"Zaraki Pursuit Unit to base... Requesting immediate backup! The enemy's strength is far beyond anything we anticipated. We're almost entirely wiped out. Requesting immediate—ghk!?"
A small village had been reduced to rows of rubble and shattered homes. Many Security Force members lay scattered across the ground, broken and defeated.
Who would have believed that just a few dozen minutes ago, this had been a place where people carried out their ordinary lives?
As he retreated, Zaraki cut a path of destruction toward his destination, rampaging exactly as Koumaru had ordered. This village simply happened to be an unfortunate casualty in his wake.
Infused with the Dragon Power drawn from the orb that sealed Raiha, Zaraki mowed down the Security Force members and Magic Knights in his path, as if gauging the limits of his newfound strength. Faced with his overwhelming might and the Dragon Power that nullified almost all attacks, the Security Force members were helpless; the pursuit unit had been all but annihilated.
"Jinba-san, hang in there! I'll use recovery—!"
"Save your Magic Power, Melt...!!"
Jinba, the sole survivor of the Security Force, was in a battered state. Stopping Melt as she tried to use Recovery Magic, he ground his teeth while watching the students of Luminous Academy fight back against the terrifyingly strong Zaraki.
"Eat... this!!"
Swinging a massive hammer, Anhel slammed a powerful blow into Zaraki. With a dull thud, the strike hit him directly in the stomach, but he simply wore a nonchalant smile as he grabbed the hammer’s head.
"What's wrong? Is that all?"
"What!? Whoa!?"
Zaraki swung the hammer, hurling the weapon and the startled Anhel away in one motion. As she groaned in pain after being slammed against the wall of a ruined house, Setsuna and Sakura, who lacked magic items, launched their own assault.
"Rage, Water Dragon! Swallow the enemy!!"
"Blades of wind! Tear my enemy apart!!"
One shot a geyser from the ground while the other unleashed a wind sickle, but their efforts failed to leave a single scratch on Zaraki. Throwing his arms wide, Zaraki generated a tornado with a single sweep, blowing the two of them away.
"You small fry without magic items are just in my way! Get lost!!"
"Kyaaaa!?"
"Guaaaaah!!"
"Look at me! Your opponent is Marcos Borg!!"
"I'll back you up, Marcos!"
Determined not to let him follow up on the wind-swept Setsuna and the others, Marcos charged with his Giga Scissors at the ready. Assisted by Melt's Magic Power Sword, he slammed into Zaraki with a full-force tackle, but—?
"A valiant effort, but... it didn't hurt one bit!!"
"Ngh...!!"
Marcos ground his teeth, frustrated that Zaraki hadn't moved an inch despite a strike delivered with every ounce of his being. Part of it was their own exhausted state, but as Marcos struggled to find a breakthrough against the Dragon Power that nullified all attacks, Zaraki raised a clenched fist.
"From the looks of it, you're better at defense than offense, right? Then try your best to block this!!"
"Nuuh! Gh, guuuuuuh!!"
Zaraki slammed his raised fist into the Giga Scissors. Marcos had blocked an attack from the First Form earlier, but he groaned at the weight of Zaraki's current strike, which was reinforced beyond comparison.
He managed to withstand the first and second blows, but the third punch came with a tornado coiled around Zaraki's arm. The resulting gale sent Marcos spiraling backward.
"Guaaaaaah!!"
"Agh! M-Marcos, hang in there...!!"
Melt managed to catch Marcos as he was blown back. Having been caught in the tornado herself, a look of shock crossed her face at the sheer weight of a blow that should have been partially cushioned.
It wasn't just his defense. His offense also boasted strength beyond imagination. Once again, everyone witnessed Zaraki's might firsthand, yet the light of surrender did not flicker in their eyes.
"As expected, a head-on confrontation is reckless. Unless we find a way to land a decisive blow, we have no chance of winning."
"He has resistance against blunt force, slashing, and even magic. But a perfect creature doesn't exist. There must be a weakness."
"If there's a possibility... it's the orb on his forehead. If we can just destroy that, we should be able to weaken him!"
Searching for a chance at victory, Marcos and the others discussed their tactics. Zaraki watched them, let out a snort, and spoke.
"You really don't know when to quit. You've surely realized by now that your attacks don't work on me, haven't you?"
"So what? That's no reason for us to lose to you, and it's even less of a reason to give up!"
"We know someone who stood his ground until the very end and won against you...! Because we admire him so deeply, we can't afford to give up here!"
Melt and Setsuna spoke with unyielding conviction, and their comrades nodded in agreement, glaring at Zaraki. The sight of them standing tall without fear even against his evolved state was an insult to him.
"You people are getting on my nerves. Cry and scream in despair already. Don't you realize I'm the man closest to becoming a dragon?"
"Ha...! You mean the pathetic failure who was humbled by Yugo?"
"Tch...! You...!!"
Despite his transformation into a half-dragon, Marcos and the others showed no fear. On the contrary, Zaraki's rage exploded at Marcos’s taunt. Driven by pure emotion, he launched a savage attack.
"Fine then! I'll make sure you never flap those gums again!!"
"Nuh! Guah!?"
"Marcos!! Kyaa!?"
He approached at a speed invisible to the eye, punching Marcos away with the momentum. Next, Zaraki struck Melt, who was nearby, and from there, he began slamming attacks into the rest of the group one after another.
"Small fry! Your pointless struggling is annoying!!"
He repeatedly attacked and blew them away: Anhel, who tried to swing her hammer; Sakura, who tried to engage in close combat; and Setsuna, who tried to help her friends.
Slammed into houses and rolling across the ground, the group was battered and broken. Zaraki watched them with a satisfied expression, but his breath hitched in irritation as he saw Marcos and the others struggling to their feet, one by one.
"It's not... over yet...! I won't give up...!!"
"Yugo entrusted this to us... there's no way we're giving up...!"
"So annoying...! You're beyond annoying!! Don't look down on me, you brats!!"
"!! Setsuna, Sakura!!"
The children before him did not fear his evolved form, nor the unreasonable violence he dispensed. With his pride deeply wounded, Zaraki unleashed an attack targeting Setsuna and Sakura, who were still vulnerable.
Wielding sharp claws, Zaraki swung his arm to tear them apart. As the screams of Melt and the others echoed out... a single streak of Slashing Light flashed across Zaraki's body.