The intensity of the battle kept erupting throughout not only the realm but the entire layer itself. The more time passed, both of their strengths kept rising following their desire to destroy each other. It wasn't merely a battle, but the very image of destruction.
While Arfanez was pushing Raizel more and more with his magic power getting more intense during that time, after several moments, his magic power got so intense that a golden lion made out of his pure magic power appeared behind him, symbolizing Arfanez himself and his anger with the roar coming from the golden lion.
Raizel wasn't an exception either. As his magic power continuously grew intense ahead toward his opponent, a red dragon appeared behind him as his own symbol, along with a world-trembling roar erupting from the dragon's voice.
The demonic intentions from their clash gave me quite a similar feeling to the moment when Reiji rampaged inside the castle. However, it's a little different this time. It's not their anger that's reflecting all those swirls of magic power, but their desire to save or destroy something. Not because they love or hate it, but because they believe themselves to be tasked with that.
To keep the retainers safe along with the others, I cast a barrier magic to cover Arfanez, Raizel, and Aizis inside a certain area to prevent the swirls of magic from causing destruction over the entire layer itself. Even though the intensity of magic power was pretty great, it wasn't really hard for my magic barrier to keep standing strong.
After keeping pushing each other with their best might, Raizel grabbed Arfanez's collar with his right hand while keeping pushing him ahead. As he grabbed his collar, Raizel immediately slammed Arfanez into the ground and caused some pathetically huge cracks throughout the surroundings. While Arfanez witnessed something unexpected at that moment, he coughed up blood while taking continuous breaths.
Raizel was simply way too agile for Arfanez to react. Right after slamming him into the ground, Raizel threw his crimson red sword toward Arfanez without any hesitation. His eyes were confident yet expressionless; he wasn't feeling any emotions or hardship throughout the entire battle. It was easy, or maybe hard for him, but nothing that could truly bother him. He wasn't smiling, nor struggling. His eyes were fragile, as was his entire face.
For me, it was almost like he destroyed all of his emotions just for the battle. But it felt a little ironic as well, when it's about someone like Raizel who never displayed even a bit of emotions in his eyes. His indifferent act was so familiar to me after spending all these years alongside him.
Before the deadly sword could reach his chest, Arfanez instantly vanished from there in the blink of an eye. He appeared a little behind Raizel and attempted to hit his head with his golden relic. However, once again, Raizel's agile movement was simply way too much for him.
As the battle continued, it was all about Raizel's showdown. Following his incredible physical strength and speed, Arfanez couldn't figure out any way to counter Raizel. Raizel's enhanced magic power kept him resistant to the domain. The storm of lava, waves of flame, and the rain of golden swords couldn't make any difference in the battle.
After taking over a hundred strikes from Raizel, Arfanez slowly sat down on the ground as his entire body filled with endless pieces of wounds and blood covering him entirely.
His gaze was down; his heart was taking continuous breaths unstoppably.
"I couldn't bother myself to care about someone's soul and the reason behind their activities. Even if you want something else by holding back, I won't hold back. I will destroy you by witnessing your visual voice; I won't try listening to your heart, Arfanez." Raizel spoke, casual while pointing his crimson sword at Arfanez's neck.
"You've become a true coward, Reiji." Arfanez spoke, casual like Raizel.
His sentence ran through my soul. I couldn't bother myself to believe the sentence he used earlier. How in the world is Reiji going to be Raizel all along? How? It was the lone thought lurking in my thoughts. I couldn't say any different for Marco and Elesia; they're holding the very similar question as well.
Raizel and Aizis, neither of them changed their expression even a bit. Raizel replied indifferently, "Reiji? I don't want to know his identity. Nothing truly concerns me right at this moment, where I'm standing up against you with my identity as Raizel, who will protect the mortals with all of his might."
"That's what makes you different from Reiji; you are definitely not Reiji; you're as foolish as those mortals." Arfanez said. His expression slowly changed, revealing his anger toward Raizel.
This sentence filled our confusion a little, making us believe Raizel to be like Reiji in some manner.
Arfanez continued from his latest sentence, "If this is the very path you belong to, then why am I going to keep you intact?" He shouted.
Golden swirls of magic scattered throughout the surroundings from his body as the pressure of the swirls instantly destroyed my barrier like pieces of mist. Raizel flew away from him and stood a little away, covering his eyes with his hands.
It wasn't much longer, but Arfanez's appearance changed quite a bit. Several golden relics appeared behind him with their flashing appearance. And a couple of golden wings appeared beside his hands.
His appearance and pressure reached the peak, forcing the retainers, along with us, to sit down. While we could barely keep ourselves hanging while sitting on the ground, the retainers couldn't resist the pressure forcing them to be slammed into the ground. The golden domain made out of his magic power is now witnessing the force that's going to destroy it, creating several cracks there.
Arfanez began to float upward with his wings. After some countable moments, he paused himself in the midair and shouted, "If no one in the world is truly going to support me, then I will reject the world itself, for the finale."