Those all memories gathered up in years, shattered like a mirror in less than a second.
Reality snapped back into the burning heart of the Arcology.
Steel met steel with a violent scream as Henry and Roland clashed head-on. Their weapons struck with enough force to ripple the flames around them.
Sparks burst outward like fragments of dying stars, scattering across the scorched floor.
Henry twisted his wrist slightly. Stepping into the motion instead of retreating. His Astra flared as light gathered up along its edge.
"Window of the Sky... Vacuum Step."
A crescent of compressed wind tore free from his blade slicing through the air in a sharp diagonal line. The pressure split the smoke itself, creating a vacuum trail as it raced toward Roland.
Roland did not dodge. He pivoted eventually.
"Kanto... Grim Tsar."
His katana burned brighter as he slashed downward. A blazing arc of fire surged outward meeting the wind slash head-on.
The collision did not simply cancel out.
The heat twisted the airflow violently.
Roland's katana was capable of it. Causing reverse diffusion. Matter along the clash point warped outward, metal fragments lifted briefly into the air before disintegrating into ash.
The floor beneath them shook in their force.
Henry lunged forward through the falling pillar swiftly just before falling.
He chained his movements without hesitation. One upward slash then a low sweeping cut meant to destabilize footing.
Roland shifted his stance with flawless timing. He deflected the first strike with the spine of Kanto and spun with the second, releasing a burst of concentrated heat from the blade's edge.
The blast scorched the ground between them. Forcing Henry to vault backward.
Roland pursued immediately.
His blade cut horizontally, releasing layered waves of flame that stacked behind one another like advancing walls.
Each wave carried delayed ignition properties. Heating surfaces before detonating seconds later.
Henry rushed diagonally instead of retreating. Slashing multiple times in a second with rapid succession. Thin wind blades spiraled outward, intercepting the first two waves before impact.
The third detonated behind him, erupting in a violent bloom that shook the entire chamber.
Both men disappeared into the haze. Then clashed again inside it, faster, sharper, more deliberate than before.
Henry advanced sliding across fractured steel as flames burst around him.
He kicked a broken slab popping upward. Ssending it spinning toward Roland like a thrown shield.
Roland did not step back. He slashed once with Kanto and the slab evaporated mid-air, turning into a burst of molten fragments that rained outward. Instead of retreating from the falling debris, he used it.
A second slash ignited the fragments into scattered bursts, turning falling rubble into delayed explosions that boxed Henry into a narrow lane.
Henry read the trap instantly.
He stepped onto a tilted beam. Smartly using its height to leap above the blast radius. Mid-air, he rotated his body and slashed downward, wind pressure condensed along the blade's edge.
"Dimensional Cut."
The slash split not just wind or sound but space itself.
A thin distortion carved forward, cutting through burning pillars and slicing the battlefield into uneven sections.
The pressure changed the gravity momentarily. Effectively dragging loose metal toward the wound in space.
Roland pivoted through the pull driving his katana into the ground to anchor himself.
He tore free a length of molten steel with his foot and launched it with a kick, sending it spinning toward Henry as a flaming projectile.
Henry landed and twisted sideways, narrowly avoiding the spinning mass.
Then he advanced again faster than before.
In that moment...
Three consecutive dimensional slashes were drawn, each launched in rapid succession.
The first distorted the air to Roland's left. The second carved diagonally downward. The third struck straight through the centerline.
Roland reacted with terrifying speed.
The third one... had landed. A sharp flash passed by them.
Two fingers separated cleanly from his right hand, falling to the scorched floor below.
Blood sprayed briefly into the heat. Roland's expression did not change a bit.
He shifted his grip instantly, carrying Kanto with three fingers and his thumb, adjusting his stance without hesitation. That loss did not slow him.
He exhaled once. Then charged again.
Steel rang against steel as both closed into close range, abandoning wide-area attacks for precision and brutality.
Henry drove forward with a sharp elbow strike. Forcing Roland's blade upward.
In the same motion, he followed with a low kick aimed at destabilizing Roland's footing.
Roland absorbed the impact. Siding the force instead of resisting force directly. He redirected Henry's momentum with the flat part of Kanto, letting the motion carry Henry half a step past him.
Then Roland had took steps... twelve steps. It was unnatural...
Twelve perfectly measured placements in less than a second, circling Henry in a precise ring. Each step left behind a faint afterimage of burning heat etched into the air.
Henry noticed immediately. A perimeter.
"If you touched them," Roland said calmly, "you will blow yourself."
Henry remained standing, he moved anyway.
The moment his foot marched, the afterimages detonated in sequence. Heat collapsed inward like collapsing stars.
The explosions stacked upon one another in a chain reaction that swallowed Henry whole.
The blast hurled him backward, tearing apart the ground beneath him.
