Part one hundred eighty five — Nebular

　The battlefield around them had already been reduced to ruin by the time either side spoke a word.

　Nao Shimizu stood at one end, composed and unhurried.

　Nyxara faced her from the other, the weight of being the third-strongest Demon Lord in existence settling into the space between them like something physical.

　"You're surprisingly troublesome," Nyxara said.

　Nao tilted her head.

　"Surprisingly?"

　"I've fought countless arrogant rulers," Nyxara said. "Most mistake their titles for actual strength."

　Nao laughed, soft and genuine.

　"Then you haven't met enough rulers."

　She vanished.

　Nyxara's eyes tracked her a fraction of a second too late.

BOOM.

　Nao appeared above her, unleashing a barrage that shifted power type with every strike — fire, lightning, spatial blades, gravity, darkness, time distortion.

　No two attacks shared a single origin.

　Nyxara blocked one.

　Destroyed another.

　Evaded three more.

　The rest detonated harmlessly behind her.

　"Interesting," she said, glancing back.

　"Having trouble keeping up?" Nao asked, several meters away now.

　"Not really."

　Nyxara vanished.

　Nao turned instantly, scanning the empty space around her.

　Nothing.

BOOM.

　Nyxara appeared beside her.

　Nao barely avoided the punch, but the shockwave alone sent her tumbling through the air.

　She stabilized herself mid-flight, her smile never disappearing.

　"So that's how you want to fight," she said, raising one hand.

　Seven enormous magic circles bloomed into existence behind her, each carrying the weight of a complete Ultimate Attack.

　"Seven," Nyxara said, something rare flickering across her expression.

　"Seven," Nao confirmed.

　They descended together.

　The resulting detonation swallowed the battlefield.

　The sky.

　Entire mountains.

　A storm of destructive force erupted outward, powerful enough that anything caught within it should have been reduced to nothing.

　Nao surveyed the wreckage.

　"That should do it."

　Footsteps answered instead.

　Nyxara emerged from the smoke.

　Her clothes were torn, blood tracing one side of her face.

　She was smiling.

　"That was interesting," she said, wiping the blood away.

　"You survived," Nao said, genuinely surprised.

　"You really thought seven attacks would be enough?"

　Nao's smile returned as she approached.

　"Do you want to know why I broke your toy?"

　Nyxara said nothing.

　"Because he was in my way," Nao said. "So I mistakenly stepped on it."

　Silence swallowed the space between them.

　Nyxara's smile disappeared entirely.

　Nao felt her a heartbeat too late.

　Already there.

　Already close.

　The fist came before Nao's instincts had finished registering the threat.

　She twisted at the last possible moment.

　The punch itself missed.

　The shockwave did not.

　Nao was launched hundreds of meters through several standing structures before finally managing to stop herself.

　"You will regret saying that," Nyxara said, lowering her fist.

　Nao wiped the blood from her mouth.

　Then laughed.

　"Now that's more like it."

　Nyxara's aura erupted.

　The battlefield shuddered.

　Space itself cracked.

　The sky darkened into something that was no longer truly sky.

　A vast rift tore open behind her.

　"What is that?" Nao asked, wary for the first time.

　"My world," Nyxara said.

　"Nebular."

　The battlefield vanished entirely.

　Nao opened her eyes into an endless cosmic expanse.

　There was no ground.

　No sky.

　Only stars, nebulae, and drifting celestial structures stretching in every direction.

　Galaxies moved like living things.

　"This is your dimension," she said.

　"No," Nyxara corrected, floating nearby. "This is my original dimension."

　Nao's Perfect Copy activated instinctively.

　It analyzed everything about the being in front of her.

　Ability after ability revealed itself.

　Far beyond what any single opponent should have possessed.

　"So many abilities," she murmured.

　"Going to copy them?" Nyxara asked.

　"Of course."

　Nao's smile widened.

　"That's what I do."

　Energy erupted around her.

　Thousands of accumulated powers.

　Ultimate Skills.

　Ultimate Attacks.

　Abilities drawn from countless defeated beings across an entire reign — more than she had bothered counting in years.

　"Perfect Copy," Nyxara said, studying it.

　"I've fought too many powerful beings to remember them all," Nao said. "And every one of them left something behind."

　She pointed toward Nyxara.

　"Now I'll add you to the collection."

　Nyxara laughed.

　"You're still thinking this is a battle of abilities."

　Her own aura shifted.

　Something monstrous emerged.

　Her body began transforming, primordial energy rippling outward through Nebular itself.

　The stars trembled beneath the weight of it.

　"You're transforming," Nao said, watching carefully.

　"You've finally made me take you seriously."

　Nyxara's voice echoed through the cosmic expanse.

　The transformation completed.

　Her Final Form had emerged.

　Nao unleashed her arsenal.

　Hundreds of Ultimate Attacks fired simultaneously.

　Nyxara moved between them.

　Destroying one.

　Avoiding ten.

　Breaking through a hundred.

　Thousands more replaced them as quickly as she cleared a path.

　There was no pattern to Nao's assault.

　Every countered attack simply became a new one, endlessly cycling.

　The true horror of Perfect Copy was laid bare.

　She could reach for anything.

　At any moment.

　With no predictable rhythm to exploit.

If this continues, Nyxara thought, she'll eventually overwhelm me.

　"You're slowing down," Nao said.

　Attack after attack followed.

　Nyxara destroyed each one in turn.

　Then seven Ultimate Attacks converged once again.

