This unexpected question gave Phainon a moment's pause. He looked at Phaethon, whose hand had already subtly tightened around the hilt of the "Judgment of Shamash," and a complicated smile touched his lips.
"This is a first in all our cycles, Asterion. I thought you would just watch in silence, like the thousand other times before, as I asked a Castorice who wasn't yet a demigod for her Coreflame."
"'Salvation' in my eyes?" Phainon repeated, the golden light in his eyes blazing fiercely. "It is to wrench Amphoreus free from the quagmire of destruction! To let its fate slip the anchor of『Destruction』and attain true liberty!"
Before his words had even faded, the colossal sword "Dawnmaker" in his hand erupted with a light so searing it seemed to tear space itself. His form became a streak of flame, closing the distance instantly to deliver a slash aimed directly at Castorice!
This strike was faster than time, utterly merciless!
BOOM!!!
The impossibly hard ground before the entrance to the Nether Realm fractured inch by inch, turning to dust under the force of Phaethon's sudden, explosive power!
At virtually the same instant, "Judgment of Shamash" left its scabbard. Holy silver brilliance and destructive crimson heat collided mid-air with a cataclysmic crash!
CLANG—!!!
A deafening metallic shriek, wrapped in a torrential shockwave of energy, exploded outward!
Phaethon blocked with his sword, holding firm against his brother's killing blow. He glared at Phainon, now mere inches away, his voice trembling with profound fury:
"So your idea of 'salvation' is just saving 'Amphoreus'—this cold, abstract concept?! Saving the world by killing the very comrades who wish to save it... what kind of Deliverer does that?!"
Phainon did not answer. He simply summoned his strength and with a sweep of his blade, forced Phaethon back.
Immediately, dozens of blazing duplicates manifested behind him, launching a fatal, coordinated assault on Castorice from every angle!
Castorice's face lost its color, but she did not retreat. The authority of Death condensed into a deep vortex in her palm, shadows spreading like living things, trying to drag those fiery clones into eternal silence.
At the same time, at Phaethon's mental command, several golden threads shot forth. Together with Castorice's power, they bound and crushed the now-restricted, broken vessels.
"It's time we settled this completely, Phainon," Phaethon said, his gaze fixed on his brother. His eyes were utterly calm in that moment.
Judgment of Shamash hummed long and low in his hand, as if answering its master's resolve.
Phainon, too, settled into a final battle stance. The flames on Dawnmaker burned with renewed ferocity. His voice was like the pronouncement of a final judgment:
"For new life to sprout, the seed that bears it must first be dead."
"The Flame Chase Journey is no leisurely stroll through flower fields. It is a cataclysm of breaking the old to establish the new, a conflagration where all things must burn!"
"In this great transformation, the lives of individuals... are insignificant!"
The two brothers stood facing each other, blades ready. The ultimate collision of their ideals was about to begin before the gates of the Nether Realm, a prologue written in blood and fire.
The air grew thin, congealing into heavy amber.
Between them, no more words were necessary. Only a silent fight to the death remained.
"Clink!"
A coin, flicked into the air by Phainon, traced a cold arc as it spun toward the ground.
At the same moment, Phaethon scattered a handful of coins like a reverse shower of golden rain—chaotic, intricate, mirroring the turbulent pain beneath his resolute exterior.
"Buzz—"
Before the coins could land, both their figures blurred simultaneously!
Godlike Speed!
A flash of blade! Phaethon's "Judgment of Shamash," carrying a will to incinerate all, was already cutting toward Phainon!
And Phainon's "Dawnmaker," like the first ray of light piercing a gloomy dawn, met it head-on!
CLANG—!!!
The explosive ring of clashing steel tore through the stagnant air. Terrifying force erupted from their epicenter. The ancient earth beneath their feet groaned under the strain, a web of cracks spreading madly, covering a hundred-meter radius in an instant!
Yet, their authorities immediately manifested—the shattered ground was forcibly knitted back together within a shimmering, distorted light, as if alive. But the next second, under even greater impact, it shattered once more!
On this hellish stage of constant rupture and rebirth, they became two streams of destructive light, furiously intertwining and colliding!
Their blade flashes and sword shadows merged into a dazzling net of death. Every collision produced a deafening sonic boom, shockwaves rippling outward, making distant mountains quake.
In the span of a few breaths, they had exchanged over a thousand blows!
"Urgh!" A parry and counter executed with flawless precision. The tremendous force Phaethon focused finally jolted Phainon, churning his energy and blood, sending his body reeling backward uncontrollably.
"Gate of infinity, open!" Phainon commanded lowly. A distorted spatial gate instantly unfolded behind him. He didn't hesitate, darting inside.
"Face me, Asterion!" Phaethon's gaze was sharp as ice. An Infinity Gate materialized before him, and he stepped through.
The next moment, both reappeared simultaneously a thousand meters in the air. The resolve in Phainon's eyes burned at its peak. He threw his arms wide:
"Blazing Sun... Tear the Sky Asunder!"
The luminous wings on his back fully unfurled, like a sun rising. The sky seemed to burn through, leaving a massive hole!
Countless burning meteorites, dragging tails of searing flame, poured down like apocalyptic fire-rain!
And more terrifying still, an asteroid nearly a thousand kilometers in diameter violently breached the laws of physics, instantly penetrating the space right before Phaethon! Its colossal shadow swallowed him and the surrounding void whole!
Faced with this heaven-and-earth-shattering strike, Phaethon's expression turned icy. He slashed "Judgment of Shamash" fiercely through the void before him:
"'Strife,' Level Heaven and Earth!"
Hum—!
The space before him rippled as thousands of Infinity Gates opened, layer upon layer! From behind each gate came a hum like ancient behemoths stirring.
In the next instant, stone greatswords hundreds of meters long—Blades of Fury—shot forth at the terrifying speed of hundreds of Mach, transforming into gray torrents of death!
The torrent of greatswords met the meteor swarm and the asteroid in a head-on collision!
BOOM—!!!
An explosion beyond description illuminated the entire horizon, like the dawn of creation.
The terrifying shockwave scoured the clouds clean for a hundred miles in all directions!
Under the suicidal charge of countless Blades of Fury, the massive asteroid disintegrated, becoming a storm of shattered stone that swept across the sky, crashing down in a cacophonous deluge, pounding the earth and setting off continuous tremors.
And amidst this storm of destruction, two figures clashed once more—this time upon the surface of a single, massive greatsword that was itself tumbling through the air!
They stood upon this hundred-meter-long "battlefield" as if on solid ground, sprinting toward each other!
"Judgment of Shamash" and "Dawnmaker" clashed wildly again and again, the sparks and shattered stone interweaving into a storm of annihilation!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"CRACK—!!!"
Finally, after one direct, unadorned collision that concentrated the full power of both...
The reactive force transmitted through their blades finally exceeded the limits of their control.