A rapid war anthem rang out.
Notes of conflict and pounding war drums hammered again and again against the audience's eardrums.
Even through the screen, the audiences could feel the air in the arena growing hotter by the second.
No!
That wasn't an illusion. The air had truly turned red. Invisible flames were smelting everything here.
Within the flames, the Titan's voice echoed, carrying emotions that were unclear and indistinct, mixed with intermittent reverberations.
When all these elements fused together, what they brought was...
Oppression!
An oppressive force a hundred times more violent than the incarnation seen in the Marmoreal Palace surged forth.
....
: This atmosphere... as expected of a titan!
: The Titan's voice wrapping around my ears is way too imposing!
: It's really starting just like that?! A BOSS fight right away?!
: Damn, I'm getting goosebumps!
: Fights of this level were always finales before, but Amphoreus just opens its very first episode this explosively.
: The progress bar's barely past halfway!
...
The audience was both nervous and exhilarated.
On-screen, Mydei, Phainon, and Stelle stood facing the Strife Titan not far away, a tremendous pressure rising from deep within their hearts.
"That oppressive feeling from earlier, it's back. Do you feel it, Stelle?"
Phainon said gravely. "But that aura is no longer pure. It's mingled with the scent of blood and the cries of lost souls..."
"The fate I've been hoping for... lies behind this door."
Stelle nodded, waving her baseball bat. Throughout her journey, the oppressive presence of this Titan far surpassed anything she had encountered before.
At the side, Mydei also felt a chill crawl up his spine before the Titan.
Yet his heart brimmed with pure battle intent. He turned to Phainon and said, "Remember, you insisted that we come here. Now, show us that cursed resolve!"
Phainon took a deep breath. "But how can I pretend that this is just an ordinary battle?"
"My mission and purpose... all depend on this."
Even though he had made countless mental preparations beforehand.
When truly facing a Titan, Phainon still felt nervous. His heart still trembled.
These subtle emotions were also sensed by the audience.
...
: Phainon is responsible and kind, but facing an opponent of this level, he's still just a young man.
: He seems to care a lot about this thing called 'mission'...
: Is the pressure too much?
: Did he tie all his self-worth to this mission, and that's why he's so afraid of failing now?
: Mydei's battle intent feels pure, but Phainon's is mixed with responsibility and the need to prove himself.
: Such a down-to-earth Chrysos Heirs...
: Exactly. I like Phainon more and more. That feeling of "I know I must step forward, but I'm afraid I'll mess it up" is way too real.
: Phainon, you've got this!
: Hehe, the youthful uncertainty and heavy pressure on Phainon just make me want to see his transformation even more.
: Maybe this battle with Nikador is the key to Phainon's growth?
...
Phainon's delicate emotions made the audience like this kind-hearted young man even more.
Under such deep portrayal. The friction between Phainon's heavy mission and his not-yet-fully-mature self made many feel that he was vividly, undeniably real.
The comments were filled with encouragement.
The audience awaited the moment when he would forge pressure into a blade in the depths of despair.
On screen.
Mydei sensed Phainon's emotions as well.
Just as Phainon had helped him regulate his emotions earlier, Mydei now encouraged him in his own way.
"I've learned a method you probably wouldn't understand."
"All the anger and regret I feel right now, I've learned to control them and hone them into a razor-sharp weapon for my use..."
"It has a simple name: Intent to kill."
The camera focused on Mydei's eyes. They were ruthless, resolute, and ferocious.
Phainon met Mydei's gaze, saying nothing. Then, his own eyes gradually hardened with resolve.
"You really are a beast. But right now, perhaps it's best for us to submit to the beasts inside."
Stelle nodded beside them. The three said no more, walking towards Nikador.
Mydei took the lead.
As he approached the Titan's massive body, he could no longer restrain the emotions that had been compressed within him for so long.
He roared:
"Corrupted god! Face me and meet your doom!"
"I am a son of Kremnos and a Chrysos Heir of the prophecy, and I now offer you the fairest deal—"
"I trade a thousand scars and a hundred lives of mine for your glorious death!"
