I consider myself incredibly lucky for always having my weapons on me. If I hadn’t been that cautious, it is likely that the situation would have escalated much quicker than it did.

We had barely even left Apercaput. Who even knows how long we were in the sky? It had been mere moments since we entered the sky, and someone was already dead.

I watched helplessly as the body of a fourth-year student fell to the ground as the attacker landed on the deck. Blood flew from the wound and splashed against the floor with sounds that made my toes curl.

The attacker yanked their sword from the head of the student and began to frantically search the deck. And I do not know whether their eyes stopped on me because they recognised me or because I was the only other person on deck holding a weapon.

I darted forward faster than they could react, driving my sword into their head as they had done just seconds before. Crimson blood spurted from his face and seeped down my blade and sprayed across my rageful face.

Yanking the blade from his face as he fell to the ground, I very quickly realised that there were now multiple new people on the deck. None of them were students.

‘Asbel!’ I yelled. ‘Tell the kids to stay in their rooms!’

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cecilia quickly rise to her feet and run past me. She was heading downstairs. I gave a mental sigh of relief. At least she was safe.

But it wasn’t long before the fighting resumed.

Three people stormed towards me, each of them brandishing a sword. A three-on-one, huh? Did they really think they’d get me that easily?

I took a deep breath.

‘Fire Breathing, Eighth Form: Blazing Torches.’

Flames immediately coated my blades. Blazing Torches was a strange Breathing Technique in the fact that it wasn’t an actual ‘move’. All it did was simply coat your weapon in flames.

The fighter furthest to the left swung his sword around, aiming for the side of my head. I brought my left sword up with terrific speed and power, catching him on his way in. I blocked the strike effortlessly, but in the same moment that I blocked, the two other fighters closed in.

I swung my sword in an arc in front of me. It was partially an attempt to keep them away, but part of me was hoping that I’d timed it right to catch them in the stomach.

The latter was true.

One of them gave a great yelp of pain and leapt back, whereas his comrade pushed through. He jabbed his sword forward, and I cocked my head to the right slightly, narrowly avoiding the hit.

‘Fire Breathing, First Form: Clockwork Fire.’

I swung my right sword, The Santrrer Sword, in a circular motion in front of me. The singular movement caught my opponent multiple times.

Taking the initiative, I lunged forward, swatting away the left attacker with the side of my blade as I did so. I then brought the blade down, slicing the middle of the other challenger. He fell to the floor, pools of crimson already beginning to form beneath him.

By this time, Ethan, Jay, and Peter were all on deck, weapons in hand. The situation had blown up in such a short period of time that I could barely keep up.

Two other people had re-appeared on the deck, but it was the two people that I wanted to see least. Harvey and Cecilia. Each of them held a sword in their hands. They were magical students. And they hoped to fight with blades.

The two other attackers were still coming for me. But now that there were only two, the threat had been insanely reduced.

With my swords still coated in fire, I darted forward once more, striking them both in the stomach as I did so. I hacked and slashed at their bodies multiple times, blood flying from their wounds heavier and heavier with each hit. The only thing that caused me to stop was the fact that both of their lifeless bodies had crumpled in heaps at my feet.

I then noticed a pair of attackers advancing on Asbel from behind. They really thought they could do it.

‘Water Breathing, Third Form: Split Waves; Godspeed.’

I combined Water Breathing with the ever-powerful Godspeed. The mix did exactly as I had hoped.

Electricity crackled all over my body as I dived forward, sweeping my swords outward as I did so. I separated their bodies at the waist so quickly that neither of them would have even noticed their deaths. One minute they were there, and the next minute everything was dark.

My clothes were soaked with the blood of other people. I had not been hit once yet, even though I had killed five people. Maybe I was too powerful for my own good.

'Albert!' I heard someone shriek from somewhere else on the deck. The voice was so drowned in pure terror that I could not make out who it was until I turned around.

And, Gods, did my body go cold when I saw who it was and what was happening.

Harvey was fending off two people at once, and they both looked hungry for blood.

‘Leave him be!’ I yelled so loudly that my throat hurt.

I blitzed across the deck in no time flat, and even Harvey was taken aback by just how quickly I got there.

It was a single shot. I brought my sword up and around. That was it. My blade glided through their neck almost effortlessly, and I watched as their head flew through the air, spiralling across the night sky before landing on the deck with a dull thud. The body shortly followed.

