Valdor looked at the figure standing before him. There was a moment of silence, until finally the stranger slowly opened his eyes. Valdor immediately recognized the familiar face, and his expression turned one of disbelief.
"Leo…" — he whispered.
But something was wrong. Leo's eyes looked completely different from the ones Valdor had seen just a moment ago. The whites of his eyes were a natural, light color, and his irises were green instead of yellow. Leo's face was etched with sadness, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.
Valdor took a step toward him, but then two enormous yellow eyes appeared in the darkness behind Leo. Their glow illuminated the surrounding darkness, and the space around both men began to tremble.
Valdor jerked his head away, but he didn't have time to react. Thick smoke shot out of the blackness, enveloping his body and engulfing him completely.
"What the…?!"
He didn't have time to finish his thought before everything vanished.
A moment later, Valdor opened his eyes and saw a clearing before him. He returned to reality, and his gaze immediately turned to Noah and Leo, who were fighting. Noah was attacking with flaming fists, while Leo parried his blows with his sword, whose blade radiated dark green energy.
Valdor watched them in silence, trying to make sense of what he had just seen.
Kael was still standing next to Valdor, and blue magical circles were visible on his hands. Streams of energy flowed from within them, traveling straight to the silver sword stuck in the ground in front of the prince. The weapon gradually glowed with an ever-brighter light, transferring its accumulated power to Valdor.
"You'll regain all your energy in a moment…" — Kael said, focusing on sustaining the spell.
Meanwhile, Noah landed another blow, forcing Leo to take a few steps back. The boy glanced over his shoulder at Kael and Valdor, then refocused his gaze on his opponent. He pulled his right fist back, and the flames surrounding his hand began to swirl faster and faster and glow more and more intensely.
Leo lowered his sword slightly. Yellow energy swirled around his body — an appearance Valdor remembered perfectly from his vision. The prince clenched his fist.
"We'll save you, Leo…"
Leo suddenly lunged forward. The force of his charge left a small indentation in the ground, and a dark green streak appeared behind him. Noah didn't back up a single step. He watched his approaching opponent, waiting for the right moment.
"The cycle ends now!" — Noah shouted.
When Leo was right in front of him, Noah immediately delivered the right-fist punch he'd been preparing, straight into Leo's stomach. The blow stopped Leo in his tracks, and a stream of blood spurted from his mouth. The force of the attack sent him flying high into the air.
Noah crouched slightly, then triggered an explosion beneath his feet. The blast propelled him upward, allowing him to catch up to his opponent in an instant. Leo paused for a moment in midair and looked down, but Noah was already hurtling toward him at tremendous speed.
In the next second, his fist struck Leo in the stomach again. The force of the blow sent both of them even higher, and Noah kept up the pressure, keeping his flaming fist close to his opponent. Leo's eyes widened, unable to react quickly enough.
Noah used his momentum to fly over him, then spun in midair and slammed into his back with full force.
Leo buckled under the force of the blow, and both began to fall toward the ground. Noah kept his fist pressed against Leo's back, preventing him from regaining his balance. A moment later, they slammed into the ground with tremendous force, kicking up a thick cloud of dust around them.
For a few seconds, Noah remained in the position he'd been in after the impact, breathing heavily. As the dust began to settle, his eyes suddenly widened.
Leo wasn't under his fist.
There was only a small crater on the ground.
"What?!" — Noah blurted out as he jerked his head up and began looking around.
Suddenly, a quiet voice rang out behind him.
"Not a bad attack… but you're still too slow."
Noah heard Leo's voice coming from behind him and immediately tried to turn around, but he didn't have time to react. Leo struck him in the back, pinning him to the ground with such force that more cracks appeared beneath them.
"Agh…!"
The flames surrounding Noah's fists died down, and the boy clenched his teeth as he tried to get back up. Leo, however, had no intention of giving him that chance.
"Noah!" — Arwen shouted, taking a step toward him.
Leo pulled his fist back, then landed another blow, hitting Noah in one of his vulnerable spots. The boy's eyes widened, and a moment later his gaze grew hazy. Leo laughed softly and began landing more blows, not letting his opponent regain his strength.
Noah struggled to raise his right hand, opening his palm. His fingers trembled slightly, and his breathing became ragged. Still, he had no intention of giving up.
"This isn't good… That's enough…" — Noah whispered.
Noah closed his eyes, trying to muster what little strength he had left, while Leo straightened up and laughed loudly, clearly convinced that the fight was over. However, his laughter was suddenly cut short by a sharp whistling sound coming from his left.
Leo whipped his head around and saw a red spear hurtling toward him, cutting through the air at tremendous speed. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed his sword and positioned the blade to parry the oncoming attack.
At the moment of impact, a powerful clang rang out, and sparks flew around both weapons. Leo clenched his teeth, but the force of the blow proved much greater than he had expected — his feet dug into the ground, and a moment later he was violently pushed away from Noah.
"That's enough, Leo." — Arthur said, holding out his hand. The red spear trembled, then shot out of the ground and whizzed toward him, leaving a trail of red energy in its wake. Arthur caught it firmly, then turned his gaze to Leo, who was still holding his sword and looked as if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.
"What are you doing, you idiot?!" — Leo shouted, and the yellow aura around his body suddenly intensified. — "You were supposed to help me get rid of that trash, not get in my way!"
Arthur didn't answer right away. Instead, he stood calmly, holding his spear at the ready, and after a moment, Sylphia and Elio appeared beside him. Sylphia looked at Leo seriously, while Elio kept his eyes fixed on Nathan, as if he had finally found the true culprit behind all the tragedies that had befallen him.
Leo raised an eyebrow, and his face twisted into an angry smile.
"I see… You've betrayed us!" — he snapped, shifting his gaze from Arthur to the other two. — "Do you really think you can just turn against me and Nathan like that?"
