That woman!

That damn singing woman!

The Great Xia vanguard, which had been on the verge of collapse, had turned into a horde of tireless, pain-defying monsters all because of her singing.

She must be killed!

As long as she keeps singing, there's no way to win this battle!

"Shadow Unit!" The commander squeezed the words through his teeth, filled with desperate madness. "Ignore those Northwest barbarians! All units, deploy! Tear that woman to pieces for me!"

"If we don't kill her, Cloud Port is finished! We're finished too!"

At his command, the air in the shadows on the battlefield's flank suddenly twisted grotesquely.

Dozens of figures clad in tight black suits and wearing ghost masks slipped away silently from the main battlefield like specters crawling out of Hell.

They were elite death squads meticulously trained by Sakura Country, and Cloud Port's final trump card—the 'Beheaders.'

Moving without a sound, they glided forward several meters at a time with subtle toe taps, their poison-coated daggers gleaming with a ghostly blue chill in the firelight. Avoiding the main Northwest Army forces engaged in front-line combat, they pounced toward Sona atop the shipping container from all directions like venomous snakes catching the scent of blood.

Their speed was blindingly fast.

In the blink of an eye, the ghost-masked assassin at the lead leapt into the air, his blade pointed straight at Sona's long, fair neck.

However, just as the blade was about to touch Sona...

"ROAR!!!"

A roar like that of a primordial beast suddenly detonated beneath the shipping container.

A blood-drenched figure soared into the sky like a cannonball.

"Trying to touch this girl in front of us Great Xia men?"

"Have you asked the blade in my hand first?!"

Accompanying this furious roar, an alloy warblade the size of a door swept outward with a piercing screech of rending wind.

*Pfft!*

The ghost-masked assassin suspended in midair didn't even have time to scream before being cleaved in half at the waist by that terrifying strike.

The two halves of his corpse slammed heavily to the ground amidst a shower of blood.

Wang Zhenbei held his blade in one hand and landed solidly in front of the shipping container.

His empty left sleeve flapped wildly in the gale. His remaining right hand gripped the hilt tightly, his entire body emanating a suffocating Baleful Qi.

Behind him, the two military S-Rank Experts originally tasked with escorting Sona had already drawn their weapons. Standing left and right like two immovable door guardians, they shielded the entire stage behind them.

"Northwest Army, hear my command!"

Wang Zhenbei spun around abruptly, a frightening glint bursting from his single eye, his voice drowning out the deafening drumbeats.

"Protect this girl for me!"

"If anyone lets a single hair on her head fall, I'll chop him alive!"

"YES!!!"

Thousands of Northwest Army soldiers roared in unison.

A portion of the soldiers who had been charging forward rapidly fell back to defend, forming a wall of steel around the container.

"Kill!"

Seeing their cover blown, the remaining dozens of ghost-masked assassins abandoned stealth. Resolute ferocity flashed in their eyes as they turned into dozens of black streaks, charging maniacally at Wang Zhenbei.

"Come at me!"

Wang Zhenbei laughed wildly and advanced instead of retreating.

In this moment, amid the impassioned heavy metal music, he felt the hot blood that had lain dormant inside him for decades boiling and burning once more.

That feeling was utterly marvelous.

The old injuries from years of warfare, the dull ache in his severed arm on rainy days, the physical strength deteriorating with age...

At this moment, all of it vanished without a trace!

In its place was boundless, infinite power!

It was a heroic spirit that felt capable of shattering mountains with a single punch!

*CLANG!*

An S-Rank ghost-masked leader struck his tachi fiercely against Wang Zhenbei's alloy warblade.

Sparks flew in all directions.

Had it been ten minutes ago, blocking this blow might have taken Wang Zhenbei some effort.

But now...

"Get the Hell off me!"

The muscles in Wang Zhenbei's right arm bulged, veins bulging like coiling dragons, as a terrifying force detonated along the blade.

*CRACK!*

The ghost-masked leader's tachi snapped instantly.

Immediately after, Wang Zhenbei flicked his wrist, and the massive blade slammed into the opponent's chest like swatting a fly.

*BANG!*

The ghost-masked leader possessing S-Rank strength had his chest collapse instantly. He flew backward like a broken kite, coughing up blood mixed with organ fragments while still in midair, clearly beyond saving.

The power of a single strike was terrifying to behold!

"HAHAHAHA! Exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!"

Wang Zhenbei laughed toward the sky like a manic demon.

He felt as if he had returned forty years into the past—back to when he was young, with both arms intact, charging in and out of battlefields as if no one could stop him.

No, even stronger than back then!

Empowered by this singing, he was a true God of War!

*Splat! Splat! Splat!*

The blade light gleamed like snow as flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Under the slaughter wrought by Wang Zhenbei and the two military experts, the dozens of Sakura Country assassins attempting the decapitation strike were like rotten meat thrown into a grinder, wiped out in an instant.

Not a single person managed to get within ten meters of Sona.

Atop the shipping container...

Sona seemed completely oblivious to the slaughter beneath her feet.

She merely gripped the microphone tightly, her eyes closed, immersed in her own world of music.

The drumsticks in the Avatar drummer's hands moved so fast they were a blur of afterimages.

The roar of the bass and guitar grew increasingly thunderous.

The tangible waves of sound surged wave after wave, spreading across the entirety of Cloud Port.

It wasn't just the Northwest Army on the ground.

Even the battle in the sky underwent an earth-shattering shift due to her song.

Above the cloud layer...

Above the clouds, 'Fire Phoenix,' a red-haired woman from Great Xia Nation's Enshrined Order, was controlling sky-spanning flames in a fierce battle against a Sakura Country Onmyoji riding the Shikigami 'Ōtengu.'

Originally, their strengths were evenly matched, locked in an inseparable duel.

But the moment those passionate drumbeats reached high into the sky...

Fire Phoenix felt as though a bucket of fuel had been poured onto the fire element within her body, causing it to instantly surge!

Her magic power, which had been nearing depletion, refilled to overflowing in a matter of breaths.

"This is..."

A flash of shock passed through Fire Phoenix's beautiful eyes, turning into wild joy.

Looking at the Onmyoji opposite her, who grimaced in pain from the sonic shockwave as his control over the Shikigami slowed, a cold, alluring curve touched her lips.

"Now, it's my turn."

Her hands formed hand seals as a crisp, clear Phoenix cry echoed through the high heavens.

"Phoenix Wing Heavenly Soar!"

The flame Phoenix, originally only thirty meters wide, surged dramatically against the wind under the song's enhancement, instantly transforming into a sky-obscuring firebird three hundred meters large!

The terrifyingly high temperature instantly vaporized the surrounding clouds.

"No! That's impossible!"

Seeing this world-destroying sight, the Onmyoji was scared out of his wits, desperately trying to recall his Shikigami to defend.

Under that deafening heavy metal rhythm, however, his Mental Strength couldn't concentrate at all, and he even mispronounced a syllable of his incantation.

*BOOM—!!!*

Carrying a force capable of burning the sky and destroying the earth, the three-hundred-meter Fire Phoenix swallowed the Ōtengu Shikigami whole in a single bite. Without losing momentum, it slammed violently into the Onmyoji.

Without even having time to scream, the S-Rank Onmyoji—classified as extremely dangerous in Great Xia Nation's intelligence—was directly reduced to ash scattering across the sky.