Tetsuya's body trembled. His cosmic energy flickered like a dying star. Cuts lined his arms, his uniform torn and scorched.
His lightning swords had dimmed, their glow unstable.
Every breath felt like fire in his lungs. Across from him, Amelia hovered, her true vampire form fully awakened.
Her blood pulsed like a living storm, tendrils swirling around her like serpents.
Her eyes glowed with ancient fury, and her voice echoed with layered tones, "You are finished, Cosmic Soldier. Your light is fading."
Tetsuya did not respond. He could not. His legs buckled, but he forced himself upright. Sparks danced across his skin, his aura flickering violently. "I… don't fall," he whispered. "Not until the last strike."
Amelia sneered and vanished in a blur. She reappeared behind him, her Blood Sword slashing downward.
Tetsuya twisted, barely deflecting the blow. The impact sent him skidding across the floor, lightning trailing behind him.
She followed with a Blood Punch Barrage, each hit cracking the floor, denting lockers, and hammering his defences.
Tetsuya raised his arms, absorbing the blows, his lightning shield fracturing with each strike. He collapsed to one knee.
Memories flashed, his training, his comrades, the oath Paulo told Tetsuya to swear while protect the dimensions and universe from Malevolent corruption. He saw their faces. He remembered their faith in him.
And something inside him reignited. Lightning surged from his core, wild and unstable.
He roared, forcing himself to stand. His eyes blazed with defiance.
"I am not done. I will never be done." He dashed forward, faster than before, his movements erratic but determined.
He struck with a Lightning Punch, then followed with a Lightning Sword Slash, each hit pushing Amelia back.
She snarled, her regeneration slowing. Her blood flickered, unstable. The transformation had pushed her beyond her limits.
"Why won't you break?" she screamed. Tetsuya's voice was hoarse, but steady. "Because I am not fighting for myself. I am fighting for everyone you have hurt."
Amelia unleashed a Blood Slash Barrage, her final desperate attempt to end him.
Tetsuya countered with a weakened Dual Lightning Sword Slash, the two forces colliding mid-air.
***
The hallway exploded in light and shadow. Time froze. The walls melted into void. The floor cracked open, revealing stars beneath them.
They clashed again and again, blood and lightning, rage, and resolve. Tetsuya's strikes grew slower, but sharper. Amelia's regeneration faltered, her form flickering.
Finally, with one last surge, Tetsuya launched a Lightning Punch Barrage, each hit infused with cosmic fury. Amelia screamed, her body breaking apart, her blood unable to hold her together.
She collapsed, her form reverting, her power fading.
Tetsuya stood over her, barely breathing, his body broken but his spirit unyielding.
"It's over," he said, voice trembling. "You lost… because you forgot what it means to fight for something greater."
The hallway began to heal. The blood receded. The lightning dimmed. Tetsuya dropped to his knees, victorious, but barely alive. but peace do not last.
Tetsuya's body was failing. His lightning aura sputtered, his breath ragged.
Amelia's true vampire form loomed above him, her blood tendrils writhing like serpents, her eyes glowing with ancient malice.
She lunged. Tetsuya raised his swords, but she was faster. Her Blood Sword slashed downward, clean, brutal, final.
A scream tore from his throat as his left arm was severed, lightning bursting from the wound like a dying star.
The limb hit the floor with a sickening thud, sparks flickering across the tiles.
He collapsed, clutching the bleeding stump, his vision blurring. "You're finished," Amelia hissed, her voice layered with centuries of cruelty.
"Even your lightning can't fix this." She raised her sword again, ready to end it.
But Tetsuya did not move. He did not scream. He closed his eyes.
Deep within him, past the pain, past the fear, the cosmic core pulsed.
A rhythm older than stars. A promise forged in the heart of the universe.
Lightning surged from his chest, wild and untamed. It wrapped around his body, spiralling upward, forming a cocoon of pure energy.
Amelia stepped back, shielding her eyes, "What… is this?"
The lightning exploded outward, and his arm began to reform.
Flesh knitted itself from plasma. Bone restructured from electric filaments.
Veins pulsed with cosmic current. In seconds, his arm was whole again, reborn in lightning.
Tetsuya stood, eyes blazing, his body crackling with renewed power. "You took my arm," he said, voice steady. "Now I'll take your throne."
Amelia screamed, unleashing a Blood Bullets Barrage, but Tetsuya dashed through it, lightning trailing behind him like a comet.
He struck with a Lightning Punch, then followed with a Dual Lightning Sword Slash, each hit infused with vengeance.
She countered with a Blood Slash Barrage, but her regeneration was faltering. Her form flickered, unstable.
Tetsuya pressed the attack, his new arm glowing brighter than the rest of him.
He launched into the air, spinning, and unleashed a Lightning Sword Barrage from above, each strike carving through her defences, each flash of light pushing her closer to collapse.
Amelia roared, her blood exploding outward in a final desperate wave.
