Meninas launched herself forward in a blur of movement, her Hirenkyaku propelling her at Mercer like a cannonball. She formed a diamond shape with her hands, preparing to deliver a Diamond Push attack.
Mercer's response was instant—his body morphed, armor surging over his frame as he lunged to intercept her fists.
Just before impact, Meninas aborted the attack, catching his arms instead.
Their hands locked together in a violent clash, both warriors activating their respective strength-enhancing abilities—The Power for her, Musclemass for him. Their arms swelled grotesquely, veins bulging, tendrils writhing, and muscle fibers compacting as they pushed against each other with earth-shaking force.
The ground cracked beneath them.
Their bodies trembled, the raw force distorting the very air around them. One would break.
One would fall.
"Oi, this isn't sumo!" Liltotto snapped from the side. "Break away from it!"
Meninas scoffed, her smirk strained as she fought for leverage. "As if that's easier said than done!"
"MENI, GET BACK!" Bazz-B's voice roared across the battlefield.
She saw the flare of his fingers—a split second was all she needed to understand.
Burner Finger 2.
A searing lance of fire erupted from Bazz-B's extended fingers.
Meninas yanked Mercer toward her—dragging him right into the blazing arc of destruction.
The fire pierced through Mercer's torso before detonating into a violent explosion.
The aftermath was immediate—a massive chunk of his biomass armor was blown apart, exposing his left arm, red tendrils writhing in the open air.
"He's open—do it, Lil!" Bazz-B barked.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Liltotto's voice was calm, almost lazy. "Spife."
One of her bracelets uncoiled, shifting into a serrated whip—she lashed it out, the bladed edge wrapping tight around Mercer's exposed arm.
Meninas took advantage, gripping his left limb. With a wicked grin, she twisted—
SNAP .
Mercer's arm buckled unnaturally. But instead of bone, only writhing red tendrils tore apart inside his limb.
Meninas made a face. "Oooohh… no wonder you don't feel a thing."
Liltotto smirked. "Nice assist, Meni."
Without hesitation, she jerked her bladed whip. The whip sliced through the tendrils, severing Mercer's arm completely.
Meninas glanced down at the thrashing appendage still in her grip. Her expression twisted in disgust. "Gross."
She chucked the dismembered limb straight into his chest—impaling him with his own damn arm.
Mercer staggered back from the unexpected strike. His form warped instantly, biomass snapping back into place as he fully regenerated his missing limb.
His golden eyes flashed—no hesitation, no rage, just calculation.
Both his arms morphed, elongating into wicked claws before he slammed them into the ground.
"BAZZ, MENI—MOVE!" Liltotto's warning was sharp.
A second later, massive black spikes erupted from the earth, forming a brutal ring of razor-sharp tendrils. If Bazz-B and Meninas had hesitated for even a moment, they would've been impaled on the spot.
They barely cleared the danger zone before the spikes retracted into the earth, leaving a cratered battlefield in their wake.
Bazz-B let out a breath, brushing dust off his coat. "Tch. That was close. Guess it's my turn."
As he descended, his fingers lit up once more—three fingers this time.
He pointed toward the battlefield, and the ground beneath Mercer suddenly shifted.
Superheated lava erupted from the earth, spreading like wildfire toward Mercer's position, the sheer heat warping the air around it.
Mercer leaped away just before the molten ground could consume him—right into Liltotto's waiting trap.
"Spork."
One of her bracelets fired from her wrist, spinning through the air at high velocity. As it closed in, it shifted, morphing into a massive bear trap.
SNAP .
The metallic jaws clamped down on Mercer, catching him mid-air and launching him toward the fork between the Karasu and Onose River.
To think I'd be forced into a corner like this...
Mercer lay sprawled along the riverbed, his body aching from the relentless assault. He hadn't expected this. He hadn't ever met opponents like this. Back in New York, no one had truly matched him in battle. There were only two exceptions
—The Supreme Hunter, whom he had annihilated to save the city…
And James Heller—the man who had beaten him, not through strength alone, but through rage and unyielding will.
And yet, in this world, he had found more.
More warriors who could challenge him.
Names flashed through his mind—names of those who had stood against him, those he had clashed with, those whose memories he had devoured through their victims:
Kensei Muguruma.
Shinji Hirako.
Buzzard Black.
Bambietta Basterbine.
Candice Catnipp.
Liltotto Lamperd.
Meninas McAllon.
Giselle Gewelle.
More names. More enemies. More people who had fought him—who had pushed him.
How many more are out there?
And how many of them can truly stand against me?
A new thought crept into his mind.
A dangerous thought.
I'll turn the tide of this war to my favor.
And when I do...
I'll take over this world.
Just like I tried to take over New York.
A slow, maniacal laugh rumbled from his throat.
But first—I need to get out of this predicament.
A rustling noise broke him from his thoughts.
Small, purple, cartoonish figures emerged from the shadows, their grotesque bodies latching onto him from all sides.
"What a pain."
Mercer grabbed one and smashed its head into the ground, watching as its form dissipated into nothing. The others, now furious, swarmed him aggressively.
Bad move.
Mercer shook them off, his Hammerfists extending and slamming into the ground, sending the creatures flying. He followed up by transforming his left arm into a blade, his body moving on instinct as he unleashed a flurry of rapid slashes—cutting through them while striding forward in a relentless onslaught.
