I felt like almost jumping for joy as I woke up that morning. It was finally the day.

Ethan and I had done some brief training the day before, and I had heard that Harvey had done the same with Peter and Isaac. It felt strange to say, but I was proud of him. He was taking the time to make sure he was at his best for today.

‘It’s gonna be so anti-climactic if he doesn’t actually show up,’ I joked to Cecilia, my arm around her shoulders, as the two of us sat on my sofa.

It was strange to think that exactly three hundred and sixty-five days ago, Maltor had made his return. The two of us had had our first fight. The only fight of ours that didn’t have a victor. It didn’t matter what Maltor said, he had not won that fight.

We were 1-1-1. He had one victory over me, I had one victory over him, and the two of us had one draw. The fight that was due to happen in perhaps as little as an hour would change that. I would kill him.

I could distinctly remember our first exchange. It had taken three tries for one of us to land a hit. My first two shots had been blocked. The first person to hit had been me. The size and depth of the cut that I had made on him were similar to a paper cut, but it didn’t matter. I had hit him first. Technically, everything over the past year was his retaliation.

Something Maltor had said to me then came to my mind. It had not been during our fight on the nineteenth of June, but instead, the one that had taken place only a few days later.

‘You’re only a step in my plan, Albert. Don’t act as though you’re the end goal’. I could still hear him saying those words in my head, his voice cold and icy.

At the time, that hadn’t really made sense. But now that we knew what Maltor wanted, I realised that he was telling the complete truth.

With a final goal that large and ambitious, why would he be focused on me? It wasn’t me he wanted, but I was getting in his way. That is why he wanted me dead. I was a threat to what he wanted.

Cecilia smiled faintly at me. ‘He’s gonna show up sooner or later.’

I scoffed. ‘If he doesn’t show up today I’m gonna look like an idiot.’

‘Then you’ll be my idiot,’ Cecilia laughed.

I had one of those incredibly strong gut feelings that were never wrong. Maltor would show up. We would fight.

My morning had been spent checking, double-checking, and triple-checking that I had everything I needed in my belt. I had all my smoke and explosive balls, both swords in their sheaths, and my phone.

I had only gotten a phone after Cecilia and I had gotten into a relationship. But now it was going to serve a purpose in the fight.

As my friends and Charlotte headed to the north side of the Valley, I would be hovering above The Tower. From there, I would be able to see every direction and would have the best chance of spotting an oncoming attack. Or, even better, where Maltor was.

My friends would also be looking for him. If they spotted him on the north side of the Valley, one of them would send me a message. Then I would swoop down and give him the fight of his life.

If I spotted him elsewhere, I would send them all a message and Charlotte would Apparate everybody over.

I squeezed Cecilia’s shoulder slightly and smiled at her. ‘Gladly.’

All morning, I had been replaying in my head everything that Maltor had done.

For the third time, memories of Jeremy’s funeral entered my head. Staring at the coffin with gritted teeth. Fighting desperately to hold back my tears. Cecilia crying into my shoulder. Watching the coffin being lowered into the ground.

Nausea and fury shot through my body in a sickening mix as the image of his body crept into my mind.

Maltor would feel that much pain.

I do not know how long Cecilia and I sat on my sofa. It felt like forever, and I was not complaining. We were talking, laughing, resting our heads against each other’s, and completely forgetting about the looming threat.

We were only interrupted by Charlotte knocking on the door.

‘Come on, lovebirds!’ she called. ‘Albert’s needed above The Tower!’

‘I think that’s our cue to get up,’ I whispered apologetically.

‘Yeah…’ she whispered. ‘You ready?’

I pretended to be locked in deep thought for a moment before responding. ‘To kick his ass? The most ready I’ve ever been.’

When the two of us stood up, we wordlessly embraced. It didn’t matter how long we were in a relationship, hugging Cecilia would always make my heart flutter.

Two extremely loud knocks at the door made Cecilia flinch in my arms.

