“Reina, Kaguya! Those guys are from the Three Heroes!”

“We’re fine, Kenya.”

“Yeah, we made a vow that day.”

“We don’t want to just be protected—we want to fight together!”

Ignoring Kenya’s attempts to hold them back, Reina and Kaguya each zeroed in on their own opponents.

Reina against Lamia, Kaguya against Orgu—one-on-one.

And then everything else…

“…Got it. Then I’ll take the rest.”

He swung the swords in both hands with explosive force.

The domain of the sword enveloped the world.

“I’ll cut them all down.”

A pressure radiated from Kenya so intense it felt like it could sweep away even the wind.

“Whoa, incredible. How strong have you gotten, Kenya?”

“Far beyond Osiris…”

Even Reina and Kaguya were overwhelmed by what could only be called his sword ki.

And the enemies felt it just the same. To let Kaguya and Reina fight one-on-one, Kenya kept all the rest in check.

Reina, Kaguya, and Kenya fought back-to-back.

“Hoh, so you’re my opponent.”

“Pleased to meet you, Orgu Obelisk. I’m Kaguya, of Asia’s Thirteen Gods… and!”

“Nguh!?”

Kaguya sent Orgu’s greatsword flying.

“Kenya’s girlfriend!”

Meanwhile, Reina.

“You’re Zeke’s daughter, aren’t you? I’d rather not fight if I could help it, but no choice. This is an order.”

“You know Papa? Then let’s see how I measure up.”

“!?—Sharp!”

Reina lunged at Lamia.

A full-throttle shift from zero to a hundred—her skill had reached perfection.

“Have I surpassed Papa?!”

…

“Road. You’re there, aren’t you?”

Kenya fixed his gaze ahead. There, behind more than eighty dedicated machines, loomed a massive floating airship.

“I’ll be coming for you, so get ready. I’m gonna punch you with everything I’ve got.”

Then, for just an instant, he glanced back.

At Kaguya and Reina’s battles.

“You’ve both gotten so strong. We could have a real fight now. So… I’m counting on you!”

He’d thought he was protecting them, but really, it was always him being protected by the two of them.

“Haa!!!”

“What!? This guy’s even stronger than before!?”

He cleaved through one Holy Knight Captain’s KOG.

Slipping past the guard, as if Kenya’s blade had phased right through.

“I’ve always been the one protected!”

In the previous world, he’d even thought of dying.

But they always stopped him—though of course, they never meant to.

Even so, their attachment to that world had held back Kenya, who had no one else.

“This time, I’ll be the one protecting! That’s why I was satisfied back then. If I could protect Kaguya with my life!”

When he’d staked his life to protect her, he’d finally thought he could repay the debt.

But in truth, he’d only made Kaguya sad.

Obsessed with revenge, he’d dragged her onto the battlefield for his own sake.

He hadn’t protected a thing.

“But in the end, I couldn’t protect anything! And at the Sword Martial Festival too! In the end, it was you! Your voice that saved me!”

He felled KOG after KOG.

Not even a single slash from above the guard could stop him.

The white blade of the white knight flashed through the Holy Knight Captains.

“W-Why!? Why can he read all our attacks!?”

An aura of omnipotence enveloped Kenya, as if he’d mastered the entire world.

No matter where they struck from, without even meeting their eyes, he halted everything in a state of mushin.

He’d thought he’d reached the peak, but there was still higher ground.

Kenya was still growing.

As if to prove that limits didn’t exist.

And yet.

“But without you two, I’m nothing! Even getting good with KOG wasn’t enough!”

He remembered the isolation tower.

The two who had risked their lives to rush to his side and save him.

If not for them, he’d have stayed there, helpless forever.

“I thought I’d gotten strong, but in the end, I can’t do anything alone!”

One swing for one machine, two swings for two.

Kenya, who had thought he’d reached the extreme, felt himself improving with every strike.

Transcending dimensions, embodying the name of Sword God.

And yet, each time, Kenya remembered.