By the end, Mydei's voice had turned into a hoarse howl.
Nikador began to move. Propping itself up with its golden spear, it rose to its feet.
Boom!
A massive drumbeat exploded at that very moment.
What followed was a string of rapid, perilous music.
Mydei's final roar was like a spark splashing into boiling oil, instantly igniting the stagnant air and igniting Nikador's colossal body as well.
Humm!!!
Not a roar, but a deep, thunderous rumble formed from the friction of countless metals resounded.
It burst forth from every edge of the Titan's body, carrying ancient savagery and pure destructive will, instantly overwhelming the urgent background music.
Nikador moved.
Its half-crouched left arm and left leg pushed violently against the ground. The ash-gray stone body of the god did not appear sluggish, on the contrary, it erupted with ferocity and agility that defied reason.
Spiderweb-like cracks exploded across the ground beneath its feet.
It did not stand fully upright, maintaining its half-standing, half-crouching posture. Drawing power from the left side of its body, the golden spear in its right hand shifted from stillness to motion, unleashing a strike devoid of any flourish.
A brutal horizontal sweep! The spear dragged out a fan-shaped afterimage of golden light.
Space itself seemed to be torn apart by the blow.
Before the spear even arrived, the scorching heat nearly set the trio's hair ablaze.
Mydei took the brunt of it. The bloodthirsty killing intent in his eyes flared even brighter.
"Perfect!"
With a wild roar, Mydei neither dodged nor retreated. Twisting his waist and sinking his shoulders, he swung both fists forward, meeting the attack head-on.
Clang!!
A terrifying crash like a colossal bell shattering erupted instantly.
A visible shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact, sweeping countless fragments of stone into the air.
Mydei's arms sank abruptly, his sleeves torn to shreds, and the ground beneath his feet caved in at once.
Just one second. He was blasted away by an overwhelming force, smashing into the distant ruins like a cannonball.
Amid the surging clouds of dust, Mydei's coughing rang out, followed by unrestrained, manic laughter.
"Again!"
At the same moment. Phainon's sword light flared.
Almost the instant Mydei was sent flying, he moved as well as well.
He did not clash head-on. Instead, at the moment Mydei drew all the attention, his figure turned into a streak of white light, exploiting the brief opening after the titan's attack, stabbing straight toward Nikador's lower back from behind.
Phainon's lips were pressed tightly together, his gaze firm and focused.
Gripping the great sword with both hands, he thrust with all his strength at the Titan's divine body.
The sword tip pierced in, releasing a teeth-grinding screech. But the Titan's skin was harder than the any material imaginable!
As sparks flew everywhere, a burst of violent energy rebounded. Phainon's hands were struck by tremendous force, nearly forcing him to lose his grip on the great sword.
Nikador did not even lower its head. It merely slammed its right elbow backward.
"Bang!" Phainon barely had time to raise the great sword crosswise in front of him before he was sent flying by the impact, crashing hard into the ground.
He scrambled up in a sorry state, yet there was not the slightest hint of gloom or distraction in his eyes.
Once more, together with Mydei, he charged at Nikador.
And in the blind spot of the two of them, Stelle launched her attack.
This strike was the most abrupt, the most unreasonable of all.
She did not shout. She only pressed her lips together, aiming the tip of the Flame Spear straight at Nikador's head.
Then she poured all her strength into her legs and kicked off violently.
"Boom!" The Flame Spear and Stelle seemed to fuse into one, transforming midair into a blazing meteor.
It stabbed upward at a slanted angle, from bottom to top. This blow valued raw power over finesse.
Nikador clearly had not expected this gray-haired girl to attack in such a crude, brutal way.
Its head tilted slightly as the left arm that had been crawling along the ground suddenly shot upward. Fingers spread wide, it viciously clawed at the onrushing Stelle.
Bang!!!
The razor-sharp Flame Spear collided head-on with the massive claw. This was nothing like striking that earlier incarnation.
Stelle felt as though she had crashed into a huge mountain. Both arms holding the spear screamed with pain.