‘Come on, man!’ came Ethan’s muffled voice from the other side. ‘You wanna get him as soon as possible, right?’

‘He has a point,’ Cecilia said quietly, smiling, as she pulled out of the hug. ‘Come on.’

The two of us made our way out into the corridor. Charlotte and Ethan greeted us with two very different expressions. Charlotte seemed serious and perhaps a tad worried, but Ethan looked like he was about to burst with excitement.

‘Everyone’s in the lobby,’ Ethan explained quickly. ‘Come down and say goodbye to everyone before you fly up.’

‘‘Say goodbye’?’ Cecilia spat, astonished. ‘He’s not gonna die out there!’

‘You never know,’ I said, so quiet that only Charlotte heard me. ‘Come on, then. Let’s get this thing started.’

The four of us kept up casual chatter during our lift journey down to the lobby. When the lift doors reopened, I was met with all of my friends. Each of them wore a similar expression to Ethan when I had been greeted by him just a few moments before.

‘Well, get up there, birdboy,’ Jay said loudly upon seeing me, in mock annoyance. ‘You’ve kept us all waiting.’

‘Well, I am deeply sorry,’ I replied, my tone as sarcastic as his. ‘I’d already be up there, but Ethan told me I had to say goodbye to you all.’

‘‘Goodbye’?’ Isaac and Natasha shrieked simultaneously.

Ethan looked at everyone awkwardly. ‘I don’t mean it like that. Obviously Albert’s gonna kick Maltor’s ass.’

I looked up at everyone, not realising that I had been looking at the floor.

There was a huge amount of pressure. Part of me was almost scared. If Maltor was somehow a lot stronger than he had been when we had last fought, I might have been in trouble. And I couldn’t lose. Not now. Not one year later.

One year ago, we had fought and it had resulted in a draw. It was only right that three hundred and sixty-five days later we would settle the score once and for all with a victory for me.

‘He won’t live to see tomorrow morning,’ I murmured. ‘It’s him we should be saying goodbye to.’

‘I like the confidence, but we kinda need our lookout to be looking,’ Asbel suggested awkwardly. ‘I don’t want you to get out there and find out that Maltor’s already here.’

I chuckled softly. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll go now.’

My friends’ faces seemed more serious now than they had a moment ago. I think the magnitude of the situation was setting in.

This could very well be it.

As we walked out onto the pavement outside, the desire to fight Maltor suddenly became stronger than ever. I had to cause him pain, and as much of it as possible.

It was an abnormally nice day. The sky was cloudless and bright. Warmth from the sun encompassed my entire body, making me feel rather content. What strange weather to be fighting in.

‘See you guys when Maltor shows up,’ I said quietly, beginning to unfold my wings. ‘In advance, I hope you enjoy the show.’

Isaac patted my shoulder. ‘Get him good.’

‘You watch,’ I scoffed. ‘It’s on sight.’

Cecilia hugged me as everyone else gave general words of parting.

‘Promise you won’t die,’ she said quietly.

I squeezed her gently. ‘Promise. See you soon.’

She squeezed me back, a good deal tighter than I had squeezed her. Then we separated.

It appeared as though they weren’t going to leave for the north side of the Valley until I was hovering above The Tower.

‘See you later,’ I said, grinning, as I unfolded my wings.

With a jump and a great flap of my wings, I was in the air. I gave my friends one final goodbye before gliding up to the top of The Tower.

I really could see everything. If Maltor and his army came through the forest in the south, I would know. If they approached from the north and were somehow not spotted by anyone else, I would notice. If they came through the water or by the Western Suburbs, I would catch them in their tracks.

The view was pretty good, too. Hundreds of buildings sprawled out beneath me and around me from almost every side. It felt almost strange to be above the high and mighty Tower whilst also being only slightly above the Suburbs.

It was almost hard to keep myself focused on what I was actually supposed to be doing because of how warm the sun was making me feel. I could have been on holiday and it would’ve felt no different.

