The air in the Sparda ruins was unbearable; the dense energy was suffocating. Beneath the crimson dome of the Sparda ruins, Sarotto and Lucian stood amidst a chaotic mix of sacred and demonic energy, unleashed by the two kings, Seraphel and Morgana, who had relinquished any restraint that had prevented them from using their true power.
Morgana gazed at the two with eyes that glowed a dark red, and said in a voice that seemed to speak through the lava itself, "We have been too lenient with you… It is time for you to pay for what you have done."
With her words, the ground trembled. Deep fissures opened beneath her feet, and from them rose glowing volcanic rocks. A dark layer of solidified lava covered her body, like a shield of living volcanic rock, and in her hand, the energy coalesced to forge a massive sword from cracked black stone.
Across from her, Seraphel unleashed his full light. His body began to fade into the glare until he was a mass of light. His eyes vanished into a white gleam, and his sword became nothing more than a beam of pure light. "It's time to get serious. No more playing around."
Saruto and Lucien exchanged a quick glance, without a word.
Then, simultaneously, they moved.
Saruto charged first toward Serafil, his chained swords emerging from the darkness behind him. A dark, metallic sheen. He moved them with deadly agility, they swirling around him as if they were creatures of his own will. He struck, vanished, reappeared behind his opponent, but the light was faster than the shadows.
Each time he drew near, the light pierced his defenses and pushed him back, until the ground was filled with fissures of intertwined white and dark energy.
Meanwhile, Lucien faced Morgana. Flames raged around her; every step she took made the lava boil. He raised his blue spear to deflect her attack, but her strike shattered his defense, and Lucian stumbled backward, crashing into the wall with a piece of his armor broken. Morgana gritted her teeth and said coldly, "Your strength is respectable, Ice Heir, but unfortunately for you, your opponent was me!"
She slashed her sword to the ground, and a miniature volcano erupted, red lava flying in every direction, and the heat rose until it melted the stones. Yet, Lucian emerged from the smoke, his eyes blazing with silent defiance. His spear spun in the air as it blocked the attack, leaving a trail of icy cold in its wake. The air itself began to freeze for a split second, but it wasn't enough.
"Lucian! Switch places!" shouted Saruto from the other side.
With astonishing speed, they exchanged positions. Saruto moved toward Morgana, while Lucian now faced Seraphel.
Saruto advanced slowly, his chains swirling around him like snakes of darkness. Every blow from Morgana was like an explosion, but he deflected them with precise, unerring movements, his eyes moving with sharp focus, as if studying every detail of her body. Morgana (with a mocking smile): "Do you think you can match the power of my hell?"
He didn't answer her, only extended his hand, the black chains wrapping around her arm and sword, then pulled with a force that cracked the volcanic rock. But she screamed with a fury that erupted from her, breaking the chains, and
slamming her sword to the ground, a lava explosion engulfed the area.
Meanwhile, Lucien was fighting Seraphel, who moved with indescribable speed, as if he had no body, only flashes of light. Every blow from Lucien passed through him as if piercing the void. Seraphel (his voice echoing): "You can't strike light, no matter how hard you try!"
But Lucien stepped back, closing his eyes for a moment, and listened to the sound of his own quiet, steady breathing amidst the nothingness. Then he whispered, "We shall see if your theory is correct."
He raised his spear, and the fight took a new turn.
Time passed. Saruto and Lucian's breaths grew heavy, their bodies riddled with wounds. The air around them grew thick, yet the two kings showed no sign of fatigue.
Lucian sank to his knees, blood trickling from his arm,
while Saruto gasped, half his dark armor cracked, but there was something else in his eyes. He looked at Lucian and said in a low, halting voice, "It's time, Lucian… use it."
Lucian nodded, then took a deep breath. At that moment, the temperature dropped sharply; the steam around him turned into tiny crystals of ice, and the sound of his breath became like wind whipping across snowy peaks. "Breathe… ice."
A wave of ice surged forward, engulfing everything around him, and Seraphel, despite his great speed, felt his movements slow for the first time.
At the same moment, Saruto closed his eyes, and an aura of darkness emanated from his body—a darkness unlike any other, a consciousness connected to everything around him: every movement, every heartbeat, every breath. "The Skill of Shared Consciousness."
Time seemed to slow down. Morgana's next attack was slow enough for him to anticipate it before it even began. He moved between waves of fire and lava with deadly ease; her blows no longer struck him, but rather he dodged them before she could even think of them.
He opened his eyes slowly. His swords swirled in the air and hurtled toward her like a nightmare of shadows. The blow struck her volcanic armor, and a portion of it crumbled. In response, Lucian unleashed his second breath: "The Emperor's Awakening!"
His spear transformed into a blade of frozen crystal. He slashed forward, piercing the very glow of light, striking Seraphel in the chest, sending the ice swirling around them into a vortex.
At that moment, the entire palace trembled. Darkness and ice clashed against light and hell. The air ripped, the earth cracked, and the two kings retreated for the first time, their faces etched with seriousness and caution.
Sarotto and Lucian stood side by side amidst the devastation, their shadows mingling with the frozen steam, their eyes ablaze… with rage.
The battle was not yet over, but now it was truly evenly matched.