But before impact... he had chanted,
"Spell: Achilles's Heel."
Henry's voice came through the explosion.
A compact shield flared briefly around his body, small but perfectly timed. It did not stop the blast completely but it absorbed the core pressure long enough to redirect the force outward.
Henry slammed into the broken floor, sliding across the debris but still conscious.
Roland did not pause. He stacked attacks relentlessly.
One slash sent a delayed ignition wave. A second carved upward, forcing Henry into a defensive angle. A third struck the ground itself, creating a heated fracture beneath Henry's feet that erupted seconds later.
Henry rolled through the blast, rising up mid-motion by the force. Then both rushed forward again.
Roland's presence seemed to consume the pressure in wind.
He could burn oxygen around him until the wind recoiled, leaving Henry's movements sluggish and heavy.
Heat pressed against his chest, forcing him to think faster, move faster or be crushed under the invisible weight of the furnace surrounding him.
Henry's eyes scanned rapidly. There. A weak point in the flow. He could exploit it.
He shifted, rolling through a patch of displaced air, forcing his body to adapt as sweat hissed on his skin.
Roland didn't pause. Pillars along the chamber floor and ceiling cracked violently, molten cores erupted as he manipulated them into rivers of lava, forming traps designed to box Henry in.
Anticipating where Henry would step, what angle he would need.
Henry clenched his teeth. "Not done yet." he muttered.
He drew his katana fully, channeling all his focus. With a running step. He hurled the blade forward at full force. The air itself boomed as it broke the sound barrier.
The kinetic energy formed a concussive wave that collided with Roland's flames mid-flight.
Impact detonated violently, shards of rock and molten debris scattered in every direction. Roland was hurled backward, body spinning like a puppet cut from strings.
Henry dashed forward without pause, catching Roland by the leg in mid-air. With a brutal heave, he slammed him into the floor.
The impact sent shockwaves through the ruins of the Arcology chamber, echoing like a rolling thunder.
Roland rose to his feet again. The crimson edge of Kanto shimmered as heat still licked around his body.
Two fingers were gone from his right hand, yet he held the katana with the same precision as before. His stance remained unshaken. A smirk twisted his lips.
"Wisest Fool," he muttered in dripping mockery. "Such nonsense. That's what people in the organization used to call you. Do you still like it?"
Henry smirked, raising his own blade, eyes locked on Roland with unwavering focus.
They charged simultaneously. The distance closwd in a frame. Sparks erupted as their swords collided. The sound rang across the destroyed chamber.
Henry swung low, Roland deflected, spinning his blade upward to meet a horizontal strike.
Every blow sent debris flying, broken columns shattered and molten fragments bouncing off walls as their footwork shifted.
Roland's free hand traced an arc in the air. Runic symbols ignited along his fingertips. "Spell : Ferrum Judicium."
Five daggers of condensed Runic Flow materialized, floating in perfect formation around him. They darted automatically toward Henry.
Henry twisted mid-air, deflecting one with his blade while two exploded on impact with the floor, sending bursts that cracked the chamber further.
Scratches and bruises appeared across his arms and shoulders, his cloak singed at the edges.
Both men noticed the subtle but undeniable shift in their senses. Gravity was wavering. The floor beneath them quivered unnaturally.
A faint distortion spread upward... the sky had already been removed. Only a few steps remained before the edge of Kal'zhet opened to the void above.
Henry glanced around. Arcee, Cagaro, Blyke and even Caius paused mid-motion, their eyes followed the anomaly, every muscle tensed.
Roland's grin widened, voice carrying over the crackling heat. "See? The sky is gone, Wisest Fool. Thanks to all your efforts, your clever tricks and this world works to my design. Step closer, and you'll burn with it!"
Henry met his gaze, breath steady despite the bruises and heat. "I don't care how much you tear apart the sky. I'll stop you before the world destroys."
Roland surged forward again. His fist connected with Henry's shoulder, sending a wave through his body.
A follow-up punch landed on Henry's jaw, rattling him back but he stayed on his feet.
Another strike slammed into his torso, forcing him to stumble, then a spinning kick drove him toward the scorched floor.
Henry barely managed to regain balance, only for Roland to slam his katana down on floorwith such force that the entire scorched floor erupted in a violent heat burst.
Flames and molten fragments flew in all directions, scorching Henry's skin where the flames licked.
Leaving searing pain across his arms and chest. He coughed, gasping for oxygen but his resolve did not falter.
Roland leaned in. "Join me, Henry. There is still time. You can still be part of this. Help me shape everything."
Henry shook his head slowly, raising Kanto with both hands. "No... please, come back..."
With a roar, he charged, slashing through the molten debris. Roland took him instantly, katana against katana, sparks burst like miniature suns.