The sky broke open with terrifying finality.
What descended was not merely lightning, but a pillar of pure, cataclysmic destruction—a blinding column of white-hot energy that seemed to tear reality itself apart as it fell. Everything caught directly beneath it simply vanished. Pavement, vehicles, the facades of nearby buildings—erased in an instant, reduced to atoms and scattered ash. The air itself screamed with the force of the impact.
Masszio's eyes sharpened, every instinct screaming at him to act. "Move!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the deafening roar like a blade.
The team scattered without hesitation. Laura blurred to the left, Zyren vaulted backward with surprising agility, Darius rolled right while igniting a trail of flame to propel himself, and Malik melted into the shadows at his feet, reappearing several meters away in a swirl of darkness.
The Judgment Strike slammed into the ground with apocalyptic force.
A cataclysmic explosion erupted outward. Shockwaves ripped through the already devastated city block, shattering windows that had somehow survived the earlier barrage and sending razor-sharp debris hurtling in every direction like shrapnel from a bomb. The impact carved a massive, smoking crater into the street, easily twenty meters across, with jagged edges glowing from the intense heat. Thick black smoke billowed upward, mingling with the storm clouds, while fresh fires licked hungrily at the ruins.
For one fragile second, silence reigned—broken only by the crackle of settling rubble and the distant cries of fleeing civilians.
Then Raizen moved.
He vanished in a flicker of electric blue, reappearing instantly directly above Masszio. The speed was staggering, almost impossible to track with the naked eye. A faint, condescending mutter escaped his lips as he hovered there, lightning dancing across his shoulders. "Slow."
Masszio reacted without a heartbeat's delay. His hand shot upward, and the space between them compressed violently under his will. Raizen's downward momentum halted mid-strike—just enough to disrupt his timing. Before the Pillar could adjust, Masszio swung his arm in a sharp, controlled arc.
An invisible wave of force slammed into Raizen's chest like a freight train. The impact launched him backward through the air with tremendous velocity. He crashed through the upper floors of two abandoned office buildings in rapid succession, glass and concrete exploding outward in glittering clouds of destruction. The structures groaned and partially collapsed behind him.
But Raizen didn't fall.
He stopped himself mid-air with casual ease, hovering once more as if gravity were merely a suggestion. A faint grin spread across his face, equal parts amusement and approval. Tiny sparks of electricity continued to arc violently around his form, illuminating the sharp angles of his features.
"Not bad," he said, his voice carrying easily over the rumbling thunder. "You can actually fight. Most don't last this long."
Masszio kept his hand raised, steady and unwavering. His breathing remained controlled, his stance firm. He offered no reply—only focused intensity.
The rest of the team didn't wait for an invitation.
Laura moved first, vanishing in a burst of speed that left only a faint afterimage. She reappeared directly behind Raizen, her claws extended and slicing forward in a lethal arc aimed at his exposed back.
Lightning exploded outward from Raizen's body in a defensive corona, intercepting her strike before it could connect. The force of the electrical discharge threw her backward, spinning through the air. She twisted gracefully mid-fall and landed in a crouch on a cracked section of street, claws digging into the asphalt for balance. "He's fast," she growled, already preparing for another approach.
Zyren stepped forward with a confident grin. "Then don't let him move." He snapped his fingers sharply.
In an instant, shimmering constructs materialized around Raizen—sleek blades, heavy chains, and reinforced barriers forming a complex, interlocking cage from every direction at once. They snapped into place with mechanical precision, locking the Pillar in a web of solid energy.
For a heartbeat, it seemed to work. Raizen was held suspended, surrounded and trapped.
Then electricity surged violently from his core. The constructs shattered like fragile glass, exploding outward in a shower of dissipating light and sparks. Zyren blinked, momentarily stunned. "Yeah, okay… that's illegal."
Darius didn't hesitate. He charged forward with a roar, his fist wreathed in roaring flames that left a trail of scorched air behind him. He swung with devastating power, aiming squarely at Raizen's midsection.
Raizen caught the punch bare-handed.
