The wind howled through the hollowed remains of Guy's castle.
What once stood as a monument to a Primordial's authority was now a fractured skeleton of marble and obsidian. Flames flickered through shattered corridors. Entire wings leaned at unstable angles. The sky loomed overhead through a gaping tear in the ceiling.
At the center of it all—
Loki and Leon faced each other.
Excalibur shimmered like condensed sunlight in Loki's hand, its golden radiance bending the air. Across from him, Flame Pillar burned with intensity, while Golden Circle hummed with layered defensive authority.
No more words were exchanged.
They vanished.
Steel met light in a thunderclap that shook the castle to its foundations.
Leon's first strike was a downward arc, Flame Pillar roaring as it descended like a falling sun. Loki met it head-on, Excalibur rising in a flash of gold. The collision split the marble floor beneath them, cracks racing outward like lightning across a dark sky.
The shockwave blasted outward, obliterating what remained of the throne behind them.
They moved again.
Leon pivoted, shield slamming forward. Golden Circle expanded momentarily, forcing Loki backward through three crumbling pillars. Marble exploded around him, debris scattering in all directions.
Loki twisted midair, wings snapping open to halt his momentum. He kicked off a falling slab of stone and re-engaged instantly, Excalibur carving a horizontal arc aimed for Leon's midsection.
Leon blocked with Golden Circle, sparks cascading like molten rain as Excalibur scraped across its surface. Flame Pillar retaliated immediately, thrusting forward in a precise counter aimed at Loki's heart.
Loki tilted his body just enough.
The blade grazed past his chest, scorching cloth and skin, but not deep enough.
He answered with Cleave.
At the moment of contact, Excalibur's edge flared violently. The amplified slash forced Leon back several meters, boots carving trenches through the fractured stone.
The castle shook.
They blurred into motion again, ascending through the broken ceiling and into the upper towers.
Leon drove Loki through a spiral staircase, sword strikes flowing seamlessly into shield bashes. Loki parried each movement with fluid precision, their blades ringing out in rhythmic, lethal harmony. Every deflection shattered walls. Every missed strike removed entire sections of architecture.
They burst through a stained-glass gallery.
Colored shards rained down like fractured stars as Leon spun, Flame Pillar carving a flaming crescent through the chamber. Loki ducked beneath it, Excalibur lashing upward, severing an entire balcony and sending it crashing into the lower halls.
The castle was no longer simply damaged.
It was being dismantled piece by piece.
Leon pressed forward now, movements sharp, disciplined. Flame Pillar struck high, then low, then pivoted into a thrust so precise it would have skewered lesser beings instantly. Loki's wings folded and flared in controlled bursts, his footwork light, almost playful, yet perfectly efficient.
Excalibur and Flame Pillar collided again and again.
Gold and crimson light tore through corridors.
Golden Circle absorbed repeated strikes, each impact forcing Leon back a step but never more than one.
They were even.
Perfectly.
They crashed down into the grand courtyard, shattering through three floors in a cascade of stone and flame. The impact cratered the ground beneath them.
For a moment, they stood opposite each other in the smoking ruin.
Breathing steady.
Eyes sharp.
Then—
They both shifted.
The air changed.
Leon lowered his shield slightly, his gaze hardening as divine light began gathering around him. Complex sigils unfolded behind his back, radiant and immense.
Ultimate Skill.
Purity King Metatron (Lord of Purity).
The very atmosphere began to crystallize under its authority. Holy energy condensed into blinding spears of judgment, hovering above him like an executioner's verdict.
Across from him, Loki lifted Excalibur with both hands.
The blade answered.
Golden light intensified to unbearable levels, the ground beneath him vaporizing into nothingness. The sky above fractured with radiance, clouds splitting apart as if reality itself feared what was coming.
Energy spiraled around him, wild yet controlled.
Both attacks swelled.
The castle trembled violently, foundations cracking as pressure mounted between them. The world felt thin, fragile.
Leon's voice cut through the storm of power.
"Metatron."
Divine light roared to life.
Loki's eyes gleamed, Excalibur humming as he drew it back for release.
"EXCALIBUUUUR!"
The moment stretched
And then—
A figure appeared between them.
No warning.
No build-up.
Just presence.
Two hands shot outward.
One caught Excalibur's descending arc.
The other stopped Flame Pillar inches before it could unleash Metatron's judgment.
The collision of both ultimate forces detonated outward but went no further.
Everything froze.
Golden light. Divine flame. Erasure-level radiance.
All halted.
Caught.
Guy Crimson stood between them, one hand gripping Excalibur's blade barehanded, the other holding Flame Pillar in place as if it were nothing more than a decorative toy.
His red hair swayed gently despite the hurricane of power surrounding them. Crimson eyes burned with irritation.
The ground beneath him remained perfectly intact.
"That's enough."
His tone was calm.
But filled with unmistakable irritation.
The overwhelming energies dissipated instantly under his authority, fading like candlelight before a storm.
Around them—
What remained of the castle finally gave way.
Towers collapsed.
Walls crumbled.
Entire wings folded inward in a deafening cascade of ruin.
And in the center of the destruction stood Guy Crimson—
Effortlessly holding back two beings who had been moments away from tearing reality apart.
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