PINNACLE

As dawn breaks during the forest camp battle, Michael unleashes powerful lightning attacks that quickly dispatch numerous monsters. However, before he can settle into his combat rhythm, a monster manages to tear a chunk of flesh from his shoulder, triggering his panic once more. Just as he prepares to conjure his lightning armor, Mai intervenes, swiftly eliminating the threatening creature with a well-aimed shot from her rifle. She consoles Michael, reminding him that he isn't alone and that she's also here to support him. Reinvigorated, Michael resumes his assault on the approaching monsters, utilizing his formidable lightning abilities. Meanwhile, Nakao and a group of soldiers provide cover fire from a separate direction, targeting the monsters with their firearms. Rune and Simbad engage the monsters from a different angle, with the aid of Simbad, Rune quickly dispatches numerous monsters using his butcher blade. As they eliminate the last remaining monster on their side of the battlefield, Rune's intuition alerts him to something amiss before they can rush to aid the others.

Rune and Simbad observe a monster descending from a tree, which then transforms into Luka with a darker, more sinister appearance. Luka respectfully bows, surprising Simbad, who had presumed Luka to have perished in the initial explosive attacks. Luka explains that he did die from their explosive attacks but he was able to come back to life because of Henry, and he proposes a rematch without any interruptions this time. Summoning a black monster sword from within himself, Rune's observes that Luka is missing his main weapon, Luka then responses that his weapon has found a new master. Rune readies his sword and suggests to Simbad that he should join the others while he confronts Luka alone. Simbad concurs, acknowledging that he feels he's been impeding Rune's full potential and had been contemplating the same idea. With that, Simbad departs to join the ongoing battles elsewhere. Luka and Rune engage in a fierce clash of blades, their confrontation causing the surroundings to tremble. Luka notes Rune's increased strength since their last encounter, to which Rune acknowledges Luka too has gotten stronger from their last battle. Their relentless swordplay generates multiple magical explosions in their vicinity in high speed.

Meanwhile, deep within the crater's battle zone, Megan efficiently dispatches numerous monsters using her magic blade. Jarvis, in response, materializes a monstrous spear from his own being. He asserts that this battle will diverge from their previous encounters, highlighting Megan's isn't fighting alone this time. As Ezzy creates fiery explosions nearby, pressing through the horde of monsters with her flames, Jarvis and Megan clashes their weapons, the excitement evident in Jarvis's laughter at facing Megan once more. Their ongoing confrontation results in a cascade of water splashes across the battlefield. Jarvis launches multiple black fireballs at Megan, who deflects them using her wind magic. Upon impact, these black fireballs trigger colossal black fire pillars to erupt. Seizing the opportunity, Jarvis harnesses these pillars to unleash more black fireballs. Megan intercepts several fireballs, transforming them into her own fiery projectiles and retaliating against Jarvis with her own flames. Combining her fire and wind magic, she merges them to unleash a swirling fire tornado aimed at Jarvis. Reacting quickly, Jarvis morphs into a colossal black panther monster to intercept the magical assault with a bite. Seizing the opportunity, Megan swiftly launches a series of attacks, slicing the black panther from various angles.

As Jarvis emerges from the back of the black panther, he engages in a weapon clash with Megan. Their battle continues atop the panther's back amidst the ongoing assault of black fire pillars sporadically launching fireballs across the battlefield. In the vicinity, Agustin and Stella narrowly evade the barrage of fireball attacks as they persist in battling the monsters. Stella exhausts her weapon arm's ammunition and transitions to using her blade arm in the combat. Meanwhile, Agustin transforms into a lion-like monster, utilizing explosive magical powers to eliminate monsters in their path. Fatigued, Stella sinks to her knees from the strenuous battle, but her attention is caught as Jean begins to stir, gradually rising to his feet. Jean has come to an understanding, realizing his pivotal role in their victory, emphasizing that he might hold the key to their success in this war, stressing that they cannot kill him. As a wing emerges from Jean's back, Stella seeks clarification on his statements. Facing her, Jean summons his monster katana blade, asserting that Henry is apart of him and says that they are willing to kill him, he then plans to leverage this advantage and end this war. 

Reflecting on the past encounter when he confronted the three-faced monster just before the island exploded, Jean recalls their intense clash. Despite sustaining numerous slashes in his monstrous form, he remembers how the monster cast a protective magic barrier around him, shielding him from the massive magic explosion that consumed everything on the island. Advancing ahead, Jean finds himself restrained by numerous monsters, prompting Stella's observation that the creatures are not attempting to kill him. Suddenly, Jean quickly dismembers the monsters, liberating himself from their grasp. Standing amidst the aftermath, covered in blood, he looks up, only to realize the absence of the three-faced monster. Puzzled, he queries its whereabouts. 