At that very moment, Kael smiled slightly, seeing that his spell had produced the desired result. The magical circles on his hands began to fade gradually, and the blue energy that had been flowing between him and the sword stuck in the ground next to Valdor slowly dissipated.
Valdor felt he had regained enough strength to stand on his own, so he leaned on his sword for a moment, then straightened up and looked at Nathan's former minions.
Elio turned his head toward Kael and nodded gratefully, then looked back at Nathan. In his eyes, there was no longer blind obedience, but the anger of a man who had finally learned the truth.
"You're done manipulating us, Nathan." — Elio said coldly. — "Now you'll pay for everything you've done to us."
Noah lay unconscious on the ground, unresponsive to the sounds of battle echoing around him. Meanwhile, Valdor charged straight at Leo, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. A loud cry burst from his throat, and green energy surrounded the blade as he closed in on his opponent.
Leo smiled broadly and raised his sword, ready to meet the attack. A moment later, their blades clashed with a mighty crash, and a wave of energy rippled across the clearing, sending dust and small stones flying into the air. The force of the impact was so immense that both warriors were thrown in opposite directions.
Valdor landed on his feet, shuffling a few more steps across the ground, while Leo spun in midair and regained his balance with little effort.
At the same time, Elio soared into the air and came to a halt directly across from Nathan, surrounded by lightning bolts that danced across his shoulders and wrapped around the hilt of his sword.
He looked at his former master with determination, not intending to let him regain control over him.
Nathan watched him in silence, a dismissive smile appearing on his face.
Valdor, however, turned his head to the right for a moment, searching for his companion lying on the ground. When he saw that Noah still wasn't moving, his expression grew serious, and a look of concern appeared in his eyes.
"Noah…" — he whispered, then turned his gaze back to Leo. His opponent merely smiled even wider, as if he knew perfectly well that concern for his friends would be Valdor's greatest weakness.
A short distance from the main battle, Arthur approached Sylphia, holding his red spear at his side. Sylphia looked at him in surprise, not understanding why he had suddenly stopped fighting.
"What is he doing…" — she began, but Arthur cut her off.
"I won't fight a battle I can't win. We were manipulated by Nathan's magic, and I'm not going to follow his orders any longer."
Sylphia fell silent for a moment, trying to process his words, then furrowed her brow and looked him straight in the eye.
"Did you know about this?" — she asked cautiously.
"Yes. I realized that back when Nathan manipulated me into murdering everyone in that village." — Arthur replied, his voice growing heavier. — "For a long time, I convinced myself that I was doing it of my own free will, but after regaining my memories, I began to notice things that had previously seemed unimportant to me. I remember those people's fear, their screams, and how I tried to justify my actions, even though somewhere deep inside me, something was screaming that I was doing the wrong thing."
Arthur clenched his hand around the spear, then lowered his gaze. He wasn't trying to justify himself or pretend that regaining control of his own mind could erase what he'd done.
"I can't undo what happened, Sylphia. And I don't expect you to forgive me. But now that I know who was really pulling the strings, I won't let Nathan hurt any more innocent people. If we want to end this nightmare, we have to stop him first."
Sylphia stared at him for a long moment, her expression slowly changing. She herself was beginning to recover the memories that Nathan had hidden for so long behind a veil of false orders and imposed emotions. Finally, she clenched her fists and turned toward Nathan.
"In that case, I'm not going to fight on his side anymore." — she said firmly. — "If we've truly regained our free will, let's use it to end his reign."
Arthur nodded, and the two of them moved toward the others, ready to face the man who had controlled their lives for so long. The situation in the clearing was beginning to change, but Nathan still stood calmly, as if he didn't care that his most loyal warriors had just turned against him.
At the same time, a portal opened next to the unconscious Noah, and Mayuri emerged from it a moment later. She immediately crouched down beside the warrior and carefully checked to see if he was still breathing. Once she was certain his life was not in danger, she breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up at Valdor, who was still glaring angrily at Leo.
"He's still alive." — Mayuri said, her voice clearly relieved.
"Go and take him to Kael." — Valdor replied, without taking his eyes off his opponent. — "Don't let anything happen to him. I'll take care of the rest."
Mayuri looked at Valdor for a moment, as if to make sure he was really ready to continue the fight, but seeing the determination on his face, she didn't try to stop him.
She nodded, placed her hand on Noah's shoulder, and purple sparks immediately appeared around them. A moment later, space tore open, revealing a portal that swallowed them both. When the passage closed behind them, Valdor was left alone facing Leo, and the wind blew away the dust floating between the warriors.
"Ready for another dance?" — Leo asked with a broad smile, twirling his sword in his hand.
Valdor raised his blade to the side and moved slowly toward him. He took each step with confidence, though he still hadn't fully regained his strength, and the green energy surrounding his sword pulsed erratically. He kept his eyes fixed on his opponent, watching his movements and trying to discern in them traces of the real Leo he remembered.
"I know your tricks by now, Leo." — he replied calmly. — "And I know you're not the real Leo."
The smile on his opponent's face faded for a moment, but returned almost immediately, this time far more unsettling. Valdor stopped a few steps in front of him and tightened his grip on the sword hilt. He wasn't going to let anger cloud his purpose. He hadn't come here to kill a friend, but to pull him out of the darkness that had taken control of him.
"I'll set you free." — he declared firmly.
Then he pointed the blade straight at Leo, assuming a fighting stance. In response, Leo drew his sword back, preparing for another clash, and the yellow aura surrounding his body began to surge violently. The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly as the two powerful energies began to clash once more.
This time, however, Valdor didn't intend to fight with just his sword — he wanted to reach the real Leo, even if he first had to face whatever had completely consumed him.