After Roni's death, Liam blessed Halo with his grace later in the day.
Halo's first thought was that he'd come to boast about his strength or ability. But recognizing that impulse made him realize how much his weakened state had twisted his thinking.
They'd been friends for more than a week, and though they had much to learn about each other, thinking of Liam that way felt wrong even to Halo himself.
Liam, noble as ever, came to watch him train. He even offered to take Halo out for a treat in Mirror Steppe once the session ended.
Halo was ashamed, and though his expression and words never showed it, he expressed it instead through his duels with Light.
Ever since their first duel, Light's actions were clear: he was going to kill Halo if he didn't manage to kill it first. But considering Light's almost immortal body, killing it wasn't something Halo could pull off easily off the bat.
Most of their training went into building his offensive capability. Light couldn't be broken or worn down like a flesh-and-blood opponent, but with enough sustained force, it would eventually run out of energy.
This continued for two more days. Each day, he watched from the tower as Liam and Seraph defeated Sinners below.
Liam came out to cheer him on more than once. Seraph brought his meals regularly. He barely acknowledged either of them, though he was grateful.
However, he believed today marked the last day of his duel with Light. No matter what it took, he was going to defeat the clone in three minutes or less.
Sometimes to kill a beast, you have to act like one.
Halo didn't care that his joints could be distorted by the end of their duel, he knew both Liam and Seraph had a healing ability. They could help him out.
From the moment the battle started, he was certain he'd win without serious injury. He'd come to understand Light's fighting patterns intimately.
Light had an advantage, and it utilized it. It knew it'd take more than a mere strike to exhaust its energy, so it added recklessness to its fighting style.
This wasn't something Halo could afford, but he knew when everything was said and done, Light used the same techniques he did.
He avoided Light's attacks on a subtle rhythm, which was the same thing he used to count the time since he didn't possess a clock himself.
Light's attacks came in with blinding force, something that made his body crawl within the past few days, but now, he feared nothing.
He kept a reasonable distance between himself and Light, yet the distance wasn't too vast for the clone to miss a strike. This meant his attacks could land as well.
But Halo refrained from attacking. He remained agile on his tiptoes, putting himself in Light's place mentally. What technique would he use? The predictive approach worked perfectly.
The fight progressed for nearly a minute, and Light had yet to land an attack. But Halo couldn't attack either.
Light gave no openings to exploit. Technically, its body had no vulnerabilities since it could instantly counter anything. But Halo wasn't after a true weakness, just the perfect moment and perfect angle to disrupt Light's balance, even briefly.
This irritated him deeply. Light couldn't land a strike, but neither could he attack, one failed attempt would give Light the opening it needed to win.
This dragged on for another second to come. The moment Halo caught a glimpse of the opening he was waiting for, he seized it and struck at Liam's upper jaw.
His legs nearly buckled as he realized he had miscalculated. The moment his strike landed, Light's boot connected with his cheek. But he failed to give in.
He wrenched himself upright, halting the fall through sheer force. Yet that initial strike had delivered exactly the impact he needed. Light's balance broke, if only for a moment.
Halo wore a devilish smirk and steeled himself. What followed next were brutal strikes he didn't know he had in him for his own clone. A part of himself.
But at that moment, he barely cared because he enjoyed it. Each strike that landed filled him with burning thrills that he hadn't felt in years.
It was the joy of graduation day or finally marrying your soulmate. He felt liberated and whole, as though nothing he'd achieved before had ever mattered.
Before long, Light lay on the floor motionless as Halo panted heavily with his smile finally fading away, though his Flaw couldn't take away the chills he had within.
"1 minute, 47 seconds. It took 1 minute, 47 seconds."
The moment he muttered, the familiar bronze screen appeared before him.
***
[ Your clone has been exhausted. Would you like to give it energy? ]
Price: 5 Sin Fragments.
| Yes | No |
***
He sneered.
"So the prices are based on their strengths." He muttered and dismissed the screen.
Light's body vanishes from its clothes and forms a dark orb on the floor before reattaching its body to Halo's legs.
He had every intention to bring Light back as soon as possible, but at the moment, he didn't feel the urgency. He only thought of his achievement.
This wasn't much considering having to spend almost four days on Light, but he was proud of himself.
In his past life, he rarely needed to fight. Armed and precise, he never missed the skull or heart. None of his victims lived long enough to force a hand-to-hand struggle.
He'd taken lives with his bare hands often enough, but his legend was built on trigger discipline. Simple and clean, but effective.
Knowing he could replicate his past effectiveness with bare hands and a blade satisfied him. But it wasn't enough. He needed more power.
But now, he had to let himself go for a moment and have a little fun with Liam.
"I could be a god now… what if I killed the hero and made him my clone? That'd be fun."