In front of Lex, the man who looked almost identical to him spread his hands like an actor bowing to an audience, then placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and a wicked, charming smile played on his lips: "Lu."
"You hoped I could walk a different Path than you, a Path you didn't dare to walk, so you gave me this name."
"How about it, do you remember now? Lex!"
Lex raised his hand and threw a fireball: "I have no idea what you're talking about!"
The man calling himself 'Lu' looked up slightly, and in front of him, an eerie dark purple flame rose, forming a wall of fire that easily blocked Lex's fireball.
Then the wall of fire parted like a curtain, and Lu gracefully walked through the 'curtain', a dark purple flame erupting and condensing in his right hand, forming a katana identical in shape to ''Devil May Cry'' but entirely constructed from purple fire.
"You're really forgetful."
"Don't forget, who taught those guys who humiliated you a lesson? It was I!"
As he spoke, firelight flickered beneath Lu's feet, instantly erupting into fierce flames that propelled him into the air, where he did a somersault and shot down.
Clang!
''Devil May Cry'' left its sheath, just in time to block the downward slash. But Lu's slash was too heavy, forcing Lex to lower his center of gravity and bend his legs just to barely catch it.
Lu smiled and opened his palm towards Lex, a ball of purple flame appearing and dancing in its center. Lex tilted his head just in the nick of time, letting a stream of dark purple flame brush past his face. He smelled his hair singeing, and Lu used the expulsion of fire to retreat. Purple flames erupted from his feet, and he freely adjusted the size of the flames, allowing him to move flexibly, shifting left and right, fast and slow, making it difficult for Lex to predict his next attack!
"Don't forget, who made you bravely leave that rotten home? It was I!"
Lu laughed and flashed over again, his flame blade slashing wildly, making it very difficult for Lex to parry.
"Don't forget, who encouraged you to confess to that girl? It was still I!"
"My shadow is everywhere in your life's trajectory. I made you who you are. Without me, there would be no Lex!"
"So how dare you..."
"Time and again, ignore me!"
One slash, two slashes, three slashes... five slashes, six slashes, seven slashes... Lu's attacks were both wild and violent, his flame blade almost continuous, without pause, like a storm, constantly attacking.
Lex could only retreat to create distance, generate a buffer, and maintain his posture. But when his back hit the wall, he knew immediately that things were going to be bad.
Sure enough, Lu's unhesitating horizontal sweep sent the blade in Lex's hand flying uncontrollably into the air, exposing his chest.
The flame blade instantly retracted, then thrust forward sharply, piercing Lex's chest, but this 'Lex' quickly turned into a thin piece of paper. Lu shook the blade, and the paper immediately burst into flames.
"Really, to possess such powerful strength, yet to use these evil and unorthodox methods..." Lu turned his head halfway, his expression deranged, revealing several sharp teeth as he shouted, "Hey, Lex, is this all you're capable of?"
Lex, who appeared behind Lu, clenched his fist, and fierce flames roared and gathered, condensing into a massive fiery fist like a warhammer.
Locking onto the man in front of him, Lex swung his arm and struck hard.
Boom!
The fist condensed from flames slammed heavily into Lu. There was a wall in front of that guy, he didn't have a 'magic ring', he had nowhere to retreat!
Lu raised his flame blade, and its edge flicked upwards against the fireball.
Explosion!
Flames bloomed like angry flowers, crimson instantly filling the surrounding space, and rolling heatwaves crashed in, 'blowing' Lex's hair back.
Suddenly, a dark purple flash appeared within the orange-red flames, and then Lu burst through the fierce flames, laughing wildly as he flashed over.
His speed was so fast that before Lex could even react, ''Devil May Cry'' was seized by him.
The lunatic completely disregarded the blade's edge cutting his palm, gripping it tightly. On the other side, the flame blade was raised, and without a word, he slashed down towards Lex's arm!
Damn it!
Lex had no choice but to let go, while flames erupted from his feet, instantly widening the distance from Lu. He raised his hands, and small balls of flame continuously shot out from the tips of two fingers.
Lu casually tossed ''Devil May Cry'' aside, not dodging, not defending, and spread his hands, as if to embrace something, welcoming Lex's 'Fire Finger Gun'.
One after another, small explosions rocked Lu's body, making him sway unsteadily and retreat repeatedly.
Even so, he still laughed.
"Lex, is this how you use flames? Haven't you heard, your flames are crying?"
Lex ignored him, continuing the suppressive fire, wanting to finish off this lunatic in one go.
"Look, you're ignoring me again."
"That's what makes me so angry!"
Dark purple flames suddenly erupted from Lu's body, from his eyes, his mouth, his chest, his hands and feet, every corner of his entire body!
Lex's small flames, thrown into that mass of purple flame, were like raindrops falling into the ocean; apart from causing ripples, they couldn't affect the ocean at all.
Within the eerie purple flames, Lu laughed heartily: "What 'flames are destruction, flames are ruin, flames are calamity.'"
"When I heard your understanding of flames, do you know, I almost died laughing."
"Your understanding of flames is completely Error!"
"Just like before, let me tell you what flames are..."
Lu reached out and pressed his hand to his chest, saying word by word: "I am the flames."
"I am destruction..."
"I am calamity!"
When the last sentence echoed like a giant bell throughout the entire space, Lu, enveloped in dark purple flames, suddenly flashed over. At this moment, his speed was several times faster than before.
After a series of dazzling movements, he suddenly appeared behind Lex, his hands passing under Lex's armpits, his fingers tightly clasped around Lex's nape.
Lu closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and smiled: "I've had enough of you, Lex."
"Enough of your arrogance, enough of your stupidity, enough of your ignorance... A person like you might as well disappear."
"Turn to ashes in this 'Scorching Hell', and then I will use your body, and I will demonstrate the true meaning of 'calamity'."
Almost instantly, dark purple flames swept outwards, like waves, engulfing everything, rapidly filling the space, transforming this hall into a scorching Hell!
"Ah ah ah..."
Lex smelled his hair singeing, smelled his skin burning, and felt his flesh and bones as if they, too, were turning to charcoal.
Then he transformed into a thin, rapidly burning paper figure