‘You’re fucked,’ Harvey scoffed to the other guy. And how right he was.

He brought his weapon up to guard his face, which was successful at preventing his decapitation, but I still managed to bring my left sword under his guard and through his stomach. Thick blood oozed down the blade and he coughed some up at me, which made me grimace.

I tugged my blade out from his gut and then brought my other one down onto his head, splitting it in two. The sight would have made me feel sick on an ordinary day, but such an unfiltered rage had taken over my body that I failed to feel even the slightest bit affected.

‘Holy shit,’ Harvey breathed. ‘Are you okay?’

I knew what I looked like. I could feel the blood sticking to my skin. My clothes were drenched. My hair was practically dyed red. But I couldn’t have cared less.

This was Maltor’s attempt to stop me from reaching Apercaput, I was sure of it. And he had failed. Little did he know, I’d not only gotten to the school, but I had met both of his siblings. It was almost pitiful just how wrong his plan had gone.

Once again, it wasn’t long before I found myself being assaulted again. Three people charged straight at me and Harvey. Two of them came for me, and the other went for him.

‘Hold him off!’ I barked.

These two attackers were a lot more determined than those before them. Perhaps seeing the mutilation of their comrades had ignited a flame within them, or perhaps they were just more experienced.

I found myself being overrun by two flurries of strikes, and it was all I could do to try and defend myself from each swing. Our arms were blurs as the two of them desperately tried to break through my defence, but I was having none of it.

I will admit, it was hard to break through their defence, too, but I found a way. William’s teachings were not in vain.

The attacker on the right was constantly striking high, as though he was only aiming for my head. This would have been a good idea if he could get a hit, but it left everything below his ribs exposed.

Quicker than the blink of an eye, I flicked my sword across his midsection, and the shock that I had actually hit him caused him to pause briefly for a moment, which gave me another golden opportunity.

I shot forward, driving my sword through his chest. Then, keeping my blade deep in his body, I turned around, dragging his body with me. Flinging my arm forward, his limp frame flew into his comrade, sending the two of them spiralling towards the stairs.

But one of them still wasn’t dead. I still had a job to do.

Forcing all my strength into my legs, I jumped up high into the air. I raised my swords high above my head, not taking my eyes off of the still-living enemy, who had now begun to rise from the floor.

‘Thunder Breathing, Ninth Form: Crash Down!’

I flew down, lightning encasing both my blades and my body. Right as I reached my opponent, I brought my swords down with absolutely terrifying power, striking him on top of his head.

Lightning crashed down from the night sky above, causing both of my recent attackers to fly over the side of the ship.

I felt like a killer.

It had literally been a second before my next attacker came, but this one got a hit on me. I felt a blade gently jab into my back, and I swivelled around, launching a roundhouse kick into his head.

He stumbled back a few feet but regained his composure swiftly. Giving a great roar of anger, he ran forward, his sword poised to stab me again. I effortlessly blocked his attack, but I had done so in such a way that now the two of us remained in a stalemate.

He pushed frantically against my block, forcing all of his strength into his blade. But it was useless. He could not break through. And he had not realised what I was doing. As he was struggling against my right sword, I was slowly bringing up my other arm, fully ready to take his head.

In the background, I noticed Ethan practically dancing around his enemies, his sword encased in bright orange flames. He moved with such precision and speed that even I was taken aback. Did I look like that good of a fighter?

I silently cursed myself for getting distracted and began to resume my attack. However, right as my arm moved into position to decapitate him, I heard something that made my blood run cold. Harvey screamed.

‘Cecilia!’

Immediately, I began to frantically search the deck for her. It was a bit harder through the darkness, but I eventually did. And, Gods, was I glad that I had found her in time.

She was holding her sword in a defensive position, and somebody was struggling against it. A tall figure with a mop of black hair was pushing both of their swords against Cecilia’s might, and it was instantly clear that I only had a few seconds before they broke through.

I swung my left sword around, taking off the head of the man in front of me. Without even pausing to think, I dived forward, my legs tingling with electricity.

It had been less than half a second before I reached Cecilia and her attacker. With my left hand, I grabbed Cecilia’s arm and threw her behind me. With my right hand, I swung my sword around, forcing the aggressor's blades away.