Part of me was curious as to how long I would have to wait. Well, I wasn’t exactly concerned with me having to wait. I was perfectly fine with floating there all day, but I was worried about everybody else standing in position for hours on end with nobody to fight.

He would come. I was sure of it.

Gods, I wanted to rip into him. I wanted to give him a fight that would, at the very least, shock him to his core. If he were to somehow survive once more, I wanted to at least terrify him enough so that he knew he could never beat me.

It was as though it had been planned, in all honesty. Time may have felt a bit faster due to the fact that I got lost in a swirl of thoughts, but the attack seemed to come rather fast.

I could not tell just how large the force approaching from the north was, but it was huge. Huge parties of soldiers ran forward towards RoCity. He was coming.

Pointing in the direction of the oncoming attack, I coated my finger in flames. Then, with a bit of tightening of my gut, the flames shot from my finger, flying across the sky and leaving a blazing trail behind. It was my signal to those below that had not seen the army coming.

I began to look around to see if any other forces were approaching. There was.

In complete fairness, I couldn’t see the actual forces. But it was clear to me that there was fighting going on in the forest to the south. Flashing lights emerged from within the trees and I could see some people rushing in from the boundary of the Southern Suburbs to help.

I couldn’t go down to fight yet. As much as I wanted to help, that is not what had been agreed. All I could do was hover in the air and eagerly await a vibration from my phone in my pocket.

From where I was, I could clearly see the forces of RoCity clashing with Maltor’s. I wondered if anybody had been killed yet.

Wrenching my mind from that thought, I turned to look at the sea. No ships had arrived. Unless they were to arrive later or French troops were fighting on the land below me, Maltor had done exactly as I had predicted. He had attacked without the French.

I began to clench and unclench my fist with nothing but the anticipation to attack Maltor. He was probably already here. He might already be fighting. I just had to wait for one of my friends to spot him. Then I could let loose all the hate that I had been building up since our last fight. I could avenge Jeremy.

My phone vibrated.

I pulled it out of my pocket faster than I could think. A grin spread across my face. A message from Asbel.

He’s here. North side of Valley.

He hasn’t seen me pull out my phone.

Quick.

Quick, I would be.

I put my phone in one of the pockets of my magic toolbelt so that it couldn’t fall out while I was fighting Maltor.

He was here. This was my chance.

I unsheathed my swords. The two of them glistened under the warm sunlight. Power radiated through my body.

With a great flap of my wings, I began to dart through the sky towards where Asbel had told me he was. I carved through the air like a bullet. My cruising flying speed was about seventy-five miles per hour, but I was doing almost ninety.

As I got closer to the north side of the Valley, I began to scan the ground. Thanks to my enhanced vision, it wasn’t hard to find him at all.

On the ground, a bit behind the front line, I could see him standing in front of all my friends. Even from as high up as I was, I could see his magnificent black swords shining under the sunlight.

Angling my body to the right, I drifted away from the group. I circled around the back of him, hoping that he hadn’t seen me in the sky. Even if he had, it was no problem. I would kill him regardless.

Then, I dived.

As I did so, I pulled my swords back, readying an attack. I watched the ground race towards me as I got lower and lower. My arms were tensed. My mind was ready.

‘You won’t win here,’ I heard Ethan snarl as I raced closer to the group.

My swords were angled perfectly. I swung them around towards his neck.

I am not entirely sure what happened. It happened so quickly that I did not register what happened at all, but my body reacted. All I saw was my swords fly towards the side of Maltor’s neck before I found myself standing in front of my friends, blood faintly dripping from a small cut on my cheek.

I turned on the spot to face Maltor. He was bleeding too. Both of us only had small cuts, but we had somehow hit each other. He had made a small cut on my right cheek, and I had made one on his left shoulder.

‘You idiot,’ Maltor snarled. ‘How did you think that would get me?’