"IS THAT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, ZOMBIE GIRL?"
His mocking voice rang across the battlefield.
From the riverbed, a new figure emerged—her arms folded, a smug expression on her face.
"Bummer." Giselle Gewelle let out a dramatic sigh. "I'm surprised you figured it out."
Mercer scoffed. "Unlikely. You're the only one here playing healer, and you thought these things could actually slow me down?"
Giselle's expression twitched—annoyance flickering in her otherwise cheerful demeanor.
"So what now? You're just gonna kill me?" She batted her lashes, tilting her head. "I'm just a girl who heals her friends, after all~"
Mercer's lips curled into a smirk.
"Really? You call yourself a girl?"
Her expression froze.
"From the moment I first met you..." He took a slow, deliberate step forward. "You smelled like a man."
Giselle's eyes twitched.
"Huh?..." Her voice was low, dangerous.
Mercer chuckled darkly.
"A scientist's nose knows better, little ladyboy." His voice dripped with mockery. "Your little dolls? They reek of something only found in men. Made me wanna tear them apart just from the stench alone."
The air turned tense.
A long silence hung between them.
Then—
"Huh..." Giselle muttered, her head tilting downward. "You really are begging to be killed."
A sharp click echoed through the battlefield.
Giselle's fingers pressed against a heart-shaped container on her belt.
Instantly, her Heilig Bogen materialized—a massive, skeletal bow with a beating heart at its center, its arms shaped like interlinked bones.
She gripped the heart with one hand and pulled the Reishi string with the other, her Heilig Pfeil forming—
Aiming straight at Mercer's chest.
"Maybe you'll think twice about calling me a man when you get to Hell."
She fired.
The arrow struck, piercing clean through his torso.
But Mercer—
Didn't.
Even.
Flinch.
Instead, a voice rang out behind Giselle—
"BAMBI-CHAAAN!"
A long, slender figure stepped onto the battlefield.
Bambietta Basterbine.
Before Giselle could react, Bambi fired—a detonating projectile erupting near Mercer, the explosion launching him backward.
Giselle sighed. "Bummer, you haven't even activated your Sklaverei yet."
"The hell would I waste it for?" Bambi shot back. "I barely scratched him. Not gonna waste my energy when I don't have enough left."
"Oi, quit yapping and keep firing!" Bazz-B's voice roared as he and the others arrived, their Heilig Bogen already drawn.
A storm of arrows rained down on Mercer.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands.
Yet the monster refused to fall.
"Damn it, what the hell is this guy?" Liltotto gritted her teeth. "We've hit him so many times, and he's still moving. We're gonna burn through all our Reishi at this rate!"
"Just keep firing!" Bazz-B urged.
Then—Meninas suddenly withdrew her bow.
Instead, she materialized two massive dumbbells.
Bambi caught on. She nodded.
"Keep firing!" Bambi barked. "We'll make sure he doesn't get near!"
Dumbbell Duster: Baton Beat.
Meninas' dumbbells shifted, their handles extending—turning into dual staves.
Bambi struck first, her blade clashing against Mercer's claws.
Meninas struck from the side, crushing his balance.
Bambi capitalized—her sword cutting deep into his defenses.
Mercer roared in frustration, his blade arm sweeping at Meninas—
But she dodged, appearing behind him in an instant.
She slammed a stave into his leg—forcing him onto one knee.
Bambi launched herself off his head, flipping midair—
She brought her sword down, impaling him through the chest.
Then—
His back twisted.
Black tendrils surged from his spine, merging into a grotesque mass—
"BACK AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!"
A thunderous voice split the air.
Candice Catnipp.
T for The Thunderbolt.
A woman Mercer had nearly killed.
"ELECTROCUTION!"
A colossal blast of electricity struck Mercer, surging through his entire body.
His tendrils retracted instantly.
And—
For the first time—
He collapsed.
The Sternritters stood over Mercer's unmoving body, their weapons lowered but their guard still up.
"Huh... Well, I'll be damned."
Even defeated, Mercer had the audacity to chuckle.
Bazz-B frowned. Something about this felt wrong.
Too easy.
The reports said this man ripped through captains and slaughtered a whole squad of Soul Reapers. Yet, despite everything they threw at him—despite the barrage of Heilig Pfeil, the relentless close-range assault, and Candice's final blast—
Something was off.
"I've never been pushed this close to defeat since I arrived in this world." Mercer's voice came low, almost amused.
Liltotto scoffed. "Well, now you have. We only regret that we only get to do this once."
Bazz-B kept his eyes locked onto Mercer, his instincts screaming at him.
"What do you mean by that?" Mercer's lips curled into a faint smirk. "We're just getting started."
The words sent a cold chill through the group.
His clawed hand slowly rose, pointing toward Bambietta.
"Bambietta, was it?"
She scowled. "What about it?"
"My blood is on your uniform."
Silence.
Then—
Shhhkkkk!
The sound of flesh being torn.
Bazz-B's eyes widened.
Meninas stiffened.
Liltotto's heart stopped.
A single black spike had erupted from Bambi's chest, piercing straight through her Sternritter uniform.
Her mouth opened—a silent gasp, her eyes locked in pure shock.
Slowly, her knees buckled.
And as the others watched in horrified disbelief—
Mercer…
Stood back up.
His body twisted, flesh stitching itself back together.
And then, with a voice dripping in satisfaction—
He laughed.