.

“………”

Bloom looked down on her bloody appearance with a particularly cold detachment.

“How can any sane person smile like that while in such a condition?”

“S-Sane? Cough! Is there any sane person in this city right now?! No, there aren’t!”

Natasa got to her feet and then started walking with shaky steps. The savage aura around her body started growing and her steps became firmer by every passing second.

“We’re killing each other and for what?! Money, fame, power? Well, not me! I just want to fight until I can’t fight anymore! If I become king in the process then it’s only natural since no one is worthy of ruling over everything except me!”

“How arrogant.”

Bloom pointed her palm at Natasa.

“You should know your place and kneel.”

*Bam!*

Natasa was forced to her knees so hard, the ground cracked open.

“Even if I’m kneeling, I still won’t yield!”

Bloom’s eyes narrowed and she increased the pressure on Natasa until she was lying face down. Natasa just started laughing and pushed herself off the ground. Unbelievably, Natasa stood back and then started running.

“Tsk! This damn freak.”

Bloom put her hand on the sword that was sheathed behind her.

“I’ll just destroy you here…Hm?”

She turned around and saw someone using dragon wings to fly beside her.

“Yo.”

“!”

Bloom’s eyes suddenly turn bloodshot when she saw Miko.

“I like that reaction. I take it that both personalities hate my guts. If that’s the case…”

He held Ishma and Regis in both hands.

“Then come and kill me, Gravity Queen.”

“Die!”

Bloom drew a dark purple claymore from the sheath on her back and swung it at Miko.

“Now that’s like it!”

Ishma and Regis started glowing fiercely as Miko swung them to meet Bloom’s attack.

*BOOM!*

The swords clashed and caused powerful shockwaves to spread throughout the sky.

“?!”

Miko’s eyes widened when he saw that his swords were starting to bend. He immediately flung them to the side and thrust his arms forward to block the force that was being emitted from Bloom’s sword.

*Crack!*

His arms immediately became bent out of shape and the force mercilessly crashed into him. He felt like he was hit by Thor’s hammer as he crashed into the earth.

“Cough! Cough!”

Miko looked at his arms that were now distorted and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Miko, are you okay?”

Ishma and Regis appeared at his side.

“That woman is something else. She almost snapped the two of us with one attack.”

Regis said.

“Are you down already?”

Miko turned and saw Natasa heading towards Bloom.

“At least I lasted a few moves!”

An image of a wolf climbing towards the heavens appeared around her.

“This is out of your league, so leave her to me!”

She thrust her claws towards the sky.

“Sky Wolf Fang!”

The wolf bore its fangs at Bloom seeking to tear her apart.

“One pest after the other.”

Bloom lifted her claymore overhead.

“Just know your place already.”

She swung her sword down and it was as if the whole world had become distorted. The wolf bent out of shape until it was destroyed.

“Ahhhh?!”

Natasa’s screams echoed throughout the city. Miko could see her falling towards the earth completely bloodied. Bloom looked at her a bit before diving towards her while thrusting her sword towards her chest.

*Clang!*

The blade never touched Natasa. It was blocked by Miko who held Regis in his mouth and used her to deflect Bloom’s attack. He swung his broken arm that had a chain attached to it and Ishma flew towards Bloom’s face. Bloom easily deflected the attack and charged towards Miko and hit him with a palm strike.

*BOOM!*

A transparent palm burst out Miko’s back. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he released Regis from out of his mouth and fell towards the earth. Bloom thrust her palm down and he was hit by an invisible force and crashed into the earth with an impact comparable to a bomb.

“……”

She silently lifted her sword to finish him off.

*Bam!*

Suddenly she was hit from the right and was forced to lean to the side.

“Who?!”

She furiously looked to her right and saw someone standing on a building top a couple of miles away.

“Yo, Gravity Bitch! The great Bella Azalea is here to say hello! You better be grateful!”

Bella waved at Bloom with a sniper in her hand while grinning.

(Ah, fuck! Now she got her eyes set on me!)

She thought.

“You just had to charge at her head-on, Miko! Now I have to face this monster alone!”

She aimed at Bloom’s head and fired several times in quick successions. As she expected, all the bullets hit an invisible wall and were unable to reach her.

“Azalea? So that backwash Country was plotting against me too?”

She lifted her sword again.

“Then I’ll just crush them along with everybody else!”

She swung her sword and a path of destruction formed in front her, mowing down building after building until it reached Bella.

“Oh shit!”

Bella leaped off the building and her boots turned into thrusters that helped her to escape.