But Tetsuya raised both swords, crossed them, and summoned every ounce of his power.
"Cosmic Judgment!"
Lightning erupted from the blades, forming a massive arc that tore through the hallway, through Amelia, through the very fabric of the dimension.
But Amelia was not dead just yet.
Tetsuya's body was battered. His left arm, once severed, now pulsed with regenerated lightning. But the cost of that rebirth was steep, his energy reserves were dwindling, his cosmic core flickering.
Amelia, still in her true vampire form, hovered above the ground, her blood aura now monstrous, tendrils stretching across the ceiling, dripping crimson onto the shattered floor. Her eyes locked onto him, hungry, furious.
"You're still standing?" she snarled. "Then I'll take your legs next."
She vanished in a blur. Tetsuya barely had time to react. Her Blood Sword slashed downward, clean, brutal, final.
His right leg was severed, torn from him in a flash of blood and agony.
He screamed, collapsing to the ground, lightning bursting from the wound like a geyser. The hallway trembled. His swords clattered beside him.
Amelia landed softly, her feet splashing in his blood. "You're done, Cosmic Soldier."
Tetsuya's fingers twitched. His vision blurred. Pain consumed him. But deep within, the cosmic rhythm still pulsed.
He clenched his fists. Lightning surged from his chest, spiralling downward, wrapping around the stump of his leg.
The air crackled. The floor split. Sparks danced. His leg began to regenerate.
Flesh formed from plasma. Bone restructured from electric filaments. Veins pulsed with cosmic current.
In seconds, his leg was whole again, reborn in lightning. He stood, wobbling, his body trembling. "I… won't fall," he gasped. "Not until you're gone."
But Amelia was not waiting. She unleashed a Blood Bullets Barrage, each projectile screaming through the air.
Tetsuya dashed sideways, barely dodging, his movements slower now. He countered with a Lightning Bullets Barrage, but his aim was off, his energy unstable.
Amelia closed the gap, her Blood Punch Barrage hammering into his chest, ribs cracking, lightning shield fracturing.
He staggered back, coughing blood, his vision swimming. She raised her sword again.
"You are breaking, Tetsuya. Just die already."
He blocked with his lightning blades, but they flickered. His strikes were slower. His aura dimmed.
Tetsuya collapsed again, one knee on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth. His body was failing. His cosmic core was dim.
But he looked up, eyes blazing. "I'm not fighting for victory," he whispered. "I'm fighting… because I must."
He forced himself upright, lightning crawling up his spine. He launched a desperate Lightning Punch, then a Lightning Sword Slash, each hit pushing Amelia back, but barely.
She regenerated. She laughed. "You're a candle in a hurricane." Tetsuya's body trembled. His lightning flickered. His breath was shallow.
Tetsuya staggered, his regenerated leg barely holding him upright. His body was a canvas of bruises, burns, and blood.
His lightning aura flickered like a candle in a storm. Across from him, Amelia Silverheart, Still in her true vampire form, hovered with a grin carved from cruelty.
"You're still standing?" she hissed. "Then let me take your sight."
She vanished in a blur.
Tetsuya turned, too slow.
Her Blood Sword slashed across his face, and pain exploded through his skull.
He screamed as his right eye was torn from him, blood, and lightning bursting from the wound.
He collapsed, clutching his face, the world spinning into darkness.
Amelia landed softly, her blood tendrils writhing like serpents, "Now you'll see nothing but your own failure."
Tetsuya's breath was shallow. His vision blurred. Half the world was gone. But deep within him, the cosmic rhythm still pulsed.
He dropped his hand from his face. Lightning surged from his core, spiralling upward, wrapping around his head. Sparks danced across his skin. The air crackled.
His eye began to regenerate. The socket filled with plasma. Nerves reconnected through electric filaments. A new eye formed, glowing with lightning, sharper than before.
He stood, his gaze blazing. "You blinded me," he said, voice steady. "Now I see you more clearly than ever."
Amelia snarled and launched a Blood Bullets Barrage, but Tetsuya dashed through it, lightning trailing behind him like a comet.
He struck with a Lightning Punch, then followed with a Dual Lightning Sword Slash, each hit infused with vengeance.
She countered with a Blood Slash Barrage, her regeneration still active but slowing. Her form flickered, unstable.
Tetsuya pressed the attack, his new eye glowing brighter than the rest of him.
He launched into the air, spinning, and unleashed a Lightning Sword Barrage from above, each strike carving through her defences, each flash of light pushing her closer to collapse.
Amelia roared, her blood exploding outward in a final desperate wave.
But Tetsuya raised both swords, crossed them, and summoned every ounce of his power.
"Cosmic Judgment!" Lightning erupted from the blades, forming a massive arc that tore through the hallway, through Amelia, through the very fabric of the dimension but Amelia could not just give up.
Tetsuya dropped to one knee, his regenerated eye still glowing.
The hallway began to heal. The blood receded. The storm was over. But it might not be.