Darien slashed downward.
Golden flames carved through the air itself.
The heat so intense the ground cracked beneath it.
Molten stone spreading.
Elya dodged left.
The sun-blade missed by inches.
Heat searing his skin even without contact.
Then—shadows from his blind spot.
Vaelcrest's hand was wrapped in shadow like a gauntlet.
PUNCH.
Elya blocked with his Spada.
BOOM.
The force sent him sliding backward.
Boots carving trenches.
He looked up.
Both kings already moving again.
Darien charged.
His sword glowing golden light building with intense heat.
Vaelcrest vanished into his own shadow.
Elya's eyes tracked both.
"Where—"
He spun.
Vaelcrest emerged from Elya's shadow.
Shadow-gauntleted fist aimed at his spine.
"Gotcha. Behind."
Elya barely dodged.
Then Darien in front of him. His sword blazing.
Trapped between them,Elya raised his hand.
"Esplosione."
BOOM.
A point-blank force explosion in all directions.
Both kings blown back creating distance.
Elya didn't wait and pointed at Darien.
"Catena."
Golden chains erupted wrapping around Darien's arms.
Darien's eyes blazed.The chains melted.
Sun-heat turning gold to nothing.
Elya's eyes widened.
"As expected."
Then shadows grabbed his legs.
Vaelcrest stood behind him. His hand extended.
Shadows spreading from his palm.
Elya slashed.Spada cutting through shadows but they reformed immediately.
"Can't cut darkness itself."
Darien charged seeing the opening.
Elya pointed at the ground.
"Pesante."
Gravity tripled on Darien. He slammed into the earth —crater forming.
But Vaelcrest yanked. His shadow tentacles pulling hard.
Elya lost balance falling backward.
Immediately—teleportation.
Vaelcrest appeared above him.
Shadow-gauntlet fist descending.
Elya rolled. Vaelcrest fist hit ground.
BOOM.
Stone shattered creating a crater ten feet wide.
Elya sprang to his feet.
Darien was up.
Gravity broken through sheer power.Sunlike -aura blazing around him.
He thrust his hand forward.
"BLINDING LIGHT."
All of a sudden, an overwhelming golden light appeared.
Elya's vision went white.
"Can't see—"
Shadow tentacles lashed where he'd been—missing by inches.
Darien swung.Sun-blade carving golden arcs.
Vaelcrest followed. His shadow gauntlets hammering.
Elya blocked Darien's slash.Then Vaelcrest's punch with his free hand. The force rattled his bones.
Then Darien attacked faster.
Elya kept dodging, weaving and blocking.
But Vaelcrest shadows bound Elya when he dodged.Gauntlets striking when he blocked.
Elya gritted his teeth.
"Can't fight defensively—"
He exploded forward.
Spada flashing —aimed at Darien's throat.
Vaelcrest intercepted.
His shadow gauntlet catching the blade.
Elya's free hand pointed.
"Gelo."
Ice erupted from the ground.Spikes shooting upward.
Aiming for both kings.
Darien's sun-aura melted them instantly.
Vaelcrest teleported and reappeared behind Elya.
Shadow tentacles wrapping around Elya's arms and torso.
Elya pulled.
"Pesante."
Gravity on the tentacles.They strained but didn't break.
Vaelcrest grinned.
"Shadows have no weight."
Darien charged.
Sword blazing aimed at bound Elya.
Elya's eyes blazed.
"Scivoloso."
The tentacles became frictionless and slipped off.
He dodged by inches.
Darien's sun-blade grazed his cheek searing pain.
But Elya was moving.
He spun.
Slashed at Darien but the king blocked.
BOOM.
The shockwave shook the entire grove.
Then Vaelcrest came from the side
Shadow-clawed hand slashing across Elya's face.
SLASH.
Elya's head snapped to the side.He stumbled back.
His hand going to his cheek.
He felt the cut.
"X" shaped from Vaelcrest's clawed strike.
He looked at both kings.
Elya's breathing was harder now.
The "X" on his cheek throbbing.
But his grip on his Spada tightened.
"Interesting "
Darien and Vaelcrest looked at each other and had a brief nod.
Then both raised their hands.
Darien's sun-aura condensed into his palm.
A golden sphere appeared like a miniature sun.
Vaelcrest's shadows gathered.
From everywhere converging into his hands.Then a black sphere appeared.
Like condensed void.Light bending into it.
The air crackled.