Tanaka-san, Isshin-san, Zeke-san, Osiris-san, Reina, Kaguya, Jin-san…

Once he started counting, the list went on endlessly—the many people in this world who had helped him.

He’d walked tightropes of battle time and again.

“That’s why, Road! This world! You can’t survive it alone! No matter how strong, no matter how much of a genius!”

Kenya knew it better than anyone.

Only now that he’d reached the extreme could he see it.

No matter how strong you got, you couldn’t live in this world all by yourself.

You couldn’t change the world all by yourself.

“That’s why! I will! With everyone! We’ll change it together! Into a world where everyone can smile and hold hands! And there!!”

He destroyed more than half the KOGs.

In his sword domain, nothing existed but him.

The white domain created by the white knight was now complete.

Infused with his wish, the domain reached perfection.

And that wish was…

“Haa, haa… You’re there too, Road. I want you to smile together with everyone.”

He cut down the Holy Knight Captains, embodying his feelings.

Not even a hundred Holy Knight Captains could stop that white knight now.

No one could have predicted it.

Who could imagine that even the world’s top hundred couldn’t fell such a being?

Who could imagine that a lone warrior who had simply mastered martial prowess could wield the power to change the world?

No one could have imagined it.

And Kenya looked toward Road.

As if to show him his resolve, and then…

“That red light…”

No one could predict it.

Except for one—the enemy who believed in him more than anyone.

~

“Kenya, you’re truly amazing. I don’t know any man as strong as you, and there never will be, for all eternity.”

Road trembled as he watched the battle at the pinnacle of swords.

The overwhelming strength, the blade of his friend that always surpassed his imagination.

Yet he wasn’t surprised.

That day when a hundred machines were felled, he’d cried out in disbelief.

But now, this sight felt right.

His knight wouldn’t stop.

No matter the schemes, no matter the mighty foes prepared.

He would surpass them all, exceeding imagination every time.

Forcing growth on the spot, ascending to heights no one could reach.

Because that day, Road had seen the power to change the world in that sword.

That’s why he’d pulled him to his side.

And made him crown Road emperor.

Once that was done, he should have been disposable.

Yet Road couldn’t discard him.

Why?

“That’s why… I saw this coming too. I knew you’d win even against this force. So…”

And Road gave his final order.

“Kenya, forgive me. Forgive this cowardly me—no, hate me.”

He ordered the Zeus cannon to fire.

Already charged to maximum firepower, maximum output.

A wide-area energy beam with a fifty-meter radius.

By the time you saw the light, it was too late.

Even Kenya couldn’t defend against it, and the Holy Knight Captains still surrounded him.

Road had instructed them—upon sensing defeat, don’t let Kenya escape.

They’d been directed to herd him to specific points, even as they fell one by one.

And of course, Road had given those instructions.

Kenya hadn’t noticed how masterfully he’d been guided.

“…I see. You really are amazing.”

Seeing the light, Kenya understood everything.

The wrath of the gods would burn everything—friends and foes alike—sealing their paths for eternity.

That was Road’s final strategy.

A plan premised on sacrificing the Holy Knights, on defeat even with this force.

And with tears filling his eyes to the brim, Road issued the command.

“…Fire.”

The words to kill Kenya.

“…My loss, huh.”

Kenya realized it.

Because he’d been in a state of ultimate focus, he understood.

Perfect timing—too late to dodge the light now.

No matter the strength, no matter the skill.

You couldn’t escape the light of Road’s resolve.

“Sorry, Reina. Kaguya.”

He slowly closed his eyes, accepting defeat.

Strangely, there was no regret. Maybe a faint hope that Road would spare Kaguya and Reina.

And the red light consumed Kenya.

Kenya died, and the world fell into Road’s hands.

Even after felling a godlike legion with the world’s strongest power, Road’s victory remained unchanged.

“Kenya!!”

“Kenya!!”

Reina and Kaguya noticed the light too.

But it was already too late. At this distance, helping would only burn them as well.

The divine light incinerated everything, and the world ended.

The crimson flash scorched the battlefield, leaving nothing behind.