Nigō’s gaze flicked to Kuro and Xero, a faint smile pying on her lips. “You’ve doo make it this far,” she said, her tone ced with a mixture of genuine praise and dession. “But the real test begins now.”

  Kuro and Xero didn’t flinch. Kuro’s sharp eyes met Nigō’s, his focus unwavering. “Then stop talking and show me,” he said calmly, his voice cutting through the stillness like a bde.

  Xero’s grin widened as he shifted his stance, readying his bde. “I like her fidence,” he said with a ugh. “Let’s see if it holds up when things get serious.”

  Oher hand, amid the destru, Reika stood her ground, her crimson cloak flowing behind her like a banner of defiance.

  Surrounded by the meical monstrosities of the Cerberus Children, she remained unshaken. Dozens of cyberic wolves prowled in a tightening circle, their glowing red eyes fixed on her with predatory i. Eaent of the wolves recise and calcuted, their meical frames gleaming ominously in the fragmented light.

  Kuro, locked in his own frontation, gnced her way, his brow furrowing. The sight of her standing alone against the overwhelming horde caused a flicker of doubt to cross his otherwise posed features. “Reika,” he called out, his voice carrying over the chaos. “ you hahis on your own? I guess Xero has to back me up now, with three oppos to deal with.”

  Reika turned slightly, her expression calm and self-assured. A small, fident smirk pyed on her lips. “Don’t worry about me,” she replied smoothly, her voice steady. “Just focus on yht. I’ve got this.”

  With a graceful motion, she raised her hand, and her signature red spheres began to materialize. The maions of her Power of Destru hovered around her, shimmering like malevolent stars. Their ominous glow cast an eerie light over the clearing, making the surrounding wolves hesitate for the briefest of moments.

  Without warning, the spheres shot forward, streaks of crimson energy that tore through the air. The lead Cerberus wolf lunged, but one of the spheres collided with it mid-air. The impact was instantaneous—the creature’s metallic frame disied into nothingness, leaving no trace of its existence.

  Another sphere spun through the pack, weaviween the wolves with precision before detonating in a violent arc. The bst obliterated several of the creatures in an instant, their remains scattering like ashes on the wind.

  The battlefield lit up with bursts of crimson energy as Reika moved with methodical ease. Her strikes were calcuted, each sphere targeting oints in the wolves’ stru. She wielded her power with a bance of elegand destru, every motion fluid and deliberate.

  Kuro’s gave way to curiosity as he observed her from a distance. Reika’s power was unlike anything he had seeatingly effective yet unnervingly trolled. Her every move exuded a fidehat bordered on artistry. For a moment, he fot the danger surrounding them, captivated by the spectacle.

  Meanwhile, from the sidelines, Nigō observed the chaos with an air of detat. Her emerald-greeracked the movements of her rades and their oppos, her expression calm and unreadable.

  “Don’t worry,” she said suddenly, her voice cutting through the battlefield’s din like a whisper carried on the wind. Her gaze shifted to Kuro, her tone cool and almost dismissive. “I won’t fight. Ichigō and Sangō will still fight. I’m only here to recover their bodies.”

  Kuro’s brow furrowed at her words, unease creeping into his expression. “Recover their bodies?” he repeated, his tone ced with suspi.

  Before he could fully process the implication, Nigō moved with inhuman speed, her hand making a subtle gesture. A faint, almost imperceptible hum filled the air as a soft green glow surrounded Ichigō and Sangō.

  Kuro’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the transformation unfold. The battered and scorched forms of Sangō began to shift as Ichigo received light healing. Cracks in their skin vanished, bruises and burns dissolved, and their once-damaged bodies straightened with perfect precision. In a matter of moments, they stood tall and unblemished, their appearances restored to an almost unnerving perfe.

  It was as though the battle’s toll had ouched them.

  Xero, standing nearby, narrowed his gaze, his grip tightening on his bde. “What the hell is this?” he muttered, his fiery aura fring in response.

  Kuro, his voice tinged with urgency, called out to Nigō. “What did you do?”

  Nigō smiled faintly, her expression sere cold. “I told you,” she said simply. “I came to recover their bodies. You didn’t think you could break Fire Fly’s creations so easily, did you?”

  As the fully restored Ichigō and Sangō stepped forward, their auras burning brighter than before, Kuro and Xero exged a ghe brief reprieve was over, and the battle was far from finished.

  Nigō then leaned casually against a gree, her posture rexed and her half-lidded emerald eyes betraying more boredom than i in the chaos unfolding arouhe fairace of a smirk pyed on her lips, as if she found the euation mildly amusing at best. She was one of Xaker’s operatives, that much was clear, but her presence seemed almost ial, as though she were merely passing through rather than actively participating.

  Reika’s crimson cloak billowed as she turned her attention to Nigō. Even amidst the chaos of the battlefield, Reika’s sharp instincts could sense something uling about the woman’s unnatural ess. It was as if Nigō existed in a bubble, untouched by the fury of the fight raging around her.

  Reika’s eyes narrowed, her irritati. She raised her hand, summoning one of her signature red spheres of destructive energy. The sphere pulsed menagly, a trated maion of raw power, before streaking through the air toward the nont observer.

  The sphere carved a path of destru as it tore through the underbrush, obliterating everything in its trajectory.

  But Nigō didn’t flinch. She remaiill until the st possible moment, then zily stepped aside, the sphere passing mere inches from her. The force of the sphere’s passage sent a rush of wind whipping through her long bck hair, but she didn’t seem the least bit perturbed.