"Tsss!" Drake growled, as he faced Albedo. "I don't know what your lady wants from me, but if she really wants to talk to me, she can come here."

"Move to talk to a stupid human?" Albedo roared. "I hope you're joking! Be honored already that the head of the guardians of Nazarick has come to you."

"So your lady is sure you'll beat me and doesn't see the point in coming to me, is that it?"

"Of course! I would be more than enough to show you that your power is nothing compared to Nazarick's."

"I don't give a damn about Nazarick." Drake retorted. "But, if you prevent me from being able to return home, I have no choice but to crush you to resume my journey."

"Oh? This might be interesting." Aura said, sitting down on a rock. "After spending four days playing spy, I'm sure I'm going to have fun watching this fight."

"Actually, I think we should be ready, just in case." Yuri retorted.

" Huh? "

"Galadriel-sama told you about Shalltear-san's defeat, but I doubt you could have seen her fight! The humans it went up against...they won without cheating and counting only on their power."

Looking at Drake, the Pleiad declared.

"If Albedo-san ever gets in trouble, we'll be forced to..."

" I won't need your help. " Albedo retorted.

" What ? "

"Nazarick has been ridiculed enough already! There's no way two guardians will join forces to defeat a single human! Besides, I've put on my armor and have my weapons with me! He doesn't there's no reason for me to lose."

"Tssss! Being too arrogant will lead to your downfall." Drake retorted.

"It's not arrogance." Albedo retorted. "And be sure of one thing: during this whole fight, I will not have fun with you! I will fight hard, until you fall to the ground! I will have no mercy on you destroy. "

"Same for me."

In her office, Galadriel was watching the fight, using her magic mirror, allowing her to see everything that was going on, in the world. Having seen Drake's abilities, when faced with the creatures of Nazarick, Galadriel asked.

"Do you think he's more powerful than the three people who fought Shalltear?"

Being drinking a cup of tea, Pandora stared at the mirror, before declaring.

"Very difficult to say, if he managed to defeat his opponents, while using only part of his power! Nevertheless, his ability to transform gives him a power far superior to that of a normal human! As proof, he managed to defeat a level 25 ghoul and a level 24 vampire, in a single attack."

Then silent, he finally declares, seriously.

"At the moment, he hasn't shown enough strength to defeat a guardian! But, if he were to fight against Yuri-san... there would be a good chance that he could defeat her."

"I think so too." Galadriel stated. "And that's why I sent Albedo as reinforcements! Yuri is serious but less powerful than Aura! And, on the contrary, Aura is powerful but less serious than Yuri! If I had left him the right to fight alone against this guy, Aura could have behaved like Shalltear and lost this fight."

"Then why did you call on her to find this man, rather than Albedo-san directly?"

"It was just an excuse for Aura to see this fight."

" Huh ? "

"As I said, Aura can be as arrogant as Shalltear in a fight! And both of them are sorely lacking in strategy! In truth, I would like this human to be a formidable opponent and force Albedo to fight with all his might! If he succeeds in this, this fight will make Aura realize that the future enemies of Nazarick should not be compared to the humans of our old world."

Looking thoughtful, she said.

"No matter what we might say, the low level of danger on our old world has made us drop our guard greatly! Shalltear's defeat proved to us that this was a huge flaw that we need to correct immediately."

Looking at Pandora, she questioned him.

"Who do you think is the most important person in Nazarick?"

"The most important? Is that a trick question? It's obviously you! You're the last supreme being of Nazarick and..."

"That's wrong." Galadriel retorted. "The most important person is Pestonya."

" Sorry ? "

"I am able to resurrect people, but my percentage chance of succeeding with these spells is lower than that of Pestonya! If I ever die, Pestonya would surely be able to resurrect! But, if Pestonya dies and I am unable to imitate, in that case, I will be the only person who can resurrect the losses of Nazarick! And if I fail to do so, Nazarick will become less and less powerful against the enemy."

Staring at her mirror again, she asked.

"Do you understand what I mean? If a new enemy alliance of supreme beings is forming in this world and decides to attack us, we must imperatively regain our seriousness and eliminate as many members as possible before the real confrontation, and to protect our tomb! If we choose to underestimate them, it could definitely be the end of Nazarick."

At that moment, the fight began.

Rushing towards Drake, Albedo twirled her halberd, before aiming it at Drake. Surprised by her speed, Drake could only cross his weapons in front of him, to block the blade of Albedo's ax. Immediately, his feet slid back, as Albedo's power was overwhelming. "

"Grrr! Her speech from earlier...it wasn't a bluff."

Trying to contain Albedo's power, Drake struggled not to back down any further. Seeing him nevertheless manage to stop losing ground, Albedo raised her halberd, before attempting to decapitate him. Seeing an opening, Drake ducked in extremis to avoid the attack, before jumping into the air.

Above Albedo, he crossed his arms towards her, before taking his hybrid form.

"LAST SLASH!"

Dropping down, he struck Albedo hard. This time, it was the succubus who placed her ax in front of her, to use it as a shield. The shock wave created by the confrontation sent Aura and Yuri's hair flying as they saw cracks appear in the ground around Albedo's feet.

