I forced myself away from Julius, creating distance between us.

My body felt wrecked.

I had no clothes left.

They were completely gone, burned away like they were nothing. They were supposed to withstand attacks like that, at least to some extent. Yet here I was. Standing there with nothing left on me.

Julius’ fire had to be on a completely different level for it to do that.

My body was already healing from the damage I had taken, the torn flesh slowly knitting itself back together like nothing had happened. It wasn’t instant, but it was fast enough that I could feel the difference with each passing second.

I took a deep breath while I was still recovering, trying to steady myself, but it quickly became clear that Moriarty and Julius had no intention of giving me even a moment to breathe. Not even a second.

Before I could fully gather myself, I was suddenly smashed into a corner. The impact came out of nowhere, too fast for me to react properly. My back hit hard, the force rattling through my body, and before I could even process it, I was already being flung again.

My body shot toward another building.

A kick caught me midair, and the next thing I knew, I was slammed straight into the structure. The wall shattered on impact, debris scattering as I crashed through it. I barely had time to register what was happening before I burst out the other side, only to be sent crashing into yet another building right after.

At this point, I was basically a human pinball. Not exactly the most dignified situation.

Before I could even properly land, Julius was already there again. A single strike hit me before my feet could touch the ground. The force sent me flying upward, and for a brief second, I didn’t even realize I was already in the air.

How long were they planning to keep tossing me around like this?

I hit the ground hard enough to crack it beneath me, the impact spreading out in jagged lines across the surface.

A wheeze escaped my mouth as the air was forced out of my lungs. That one hurt more than I wanted to admit. My chest tightened, and for a moment, all I could do was lie there, trying to breathe again like a normal person.

I tried to push myself up, forcing my arms to move despite the strain.

Well, I didn’t get far.

The moment I started to rise, the two of them were already there, shutting that down immediately.

Moriarty drove his sword straight into me without hesitation. The blade pierced through my body cleanly and continued into the concrete beneath, locking me in place. I was pinned flat against the ground, like some kind of display piece.

Then Julius stepped in.

He started punching me.

There wasn’t any pause between his strikes. His fists came down one after another, each blow carrying heat, like they were burning as they hit. It wasn’t just the pain. The impact of each punch shook my head, rattling my thoughts around until everything started to blur together.

Thinking became harder.

Then harder.

Then almost impossible.

My vision flickered, my focus slipping as the hits kept coming. It felt like my brain was getting scrambled with each strike, pushed closer and closer to shutting down completely.

"It’s your fault that I became like this! Because of you! You! You!!!!"

His voice cut through the chaos, filled with raw anger, almost cracking under the weight of it.

The punches didn’t stop.

They just kept coming.

And with the cursed sword still lodged in my chest, I could feel my mana being drained steadily, like something was siphoning it straight out of me. Bad combination. Really bad.

"You should just die! Just dieeeeeeee! Just fucking die already!!!"

Despite all of that, I didn’t react.

I just stared at him.

With a completely blank expression.

Honestly, if he was expecting some kind of reaction, he was going to be disappointed.

"Wait, Prince Julius... something is wrong," Moriarty said, his tone shifting slightly.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

Moriarty pulled the sword out of my chest in one smooth motion, then immediately dashed back, grabbing Julius and pulling him away from me.

"Why?! He’s already trapped! We could kill him!"

"I don’t think it’s going to be that easy," Moriarty replied, his eyes locked onto me, cautious now.

"Well... it seems I really don’t have a choice," I said, my voice calm.

The wound in my chest was already gone, completely healed as if the blade had never been there.

"In terms of strength, I don’t think I can take both of you at the same time."

That part was simple enough to admit.

One on one, I could handle either of them. That wasn’t the issue. The problem was the two of them together. Their coordination, the way they moved in sync, as well as the way their combined strength kept pressure on me without giving me space to adapt properly.

Fighting both at once like this was inefficient.

Annoying too.

So I had no choice but to change things up.

Darkness began to gather around me, slowly at first, then more intensely. It curled and twisted like it had a will of its own, wrapping around my body. My skin started to shift as black scales spread across it, layering over each other.

My hair followed, the dark color fading into a pale, whitish gray.

Power surged through me, rising sharply, almost violently, like something had just been unleashed after being held back for too long.

Then came the horns.

Two sets, pushing out from my forehead.

I had transformed into the form of Lilith.

The Great Black.

"So... he’s already sold himself to the devil," Moriarty said, watching carefully.

I lifted slightly off the ground, hovering just enough to make the point clear. Darkness continued to flow around me, like the air itself had changed.

"Now then... I suppose we should start taking this seriously?" I said, looking down at them.

***

The reason I chose to transform like that wasn’t random.

It went back to before the fight even started.

At the time, I had been thinking about how to deal with Moriarty. Julius too, especially if he went all the way and transformed into the Great Red. I had considered just fighting them normally, adapting as things went on. That approach would probably work eventually.

But it would take time.

A lot of time.

And I didn’t want that.

Things were already getting messy. Everything felt like it was building up, getting closer and closer to a point where it could all fall apart. The longer the fight dragged on, the higher the chance that something would go wrong.

And if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to keep control over the situation.

So ending it quickly became the priority.

That was when Lilith gave me the idea.

And that was to transform into the Great Black.