The impact cracked the air like a sonic boom, heat and electricity clashing in a violent hiss of steam. Yet Raizen didn't budge an inch. He looked at Darius with an unimpressed tilt of his head. "Strength without speed," he remarked coolly. "Pointless."
A burst of raw electricity shot through Darius's body. The shock launched him backward violently, sending him crashing hard into the street. He skidded across the broken asphalt, leaving a long groove in his wake, smoke rising from his clothes. "Tch—!" he gritted through clenched teeth, forcing himself up despite the pain.
Malik's shadows surged next, rising from the ground like living tendrils. They wrapped around Raizen's limbs with frightening speed, binding his arms and legs, compressing tighter and tighter in an attempt to crush or immobilize him completely.
Raizen paused, tilting his head as if examining an interesting specimen. "Interesting," he murmured.
The shadows tightened further, darkness coiling with crushing force.
Then they burned away in an instant, seared into nothingness by an overwhelming surge of lightning that radiated from Raizen's skin. Malik stepped back slightly, his expression tightening. "He's overwhelming everything we throw at him."
Masszio moved forward then, calm and deliberate. The chaos around him seemed to recede slightly in his presence. "Everyone, fall back," he said, his voice carrying quiet authority.
The team hesitated for only a fraction of a second before obeying, retreating to give him space while remaining ready to re-engage.
Raizen watched him approach, that slight smile still playing on his lips. "So it's just you now."
Masszio raised his hand slowly. The air around Raizen shifted—not with violent force, but with precise, surgical control. Space itself seemed to bend and thicken under his influence.
Raizen felt it immediately. For the first time, his effortless movements faltered. His body slowed, just slightly, as if wading through invisible molasses. His eyes narrowed. "What is this…?"
"Control," Masszio replied simply, his tone even.
He clenched his fist.
The space surrounding Raizen compressed brutally. The Pillar was driven downward with irresistible force, slamming into the ground hard enough to shake the entire area. The impact created a fresh crater, sending a cloud of dust and debris billowing outward.
Silence fell once more.
Zyren blinked, a hint of relief in his voice. "Okay—yeah—he got him."
Laura narrowed her eyes, claws still extended. "No."
The ground exploded upward in a violent burst.
Raizen rose slowly from the crater, completely unharmed. Dust slid off his shoulders as if it dared not cling to him. This time, however, the playful glint in his eyes had been replaced by something sharper—serious intent. Lightning surged violently around him, brighter and more chaotic than before. The sky above darkened further, the storm clouds thickening until they seemed ready to swallow the city whole.
"Now I see it," Raizen said quietly, his gaze locking onto Masszio with new intensity. "You're different."
A pause stretched between them, heavy with unspoken challenge.
"Good."
He raised both hands toward the heavens.
The storm responded instantly, intensifying beyond anything they had witnessed so far. Multiple lightning strikes began forming simultaneously across the roiling sky—not one, not two, but dozens of massive bolts coalescing at once, each one humming with lethal potential.
Masszio's eyes sharpened. "He's escalating."
Malik's voice dropped to a near whisper. "This level of power… it's on another scale."
Darius pushed himself fully upright, flames flickering weakly along his arms. "We can't take that head-on."
Zyren exhaled slowly, already reforming smaller constructs around the group for protection. "Then we don't."
Masszio stepped forward once more, raising his hand higher. This time, the space around all of them shifted subtly—stabilizing, reinforcing, creating a pocket of controlled reality amid the chaos. "Stay behind me," he said firmly.
Laura frowned, glancing at him with clear concern. "You sure?"
Masszio didn't look back. His focus remained locked on the threat above. "I'm not losing here."
High above them, Raizen smirked, both hands still raised as the lightning reached its terrifying peak. The sky itself seemed on the verge of collapse, pregnant with destructive energy.
"Good," he called down, his voice echoing like thunder. "Then survive this."
The strikes began to fall.
Dozens of lightning bolts descended at once, a deadly rain of pure electrical fury aimed to annihilate everything below.
Masszio's power surged in response, steady and unyielding. The battlefield trembled under the combined forces. The air crackled with opposing energies—storm against control, raw power against refined will.
And the real fight was only just beginning.