Seeming to be fascinated, Aura affirmed.

"He's already using a special attack? This human isn't lacking in resources."

"I think he understood that against Albedo-san's incredible offensive and defensive strength, using normal attacks would be useless." Yuri stated. "He has no interest in playing it safe in this fight! I have to say that attacking with force from the start of the fight was a wise decision on his part! If he has a chance to hurt Albedo-san, it is now! For as soon as he wears himself out, victory will already belong to his opponent! This human knows what he is doing."

"Maybe…" Aura stated, keeping her smile. "But strong or not, the strength of a human will never be enough to defeat Albedo."

Feeling herself recoil, the succubus suddenly cried out, before letting a dark aura appear around her. Calling on her attack magic, she let a surge of power flow through her veins, allowing her to eject Drake backwards.

Doing several aerial pirouettes, the former pirate managed to land on his feet. But, already Albedo was in front of him, with her ax raised skyward. Jumping again, Drake saw the weapon hit the ground, and create a crevasse.

"What is this power?"

Unfortunately, only focusing on the halberd, he was surprised to see Albedo drop it, before aiming her fist at him. Faster without her weapon, Albedo punched his abdomen so hard as Drake coughed up blood. Flying through the sky, he then lands on the ground, while screaming in pain. Feeling out of breath, he struggled to breathe as blood ran down his chin.

"Attacking Albedo from the front is a very bad idea." Aura affirmed.

"Something wrong?" Albedo asked, walking towards Drake. "I thought I heard you wanted to beat me! Apparently the only thing powerful about you is your big mouth."

"Grrr! It was just a warm-up." X-Drake assured, managing to get to his feet. "If you think I'm going to stand still while you dared to humiliate me, I can tell you that you're wrong."

Then he rushed towards Albedo.

"Are you stupid?" The succubus asked, imitating him. "Do you really think you could win against me by attacking me head-on?"

Seeing Drake aiming his sword at her face, Albedo gracefully dodged it, before slapping him back in the abdomen.

"Let's go for a second flight."

However, she was surprised to feel her fist hit Drake's ax, which had managed to slam it in front of his abdomen. Letting his weapon take the power of the attack, the man then felt himself flying through the air. However, compared to earlier, having felt only part of the shock, he was fit to counterattack.

Turning his head downward, he transformed into a huge allosaurus, before falling back towards Albedo.

"He's using Albedo's power...to fight back?" Yuri wondered.

"It's alright, there's nothing to worry about." Aura assured.

At that moment, Drake's huge body hit the ground, while his weight generated a large cloud of dust

"Albedo-san." Shouted Yuri.

Next to her, still calm, Aura simply waited for the cloud of dust generated by the shock to disappear. However, not seeming to be as patient, Albedo was seen flying out of the cloud, a sign that she had managed to avoid getting crushed under the dinosaur's body. However, pursuing her, Drake's head snapped out of the dust, and his jaws closed on Albedo, before forcing her back into the cloud of dust.

"What?" Aura wondered.

Then, finally, the pair caught sight of the huge figure of Drake, who still had his jaws parted. Trapped inside, Albedo had clapped both hands on the roof of his mouth and on one of the teeth of his jaws, in order to prevent him from closing his jaws.

"Impossible." Drake thought, trying in vain to increase the pressure of his bite to pierce her with his teeth.

"You won't get me." Albedo assured.

Seeing them struggle for a few seconds, Aura and Yuri ended up hearing cracking noises. Eventually, Drake's jawbone dislocated and he recoiled, roaring in pain. Freed, Albedo lands on the ground, at the same time as Drake reverts to his human form. Thus, the succubus saw him with his jaw dangling, while Drake was unable to close it.

" A problem ? "

In response, Drake grabbed his jaws, and began to perform strange gestures. Finally, another creak was heard, as he managed to put it back on. Then clicking with his teeth, to make sure his jaws could be used as before, Drake finally got back into a fighting position.

"It's useless." Albedo retorted. "No matter what you do, you're inferior to me! You used all three of your forms and none of them worked against me! What do you think you can do to win?"

"Sometimes you just need to have the right strategy to be able to win against someone stronger than yourself." Drake retorted.

"Oh? And do you have that strategy?"

Drake remained silent.

"I suspected so." Affirmed Albedo. "Truly, your earlier attack wasn't that bad! It was even smart to use my attack power to be able to lift you into the air and then take advantage of the weight of your reptilian form! I give you a full point for that! but, that's the only point I'll give you."

" What ? "

"Did you really think you could face Nazarick with so little power?"

This time, Albedo lunged at him and started circling Drake, punching him with her fists and feet. Moving too quickly, the succubus prevented Drake from retaliating and the man could only position his arms in front of his face, in order to prevent Albedo from punching him.

However, sensing the rest of his body being the target of the succubus' attacks, Drake gritted his teeth, as he felt like his entire body was about to be shattered into pieces. Having no other choice, he took on his hybrid form and continued to be attacked.

"Why did he change shape?" Aura asked. "I don't see any difference."