“Pillars, Renacido, Azalea…This is getting more and more complicated. Just how many parties are involved in this war?”

Bloom mumbled to herself as she scanned the area with her eyes.

“Hm?”

That’s when she noticed that both Miko and Natasa were already up.

“….They’re tough alright.”

“…….”

“…….”

They both started flying towards Bloom without making a sound.

“….They have a strange vibe to them.”

She looked closer and noticed that their eyes lacked focus and that they weren’t even blinking.

“This is….They’re unconscious!”

Miko released his claws and slashed at Bloom’s neck. Bloom flew back and kicked him away. She then blocked Natasa’s claws with his claymore before also kicking her away. The two then attacked her simultaneously from both sides. Bloom clicked her tongue and charged forward and hit them under the chin with her palms. Miko and Natasa’s bodies were flung back a little but they still manage to throw a kick each, which were both blocked by Bloom’s barrier. They twisted their bodies and pounced at Bloom without pause. Bloom flew up to avoid them but they both chased after her.

(They’re getting faster with their attacks….There’s no mistaking it. This is Mind Zero! They’ve both simultaneously entered a trance so that they could continue fighting!)

“How is that even possible?!”

Bloom swung her sword to attack the two but Natasa suddenly accelerated and hit the sword out of her hand. Miko then came from behind and hit Bloom with a knee strike. Bloom got angry and swat him away before stepping in Natasa’s head. Miko charged at her again faster than before and attacked her from the opposite side with his claws, but Bloom elbowed him in the face before he could.

“?!”

Her arm was grabbed by Miko, who then sunk his fangs into it and tried to tear it off.

“You!”

Bloom punched him off her with her other hand but was then pounced on and then bitten in the shoulder by Natasa. She punched her off her as well but was slashed from the side by Miko’s claws.

“Ah!”

She slammed her leg in Miko’s midsection and sent him flying before almost breaking Natasa’s neck with a spinning roundhouse kick.

“!”

She flew forward to avoid a sneak attack from Miko.

“It’s like I’m fighting a pack of wild beasts!”

Miko and Natasa charged at Bloom while bearing their bloodstained fangs and claws.

“Enough!”

She spread her arms and an overwhelming force spread out and forced Miko and Natasa out of the sky and into the earth, making them unable to move.

“I’m getting fed up of all of-”

*Boom!*

“Huh?”

Bloom suddenly saw long cracks forming in the ground and running across the city.

*Boom!*

The earth started bursting open as if something was about to erupt from it. And something indeed erupted.

*BOOOM!*

With a thundering explosion the ground burst open with truck-size pieces of the earth flying about. An unconscious Miko was on one of these pieces of earth.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Bella was jumping from one piece to another while cursing with Ishma and Regis tied to her body. She swiftly reached Miko and threw him over the shoulder before flying away as fast as she could.

“Ace, this is getting too hot! It’s time to pull out!”

Sora grabbed a badly beaten Ace who was still glaring at an equally injured Shòu and shouted.

“Alright! Until next time, Kaido!”

The two quickly made a run for it while jumping from one floating piece of earth to the next one. Shòu looked around as if looking for someone before trying to escape himself. Meanwhile, Bloom was looking at the city with shock.

“The entire city, ground, buildings and everything is in pieces and floating in the sky….”

It was something that not even she was confident of emulating. And yet, he was able to do such a feat.

“The Strongest Pillar, Bastian Brant…”

That’s right. Despite not being able to see him in this madness, Bloom knew that he was the cause. After all, she did turn him into this city’s foundation earlier.

“To destroy a city just like that, a true monster.”

A bloody Jin appeared beside Bloom.

“It’s time for a retreat. This is just the opening battle. We can’t afford to take any more damage than we already have.”

Bloom nodded.

“All troops retreat! Return to the capital at once!”

Bloom’s fleet of airships quickly turned around and left the area leaving Bloom and Jin behind. They saw the city fall back down to the earth, in shambles of course. However, there was just one spot that was perfectly fine and that was the spot Natasa was laying on. Beside her was a dust cloud that had dozens of beastly silhouettes in it with glaring eyes locked on Jin and Bloom. The dust cloud faded and only Bastian was seen standing there; no beasts in sight.

“What do you say, Your Majesty? How about a round two?”

He asked with a fanged smile.

“….Let’s go.”

Bloom immediately left with Jin following behind her.

“Aww, I got rejected.”

Bastian laughed. He looked around at the destruction that he caused and showed a bitter smile.

“Looks like I no longer have a city to rule….”