I glared at him. Now that we were face to face, I could feel the rational thought leaving my body. My fury was taking over.

‘Maybe if you had used one of your stupid ‘Breathing Techniques’ then you would’ve got me,’ he continued, his voice low and angry. ‘But hey, now we’re here. Happy one year, Albert.’

Gripping my swords tightly, I ignored his words and focused on my breathing.

‘Smoke Breathing, Second Form: Undetected Lunge.’

I leapt forward with terrific speed, swinging my swords up as I did so. The attack created a large cut across the centre of his chest, but I wasn’t about to stop there.

My arms swung around, bringing my swords in towards his head. He effortlessly blocked my shots and pushed my hands away. Then we truly began.

We hacked and slashed at one another with incredible pace. Or, to be more accurate, we hacked and slashed at each other’s swords. No shots got through. He was blocking every single shot I tried to make, and he was even forcing me to block some of his.

‘Staring off slow, are we?’ he taunted. ‘Come on, Albert, you’re better than this.’

I leapt back to avoid one of his strikes.

‘Don’t get cocky, Maltor,’ I warned, my voice low. ‘This war may have reached three hundred and sixty-five days but it will not reach three hundred and sixty-six.’

‘Wanna write that one down?’ Maltor spat sarcastically. ‘That one almost made me shiver.’

I darted forward towards him, my right arm fully outstretched. My sword ploughed through his left shoulder, causing him to grunt.

He returned fire immediately by swinging his sword down towards my exposed back.

‘Grass Breathing, Third Form!’ I shouted quickly. ‘Cage!’

Blades of grass at my feet quickly expanded and thickened. They grew around my body like a dome, catching Maltor’s sword before he could hit me.

I wrenched my sword out from his shoulder, staring at his eyes with nothing but resentment.

‘Thunder Breathing, Third Form,’ I began once more. ‘Sparking Strikes.’

My arm shot forward rapidly multiple times, letting out a barrage of jabs. It and my blade were a blur, their true shape and placement masked by the storm of electricity.

Maltor was so stunned by my speed and the bright light – and preoccupied with the fact that his sword was stuck in a blade of grass – that he could not react. Every single jab hit him. Blood poured thickly from each site of collision.

‘Seventh Form!’ I roared.

I swung my electrified sword out in a marvellous arc, dragging it across Maltor’s stomach. It carved through his flesh as though it were butter. Again, he merely grunted.

The cage of grass protecting my back shrunk back into the smaller blades of grass that it had previously been, but that didn’t matter.

‘First Form! Thunderclap!’

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Blitzing forward, I brought my swords in again, dragging them across his stomach once more.

Maltor shot backwards through the air, landing about ten metres away from me.

As he shakily got to his feet, I began to really let him have it.

‘I will make your death as painful as I can,’ I said quietly. ‘Never has a death been more deserved than yours.’

From his safe spot far away from me, he glared. His cold blue eyes almost sent a shiver down my spine.

‘I thought I had the method of killing already set in my head,’ I continued as I began to pace slowly around him in a wide arc. He, too, began to move.

We kept the distance between us equal. The two of us slowly walked in a circle, not breaking eye contact.

‘But after seeing what you did to Jeremy, I might nab some of your ideas.’

Maltor froze. I copied him.

‘How sick do you have to be in the head?’ I growled. ‘Not only did you have your own brother killed but you had it done in such a barbaric way that I do not think there is a punishment bad enough to penalise you.’

A muscle in Maltor’s jaw twitched.

‘So, what shall I do, Maltor? What should I do to you that you did to him?’

‘Don’t get it twisted!’ he roared, suddenly bounding towards me. ‘I did not kill him!’

He swung his sword down, evidently attempting to split my head open. Tightening my gut, I set my swords ablaze and blocked his strike with my right sword.

‘Oh no, that’s right,’ I spat. ‘You had four of the most vicious men on your side do it, didn’t you? Tell me, Maltor, did you order them to torture him or did they do that of their own will?’

