Helios spun Bríon na Lú in a wide arc, the silver spear singing through the air. Each rotation carved crescents of moonlight in the haze, afterimages burning into the eyes of those watching. His side throbbed viciously with every twist, blood trickling down his ribs to stain the hem of his coat, but his smirk remained untouched, carved into his face like defiance itself.
Kurai flicked her Abyssal Veil fan open and shut in a rhythm like a heartbeat, the serrated steel catching violet gleams with each snap. Shadows licked up her arms like living fire, coiling and unraveling in thin, venomous tendrils. Her veins glowed white as the darkness swelled, her body trembling not from exhaustion but from the sheer strain of power tearing through her frame. Cuts lined her forearms where Helios' spear had grazed her before, shallow but burning with pain, and still she pressed forward, her cold eyes burning brighter with every heartbeat.
The Colosseum was madness.
"HELIOS! HELIOS!" half the stadium thundered, stamping the stone beneath their boots until it cracked.
"KURAI! KURAI!" the other half screamed back, voices hoarse, fists raised high.
Above the chants, gamblers bellowed odds, shoving purses of coin into each other's hands. "Five-to-one on the spear!" one shouted, jabbing a finger at Helios. Another answered, "No, she's still fresh—ten-to-one on the fan!" Cards clinked, deals struck in the roar of bloodlust.
Phil groaned, dragging his stubby hands down his face. "If this fight doesn't bankrupt me with repairs, it'll shave ten years off my life. I knew I should've retired…"
Helios leveled his weapon, silver tip pointed straight at Kurai. The light pooling along its shaft shimmered with cold, patient promise. "It's time we stopped sparring."
Kurai answered by snapping her fan wide, each jagged rib glimmering like a row of fangs. Shadows dripped from the edges like ink bleeding into water, staining the arena floor. Her voice was calm, clipped, cutting through the din. "Agreed."
They moved at once.
Helios lunged first, spear thrusting in a straight, flawless line. The silver point blazed like a comet, its brilliance swelling brighter with each step he took. He struck not once but in a seamless flurry, the spear leaving afterimages like ghostly stars streaking toward her.
Kurai's fan whipped wide in reply. The Abyssal Veil spun like a storm, scattering hundreds of razored shards. Each fragment gleamed with violet light, slicing through the air in a storm meant to shred anything in its path.
But this time, she didn't let them scatter.
She slashed her weapon down, and the shards froze mid-flight. For an instant they hung there, suspended like a constellation of jagged stars. Then they began to twist, swirling into one another with unnatural speed, the fragments grinding and fusing. The darkness condensed, folding inward, until the storm of blades had become one—a spear of black crystal, jagged and pulsing with veins of violet fire.
The crowd gasped as Kurai's arm whipped forward, hurling the makeshift weapon. It screamed through the air, trailing a spiral of black flame, a comet of annihilation roaring toward Helios' heart.
He only grinned. His voice cut through the chaos like a knife. "Pierce the Dawn."
Bríon na Lú ignited.
Light exploded down the length of the spear, radiant energy surging until the weapon blazed like the first star in the night sky. Helios thrust with his entire body, the silver tip trailing a brilliant beam of light. The spear became a falling star in his hands, every ounce of his will and skill poured into the thrust.
Light met darkness again.
The collision ripped the world open.
The instant the weapons struck, the Colosseum drowned in white and violet brilliance. For a moment it seemed a new sun had been born in the arena, a star bursting into existence. The light swallowed the fighters, swallowed the floor, swallowed the sky itself.
The sound was indescribable—like the heavens had cracked apart. It wasn't a boom, but a shattering roar, a grinding chorus of steel, fire, and thunder. The shockwave hurled through the air with suffocating force, a wall of heat and power slamming against the stands.
Spectators screamed, shielding their faces as the wave of energy tore across the Colosseum. Cloaks caught fire, banners ripped free from their poles. The front rows ducked, clutching one another as the force rattled teeth in their skulls.
Stone buckled. The ground split wide, jagged fissures tearing through the arena floor. Pillars shook, chunks of marble raining down. Phil was blown from his perch, hooves scrambling wildly as he rolled across the stone. "There goes the floor again! Why do I even bother—!"
Gamblers' purses exploded, cards scattering like hail, their owners too blinded to chase them. The chants broke apart into screams, gasps, curses.
When the blinding brilliance finally thinned, the battlefield was unrecognizable. The floor was carved into trenches, the center gouged deep where the two powers had collided. Dust hung thick, choking the air.
And both fighters were still alive.
Helios was down on one knee, Bríon na Lú braced against the ground like a staff. His chest heaved, sweat dripping down his jaw. His hand pressed against his ribs where blood flowed thicker now, soaking his coat crimson. He forced himself upright with a sharp inhale, his smirk tight but intact, eyes gleaming cold with focus.
Kurai was hurled further back, the Abyssal Veil trembling in her grasp. Her body bore the cost—her veins blackened darker, crawling up her neck like cracks in porcelain. The shallow cuts on her arms had torn wider, bleeding sluggish lines down to her wrists. Her cloak was scorched, her breath sharp and ragged. But her grip on the fan didn't falter, and her eyes still burned with violet fire.
The crowd exploded again, voices hoarse but wild with awe.
"He held her!"
"No, she's still on her feet!"
"Even fight! EVEN FIGHT!"
Helios twirled his spear, light dripping from its tip. "Your fan wasn't made for this kind of contest."
Kurai's eyes burned like violet fire. "Then I'll make it into something that is."
She raised the Abyssal Veil, darkness pouring into the weapon. Shadows writhed up her arms, her veins glowing black. The fan quaked violently, as though resisting. Kurai exhaled through clenched teeth, forcing more of herself into it.
Her body shuddered under the strain, but she didn't yield.
The fan screamed.
Metal warped, serrated edges elongating, the frame twisting into new form. The glow intensified, violet bleeding across the weapon until it blazed with its own aura.
When the transformation ended, Kurai gripped something entirely different.
The Erebus Fang.
A glaive taller than she was, forged of blackened steel. Its purple crescent blade was serrated like the maw of a beast, each edge gleaming with violet energy. From the haft, veins of shadow pulsed like living arteries, spreading waves of oppressive aura that warped the air around it. Every swing left faint crescent waves trailing, rippling outward with quiet menace.
The crowd gasped, then fell into a stunned silence—before erupting in chaotic cheers and screams.
"What the hell is that?!"
"She changed her weapon again!"
"Odds are off—pay me back my purse!"
Phil's jaw dropped. "A glaive now?! Who's payin' for this arena's repairs—ME?!"
Kurai lifted Erebus Fang, the glaive humming with malignant power. Her cuts stung, her veins burned, her body screamed rebellion against the flood of darkness—but her grip was steady, her stance unshaken.
Helios spun Bríon na Lú once, his smirk faint but eyes sharper than before. "So the real fight begins."
Kurai's cold voice cut through the roar of the Colosseum. "Yes, though it'll be short. Let's end this quickly."
Light gleamed from his spear. Shadows pulsed from her glaive. The arena trembled as the two warriors poised to clash again.
The crowd rose to its feet, half chanting one name, half the other.
"HELIOS! HELIOS!"
"KURAI! KURAI!"
Phil groaned, dragging his hands through his hair. "I'm not paid enough for this…"
But his voice was drowned out as spear and glaive drew back, the Colosseum bracing for the next cataclysm.