The void elemental launched downward, preparing to annihilate everything in its path.
Serenil raised Voidrender and whispered:
"Yami o kirisaite — Mugen Ketsugōken." (Slice the darkness — Infinite Severance Blade.)
A wave of silent pressure burst outward.
The world dimmed. Wind stilled. Even time seemed to hesitate.
He moved.
In a flash of black light, Serenil blurred, appearing before the elemental. One slash. Just one. A gentle, elegant cut upward.
Then—
Reality screamed.
The rift-beast froze, its body stitched with black lines that shimmered like the void. Then it shattered—not exploded, not crumbled—shattered into dustless emptiness, erased from existence.
The skies returned to blue.
The ground quieted.
Voidrender hummed softly, then dissolved back into the rift behind Serenil, sealing itself once again. He exhaled, sweat trailing down his temple.
In the garden below, Liselotte broke the silence with a breathless, "That… was the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Roanna clapped slowly, a devilish grin on her face. "Marry me faster, please."
Piglette smiled warmly, hands clasped. "He really is our protector."
Shuna, arms crossed, nodded. "And I trust him completely."
Astarotte didn't speak, but the faintest blush touched her cheeks as she looked away.
From that day onward, the name "Mugen no Kurayami" was no longer a legend.
It was real. And it belonged to their Serenil.