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    Day 341 - 1:10 PM - Sumida River, Kachidoki Riverbank, Kachidoki, Reimed City, Ruins of Tokyo


    A body akin to flowing magma, enveloped in yellow mes. Such a giant standing over seven meters emerged from the river in Gar''m''s ce.


    The emergence of Gar''m in this form caused the freezing water to begin boiling. The ice that covered the surface of the Sumida River due to the blizzard began to thaw at an rming rate.


    Within the area, a few hundred meters around Gar''m. The coldness of winter snow was reced with the sizzling temperature of a heatwave.


    Comparing the heat of Shin''s mes to Gar''m''s, it was akin to a candle me beingpared to a wildfire.


    It was as one would expect from the me Demon Deity.


    The me giant turned his head, facing Mark. Thetter could not help but cold sweat on his back.


    Mark could feel the pressure created by Gar''m''s presence. It might not be as strong as the presence of the Gods. And even ifpared to the [Eyes] and Sinogo, Gar''m''s pressure was weaker. However, it was filled with unrestrained hostility against Mark, making it stronger than it was supposed to be.


    Gar''m floated over the boiling river. Without a word, or maybe, he could not speak in this form, Gar''m stretched out his right hand at Mark.


    And with a higher surge of temperature, a fireball, three timesrger than Mark''s height, formed in an instant.


    "Well... Damn..."


    Those were Mark''s words as he saw the giant fireball fly in his direction.


    Mark''s wings pped as hard as he could as he flew near the surface of the river. Compared to his flight speed, the fireball was much slower. Nheless, Mark did not dare to be careless. As soon as the fireball made contact with the river water, Mark used his [Shadow Mist Movement], turning into a surge of ck mist and flying faster than before.


    And Mark was right with his actions. The moment the fireball made contact with the water, with its temperature higher than the fireballs before, caused a far stronger explosion of steam. But that was the least of everyone''s concerns. It was because the fireball exploded into a surge of mes spreading out in every direction.


    Without regard for whether it was allies or foes, the surge of mes enveloped the entire area with a shockwave of melting temperatures.


    The Serpent God and Amihan were still exchanging horrifying attacks. And the two remained unfazed by the spreading mes. Yamata-No-Orochi''s body was far sturdier to be fazed by such mes. On the other hand, Amihan could use her abilities to block the mes and diver it away from her.


    Unfortunately, it was not the case for everyone else.


    Mark immediately flew to the sky to escape the surge below. Even if he turned into mist, there would be no escape if he remained near the water.


    As for the others, their respective fights locked in stalemate were interrupted.


    The Priestess and the Empress managed to retreat using their own methods.


    Using [Sukuchi], the Priestess vanished and appeared in every step she took over the surface of the water. In no time at all, she reached a distance she could easily defend against the wave mes.


    The Empress used a different method. She gracefully jumped and stepped over the surface of the water, retreating while encasing her body inside a hollow bluish fireball. While the wave of mes caught up with the Empress before she reached a safe distance, her [Fox mes] negated any damage she should have received.


    On the other hand, the enemies of the two were not in too good of a situation.


    Aoba was much slower than everyone. He could not retreat in time and was swallowed by the wave of mes. Fortunately, his prided, sturdy body managed to resist the mes. His entire body was singed, but he was still in a shape to continue fighting.


    Renea was unfortunate, however. Spiders and mes would not mix well together. Her web traps that hindered the Empress in their battle were all burned to nothingness. And the person herself received no light injuries as the wave of mes caught her. While she managed to retreat far enough not to die, she was in no condition to continue fighting.


    The two were angered by Gar''m''s actions. However, they could only swallow the insults and curses they wanted to throw toward the me Demon Deity. What could they do? They were just subordinates who could not deny the orders given to them. If they defied Gar''m, it would not be surprising if they turned into food for the Serpent God on the spot.


    While the effect of Gar''m''s attack turned out for the better for the Priestess and the Empress, it was the exact opposite on the other side of the fight.


    Since Yukine caught Tsukiko and fled, she was lucky to be away for the moment.