Now that I was up close to them, I realised that the figure before me was a boy that appeared to be about a year older than me. About an inch taller than me, his absurdly dark hair seemed almost invisible against the night sky. It was not matted with blood and grime like mine was.

What was visible, however, were his electric blue eyes, which stuck out like a sore thumb from the darkness encasing the two of us. They bore into my very soul as the two of us stared at each other for a singular second.

Then we went in for the kill.

He brought his right sword around much faster than I had expected, and I brought my left sword up to block it just in time. If I had been just a fraction of a second later, I’d probably have been killed.

Tightening my gut, I forced flames to appear along the blade of The Santrrer Sword in my right hand. I swung it around and down, hoping to slice across his chest, but he blocked it with his other sword seemingly effortlessly.

Neither of us stopped.

We brought our swords back and tried again. And again. And again. Neither of us seemed to be able to break the defence and guard of the other person.

Our blades clashed with noises that would’ve made Hades uncomfortable. The sound rang across the night sky, and I wondered whether anybody below would be able to hear it.

‘Dark Breathing, Second Form: Feigned Strike.’

It was a risky move, but it paid off.

I feigned a jab to his head, and he brought his guard up to block it. That was my opening.

Quicker than he could react, I then brought the same sword down and stabbed him in the side. I judged that none of his vital organs had been hit, but the pain and devious nature of the strike definitely affected him.

He leapt backwards as I swung my left sword out in an arc in front of me. The jump meant that he narrowly avoided the strike; all it did was create a small tear in his black shirt.

Pain erupted in my right shoulder.

Glancing down, I noticed the end of a blade poking out from it. Someone had attacked me from behind whilst I’d been focused on the other guy.

They pulled their blade out from the wound and I leapt to the side so that they couldn’t hit me again. Steam began to gently pour from where he’d stabbed me; I was healing.

As I was about to dart forward and rid of my new attacker, the original one with the mop of hair dived at me, swinging his sword around in an arc in front of him. His blades slid across my arm, and before I had time to react, he got off another hit by dragging one of them across my chest.

My body was alight with pain, but I couldn’t stop now.

I swung my left sword outward, catching him in the arm. It was only a small wound, but at least I hit him. Then, with lightning pace, I raced forward, attempting to jab my other opponent in the stomach.

‘Albert! Look out!’ Ethan roared from somewhere in the distance.

I flicked my eyes in the direction of his voice and saw a third attacker making their way towards me, sword raised.

Grunting, I jumped back to avoid his attack, but nearly got caught by another by the original attacker. It was getting really difficult to keep track of who was who.

Ethan dashed over, his body crackling with energy. He swung his sword around, slashing my newest opponent across the neck.

Whilst he was maiming that guy, I turned to face the man that had tried to attack Cecilia. Remembering that that was what he had done, I found that rage suddenly ignited a hidden flame within my body.

I jabbed my sword forward. He cocked his head to the side, just barely out of the way.

I tutted. Tightening my gut, I wrapped my blades in electricity. The power crackled up and down the swords, lighting the surrounding area ominously. He did the same to his blades.

Seeing that he had copied my manoeuvre, I realised that one of two things was possible: he was a demigod of Zeus or a demigod of Titan. Either way, I was in big trouble if he started to go all out.

The second opponent charged at me from my right, but Ethan jumped in the way and blocked his strike. Sheer determination was coating his face and his jaw was tightly clenched. He looked terrifying.

Now it was just me and the other guy.

The two of us roared, leaping forward and clashing in the middle. I swung my swords around multiple times, but he blocked every attempt at an attack flawlessly. But, I was the attacker. He was not attempting to make any strikes on me; he was merely defending. I was the dominant one in this fight.

Every time our blades hit, the rumble of thunder could be heard. With every swing of my swords, I tried to kill him, but he responded with just as much determination. The resentment within his blue eyes shook me to my core. It reminded me way too much of the look in Maltor’s eyes.

‘Who even are you?’ I grunted through slashes.

‘It does not matter to you.’

He jumped to the left and blitzed to my side before attempting to jab me in the side of the shoulder. I was quicker.

I spun around where I stood, bringing my right sword up with me. It caught his blade and sent his arm flying back. Without even pausing for a moment, I jabbed forward, right at his head.

It was useless. Every time I got close to killing him he’d dodge it narrowly. It was inhuman just how close I came to killing him every single time just before he weaved out of the way.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

‘Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Godspeed.’

