Chapter 81: The Witch of Nullification vs The Cursed Dragon

Night fell over Tokyo like a curtain of ash.
The air vibrated—dense, alive, trembling with energy.
Every light in the academy flickered out as the duel began.

At the center of the shattered courtyard stood two figures—
Tendou Kanata, the man burdened by the Cursed Dragon Arm,
and Lilith Arcrayne, the Witch of Nullification, whose hatred burned colder than the moon.

The wind howled through the ruins.

“This is the end, Kanata.”
Her voice echoed across the silence.
“For Caine, for everything your choices destroyed.”

Kanata’s eyes glowed gold in the dark.
“You still don’t understand… I never wanted any of this. Not the curse, not the glory, not the war.”

“Then why did everyone suffer around you?” Lilith’s mana exploded—rings of violet energy spinning around her.
“Because of you, my brother rotted in a prison of ice. Because of you, the world learned to fear witches again!”

Kanata clenched his cursed hand.
The black scales shimmered under the stormlight.
“And you think killing me will fix that?”

“No,” she whispered, eyes glowing amethyst.
“But watching you break… will.”

Lilith moved first.
Her sigils flared, burning through the ground like living serpents.
“<Arcane Null Field>!”

Every light in the courtyard died.
Sparks from Kanata’s aura vanished mid-air, as though the world itself had stopped believing in magic.

He exhaled slowly.
“Nullification… so that’s your true power.”

Lilith smirked.
“I erase all laws of magic around me. Even your cursed arm won’t save you now.”

Kanata’s reply was a whisper.
“You’d be surprised what this arm feeds on.”

He slammed his right hand into the ground.
The earth cracked, blue fire erupting from beneath.
The flames didn’t burn—they devoured.

Mana itself flowed into his arm, breaking Lilith’s null field in bursts of light.

“Impossible!” she gasped.
“No spell should survive inside my domain!”

“That’s the thing about me,” Kanata said quietly, stepping through the storm.
“I was never made to use magic… I was made to end it.”

Their power collided—
a sphere of black and violet swallowing everything in its wake.

Every explosion carried a memory.
Every clash tore open the ghosts of Kanata’s past.

Naomi’s words echoed through the chaos.
“Power is only as cruel as the heart that wields it.”

Aine’s voice followed.
“You never run away, do you? Even when the world turns against you.”

Then Nagisa—his sister’s shout through the void.
“You idiot! Stop carrying everything alone!”

Kanata’s eyes burned brighter.
He roared—not from pain, but from everything he had lost and everything he refused to lose again.

“I WON’T LET HER WIN!”

Lilith blocked his strike, their powers clashing in a blinding shockwave.
Her breath trembled.

“You think this world deserves saving? After what it did to people like us?”

“Maybe not,” Kanata said, voice shaking.
“But my students do. My family does. And so did your brother.”

For a heartbeat, Lilith froze—Caine’s smiling face flashing in her memory.
The brother who once told her, “Someday, Kanata will change the world.”

Tears glimmered at the corner of her eye.
Then rage consumed them both again.

Lightning cracked through the sky as both unleashed their strongest spells.

“<Oblivion Break>!”
“<Arcane Collapse>!”

Light and darkness met, reality folding under their collision.
The ground split open, revealing the raw energy of the leyline beneath Tokyo.
The world screamed.

Celestine, Aine, and Itsuha watched from the academy tower—helpless.
“If this continues, they’ll tear the city apart!” Aine shouted.
Celestine closed her eyes.
“No… this is something only Kanata can end.”

The storm peaked.
Kanata fell to one knee, his body cracking under his own magic.
Lilith raised her arm for the final blow.

“Goodbye, Brave Dragon.”

Her spell ignited—only to stop mid-cast.

Her eyes widened.
The runes she summoned… vanished.

Kanata stood again, his arm fully unsealed, scales burning with white-blue light.
The curse had reached its final stage—no longer devouring, but transforming.

“You’re not the only one who can nullify magic,” he whispered.
“This arm learned from yours.”

Lilith gasped, but it was too late.
Kanata moved faster than sound, his fist passing through the storm—
not striking her, but breaking her spell.

The explosion that followed turned the sky white.

When the dust settled, Kanata stood amidst the ruins, his arm smoking.
Lilith lay on the ground, her cloak torn, breathing shallow but alive.

He looked down at her quietly.

“You can kill me now,” she said bitterly.
“Finish it.”

Kanata shook his head.
“No. You’ve lost enough already.”

She glared at him through tears.
“Why… won’t you hate me?”

He turned away.
“Because someone has to stop the cycle.”

He extended his hand—not to strike, but to lift her.
For the first time, Lilith hesitated… then took it.

The black clouds above began to fade, revealing a full moon.

Celestine’s voice came through the comms, trembling with relief.
“Kanata-kun… it’s over.”

He looked at the sky, the wind brushing his hair.
“No… it’s not over.”

He could feel it—
the faint pulse of something deeper, older, darker, beneath Tokyo’s surface.
The Abyssal Gate had begun to open.