And Nikador's huge hand was trying to crush her, along with the spear, in a single grip!
At the critical moment. A flash of light crossed Stelle's eyes.
Not only did she refuse to withdraw her strength, she instead poured every last drop of her power, power even Aglaea had never glimpsed, into the Flame Spear.
"Flame Spear! Charge!"
The flames at the spear tip suddenly turned an even deeper crimson, then detonated violently!
"BOOOOM!!!" The tremendous explosion blasted Nikador's hand away.
Bearing the full recoil of the blast, Stelle was hurled backward. She rolled across the ground several times before barely managing to stop in a half-kneeling position.
The flames of her Flame Spear still burned fiercely. And Stelle's gaze only grew brighter, and more ferocious.
Nikador withdrew its left claw. The air, thick with the stench of blood and rust, grew even heavier.
"Ka**!! Mo**!!"
The words of this Titan resounded across every corner of the battlefield with terrifying mental force.
It raised the golden spear high overhead, the golden radiance at its tip growing ever brighter.
Countless tiny symbols formed of strife flowed and circulated across it.
An even more dreadful pressure descended like an overwhelming tidal wave.
These scenes, each more spectacular than the last left the spectators utterly dazzled.
No one dared even to breathe.
...
: Holy hell, this is insane!
: This is absolutely a final-boss-level fight!
: What a spectacle! What a spectacle!
: Nikador's pressure is easily a hundred times stronger than before!
: The three of them fighting together, so cool, so satisfying!
: Can they really win this?!
: This true body is way too monstrous!
...
The comments went completely wild.
And just then, just when everyone thought Nikador was about to unleash another powerful attack, the gigantic sword which had long been hanging above Castrum Kremnos suddenly moved, stirred by Nikador's pull.
This sudden development instantly filled Phainon and Mydei with a sense of dread.
"The souls of war are amassing in the skies above Kremnos... surging toward the Blade of Fury!"
Phainon's eyes went wide as he exclaimed in shock, "They have no intention of winning the fight. Instead, they're using death after death to temper their blade... Even with a hundred deaths, they've resolved to pierce through Kephale's body!"
Nikador never meant to fight them to the death! It was using this battle to draw down the Blade of Fury hanging overhead.
Its goal from beginning to end was always Okhema.
Mydei's rage was buried beneath deep confusion for a moment.
When he personally witnessed his own god actually resorting to the despicable schemes most hated by the people of Suspended Blade to meddle in the battle, he could no longer hold himself back.
"All their honor is gone... How did the god of our tribe fall so low?" Mydei said bitterly.
Then he clenched his teeth and looked at Phainon.
"Deliverer, here is your moment."
"I'll hold them off here and keep them from wielding the Blade of Fury. You need to head back and notify the two demigods."
Now, the Blade of Fury had already begun to move. They did not have much time to waste here.
If Okhema was unprepared, under Nikador's full-force, the holy city might truly be pierced through by the Blade of Fury.
After all, Nikador and the Blade of Fury together were basically like nuclear warheads aimed at Okhema.
Point them somewhere, and that place gets wiped out.
Even with demigods, Okhema couldn't be confident.
Still, Phainon could not put his mind at ease. He hurriedly said, "Are you out of your mind, facing the Titan alone? I'm staying too. Stelle… please-"
He had just been about to ask Stelle when Mydei impatiently snapped, "Get lost! Do you have to make me say this?"
"I must stay here, not for Okhema's safety, but to settle the score with my god."
"Even if immortality is a curse, it shouldn't be used so despicably."
"Go, Deliverer. Your battlefield lies elsewhere."
Phainon took another deep breath. Just as his earlier actions showed, he knew how to let go, how to weigh priorities.
"...Stay strong. Try not to get killed too many times."
With that, Phainon turned around and, together with Stelle, sprinted out of the city.
By now, the audience were tense to the point of suffocation. They could not guess how this battle would end.
On screen, the massive Blade of Fury, hanging above Castrum Kremnos, was slowly turning, slowly adjusting its direction.