It is hard to describe just how fast Godspeed was. Across long distances, it was only fractionally slower than teleportation itself. So I think it’s not hard to imagine just how quickly I moved four feet to get behind him.

I swung my blade around towards his head. I was not aiming to cut him or even decapitate him; instead, I hit him in the back of his head with the flat of my blade.

Speaking from experience, being hit in the head with a blunt object is not fun.

The effect was immediate. He stumbled forward, looking around for what had hit him. It looked as though he had no clue where he was or even who he was. I was about to remind him.

I shot forward, driving my sword into his left shoulder. The two of us flew backwards across the deck with tremendous speed, my blade still embedded in his body. All he could muster was a weak groan of pain.

We slammed into the wall at the back of the stairs with a jolt that caused him to return to his senses. When he realised that I had buried a sword into his shoulder he glared at me and roared in pure rage.

He swung his left sword out, taking my right leg clean off from the knee down. Agony washed over my body in waves as my blood began to trickle down the stairs.

I pulled my sword out from his shoulder, hard. The two of my blades were absolutely drenched in blood, but it wouldn’t be too hard to clean. He gave another roar, but this one seemed to be more so from pain than anger.

He pushed me back with as much force as he could muster, which was a lot. I would have landed on the stairs easily, but my lack of a right foot prevented this.

I tumbled down onto the first floor of bedrooms below, and he very quickly followed. As I was rolling into a heap down the carpet of the corridor, I could vaguely make out his blur slowly approaching me, right sword raised.

‘Albert Santrrer!’ he yelled, his voice booming throughout the corridor. ‘This is where you meet your end!’

He brought his sword down onto my stomach with horrific power. I had not noticed, but the blade had been coated in electrical energy. As he hit me, the energy expanded, causing my body to ragdoll and soar through the air. Due to the sheer power that he had put into the electricity, I am unsure as to whether I was in pain or not.

I heard him give a great roar of triumph as he shot forward through the corridor, shoving his blade through my shoulder as I had done to him a moment before.

Nausea shot through my body as the world began to spin. Maltor had gotten me good, but that was before training. This guy was different. He was better than Maltor.

I wasn’t even really aware of everything that was going on. Everything around me just merged into one blur as the two of us tumbled through the ship. The only thing that I was certain of was that we were going down. The feeling of multiple stairs slamming into my back and the general momentum at which my limp body was moving made me completely certain that we were heading to the bottom of the ship.

Once or twice, I heard people cry out, and I hoped that my attacker was not pausing to attack them. I really hoped that they were crying out for me. There had already been one student death; there was no need for more.

Finally, I felt my body slam into a hard wall. I crumpled into a heap against it and wearily looked up at my attacker.

Blood was pouring out heavily from my body, and steam rose from my numerous wounds. I was healing, but I wasn’t sure whether it was fast enough. I figured that my most important injury was my lack of a leg, so I poured my energy into regenerating that.

I had no clue where the two of us were for a moment, but then I heard a voice that woke me up good and proper.

Sir! Are you okay?

My head shot up, and I stared at my opponent. Blood stained his black clothes, and only about half of it was his own.

He strode forward slowly, a sly grin coating his stupid face. I saw his blue eyes flick up towards Midnight briefly, and his grin broadened.

‘Ah, so this is Midnight?’ he said softly.

‘Don’t you even think about it,’ I snarled. ‘Ignore him.’

‘So I’m right.’

‘Who the fuck even are you?’ I spat, blood flying from my mouth.

He scoffed. ‘You wanna know that badly? I am honoured that the final thing you wish to hear before your demise is my name.’

‘Just tell me, you little shitstain.’

‘Righello,’ he said quietly, leaning forward slightly. I did not like the look on his face one bit. ‘The man that will kill you.’

I leant forward off of the wall. To him, this had no significance, but I was setting up my next move. As I only had one leg, there was only one way that I could fight him.

‘Well, Righello,’ I replied cockily, ‘I’ll warn you now that my life will come at a hefty price.’

‘Oh yeah? And what’s that, huh?’

‘The fight of your life.’

My wings snapped out. The room was only just large enough for me to spread them out fully, but I managed it. Midnight reared up on his hind legs, neighing powerfully.

Righello jumped back at the sight of my wings. He’d never seen them up close before, but I was certain that the sheer size of them and the speed at which they had expanded had sent terror running through his veins.