    Kouki managed to stall the fight with Shin and Yoko alone. The powerful [Tengu] would not have such a problem standing against a [Demonized Human] and a barely capable Siren. Unfortunately, he was unable to gain the advantage, either. It became dangerous for him since Shin began using his [Space Tears] to try and rupture Kouki into pieces.


    And then, the explosion of Gar''m''s attack happened after the emergence of his me body.


    Kouki was unable to flee immediately. The reason was not because he was slower than the wave of mes. It was because Shin was unaffected by the mes and continued attacking Kouki in one hand and protecting Yoko in the other.


    The hindered escape caused Kouki to nearly lose one of his wings, burning its feathers and causing instability in his flight. He barely managed to reach the riverbank on the side of Kachidoki. But, by the looks of it, it was better for him to not continue the fight.


    As for Shin and Yoko, they were unscathed. Shin''s blessing that Gar''m gave him allowed Shin to be unaffected by the mes. He even managed to shield Yoko from it.


    The two were able to continue fighting. However, Shin had a different idea.


    It might feel bad for them, but Shin grabbed Yoko and took the opportunity to escape. Yoko seemed to be against it since Tsukiko was captured. However, there was nothing much they could do. Once Yukine returned, Yoko would end up in danger. At the least, they knew that Tsukiko was captured alive. If Tsukiko was alive, they could try to retrieve her next time.


    Just not now. Not when there were monsters protecting the Reimed City.


    As Shin escaped with Yoko, Gar''m took a quick nce at them. However, Gar''m did not show any intention to stop Shin. For Gar''m, it was better for Shin to leave this ce. It was one less distraction for him.


    BOOM!


    A sudden explosion caused Gar''m''s gigantic body to shake a little.


    Gar''m faced forward. His eyes, made of burning mes, stared at Mark. It seemed that while Gar''m was distracted, Mark tried something which caused the explosion.


    However, Gar''m felt nothing but a little shake.


    And worse, it just made Gar''m even angrier for some reason.


    Gar''m raised his hand once again. He was about to conjure another attack. This time, it was a few fireballs about a fourth of the size of the previous one. The one before wasrge and powerful. However, its size caused the speed to lessen. Sacrificing size and power, Gar''m created fireballs with more speed.


    Strange enough, Mark flew down as soon as Gar''m raised his hand. Mark then flew as fast as he could, circling around Gar''m while keeping around two meters distance above the surface of the water.


    Gar''m followed Mark, aiming his hand at him.


    Finally, Gar''m began his barrage of fireballs. Each fireball, over two meters in size, createdrge sshes on the river. It was as if Mark was being chased by artillery bombardment.


    While dodging the fireballs, Mark finally flew higher.


    The enormous fireballs continued to rain in Mark''s direction. As Mark did his best to dodge, the fireballs missed, continuing on their trajectory,ying waste to the already ruined Tokyo.


    ***


    Mark felt a bit relieved as Gar''m followed his flight.


    One giant Serpent God was already a problem. Fortunately, Amihan was still holding her ground against it. And now, Gar''m turned into another giant. While The me Demon Deity was not even around a quarter of the Serpent God''s size, a seven-meter giant was still enormous.


    Worse, Gar''m''s attacks couldy waste to anything without mercy or control.


    That was why Mark could only bait Gar''m. Mark flew lower, diverting Gar''m''s attention from the background, which was the Reimed City. As Gar''m could only see Mark and the river below him, Gar''m failed to notice what Mark was doing.


    Mark made Gar''m turn his back on the Reimed City. This way, any missed attacks on Mark would noty waste on the Reimed City and fall into the already destroyed ruins of Tokyo instead.


    And now, Mark could exchange attacks with Gar''m to his heart''s content.


    Mark tightened his hands on the weapons he was carrying. However, it was not thebined swords.


    In each of Mark''s hands, he was holding unto a spherical item. Each item was about the size of a bowling ball.


    As Mark evaded another fireball, he spun his body and threw one of the items.


    BOOOM!


    The item made contact with the mes of Gar''m''s body and exploded.