"His human-reptile form seems to give him greater offensive and defensive strength." Yuri assured. "In my opinion, he intends to use it to try to make the fight last and hope that Albedo wears himself out."

"Hahaha! Like I say, it won't change anything at all." Aura affirmed.

Still, watching Drake continue to get hit, Yuri had a bad feeling. If Drake was looking to defend himself, yet wasn't he taking his dinosaur transformation? Did he have a plan?

Also seeming to realize that Drake was stalling for time, Albedo stopped attacking him and jumped back. Landing near her battle axe, she grabbed it, before affirming.

"I have to admit, your power wasn't too bad for a human! But, I think you're much weaker than the humans Shalltear fought! So I'm going to finish you off quickly."

"Hey, I thought we had to bring him back alive." Aura remarked.

"If he cooperated." Albedo retorted. "Galadriel-sama gave me permission to kill him, if he decided to resist, on the condition that I bring back his corpse! With him and the power of Pestonya, we can always allow him to teach us everything we want to know about these strange humans."

"Like I'm talking." Drake retrospected, looking like he was struggling to stay upright.

"Never mind! The fun is over." Albedo affirmed, rushing towards him.

Spreading her wings, she swooped down on Drake like a comet. Seeing her, while she had the bad idea to increase the distance between them, Drake positioned his weapons in an X shape, before covering his arms and weapons with Busoshoku haki.

" X ... "

Noticing that the situation was exactly as he wanted, Yuri shouted.

"Albedo-san, it's a trap."

" What ? "

Then running towards Albedo, Drake used all the power he had left for a final counterattack.

" ... EXCALIBUR ! "

" DISAPPEARS !" Albedo roared.

Then, a moment later, another shock wave was created. More powerful than the first, it forced Yuri back, while Aura fell behind her rock and landed on her shoulders.

" OUCH !"

Then, quickly getting to her feet, she looked at the new cloud of dust that had formed in front of them. At that moment, throwing back, Drake came out of the cloud while doing numerous rolls on the ground. However, eventually planting his feet on the ground, he finally stopped his race. His face bleeding, he exhaled with difficulty. at his side, the blades of his weapons bore many cracks, while they were in danger of breaking at any moment.

However, this did not prevent Drake from surpassing his limits and having the strength to get back on his feet, before letting out a battle cry. Seeing him do this, Aura's smile disappeared.

"Is...is this a joke?"

Turning to the cloud of smoke, she called out.

" Albedo ? "

She got no response.

"Hey, Albedo! This isn't funny! What are you waiting for to defeat this guy? Albedo?"

Remaining silent, Yuri finally sees Albedo's silhouette through the dust. Finally, when she disappeared, the two women saw the succubus still standing. Nevertheless, their eyes widened. Standing still, Albedo suddenly lowered her gaze and noticed that the armor covering her abdomen had been damaged. Now there were two huge X-shaped cuts, which showed her skin, a sign that the violence of the shock had been terrible. Luckily for her, her armor's ability allowed Albedo to transfer all of the damage from Drake's last attack onto her. If she had decided to wear another armor, the man would probably have managed to hurt her.

Seeing her still standing, and uninjured, Drake roared.

" Damn it ! "

However, despite Albedo's victory being decided, Aura couldn't help but stare at the Guardian Leader's armor.

"It's the first time! It's the first time I've seen someone manage to damage this armor."

"His offensive power..." Yuri said. "For a brief moment, his attacking power managed to overpower Albedo-san's defense."

Seeming the most surprised, Albedo gritted her teeth as she stared at Drake.

"This armor...it was built by the supreme beings...and you dared to damage it?"

"You were the one who wanted to fight me." Drake retorted, positioning his weapons in front of him. "If you are looking for a culprit, know that she is in front of me."

In response, Albedo suddenly found himself in front of him. Then, his huge ax slammed into Drake's weapons, shattering them in an instant. Seeing the metallic shards flying through the air, the man had no choice but to transform into a dinosaur.

However, barely beginning his transformation, he felt Albedo's fingernails dig into his skin, before lengthening. Immediately, Drake screamed in pain, feeling the claws piercing his flesh. But that was nothing compared to the next second. Creating black lightning around his arm, Albedo allowed the electricity to travel up to those claws, electrocuting Drake's entire body.

Finding himself charred from within, the man stopped transforming and returned to his human appearance. Taking advantage of this, while she was right in front of him, Albedo gave him a powerful kick that sent him flying through the air.

Unconscious, Drake didn't see her then fly towards him, while conjuring up a silver scepter in her hand.

"Ginnungagap?" Aura wondered.

Immediately, Yuri created a magical shield in front of them, knowing full well the devastating abilities of this weapon. Aiming the tip of the spectrum at Drake, Albedo focused some of her energy there, which transformed into a sphere of destruction.

"It's over for you." She assured, launching the attack.

It was then that a foot struck her face. Surprised, Albedo felt her body ejected downwards, before crashing against the ground.

Dumbfounded, Aura and Yuri spotted a figure in the sky, while it looked like a bluebird.

"What the...?" Yuri wondered.

"A phoenix!" Aura remarked.