Silence.
The entire Forgotten Forge fell silent.
Golden flames drifted through the air like countless stars, illuminating the shattered sanctuary.
Renzo stood motionless.
Starbreaker rested in his right hand.
Chrono Fang gleamed in his left.
Across from him—
Corvus.
The Devourer of Divine Flames had abandoned its colossal form.
Now it stood in the shape of a lone swordsman.
Black armor covered its body.
A crimson blade rested casually in its hand.
Only a single burning eye remained visible beneath its helmet.
The pressure surrounding the creature was suffocating.
Kensei-Ryu spoke quietly.
"Do not underestimate that form."
"It abandoned raw power."
"That means it has chosen efficiency."
Renzo nodded slowly.
He could feel it.
The darkness around Corvus had become denser.
Sharper.
More refined.
Like a blade that had been folded a thousand times.
Corvus raised its crimson sword.
"Come."
Renzo disappeared.
BOOM!
The stone beneath his feet exploded.
Flow Form.
Zero-Point Reaction.
Divine Essence.
Everything merged perfectly.
He appeared directly before Corvus.
Chrono Fang flashed.
SHING!
Corvus blocked effortlessly.
The two blades collided.
Golden and crimson sparks erupted.
The impact sent a shockwave across the forge.
Neither moved.
Neither gave ground.
Corvus smiled.
"Good."
The Devourer twisted its wrist.
Its sword slid around Chrono Fang.
A thrust.
Straight toward Renzo's throat.
Renzo tilted his head.
The blade passed inches from his neck.
He retaliated immediately.
Starbreaker swung downward.
Corvus stepped aside.
The hammer struck the ground.
BOOOOM!
The forge floor shattered.
Molten metal erupted upward.
Corvus appeared behind Renzo.
A horizontal slash.
Renzo instinctively raised Chrono Fang.
CLANG!
The impact launched him across the sanctuary.
He slid dozens of meters before stopping.
Kensei-Ryu laughed.
"Fast."
Renzo slowly stood.
"Very."
Corvus had not used brute force.
Every movement had been minimal.
Precise.
Perfectly calculated.
The Devourer walked forward.
One step.
Then another.
"You possess divine power."
"But you do not yet possess divine technique."
Renzo narrowed his eyes.
Corvus vanished.
Renzo's instincts screamed.
Above.
He looked upward.
Too late.
The crimson blade descended.
Renzo crossed both weapons.
CRAAAAASH!
The impact drove him into the ground.
The floor cracked beneath him.
Corvus continued pressing downward.
Its single crimson eye stared directly into Renzo's.
"Your power is borrowed."
"Mine is earned."
Darkness surged through the blade.
Corruption began spreading across Starbreaker.
Vulcanos spoke sharply.
"Do not let it contaminate the artifact!"
Renzo pushed upward.
Golden flames exploded.
He forced Corvus backward.
Then immediately charged.
This time—
He attacked with both weapons simultaneously.
Chrono Fang struck first.
A feint.
Corvus parried.
Starbreaker followed.
Corvus blocked.
Renzo spun.
Chrono Fang reversed direction.
A second slash.
Corvus leaned backward.
The blade narrowly missed.
Renzo stepped forward.
A third strike.
A fourth.
A fifth.
The sanctuary filled with flashes of gold.
Corvus retreated for the first time.
Kensei-Ryu smiled.
"Now you're fighting."
The sword god's voice echoed through Renzo's mind.
"Do not chase the blade."
"Chase the intention."
Renzo's eyes sharpened.
He stopped watching Corvus' sword.
Instead—
He watched Corvus itself.
The shoulders.
The hips.
The feet.
The flow of Divine Essence.
Everything.
Corvus attacked again.
A diagonal slash.
Renzo moved before the sword did.
He stepped inside the attack.
Chrono Fang struck.
SLASH!
A deep cut appeared across Corvus' armor.
Dark blood spilled.
Corvus froze.
Its crimson eye widened.
"Interesting."
Renzo had read the attack before it began.
Zero-Point Reaction was evolving.
Corvus smiled again.
"Then let us remove your future."
The Devourer raised its sword.
Darkness gathered around the blade.
The surrounding space distorted.
Kensei-Ryu's voice became serious.
"Renzo."
"Move."
Corvus swung.
The slash did not travel.
The world itself split.
A black line tore through the sanctuary.
Everything it touched disappeared.
Stone.
Metal.
Flame.
Reality.
Renzo barely avoided it.
The black line passed beside him.
An entire section of the Forgotten Forge vanished.
Completely erased.
Renzo's expression changed.
That was not swordsmanship.
That was authority.
Corvus laughed.
"This is the difference between us."
"I do not cut matter."
"I cut existence."
The Devourer attacked again.
A second black line.
Renzo dodged.
A third.
A fourth.
The forge was being carved apart.
Ignis watched silently.
The ancient guardian's remaining hand clenched.
He wanted to help.
But he could not interfere.
This was a duel.
A duel between sovereign powers.
Renzo inhaled slowly.
Then closed his eyes.
Kensei-Ryu spoke softly.
"Listen."
"Not with your ears."
"With the blade."
Renzo relaxed.
The noise disappeared.
The collapsing forge disappeared.
Corvus disappeared.
Only the flow remained.
The flow of intent.
The flow of power.
The flow of creation and destruction.
When Renzo opened his eyes—
The world had changed.
He could see it.
The invisible lines connecting everything.
The movement before movement.
The strike before the strike.
Corvus attacked.
Renzo moved.
One step.
A twist.
A slash.
SHING!
Chrono Fang passed through Corvus' guard.
The crimson blade shattered.
Silence.
Corvus stared at the broken weapon in disbelief.
Renzo stood behind it.
Chrono Fang rested at his side.
A deep wound stretched across Corvus' chest.
Golden flames burned within the cut.
For the first time—
The corruption did not regenerate.
Corvus slowly looked down at the wound.
Then laughed.
A quiet laugh.
"Excellent."
Darkness erupted from the wound.
The shattered crimson sword dissolved into black mist.
The mist gathered around Corvus' body.
Its armor cracked.
Its Divine Essence began rising violently.
Kensei-Ryu's expression darkened.
"Renzo."
"That was only the first phase."
The Devourer slowly raised its hand.
A new weapon formed.
Not a sword.
A blade made entirely from compressed darkness.
The sky above the forge turned black.
A system warning appeared.
Danger
Corvus has released a sealed authority.
Authority of Oblivion
The temperature dropped.
Golden flames began fading.
Even Hephaestion's light dimmed slightly.
Corvus looked at Renzo.
Its voice echoed throughout the sanctuary.
"Now..."
"Let us see whether the Forge Monarch can survive oblivion itself."
Darkness consumed the battlefield.
The true duel had only just begun.