I awkwardly used my one leg to jump up whilst giving a powerful flap of my wings. Or, more accurately, a half-flap, as the stables weren’t big enough for a proper one.

This caused my body to shoot up, just barely above the stable floor. I glanced behind me as I hovered, and my eyes landed on the lever next to the stable doors. A smirk appeared on my face.

I kicked my left leg back, catching the lever. I pushed it down with my foot and I heard the doors separate as the cold night winds rushed into the stables.

I shot forward, striking Righello in the side of the head with the flat of my blade. Tucking my wings in slightly to save room, I spun in the air, kicking him hard in the back as I did so. He flew forward and out of the stable doors, but I knew that wasn’t the end of it. Righello could fly.

'Midnight! Don’t get any ideas!’ I roared over the winds.

I placed my left foot on the wall opposite the now open doors. Every ounce of my strength was poured into said leg before I gave a great kick off of the wall. Pressing my wings tight into my back, I darted through the stables and out into the dark night.

This would be a true test of my power.

Cold winds slammed into my body from all directions as I unfolded my wings once more, causing me to wince. Through the darkness, I couldn’t even see Righello. I was vulnerable. Unless by the slim chance that he had actually fallen to his death.

My hair flew wildly around my head as I beat my wings forcefully. I was waiting for the sign that Righello was alive. And I got it quick.

An exceptionally harsh wind slammed into my right side. It felt like a wall of dense air. My body was tossed left, and I frantically spun around, and there he was.

As I uncontrollably flew towards him, he raised his sword, ready to strike. But I was tough. I tightened my gut and created an equally as dense wall of air between me and Righello.

This may not have been the smartest idea, as I slammed into this new wall, causing more pain to shoot through my body. I created a new force of wind from my left, which pushed me out from between the two invisible walls.

I beat my wings once more, flying away from him a few feet. Golden flames appeared along my blades as I did so. I was ready to give him exactly as I had promised: the fight of his life.

Righello looked utterly terrifying in the night. His dark clothes and dark hair disguised him against the sky, causing his electric blue eyes to stick out like the sorest of thumbs.

Wordlessly, the two of us flew towards each other, weapons raised. I saw lightning flash across his blades as we got closer, but it was already too late.

I swung my swords down with terrific might, and they collided with his, creating a deafening noise. Lightning shot down from the sky, descending onto the sight of the clash.

Electricity ran up and down my body as a result, and a horrible tingly feeling encompassed every inch of it. Righello’s eyes showed nothing but an unfiltered determination to kill me, but I did not care. The lightning was an impressive display of power on his part, but it didn’t affect me as much as he would have liked.

The two of us shot back by a few feet each, pausing only for a brief moment before heading in for another strike. This time, however, I was more prepared for one of his tricks.

By now, my right leg had fully healed, so I was properly fighting at my full potential. It didn’t matter too much, as we were in the air, but if one of us were to flee back to Rex Aquarum, then it would certainly find some use.

Speaking of which, Rex Aquarum was still engaged in combat. How generous of Maltor to send such a huge and powerful squad just to stop me.

‘Wind Breathing, Ninth Form: Swirling Hurricane!’

I spun in the air multiple times as though I were a ballerina on stage. As I did so, condensed bands of air began to swirl around my entire body, especially so around my blades. The wind picked up and became even harsher as Righello and I met in the middle.

Once more, he caused lightning to crack down from the sky onto the two of us, but I was prepared. The swirling bands of air slammed into Righello along with my blades. I hit him multiple times during my spin, mainly across his chest, but I made a few small gashes across his arms and shoulders as well.

The lightning that he himself had created betrayed him. My gut was extraordinarily tight, but I managed it. The lightning broke into bands and joined with the dense winds around my blades.

‘Righello!’ I yelled as he spiralled helplessly through the air. ‘What were you saying about my demise?’

I shot forward, carving through the air like a bullet. Seeing the combination of lightning and wind around my blades made me feel powerful.

My blades crashed down onto Righello’s body along with a powerful bolt of lightning, this time created by me. I gave a mighty roar of rage as I did so, and watched as Righello’s body was tossed high into the air.

I didn’t stop.

I shot upward with a powerful flap of my wings and jabbed my sword above my head. It slammed through Righello’s back, impaling him.

