"Marcos-san! Everyone did it! Both magic items have been destroyed!"
"Yeah, I know! With this, we can...!"
The scene shifted to the interior of Hauvent Castle. Marcos, who had been on standby after entrusting the mission to his comrades from Luminous Academy and the people of the island, watched as the barrier protecting Finale suddenly began to fluctuate. It was the sign he had been waiting for—the operation was a success.
Answering Fee’s transmission with a word of thanks to all who had helped, Marcos lunged forward, thrusting his scissors toward the barrier. The fortification, which had seemed so impenetrable just moments ago, shattered into a thousand glittering shards as if its earlier resilience had been a mere illusion.
"We can do it! We've got them!"
"Everyone! Let’s give it everything we have!"
The wall shielding the giant weapon—the heart of the enemy's plan—was gone. Now, it was their turn to honor the hopes of everyone fighting across the island.
Surging with magic power and brandishing their respective magic items, Marcos and his team unleashed a relentless, full-power assault on Finale.
"Here I go! Sword Straight!"
Melt manifested a giant magic power sword and brought it down with a thunderous swing.
As she attempted to cleave Finale from its peak, Anhel took up a position beside her, her body coiled in the stance of a hammer thrower.
"Take this! Giant Hammer Swing!"
She poured every ounce of her magic into her weapon, now transformed into its most devastating hammer form, and hurled it at the target. It was a simple, brutal maneuver, and its power was all the more devastating for its lack of complexity. The hammer struck Finale directly, embedding itself deep within the machine's internal machinery.
"Sakura, Raiha. It’s been a while, but let's do that."
"Understood! My soul is stirring for battle!"
"Let's do it, girls! One, two...!"
"Trinity: Storm Dragon Summon!"
Setsuna called upon the wind, Sakura summoned the rain, and Raiha commanded the thunder. The three Warrior Shrine Maidens wove their specialized attributes together in perfect harmony, birthing a colossal storm dragon.
While Melt struck from above, the dragon tore through Finale from its base, spiraling upward toward the peak. In the center of this elemental chaos, a pair of golden scissors appeared.
"This is the end! Golden Cutting!"
Cleaved from the top by the magic power sword, crushed from within by the hammer, and devoured from below by the storm dragon, the heavily damaged Finale was finally sliced clean in two by Marcos’s finishing blow.
The giant weapon, now suffering from damage that was fundamentally irreparable, began to vent thick smoke amidst a series of internal explosions. The hum of its magic power collection function sputtered and died, and the machine finally ground to a complete, lifeless halt.
"We did it! We really did it! Finale is destroyed!"
"Now Abyss won't be able to destroy the island! His entire plan is ruined!"
"Yugo-dono can fight without anything holding him back now! We are but a single step from total victory!"
"We did it, Marcos. It’s all thanks to you rallying everyone."
"I did very little," Marcos replied, his voice humble. "The people of this island lent us their strength... we were simply the ones to deliver the final push."
As Melt and the others celebrated their victory over the core of Abyss’s scheme with high-fives and cheers, Raiha turned her gaze toward the castle entrance and whispered to herself.
"With this, I’m sure Ryuga-san’s fight will be easier, too... Please, stay safe, Ryuga-san...!"
"I-Impossible...! Finale was destroyed? What is Abyss doing?! Don't tell me... has he been defeated?!"
At that same moment, near the entrance of Hauvent Castle, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and desperation.
Cyan, still locked in a struggle with Ryuga, was visibly shaken as he watched the super weapon collapse in a distant roar of fire and smoke. He had been certain that Woz and Torin would hold the barrier-generating magic items, and that Abyss would maintain control of the interior.
But with the foundational weapon of the operation destroyed, he began to wonder if his allies had already fallen.
"It seems your friends have been taken care of by Yugo," Ryuga said, his voice cold and steady. "You’re the only one left... and it looks like that tacky gold-plated fake of yours is starting to peel."
"Ah... ahhh...!"
Cyan’s conviction in his own invincibility had already been crumbling under Ryuga’s relentless pressure.
The destruction of Finale was the final blow. The dam holding back his anxiety burst, and his [Invincible] ability vanished entirely. The golden light that had once radiated from his armor died away, leaving behind nothing but a dull, tarnished husk.
"The [Invincible] power Abyss gave you is gone. Now, I can cut you down without holding back."
Ryuga, who had spent the entire battle systematically breaking Cyan’s spirit, allowed a fierce, predatory smile to cross his face.
Slowly, he leveled his cherished sword at the trembling Cyan. His eyes locked onto his target, and he let out a quiet, determined cry.
"Now... I'm shaking it all off!"