Maltor let out a roar of fury, lashing out at me. I blocked every single one of his strikes as he had done to me a moment before.

‘Ice Breathing, Eighth Form,’ I breathed. ‘Freeze.’

The air went cold and I shot forward, gently glancing my sword across Maltor’s shoulder as I did so. Maltor went completely still where he stood.

Freeze was a strange move. It was a very light, precise move packed with power. Its main purpose was to render your opponent incapable of movement.

‘Did you want his death to be quick?’ I sneered, walking in a slow circle around his unmoving body. Even though he literally could not touch me, the emotion in his eyes still made me a tad uneasy. ‘Or did you specifically command them to do what they did to him?’

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my friends watching this. The news would be broken to them as it was broken to Maltor.

‘Did you want them to gauge his eye out and lay it on his lap? Did you command them to leave half a dozen of his teeth lying on the ground around him? Were they told to cut off both of his ears and place them next to the eye on his lap?’

The effects of Freeze wore off.

Maltor spun on the spot to face me. His eyes were full of a mixture of rage and…grief?

‘Or was it wrenching his fingernails off of his right hand that you told them to do? Or maybe it was to nail that same hand to the tree above where his corpse would lie? Or did you want it done to his left hand? I’ll tell you now that they couldn’t do that because they had already cut off his left arm.’

Maltor’s eye twitched. ‘Albert…’

‘Did you tell them to bruise him as badly as they did?’ I continued, rage slowly creeping into my voice. ‘Or did you only want the bruises to be mild?’

‘Stop…’ he breathed.

‘Perhaps it was the cutting of his right leg that you ordered? Or was it to cut off his left foot? They did both either way so I do not think it matters too much.’

‘Albert…stop…’

‘Ah, I know what it was that you ordered!’ I yelled, in mock excitement. ‘You told them to take that piece out of his jaw, didn’t you?’

Maltor didn’t say a word this time.

‘Ohh, I get it. You only ordered them to take that chunk out of his side, right? That’s what it is. It was that and the burning that you commanded, right? Everything else they did out of their own free will.’

Maltor’s eyes no longer held any resemblance of anger. They stared at me with only what can be described as horror.

‘You sick, sick man,’ I breathed, staring at him with wide eyes. ‘Your brother spent his last moments in a level of anguish so high that I cannot even begin to imagine it. You had him killed, Maltor. You did that to him. You took Jeremy from us. I hope you know that this fight is for him. I will kill you in his name.’

Everything was silent for a moment. The memory of Jeremy’s corpse entered my mind as I had time to process my thoughts.

That memory was all I needed to get going again.

I held my sword out to Maltor, pointing the tip of the blade at his chest.

‘This has gone on long enough.’

I shot forward, ploughing almost the entire blade through Maltor’s torso. He didn’t even flinch. All he did was stare emotionlessly at the blade embedded in his body.

‘Don’t you dare speak of Jeremy in that fashion,’ Maltor breathed. His face may have been emotionless but his voice carried the highest level of rage that I had ever heard him muster.

He swung his right sword up powerfully, completely cutting off my left arm.

Pain washed over my body in waves, but I couldn’t show him that. Instead, I snatched my sword from his chest and jumped backwards.

He came forward, swinging his swords around wildly. It was a good move from him. He had successfully put me at a disadvantage by forcing me to fight with only a single arm. And, on top of that, I had to focus on regenerating my lost arm rather than fighting him.

I grunted, slashing my sword across his chest. Our blades clashed multiple times every second, and he was getting more hits through than I was. Blood poured from both of us quicker than what was ideal, but I couldn’t stop now.

Jabbing my sword quickly, I took out his left eye. Another rapid barrage of jabs followed, and almost every hit got through.

To complete the combination, I forced my sword deep into Maltor’s stomach and snapped my wings out. I pushed with as much force as I could muster, driving the two of us across the battlefield.