He yelped in pain, but I wasn’t quite done. This man had tried to harm Cecilia. Not only that, but he had seemed quite keen on getting Midnight, too.

I pulled my sword out from his back, but I must have been too slow.

Righello rolled in the air so that now he was looking down at me. As he did this, a powerful gale of wind slammed into me from the right, causing me to tumble through the air.

‘Die, Albert Santrrer!’ Righello howled.

Lightning struck me the moment he had finished speaking. Pain blasted through my veins and it took nearly everything I had to not cry out.

But I had to keep pushing. I flew forward frantically, coating my blades in flames once more.

'Fire Breathing, Seventh Form: Rising Sunshine!’

As I reached Righello, I brought my right sword up, fast. It glided up Righello’s chest as he screamed in nothing but agony.

I then swung my left sword around, hoping that the pain would stun him enough so that he would not be able to block. It did not.

In return, Righello’s right arm shot up, and he used his blade to stop my attack. His left sword jabbed forward, ploughing straight through my right eye. Half of the world went dark as the two of us traded blows, occasionally getting through the skirmish to hit the other, but most of the hits were blocked.

I flapped my wings down, putting myself above his head. I unleashed a flurry of absurdly rapid kicks upon the top of his head, and he felt each one.

Without even pausing to think once finished, I dived down, now positioning myself behind him. I swung my right knee into the small of his back, which sent him flying all the way back onto the deck.

I swooped down after him, landing on the ship mere seconds after he had crashed down onto it.

He spat blood onto the floor next to him, and I watched the pool of crimson expand for a moment before locking eyes with him once more.

All throughout our fight, it had been incredibly difficult to tell just who was winning. One moment, it looked as though he were about to kill me, but the next, I was about to utterly destroy him. I had to take my chance now and settle the uncertainty forever.

Righello scoffed. ‘You’re braver than I expected. I half expected you to flee again.’

‘Oi, Asbel!’ I called, ignoring him. ‘You know my gifts? Can the ship withstand them?’

There was a moment’s pause as Asbel found himself a free second to speak. Perhaps it was rude of me to ask in the middle of a fight, but I didn’t wanna blow up Rex Aquarum.

‘Yeah!’

I grinned down at Righello.

‘I think it’s funny how you thought you’d win. Righello, has nobody told you? I’m the wonderboy Albert Santrrer, you could never have hoped to kill me.’

Righello shot to his feet, rage coating his face.

I looked around frantically for Harvey and Cecilia, and it wasn’t long before I found them over by the stairs.

Harvey and Ethan stood, determinedly fighting a three-against-two as they evidently protected Cecilia. Cecilia stood behind the two of them, her eyes flicking between her defenders and myself.

‘You’re the most stubborn little dickhead I’ve ever met, you know that, wonderboy?’ Righello snarled.

‘It’s an honour,’ I growled in return. ‘Now, shall we continue, or do you give up?’

I got my answer immediately.

He charged at me, lightning running up and down the surfaces of his blades. Instinctively, fires appeared on my own weapons.

He swung his swords around, crossing them in an ‘X’ shape, attempting to slash them across my body. I blocked flawlessly with my left sword and tried to take out his left leg with my right.

Almost as though it took no extra thought, he avoided my attack by simply raising his left leg. He tried to stomp it down onto my sword, but my attack had been too fast to begin with. My sword was already back in a defensive position by the time his foot had reunited with the floor.

‘Fire Breathing, Fifth Form: Flaming Wheel!’

I swung my right sword around, slashing it across his stomach. The burn added to his already immense pain, causing him to let out the sheerest holler of agony yet.

The simple move opened up a huge gap in his guard. I hacked and slashed at his body multiple more times before he recomposed himself.

He shot out a desperate kick. It’s quite shameful that it actually got to me. It landed square on my stomach, sending me stumbling back a few steps.

Righello’s already bright eyes suddenly shone with newfound energy. The stunning blue colour heightened as the lightning from his blades expanded to cover his entire body.

It was a good strategy. The energy on his blades was there to amplify his power, but by coating his body with it, he could use it defensively, too. It was so good of a strategy in fact, that I instantaneously copied it, but I coated my body in flames rather than electricity.

The two of us shot forward, each of us attempting to jab the other. As his jab reached my head, I mimicked his earlier move and cocked my face to the side, narrowly avoiding it. I could see the annoyance immediately appear on his face.

