Chapter 1131: Suicide!

"Checkmate," Shinji said.

"Yeah, it's checkmate."

Roa glanced at Shinji, who was weaving a soul-binding spell, then at the two possessors of Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, and finally at Ciel, holding the Seventh Holy Scripture, which had the special effect of denying reincarnation.

He replied:

"I have to admit, you've done well. But to use such overwhelming force to deal with us — don't you think it's excessive? This kind of power could even be used to assault the headquarters of the Holy Church or the Mage's Association."

"It's because you're so troublesome."

Shinji sighed helplessly. It wasn't just about their strength; the real issue was how persistent they were, always hard to kill, always causing problems.

"If we don't kill you properly, no one will be at ease. So, Shiki, Shiki Tohno, Miss Ciel, I leave it to you."

"Understood, for Mr. Muramasa's revenge."

Ryougi Shiki raised her demonic blade.

"For my sister's revenge."

Shiki Tohno gripped the Nanaya short sword in his hand.

"For me and Caren's revenge."

Ciel lifted her pile bunker.

Shinji had already guessed that Ciel and Caren would come to Fuyuki when Fiore, acting as a supervisor, requested a ceasefire. The reason was simple: Fiore could easily name Roa, Faro Chaos, and Araya Souren, likely using the Church's intelligence system. The Burial Agency, being the Church's ultimate force, had extremely high authority within the Church. With Ciel and Caren's obsession with Roa, once they knew of his existence, they would rush over immediately.

So, Shinji used his connections to investigate, and sure enough, he found Ciel and Caren hiding in a civilian house, even managing to lure out Reisbyfe in the process.

What followed was straightforward: negotiations, cooperation, planning, and now checkmate.

The demonic blade Kirikiri Higan was pointed at Araya Souren, who had a long-standing grudge against Ryougi Shiki.

The Nanaya short sword was aimed at Fabro Chaos. The main reason Shinji invited Shiki Tohno was to deal with Nero's 666 lives.

The pile bunker, the Holy Scripture, was aimed at Roa. Because of Roa, Ciel's family, friends, and hometown were utterly destroyed, leading to a deep-seated enmity. Ciel agreed to follow Shinji's plan on the sole condition that she would be the one to kill Roa.

Shinji agreed, casting the spell as a safety measure — just in case the Seventh Holy Scripture failed to completely obliterate Roa's soul, he could still intervene in time.

Faced with such a desperate situation, Roa and Araya lowered their hands as if accepting their fate. However, Fabro Chaos suddenly let out a strange roar, and from beneath his black coat, a chaotic stream of sludge began to seep out, covering the entire ground around them.

Ciel stepped back, while Ryougi Shiki leaped high into the air, swinging her sword downwards.

"It's useless."

With just one strike, the chaotic stream, which was nurturing the Seed of Life, was cut off and split apart.

Shiki Tohno seized the opportunity, his figure darting forward like a phantom. Before Fabro could take his next move, Shiki pierced a specific point on FAbro's body — a point more concentrated than the Lines of Death, the manifestation of death itself.

By stabbing this point, no matter how powerful or immortal the being, it would die instantly. Even if he had thousands of lives, as long as he was still identified as Fabro Chaos, he could not escape death.

His fate was sealed.

The monstrous roar abruptly stopped.

A silent smile crept across the vampire's lips.

"I didn't expect—"

Starting from his fingertips, Fabro's beastly body began to crumble, piece by piece, falling apart.

"—you, are my death?"

His body rapidly disintegrated like mist.

It was as if the curtain had been drawn, signaling the end in just an instant.

With this strike, all the lives remaining inside Fabro were extinguished, and the chaotic stream that had already poured out was also wiped out. No, not yet—

"Roa..."

At the moment his body disappeared, the chaotic stream, which had already lost its vitality, suddenly became violent and surged madly toward the three in its center. Although the surrounding powerhouses acted in time to suppress the stream, allowing Shiki Tohno to escape, they couldn't stop Roa and Araya's final move.

They — one crushed the other's skull, and the other shattered the other's heart at the same time.

Now, both at the end of their strength, neither a Dead Apostle Ancestor nor a being as tough as Vajra could recover anymore.

Araya, whose head was smashed, fell silent immediately, while Roa stiffly collapsed into the deepest part of the chaotic stream, letting the darkness swallow his body.

Shinji couldn't understand: "You… why did you—"

The man, about to be consumed by the stream, laughed heartily: "Whether we die by your hands or our ally's, it's still death... So, why should we... give you the satisfaction? How about that, Elesia? You didn't get to kill me with your own hands... isn't that... disappointing?"

"Shut up! Just die! Die! Die! Die!"

Ciel, utterly enraged, unleashed her pile bunker, bombarding Roa's remaining body relentlessly.

Shinji closed his eyes and expanded his soul perception to the maximum, only to find that both Roa's and Araya's souls had already been absorbed into the rampaging Chaos. Even with his mastery of Magic, he couldn't retrieve the sinking souls.

"So that's it, they're betting on a slim chance of survival. But—"

Roa and Araya's intentions were obvious. The worst-case scenario was death. If they died at their enemy's hands, there was no chance of survival. But by destroying each other's bodies, perhaps there would be a chance for their souls to escape.

After all, Chaos wasn't the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception or the Seventh Holy Scripture with its reincarnation-denying effect. While still dangerous, at least it didn't guarantee death.

But—

"—They underestimated us. They underestimated the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, huh?"

Standing beside Shinji, Touko lit a cigarette while signaling to Shiki and Tohno.

The two, sharing the same name, swung their blades in unison, indiscriminately slaughtering everything in their path. In no time, they cleared away the Chaos before them. It didn't matter what was hidden inside or how many lives it contained — the only outcome was death, just like Fabro's moments earlier.

At the same time, the battle in the darkness also reached its conclusion.

Perhaps due to losing their Master, the Assassin's movements faltered, allowing Katou to seize the opportunity to thrust her arm forward, piercing the enemy's body.

"A beautiful strike. I didn't expect there to be such an outstanding Assassin in this era. Now I somewhat understand why he's so fond of this time. If possible, I'd like—"

The heavy voice made Katou feel a strange familiarity, but before she could think further, the figure before her vanished with the wind.

Perhaps this was what a true assassin was: coming without a trace, leaving without a shadow, never revealing their true form, as if they were an eternal mystery.