    One of these items caused Gar''m''s body to shake earlier after Shin''s escape.


    And the same happened now.


    Gar''m''s body shook. However, it was not because of the impact of the explosion. It was because the explosion actually took out a good chunk on the magma-like body of Gar''m.


    There was no doubt whatever Mark was doing was inflicting damage on Gar''m.


    Unfortunately, the damage would notst long. The damage done by the explosion would end up getting covered by the flowing magma afterward. There seemed to be no point at all in what Mark was currently doing.


    However, Mark had a smile inside his helmet.


    Mark threw the other sphere in his hand at Gar''m. It ended with the same result.


    But the only thing that Mark said about such a result was...


    "Hmm... It''s doable..."


    Mark then fetched another pair of those spheres from his [Spatial Ring]. He was ready for another round of bombardment.


    At this time, themunication talisman that Mark received from the Priestess glowed inside his armor.


    "You need help?"


    The Priestess'' voice echoed into Mark''s ears.


    At this moment, the Priestess and the Empress were watching Mark''s fight with Gar''m. The two were freed from their fights after the river thawed due to Gar''m.


    Without the ice covering the surface of the river, there was no foothold for any ground battle to happen. Unfortunately, both the two women had limited capabilities in terms of flight and overwater battles.


    The same went for Aoba and Renea, stuck on the opposite side of the river.


    It seemed that no one on both sides expected Gar''m to affect the battle this much.


    Now, the Priestess and the Empress were contemting supporting Mark in his fight with Gar''m. The two did not jump into action, realizing that Mark seemed to have ns in case they ended up ruining it.


    And Mark''s reply?


    "Then, can you block his fireballs?"


    Mark asked as he continued to dodge the endless fireballsing his way.


    "Want us to protect you?"


    The Priestess asked.


    "No," Mark replied. "Protect the city. I need to turn this guy facing the Reimed City, but his fireballs are dangerous."


    "Why turn him around?"


    The Priestess was confused.


    "No time to exin," Mark answered. "Can you do it or not?"


    "Alright..." The Priestess sighed. "I''ll trust you and do my best."


    And there, the Priestess erected a new barrier. However, since her current capabilities were limited, the barrier only covered the wide area around the docks of Kachidoki.


    However, that was more than enough.


    Mark immediately flew down to the surface of the river before going around Gar''m.


    Gar''m floated forward and tried to either grab Mark or smash him with his fists. However, hisrge frame made it harder to catch the tricky Mark.


    Mark also flew further when Gar''m tried to get close. Flying close to Gar''m would probably stop him from firing his destructive attacks. However, Mark could not do it since Mark could feel his armor heating up when flying too close to the me Demon Deity.


    Gar''m was now facing the Reimed City, shooting fireballs at Mark like a machine gun. If it was before, the missed attacks would haveid waste to the Reimed City. However, the barrier the Priestess erected managed to hold on against the barrage of attacks.


    Unfortunately, it would notst long. The barrier was draining the Priestess for every attack it was receiving.


    As such, Mark finally made his move, as he charged as close as possible to the center of Gar''m''s chest and threw the metal spheres in his hands right in the center.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    Two explosions urred simultaneously, creating a gaping hole in Gar''m''s magma-like body.


    But Mark was not stopping as he immediately took another pair and threw it before the hole in Gar''m''s body regenerated.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    And another pair.


    BOOOM! BOOOM!


    After six simultaneous explosions which caused Gar''m to stagger, the gaping hole in his chest, which reached the center of his body, revealed something unexpected.


    Gar''m''s true body was there, suspended inside the magma-like body.


    It seemed that Gar''m was also surprised. He never expected Mark to see through this ability.


    But as Gar''m tried to retaliate after his body was exposed, a beam of light shot from one of Kachidoki''s buildings. That familiar beam of light, but thinner and had more prating power, shone from that building and through Gar''m''s chest.


    Gar''m''s eyes widened as his magma-like shell began to fall apart. He looked down. A hole could be seen in his chest, which obliterated the core of this body of his.