My jab, on the other hand, got through. Or, to be more accurate, it would have gotten through if not for his lightning shield. I had not generated enough power in my strike to break through the energy, but that is not to say that it was impenetrable. It was instantly clear that, if I had enough power, I could break through.

Within the blink of an eye, I swung my left sword around and then diagonally down, but he did the same with his blade, blocking my strike. I tried the same manoeuvre with my right sword, but he blocked it again.

Twice more I tried to hack at his body, and I thought I was fast enough to do so. But, it seemed that no matter how fast I thought I was, he could, at the very least, match my speed.

He jabbed forward once more, quicker than last time. His jab poked through my right ear, and half of the world went silent. Using my stun to his advantage, Righello then quickly sliced his sword across my stomach. He, too, had realised that both of our shields were not as impregnable as we would have liked to believe.

I flew back a few feet, and the two of us paused. It was only a brief pause, but the weight of the moment was almost too heavy for me to bear. That single moment felt as though it lasted an eternity when it was most likely only two seconds at most.

Then I set the stage for the final clash of our bout.

I reached into one of the pockets of my magical tool belt and grabbed one of the explosive balls that Asbel had gifted me a while back. Without even pausing, I hurled it at the deck, and it landed only a few inches away from Righello’s feet.

And, Gods, Asbel had done it again.

A ball of flame expanded from the ball not even half a second after it had hit the deck. A terrifically loud bang accompanied the spectacle, and the surrounding area lit up with a golden glow for a split second.

I darted forward through the flames, warping them around my blades as I did so. I swung my right sword around, ready to catch Righello in the neck.

But, to my surprise, he was not nearly as affected by the explosion as I had originally hoped. It occurred to me that he may have jumped back upon seeing me throw something, putting himself just out of range.

He blocked my strike and fired back with his own.

What followed was perhaps the most intense exchange of blows that I had ever witnessed in all my years.

The two of us let out bellows of pure fury, our bodies alight with anger. Our arms shot out at incredible speeds, and our swords clashed multiple times every second. Neither of us were getting through, but that was beside the point. The clash before me was practically a huge blur, and it was a miracle that I was blocking all of his hits.

Occasionally, one of us would jump to the side in an attempt to work our way around the other. But it never worked. The victim of the manoeuvre would always catch their attacker as they tried to trick them.

Flames clashed with electricity. Our blades smashed against one another. Good clashed with evil.

Still letting out roars of pure resentment, the two of us hacked and slashed at the air, and our strikes were always met with the other’s.

I leapt into the air at one point, spinning around and attempting to kick him in the head, but he simply blocked my foot with the flat of his blade. The instant I landed, the exchange continued.

The dark sky lit up with our powers, and thunder was deafeningly booming somewhere in the distance. I couldn’t even make out anyone else on deck, but I do not know whether that was because I was focused on Righello or because of the flames encompassing my body.

He swung his sword in a way that made it clear that the strike would be deadly. To dodge it, I backflipped through the air. And, by some twisted miracle, as my body expanded out of a ball, he shot his arm forward, ploughing his sword through my stomach.

Righello continued to push. He ran forward with alarming pace, and I was helpless in that moment.

He slammed my back into the dashboard. Pain rocketed up my spine immediately, but I didn’t care.

The moment he pulled his sword out from my stomach, I straightened and let loose a barrage of blows. Only a tenth or so of them reached him, and even then, they barely fazed him.

I jumped to the right, but he had seen this coming. Righello swung his left sword down, slicing through my left eye.

Never before in my life has such a vengeful scream left my body. My right sword dragged across his left shoulder, and yet he still came forward. Right into my ideal range.

I swung my left arm around, and it was clear right from the moment the swing began that I would kill him. It was so flawlessly aimed, so flawlessly executed, that there was simply no way for him to avoid it.

And yet he did.

Lightning cracked down from the sky the moment my blade made contact with his electrical shield, sending me flying back. But now was my opportunity. I didn’t have time to worry about my injuries or the chance that I was being electrocuted. In fact, I used the lightning to my advantage once more.

Whilst in the air, I crossed my swords across my body, bending low. I took a deep breath in, concentrating hard. I’d never used anything like this before in combat, and I was praying to Titan that I did it right.

‘Thunder Breathing, Destructive Art!’ I yelled, fury dripping from my voice. ‘Blitz!’