In Old Berry Town, Nhia awakens in his bed and strolls outside for a morning walk, encountering Barbra near the front gate. As Barbra mentions that something is coming, before Nhia can inquire further, a nearby soldier stationed at the wall alerts them to an ongoing attack. Chaos ensues as soldiers open fire on a horde of incoming monsters. Barbra initiates a spellcasting ritual, causing Nhia to fall in terror. As Nhia cowers, a monster leaps over the wall, hurtling toward him. Bracing for impact, Nhia prepares to shield his eyes, but Barbra completes her incantation just in time. Her spell expels all the monsters from the town and encases the town within a protective magic dome. Despite the barrier, many monsters relentlessly pushes against the dome, progressively fracturing its magical defenses. Barbra strains to maintain control against the onslaught of hundreds of monsters attempting to breach the barrier. Summoning determination, Nhia rises slowly, driven by the thought of meeting his girlfriend. In a moment of desperation, he raises his hands, inadvertently channeling magic that aids Barbra in repelling the encroaching monster. Nhia then pleads for Adam's hurry victory in the war, acknowledging the many aspirations and unfinished tasks he still hopes to accomplish.

In a realm filled with magic, Adam and the three-faced monster materialize, spiraling and ascending uncontrollably. Amidst the shifting colors of the magical surroundings, Adam scans the space, noticing a distant floating city. Suddenly, the three-faced monster launches an energy blast toward him. Reacting quickly, Adam plunges his bat into the energy blast, causing the entire realm to tremble. Puzzled about their current location, he recalls an unusual encounter with the three-faced monster. Unlike his previous experiences with other zombies, this time their eye contact triggered a different effect, projecting the zombie's past to everyone nearby and transporting them both to this unfamiliar place. As the three-faced monster prepares a larger energy blast, they sense a presence nearby. Adam spots a figure emerging from the floating city—a tall man wearing a large hat, flying in with magical prowess. The man delivers a powerful kick to the three-faced monster, propelling it into a closing magic portal. Adam, curious about the stranger's identity, is abruptly kicked into another magic portal before he can receive an answer.

Adam spins through the space and arrives back in his realm, crashing near the radiant tree as Gand descends, puzzled by the situation. Adam rises, confused to what is actually going on. Observing the tall man entering his realm via a magical portal, Gand deduces that Adam has attained new heights in magic in which enable him to glimpse the pinnacle of magical existence—the floating ancient city. The older version of Adam confronts the tall man, initiating a clash of intense magic that tears through the fabric of space within the realm. Gand reassures Adam, urging him to focus on his unfinished tasks while they handle the situation. Reluctantly, Adam descends through a magic portal, hurtling back to reality and crashing beside the crater's edge. From there, he witnesses the three-faced monster tumbling out of another magic portal and landing on the opposite side of the crater's edge.

Adam rises, brandishing his bat, expressing a desire to quickly end this as he has more important things to do. He propels himself towards the three-faced monster, prompting Rudda's face to cast a spell, sending numerous massive needle blades hurtling towards him. Adam parries the attacks with his bat, he then finds himself ensnared by the strings, which begin sapping his magical energy. Unexpectedly, Rudda pukes and halts absorbing Adam's magic. Henry says that Adam's magic is toxic to them. Freeing himself from the entwining strings, Adam charges towards them. As Henry's eyes emanate an eerie glow, an overwhelming swarm of winged monsters, numbering in the 100 thousands, emerges from the three-faced monster's form, assuming a worm-like formation hurtling toward Adam. Colliding with the winged creatures, Adam swings his bat relentlessly, vanquishing numerous monsters in rapid succession. However, despite his efforts, the monsters encircle Adam, unleashing a barrage of energy beams from their mouths. In response, Adam's arm, wielding the bat, undergoes a muscular transformation, granting him incredible strength. With lightning speed, he deflects the energy beams, causing them to detonate upon impact with his bat. Persisting amidst the expanding explosions, Adam continues to deflect the beams, the explosions intensifying around him.