　Nyxara's eyes narrowed.

　A black blade materialized in her hand.

　The atmosphere itself changed.

　"What is that?" Nao asked.

　"Ghroth," Nyxara said.

　"The Death Star."

　No explosion followed.

　No aura.

　No overwhelming energy signature.

　Nothing.

　And that was precisely what made it so dangerous.

　Nao's Perfect Copy analyzed it.

　Nothing.

　No skill.

　No ability.

　Nothing to copy at all.

　"What?" Nao said, genuinely thrown.

　"Ghroth doesn't need an ability," Nyxara said.

　Then she vanished.

　Nao immediately threw up every defense she could summon.

　Barriers.

　Spatial shields.

　Immortality.

　Regeneration.

　Dimensional protection.

　Conceptual defenses.

　Time manipulation.

　Dozens of layers appeared simultaneously.

　Nyxara appeared directly in front of her.

　Ghroth swung.

Shing.

　The blade passed through every single defense.

　It wasn't overpowering the abilities themselves.

　It was cutting straight through the protections those abilities generated, one after another, without slowing.

　"Impossible," Nao said, jumping backward.

　Nyxara followed.

　Every defense Nao raised fell the same way.

　She finally understood the actual shape of the problem.

　She could copy anything.

　Reproduce nearly any ability that existed.

　But Ghroth simply didn't care what any of them were built from.

　Desperate, Nao unleashed everything at once.

　Millions of copied abilities activated simultaneously.

　A wave of power vast enough to shake Nebular itself erupted outward.

　"THIS IS EVERYTHING!"

　Nyxara stood inside the storm, her eyes glowing.

　"Exactly," she said.

　"And that's why I can't give you another chance."

　She vanished.

　Nao's Perfect Copy detected her a heartbeat too late.

　Ghroth pierced clean through her defenses.

　The dimension went entirely silent.

　Nao looked down at the blade that had already passed through her.

　Nyxara stood behind her, having already withdrawn it.

　Nao laughed weakly.

　"...So that's your answer."

　"Yes."

　"I lost because you were stronger?"

　Nyxara shook her head.

　"No. You lost because you gave me too much time to understand exactly how dangerous you actually were."

　Nao smiled.

　"And if I hadn't given you that time?"

　Nyxara's expression turned serious.

　"You would have won."

　"Exactly."

　Nao fell unconscious.

　The two of them stood there for a long moment in the settling quiet.

　Neither had underestimated the other by the end.

　Nao understood, finally, exactly why Nyxara held the rank she did.

　But Nyxara understood something as well.

　If she had continued treating the fight as anything less than absolute, Perfect Copy would have eventually — inevitably — found the one combination she couldn't answer.

　Then the dimension simply faded.

　Elsewhere, Nyxara felt the approaching presence before anyone else did.

　"She's here."

　Ashley descended.

　Ivy immediately bowed properly.

　"It's a pleasure to see you again, Lady Ashley."

　Ashley studied her.

　"...Who are you again?"

　Ivy froze entirely.

　Nyxara stared.

　"Hey. Hey."

　Ashley turned toward her.

　"Do I know you from somewhere?!"

　"Are you kidding me right now?"

　"My memories are still a little messy," Ashley admitted sheepishly.

　Then her expression brightened.

　"Oh — Nyxara, that's you, right? How's it been?"

　Nyxara sighed.

　"Yeah, it's me. And it's been — what, ten, eleven years now?"

　Ashley turned toward Vados next.

　"And you?"

　"Vados, Lady Ashley," he said, bowing slightly. "So you're really the Chaos Dragon."

　"I suppose I am," Ashley said with a shrug.

　Himari arrived a moment later.

　"Lady Ashley."

　"I told you to call me Mom."

　Himari sighed.

　"...Alright, Mom."

　Ashley looked around, her expression brightening even further.

　"Where's my lovely son?"

　"He's not here," Himari said.

　"I suppose he's off fighting my brothers," Ashley said, completely unbothered. "Well, then. I'll go see him."

　Vados could already feel the terrifying weight of her aura, even while she stood completely at rest.

　Enzo said nothing at all.

　Nyxara crossed her arms.

　"So what do you think of the new body your son made for you?"

　"I have to say, I'm impressed," Ashley said, entirely serious. "Just look at these—"

　"Please stop," Himari said.

　"—and this skin. So smooth. I wonder what material he actually used. And my core hasn't felt this stable in longer than I can remember. I don't recall having this much energy either."

　Ashley looked toward Himari.

　"Himari, what source did your brother actually use for this?"

　"Genesis energy," Himari said.

　Ashley went completely still.

　"Did you just say Genesis energy?"

　Her expression shifted into genuine disbelief.

　"Where would he even get that? That should be impossible to obtain."

　"He made it himself," Nyxara said. "And fused your core with Null mana."

　"Null mana?"

　"That's what Lord Kai's mana is called," Vados supplied.

　"That's how he was able to name us without any drawback," Enzo added.

　Ashley's expression softened into something delighted.

　"Wow."

　She smiled proudly.

　"My son really is amazing."

　Then her smile widened.

　"I think I'll give him a reward."

　"You're seriously going to enter Kai's dimension?" Nyxara asked.

　Ashley smiled.

　"That won't be a problem."

　She vanished.

　Far away, inside Thyatire, Kai felt her presence arrive all at once.

　Unmistakable.

　Impossible to miss.

　His eyes widened.

　Then he smiled.

　"Mom..."