Electricity covered every square inch of my body. I felt pure power surging through my veins. Nothing could stop me.

I shot forward through the air, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. As I did so, I curved my swords outward, sliding them powerfully across Righello’s stomach as another bolt of lightning descended on the two of us. To complete the picture, I brought my swords up and slashed them down across his body once more.

Righello’s body slammed into the side of Rex Aquarum and I forced him down so that he could not get up again.

I thrust my sword into his mouth to block any pitiful words that he had to say and planted my foot firmly on his shin to make sure that he stayed exactly where I wanted him.

Everything was quiet.

Smoke rose from both mine and Righello’s charred clothes, and sparks were still flying from the surfaces of my blades, which meant that some were scorching the inside of Righello’s mouth.

A thick pool of blood had formed beneath the two of us, in case anybody needed more evidence that our fight had been the most brutal one on the ship.

‘Oi, Righello,’ I snarled tauntingly. ‘Why don’t you run back to your supreme Maltor with a message for me, huh?’

He coughed blood onto my sword.

‘Tell that prick that he stands no chance against me,’ I continued coldly. ‘In the question of this war, Albert Santrrer will forever stand on top.’

I suddenly became aware of someone panting behind me. As I turned to see who it was, I noticed a sword next to my neck. Someone had tried to decapitate me but had been stopped by the flames around my body.

Taking the sword out of Righello’s mouth, I spun around, taking off my attacker’s head as I did so. The headless body slumped forward and landed on top of my feet, further staining me with blood.

I turned back to Righello.

‘That is, of course, if I let you live.’

Nobody on the deck was moving. Some of Righello’s squad were still alive, but they had all stopped fighting. Instead of taking advantage of their lowered guards, my teammates all stood frozen and captivated by the scene before them.

‘So, what shall it be, Righello? Do I let you live so that you can return a message to Maltor, or do I slaughter both you and your squad right now? I’m sure the latter would do a great job at sending a message to him as well.’

I had now forced a dilemma onto myself.

Every ounce of my body wanted to kill Righello right then and there, and I knew that I couldn’t exactly have someone as powerful as him running around. If he were to appear on the battlefield, making an attack against RoCity, no ordinary soldier would be able to take him down. He would take countless lives by himself before either myself or maybe Ethan stopped him.

But, at the same time, I wanted to taunt Maltor. I wanted him to believe that I was more confident than I actually was. Letting Righello live and sending him back to Maltor would do that perfectly. It would force Maltor to believe that I was confident in my abilities enough to let someone as destructive as Righello free. The fear that this would instil in Maltor would be unparalleled.

I leant forward, my voice low.

‘Or, how about a compromise? I could kill everyone except you. Leave you to run back to Maltor all alone. I’m sure that would send a great message.’

Righello was doing his absolute best to keep a tough look, but that line sent a flash of worry through his eyes.

‘Y-You’re sick, you know that?’ he spat angrily. ‘You are the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever seen. You aren’t the good guy.’

‘Oh, I know that,’ I snarled, grinning. ‘I am the worst person you’ll ever meet. Now, tell me, Righello, what shall I do?’

The decision was already made, but he didn’t know that.

I glanced at Ethan for a moment, who was the only person watching me that had a straight face. The two of us nodded at each other.

And, as I turned my head back to Righello, I heard the bodies begin to fall.

Righello’s head snapped to the side, watching what Ethan was doing. His eyes widened, and they were full of pure, unfiltered horror.

‘Y-You’re horrible,’ he stammered.

‘You were too slow. I had to follow my gut.’

He stared up at me, terrified.

‘Now, Righello, hurry. Get back to Maltor. Tell him that he has absolutely no hope of ever beating me again. Quick. You have but fifteen seconds before the pieces of your body fall to the ground below.’

I kicked him in the gut, hard. I watched as all of the air from his lungs left through his mouth and he began coughing and spluttering.

‘Ten.’

Righello scrambled to his feet. He moved almost as fast as he had when the two of us had been trying to kill each other.

‘You-‘

‘Five.’

‘Rot in Tartarus, cunt,’ he snarled as he jumped into the air. ‘I hope that the Gods reserve a place in there for your worthless ass.’

And, looking completely humiliated, Righello drifted away into the night sky, and my entire façade crumbled away.

I did not want to fight him ever again.