Allen watched the Gigax Taurus with a twisted, mocking smile. Two thick lines of black ichor spilled from his eyes, staining his cheeks like war paint. Then, his eyes fully transformed—the sclera bleeding into an absolute black, leaving only two pinpricks of glowing red irises.

  "Tho~ma~s..." Allen’s voice was a distorted rasp, echoing with a metallic hollow.

  With a fluid flourish of his hands, his scythe cut through the air, sending out a barrage of black, pressurized wind blades. Thomas roared, his massive body erupting in a solar flare of crimson fire. He used his own flames to incinerate the wind blades before they could touch his hide. Allen’s smile widened; he looked genuinely impressed.

  "Well done, Thomas! But let’s see how you handle... this."

  Allen raised his left hand, now wreathed in a thick, oily black smoke.

  "Dominion of Hatred."

  The smoke shot toward the starless sky of the Negative World, expanding rapidly into a massive, light-devouring dome that encased the entire city ruins. While the realm was already dark, this was different. The very air grew heavy with a suffocating weight. From the gray soil, faceless, humanoid shadows began to crawl, silent and numerous, surrounding the Minotaur.

  As the domain took hold, Allen’s gray suit shifted into a matte, light-absorbing black. Both the blade of his scythe and his eyes began to flicker with an eerie, cold black flame.

  "Do you like it? It’s one of the perks of the Onyx of Hatred," Allen laughed, his voice now layered with a dozen discordant echoes.

  Thomas didn't feel fear—not yet. He raised his tectonic fists, wreathed in white-hot magma, and slammed them down toward Allen’s position. The impact leveled several city blocks, but the "knight" was gone.

  "You missed, Thomas."

  The Minotaur spun around, eyes bulging. Allen was standing casually atop a leaning skyscraper behind him. Before Thomas could strike again, the faceless shadow creatures surged forward. They merged into a singular, gargantuan mass of darkness that slammed into the Minotaur, pinning him down under a viscous, tar-like liquid that sapped his strength and movement.

  Allen gripped his scythe, its blade roaring with black fire. He leapt from the building, his legs shattering the concrete as he launched himself miles into the air. High above the pinned beast, he inverted his momentum.

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  "Major Star Explosion."

  The scythe descended like a falling star, leaving a trail of spectral afterimages in its wake. Thomas looked up, his bestial eyes finally wide with the realization of death. He saw Allen’s face—that terrible, smiling mask with its black tears and demonic eyes.

  When the scythe connected with the center of the shadow liquid, the world turned white. A localized singularity erupted, consuming the Minotaur and the district in a roar of void-energy.

  Miles away, Elisse and Archibald watched the obsidian mushroom cloud rise.

  "So little time..." Zack muttered, his voice shaking. "It took him almost no time at all to slaughter Thomas."

  As a Category 6 himself, Zack realized with a jolt of terror that he was no different from the dead Minotaur in Allen's eyes.

  "As Lord Aegis predicted, Allen has matured," Elisse said coldly. "But this is his ceiling. Aside from his Dominion and his Ultimate move, he has nothing left to show us."

  Archibald let out a soft, knowing chuckle. "Are you so sure, Elisse? Allen was the only one chosen by the Lord for the Emotional Elemental Weapon Project. Do you truly believe he has a 'limit'?"

  Elisse ignored the old man, turning to the other two. "Zack, Nick—you’re free to hunt. As long as Allen is captured alive at the end of the day, I don't care how you play."

  The two hunters took the opportunity to leave immediately, knowing Elisse had no patience for those she deemed inferior. Archibald remained, his eyes fixed on the black fire fading in the distance.

  "Elisse, do you know the real difference between us—the 'Perfection' subjects—and Allen?"

  Elisse began to walk away, but Archibald’s words followed her like a curse.

  "The perfection Lord Aegis seeks is built on trial and error. But Allen... Allen is an evolutionary human weapon. He doesn't just 'get stronger'; he adapts to the very trauma we inflict on him."

  Elisse stopped in her tracks. Archibald’s logic was sound: the Zodiacal warriors had a fixed power ceiling based on their genetic engineering. Allen, however, used his own grief and hatred to bypass those limits.

  "Elisse, you are Category 7. But can you defeat the Allen of tomorrow? The one whose evolutionary gene will eventually grant him enough power to challenge Aegis himself?"

  Elisse’s shoulders trembled for a split second, but she didn't turn back. Archibald watched her go, his smile turning predatory.

  "She can't even imagine it... the look on her face when she realizes Allen is intended to be her replacement when he reaches perfection."

  Archibald raised both hands. In the center of each palm was a tattooed circle.

  "Zack and Nick are fools. They won't survive long," he whispered. "But I have my aces. I can control those two idiots."

  The circle on his left palm glowed briefly.

  "As I thought, Elisse’s mind is too focused for me to breach. But Zack and Nick are different stories. With two pawns, I can move more efficiently."

  The light faded, and Archibald hid his hands back within his robes.

  "I have my pawns. Now the question remains... how do I force Allen to mature even further in this godforsaken world?"