Using his magic, Akira instantly teleported them both to a small, faraway island he had found earlier.
The very second their feet touched the dirt, Akira kicked Irene hard in the stomach. The force of the hit pushed Irene backward, making her fly through the air for a few meters before she planted her boots into the ground and stopped herself.
She stood up straight, brushing dust off her dark cape with a calm, slow movement. Her face was completely still, but her red eyes flared with a dangerous light.
"My, my... what terrible manners," Irene said, her voice dropping into a cold, sweet purr. She twirled her large wooden staff in one hand, not looking hurt at all. "Is that how you greet your mother after all these years?"
"Of course not," Akira replied in a dry tone, wiping a streak of sweat from his forehead. "But can you even consider me your child right now? I don't doubt for a second that you're running through twenty-four different ways to kill me in your head."
Irene tilted her head, her smile widening into something sharp, cruel, and impossibly grand.
"Twenty-four? Oh, sweet child, you underestimate me," she cooed, her red eyes glowing like hot coals. "I'm up to thirty-six. But don't worry... I promise to make it a magnificent show."
She tapped her staff against the sandy ground. Instantly, the sky above the island shattered like glass. A wave of giant, fiery meteors coated in heavy dragon magic materialized in the clouds, turning the night sky into a blood-red inferno.
Seeing Irene was already starting to use some big moves, Akira didn't feel that much surprise. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly transformed into her dragon form.
But even so, he didn't hesitate as he created a bow with magic power and shot an arrow straight towards the incoming meteors.
The golden arrow shot into the dark sky, leaving a bright trail behind it. The moment it touched the first giant rock, the arrow exploded into thousands of golden light beams.
Akira used his Arc of Time magic on the meteors. Instead of blowing them up, the magic turned back time for the falling rocks. The giant fiery meteors shrank smaller and smaller until they turned back into harmless dust and vanished into the wind.
"Oh?" Irene purred, her eyes widening in genuine delight as the golden dust scattered into the night sky. "Arc of Time? Reversing my enchantments back into nothing... How very clever, my sweet boy."
Before the glowing particles could settle, Irene thrust her wooden staff into the sand.
"Master Enchantment: Atmospheric Alteration!"
The entire island groaned. The sky turned a violent shade of violet, and the surrounding ocean lost its liquidity, turning into translucent, razor-sharp ribbons of liquid crystal that rose into the air. With a sweep of her arm, Irene converted the air, the water, and the very light surrounding Akira into tens of thousands of floating, enchanted blades.
"Let us see if your time can keep up with the sky itself!" she cooed, her voice echoing from every direction at once.
The storm of crystal blades shot toward Akira from every angle, tearing through space with high-pitched screeches.
Akira took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with a brilliant golden light. Instead of dodging, he clapped his hands together, releasing a massive wave of golden clock dials that expanded outward in concentric circles.
"Arc of Time: Chrono Mirror!"
The moment the enchanted crystal blades touched the golden dials, their trajectory in time inverted. The thousands of blades turned around instantly, flying back toward Irene with double their original speed and power.
"High Enchant: Physical Concept Negation!" Irene shouted as she swung her staff.
She simply walked forward. The returning storm of blades melted into soft, harmless rose petals the second they entered her immediate space, drifting harmlessly around her dark cape.
In a flash of blinding red light, she closed the distance, her staff glowing with a terrifying, dense mass of dragon magic. She swung it downward, aiming to shatter the bedrock beneath his feet.
Akira raised his hand, channeling his own magic into his fist and shouted, " Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth "
His fist smashed directly into the tip of Irene's descending staff. The white, net-like aura of Crash Magic exploded outward, shattering the atmospheric pressure and instantly fracturing the dense dragon magic surrounding her staff into millions of useless, sparkling fragments.
BOOM!
The pure, raw shockwave detonated like a bomb between them, splitting the sea for miles and leaving a massive, cratered void in the bedrock beneath their feet.
Irene's eyes widened in genuine delight as the immense repelling force pushed her back, her wide-brimmed hat tilting slightly as her cape whipped violently in the wind.
"My, my... Crash Magic?" Irene purred, floating backward gracefully before planting her boots on the air itself. A proud, wicked smile spread across her lips. "To think you mastered this magic... You really know how to keep your mother entertained."
Before the ocean water could rush back into the void, Irene thrust her wooden staff straight up toward the heavens.
"High Enchant: Sacred Heavenly Cannon!"
The violent, crimson magic bursting from her body didn't just flare—it painted the sky in a blood-red light. Four massive, glowing enchantment seals unfolded across the clouds directly above Akira, each one charging a terrifying sphere of dragon energy that made the entire atmosphere tremble.
"Let us see if your fist can shatter the sky itself, my sweet boy!" Irene laughed, her red eyes burning with wild, grand excitement as she brought her staff swinging down.
The sky roared, raining down four giant beams of blinding destruction straight onto the island.
Akira gritted his teeth, feeling the intense heat and heavy pressure pushing him deep into the hard rock.
"Damn it, Mother... you're forcing my hand!" Akira yelled through the roaring wind. "[ Take Over Magic: Anos Voldigod ]!"
A giant, pitch-black magic circle lit up beneath his feet. Suddenly, a dark and terrifying magic power exploded into the air. The pressure was so heavy that the ocean around them instantly went completely still, and the crimson sky turned dark as night.
Akira began to transform. His hair turned coal-black, his eyes burned with a dark crimson light, and a stylish, dark uniform replaced his clothes.
Irene stopped mid-air, her red eyes widening in absolute shock. For the first time since the fight started, her confident smile completely disappeared.
"What... what is this? " Irene whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she gripped her staff.
Akira stood tall in the air, looking at Irene with calm, dark eyes. He didn't even raise a hand, but the four massive dragon-energy beams falling from the sky simply vanished into thin air, completely erased from existence.
"Is that all, Mother?" Akira spoke, his voice deep, cold, and filled with absolute power.
Without waiting for an answer, he stepped forward and vanished into thin air.
Before Irene could even react, Akira appeared right in front of her. His fist, wrapped in dark magic, smashed straight into her abdomen. The impact sent a massive shockwave through the air, forcing the breath from her lungs as she coughed up a splash of blood. The sheer force blasted her backward like a cannonball, sending her crashing through three small rock pillars on the island before she slammed hard into the cliffside.
BOOM!
Dust and broken stone filled the air.
Akira floated down smoothly, his coal-black hair fluttering in the dark wind. He looked toward the ruined cliff with calm, crimson eyes, his hands resting casually in his pockets.
A quiet, raspy chuckle echoed from the cloud of dust.
"My, my..." Irene's voice sounded weak, but it was dripping with a dangerous, crazy thrill.
She stepped out from the rubble, wiping a trail of blood from her chin with the back of her gloved hand. Her grand black dress was torn, and her big witch hat was gone, letting her long, braided red hair fall messily over her shoulders. Her sharp red eyes burned with wild excitement.
"To hit your own mother so hard..." Irene purred, holding her wooden staff tightly as a thick, terrifying aura began to bleed out of her body. "You really are a monster, my son"
*****
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