Elya's eyes widened.
"Solar Annihilation."
Darien said.
Vaelcrest's whisper
"Dark Consumption."
Both thrust forward.
Both the Sun-sphere and Shadow-sphere launched.
Converging On Elya.
He stood with his Spada raised.
Blood dripping from the "X" on his face.
Eyes locked on the incoming destruction.
Then—He moved. His Spada pointed forward like a lance.
Magical Arcanum exploded around his body.
Spiraling like a vortex..
He spun—body rotating faster and faster. His Spada at the tip.
Golden Arcanum forming a drill straight into both attacks.
The attacks roared past.
Then—
BOOM.
Behind Elya—massive explosion occurred.
The entire wasteland shook.
Mountains in the distance collapsed.
Earth split alongside the sky.
Then—He
Aimed at Vaelcrest who was the closest target.
His Spada thrust forward.
Vaelcrest's eyes widened.
"Too close—"
He tried to teleport but was 3 seconds late.
Elya's Spada was inches from his throat.
Then—
Impact from the side.
Darien's boot slammed into Elya's ribs.
Elya flew sideways like a cannonball across the wasteland then into a mountain.
BOOM.
Stone exploded.
The entire peak shattered.
Elya crashed through one side then out the other.
The mountain collapsed..
Silence swallowed the entire area for three seconds.
Both kings stood watching.
Then—
Movement from the rubble.
On top of the collapsed mountain and at the highest pile of debris.
Elya stood.
Clothes shredded.
Blood dripping and bruises all over his body.
His ribs cracked and his breathing hard.
But standing.
He looked at both kings then smiled.
He raised his voice.
"IS THIS YOUR WORST?"
"SORRY TO BURST YOUR BUBBLE—"
He spat blood.
"—BUT THIS WON'T DO YOU WEASELS."
The wind carried his words across the wasteland to both kings.
Darien's expression didn't change.
But his eyes sharpened.
Vaelcrest's smile widened.
Both looked impressed.
Elya moved faster than sound.
His boots launching off the rubble.
Spada raised.
Darien and Vaelcrest stood ready —waiting
Elya closed the distance. His Spada aimed at Darien's neck.
Darien blocked.
BOOM
Then—shadows from below wrapped around Elya's ankle.
Elya's eyes WIDENED.
"What—"
He was launched into the air.
Then MORE shadows shot up from everywhere wrapping around his arms.
Suspending him mid–air.
Vaelcrest stood below. His hand extended.
He smiled.
"Got you."
Darien stepped forward and looked up at the bound Elya.
Then opened his mouth condensing a sun energy in his mouth
The air around him shimmered.
Then—roared.
BOOM.
Golden fire erupted across the sky.
The earth split .
CRACK.
Cutting through the grove,through the wasteland, the mountains.
The entire region split into two.
Mountains to magma.
The destruction stretched for miles.
Darien's mouth closed then the beam ended.
Both kings stood.
Looking at the destruction.
Then the area was swallowed by silence.
Magnus—still broken on the ground—stared.
The soldiers.Just watching in awe.
Darien's voice.
"It's done."
Vaelcrest nodded.
"Finally."
Then—Movement in the magma.
Both kings froze.
A figure sitting in the center of the magma
Legs crossed hands resting on knees.
Elya.
His Clothes burned.
Skin charred and blood everywhere.
He looked at Vaelcrest.
Then spoke.
"Prayer time is over, Vaelcrest."
He touched the "X" on his cheek.
Blood dripping.
"This mark you've given me..."
"...is a ticket to perform your last rite."
Vaelcrest's smile faded.
Just slightly though.
Darien's eyes narrowed.
He charged.His hand aimed at the sitting Elya.
Then—
In the shadows. A figure made a hand sign.
Elya's form flickered and started to fade
But BEFORE he vanished completely—
He raised his hand his middle finger.
Then spoke one last line.
"I'll be back."
And vanished.
For five seconds.
Then—
Footsteps from the forest.
Soldiers—a dozen of them.
And between them—
Nana. Her hands bound.
The soldiers brought her forward to the center. To where both kings stood.
Darien turned and looked at her.
Vaelcrest's eyes locked on Nana.
The soldiers stopped and push Nana forward
She stood between both kings.Her head slightly lowered.
Both looked at her then at each other.
And gave a brief nod.
Vaelcrest stepped closer to Nana.
He smiled.
"Welcome home."