Volk, embodied within the monster, detects movement rising from the crater. They all peer downward, witnessing Jean relentlessly dispatching numerous monsters while soaring towards them with a determined glare. Henry remarks on Jean's unyielding resolve, expressing a sense of relentlessness in him. Henry initiates a spell, compelling nearby monsters to adhere to him, fusing their bodies with Jean's, prompting Jean to cry out in agony. Refusing to be manipulated any longer, Jean declares that he's no longer Henry's monster but instead his own monster, metamorphosing into a large winged monkey-like monster, sprouting an additional wing. Breaking free from the conjoined monsters, he swoops toward the three-faced monster, biting off a chunk of its flesh. Preparing a substantial energy ball in his monkey-like grasp, Jean aims to launch it at the three-faced monster. However, a chainsaw sword emerges from the monster's form, slicing the energy ball in Jean's hand in half, leading to a detonation within his grasp.

Suddenly breaking free from the monsters, Adam hurtles towards the three-faced monster with remarkable speed, striking it forcefully on the chest with his bat and inflicting a deep wound. Recognizing that facing the monster head-on will be a prolonged battle, Adam resolves to eliminate it from within. With determination, he leaps into the deep gash on the monster's chest, only to witness the wound rapidly closing behind him, sealing him inside. Descending into utter darkness, Adam spots a platform and safely lands upon it. As the surroundings take form, he sees the inner workings of the monster's flesh as walls and discovers that he's standing on a colossal arena reminiscent of the one aboard the Rider ship. To his surprise, he observes Rudda's, Henry's, and Volk's bodies descending onto the arena, fusing together to form a black cocoon, from which emerges a three-faced monster in a human-sized form. Bemused by the unexpected turn of events, Adam scratches his head, admitting that this outcome wasn't what he had anticipated when he decided to kill the monster from the inside.

Volk remarks that once they're finished with Adam, managing the ongoing war will become much simpler, as they still have another war to wage. Henry asserts that they've attain enough power to reach their dreams and is determined to not let anyone thwart their ambitions. Adam, visibly irritated, dismisses their justifications, stating that his sole reason for being here is because they've decided to mess with his family. The monster, with its six arms, conjures scissor blades, a needle blade, and a chainsaw sword, charging at Adam and engaging in a clash with his bat against the chainsaw sword. The teeth of the chainsaw grind fiercely against Adam's white scale bat. Subsequently, one of the monster's arms plunges the needle blade into Adam's chest, causing him to stagger backward. With a tug on the attached string on the needle blade, Adam is pulled towards the monster. Attempting to counter, Adam swings his bat but is obstructed by the chainsaw blade. Utilizing its other arms, the monster sever Adam's head with the scissor blades. Subsequently, Adam's lifeless body falls onto the fleshy arena. Expressing disappointment, Volk remarks on Adam's underwhelming display despite his considerable power. Henry reminds Volk that this isn't over, recalling a prior instance where they believed they had already slain Adam, only for him to return back to life.

As the monster redirects its attention to Adam's body, Adam stands up, his head reattached, and acknowledges his tendency not to evade attacks due to his surplus of lives he has left. Volk demands an explanation from Adam, who reveals that he possesses the ability to resurrect because the Gods have granted him that capability. He admits to being unaware of the precise number of lives remaining, because they won't let him count the amount of apples he has left hanging from the tree, but asserts that he still has numerous lives left to expend. Henry interjects, commenting that they don't understand it fully but that the power he has is unfair. In agreement, Adam prepares his bat, prompting Henry to assert that they'll persistently kill him however much times they need until he dies. Adam retorts, stating that such an approach would be too time-consuming and impossible since he is now fighting serious. 

Meanwhile, within Adam's realm, multiple magical explosions erupt across the grassy landscape, the older Adam barely triumphs over the tall man wearing a large hat. The man staggers backward, keeping his balance with his magic staff, expressing that he was surprise to see that they still have this much power left over the years. In response, the older Adam say he does not recognize the man at all. Gesturing toward Gand, the man clarifies that he was referring to Gand. Gand chuckles, acknowledging that they haven't yet reached their peak and concedes that they lack the strength to kill him right now. With a smile, the man cryptically asserts that he'll encounter them again in the endgame and fight them more seriously, he then departs through a magical portal. Reflecting on the encounter, the older Adam remarks that Gand harbors numerous secrets unknown even to him. Gand conveys that these secrets date back to eras preceding Adam's existence. Utilizing his magic, Gand observes Adam's battle against the three-faced monster, emphasizing the necessity of maintaining focus on their primary objective, as an apple on the shiny tree behind them then fades away in magic.