The shattered crust of the grey planet groaned beneath them, a dying world held together only by the sheer force of Eiden's lingering mana. The silence of the void was absolute, broken only by the crackle of energy bleeding from the two entities standing at the center of the devastation. Eiden stood in his simple black robes, his neon-blue aura flickering like a cold fire. Across from him, the creature known as the Crimson Serpent coiled its massive, muscular tail, its red skin gleaming under the light of the distant sun they had just punched through.
"What are you..." Eiden's voice was flat, devoid of the heat of his earlier rage, replaced by a clinical, murderous focus. "I figured a Seraphiad would be behind controlling Civilar, but you are something of a mix..."
The creature chuckled, a sound like grinding obsidian. He ran a clawed hand through his black hair, tilting his head with a predatory curiosity.
"I am a demon, from hell," the creature replied. His voice didn't travel through the air; it manifested directly in the mind. "The Seraphiad were merely a creation of mine. Poor, pale imitations. They didn't even have all the features I do. Since I know your name, I'll introduce you to mine. I am Khalruum."
Eiden's eyes narrowed, the sapphire light within them pulsing. "You've been controlling Civilar for a long time, huh... well, you hurt someone who gives the most comfortable hugs. For that, you must die."
Khalruum's smile widened, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth. "Hmmm, interesting. Very well."
The demon clasped his hands together, the movement sudden and violent. "Red Void."
A ripple of crimson darkness erupted from his palms, a wave of conceptual erasure designed to turn everything it touched into nothingness. It was a spell that had unmade entire civilizations. It washed over Eiden like a tide of blood—and then it simply ceased to exist. The red energy hit the boundary of the Unstoppable Field and dissolved into harmless sparks. Eiden didn't even flinch. He remained standing, his hands at his sides, looking at the demon with an expression of bored contempt.
"Hm?" Khalruum's smile faltered for the first time. He looked at Eiden, then at the space between them where his ultimate magic had just died. "Interesting... very interesting. I don't like whatever field you have set up. It nullified my spells, my illusions, and now one of my greatest abilities. I have no chance of winning against you."
Khalruum uncoiled his tail, standing to his full, terrifying height. "But," he whispered, "I can win, with one last ability in mind."
The demon raised his right palm toward the stars. With his left hand, he reached up and plunged two clawed fingers into his own left eye socket. There was no scream, only a wet, sickening crunch. He ripped the glowing red orb from his skull, blood streaming down his face, and crushed it in his fist.
"Exchange."
In his right hand, a spark of pure, conceptual malice ignited. It stretched and hardened, forming into a long, jagged Red Spear. The weapon didn't look like it was made of matter; it looked like a tear in the fabric of reality, weeping a dark, oily energy that seemed to drink the light around it.
"What's that going to do?" Eiden asked, his voice steady.
"You may be unstoppable with that field," Khalruum panted, his empty eye socket glowing with a dim, hellish light. "So my ability is called Exchange. I can create the first and only thing to help me, in exchange for a part of my body as the cost. I just created the first and only spear capable of cutting through your Field."
Eiden didn't wait for a demonstration. He reached into the air beside him, and the blue mana responded to his will. It solidified, condensing from raw energy into a physical form. A Blue Longsword appeared in his grip, its blade translucent like sapphire, humming with the frequency of the Unstoppable Field itself.
"Let's see if your eye was worth it," Eiden said.
They moved at the same time. The collision was so violent that the remains of the grey planet beneath them finally gave up. The bedrock shattered into dust as they bolted into the sky, clashing in the thin upper atmosphere. The Red Spear struck Eiden's Blue Longsword, and for the first time in the history of his divinity, Eiden felt a vibration pass through his arm.
The spear didn't bounce off the field. It bit into it.
Clang.
The sound was a psychic scream that echoed through the system. They became two streaks of light—one sapphire, one blood-red—weaving through the debris of the broken world. Every time their weapons met, the shockwave stripped the atmosphere of the planet further, sending gusts of superheated gas into the void.
Khalruum lunged, his snake-like lower half giving him a terrifying, whip-like momentum. He thrust the spear at Eiden's heart. Eiden parried, the blue blade sparking as it ground against the red metal, but the tip of the spear grazed Eiden's shoulder. A thin line of crimson appeared on Eiden's black robe. He had been cut.
"It works," Khalruum hissed, his one remaining eye wide with manic joy.
Eiden didn't respond with words. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and flared his mana. The blue fire around him turned into a blinding supernova. He swung the longsword in a wide arc, a wave of Creation Energy following the blade. Khalruum used his tail to lash out, catching a nearby mountain-sized rock and pulling himself out of the way, but the wave of blue energy caught the moon behind him, slicing it neatly in half.
The demon laughed, a jagged, broken sound. He spun the Red Spear, its length extending as he threw it with the force of a collapsing star. The spear hummed, cutting through the Unstoppable Field like a hot knife through wax. Eiden caught the shaft of the spear just inches from his throat. The heat from the weapon charred his palm, but he didn't let go. He pulled, yanking the demon toward him.
"My turn," Eiden whispered.
He drove his Blue Longsword straight through Khalruum's chest. The demon's red blood sprayed onto Eiden's face, hot and smelling of sulfur. But Khalruum only grinned, grabbing Eiden's shoulders with his clawed hands.
"You're a really... interesting... elf," the demon wheezed, even as the blue mana began to dissolve his internal organs.
The two gods tumbled through the void, locked in a lethal embrace. They plummeted back through the thin atmosphere of the dying world, gravity reclaiming what was left of their physical weight. They hit the surface not with a bang, but with a heavy, hollow thud that stirred the fine grey dust.
They came to a rest on the grey land. Eiden lay flat on his back, staring up at the stars he had just navigated, his breathing shallow and rattling. His blue sword had dissolved back into mist, leaving his hands empty and scorched. A few feet away, Khalruum lay sprawled, his massive tail uncoiled and motionless. The demon's single remaining eye stared blankly at the dark sky, blood pooling beneath his crimson torso and staining the grey earth a deep, dark purple.
Neither of them spoke. The silence of the grey planet was absolute, a graveyard for a battle that had shattered a solar system.