Using the feathers along the edges of my wings, I gradually increased our speed. Everything around the two of us morphed into a blur.

‘You…’ Maltor growled weakly. ‘You…little…shit…’

He swung his swords down towards my uncovered back once more. Instinctively, I manipulated the grass around us as we shot forward.

The blades extended, smacking away Maltor’s swords. He tried again. The grass protected me. All the while we got closer and closer to our destination.

The sea.

As a descendant of Titan, I healed faster when in contact with water, just like a demigod of Poseidon would. I did not know whether that would speed up the regeneration of my arm, as that was a different power entirely, but I had to try.

And even if it didn’t, the water would be a huge help now that I only had one arm.

‘You should’ve died against Righello!’ Maltor roared, evidently gaining his strength back.

‘And yet here I am!’ I yelled back, grinning cockily. ‘I’ll kill the both of you!’

We made it.

I pulled my sword out from Maltor’s stomach and used my right shoulder to barge him out towards the sea.

A swirling pillar of seawater rose around him, enveloping him from all sides. I used the water to push him high into the air, the pillar growing in height as he got higher.

I jumped into the air and glided up alongside the tower of water in which he was trapped. Then, the water exploded outward.

I was showered with salty water, and the disappearance of the tower exposed Maltor to me. He was panting and drenched. I didn’t care.

Tendrils of water rose up from the water surface below like the tentacles of an octopus. They whipped and battered Maltor from all angles, tossing him through the air and causing him to let out shrieks of pain.

My left arm was back.

Opening my empty left palm, I tightened my gut. A ball of orange flame gradually expanded from the centre of my hand.

Pulling my hand back as though I were about to let go of a powerful punch, I roared, ‘Who was it that you called an idiot?’

I flung my hand forward. The ball of flame flew through the air, slamming directly into Maltor’s chest. He hollered in agony, but I couldn’t have cared less.

‘Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Striking Tide.’

Darting forward through the air, I crossed my sword across my body. One of the long tendrils that had shot up towards Maltor bent towards me and wrapped around the body of my blade.

When I reached Maltor, I lashed out at him, snapping my blade across his torso powerfully. I sliced through his midsection cleanly.

I didn’t even want to think about how badly it hurt him. The combination of a powerful slice across his torso and a handful of seawater was definitely not the most pleasant thing one could experience.

Somehow, Maltor still had the will to keep pushing towards me after that.

He flew through the air quickly, swinging his swords towards me. I caught his original two strikes but he came through with more. The words ‘anger’ and ‘rage’ were getting boring to me. They simply could not begin to cover the emotion on Maltor’s face in that moment.

The two of us traded blows for a few seconds, grunting and snarling as we did so.

‘You’ve gotten better, Maltor!’ I roared as I leant back at the waist to avoid a strike. ‘I thought your death would be boring but you’re really giving me something!’

He scowled at me. ‘You still haven’t learned to stop being cocky, have you?’

Using Godspeed, I blitzed behind Maltor faster than a blink. Now that he had his back to me, I could really have fun.

‘Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Navy Pins.’

Droplets of water formed around my blade as I let loose a boosted barrage of blows into his back. When I was finished with the move, I delivered a devastating kick into the small of his back that sent him crashing down towards the sea below.

I dived down after him, pointing my sword at his back.

‘Maltor Confussèe!’ I bellowed. ‘This is where your journey ends!’

I pushed my sword deep into Maltor’s back as the two of us crashed into the sea.

The moment my body made contact with the water, I felt at least twice as powerful. I could breathe underwater, as well. Maltor could not.

Glaring at Maltor, I coordinated my attacks through the water. I used the water to toss Maltor back and forth through the sea. Panic flooded his eyes. I didn’t know how long he could hold his breath, but it definitely wasn’t infinitely.

As he was shoved left and right by walls of seawater, I occasionally shot my sword out to hit him. The water around us gradually became murky crimson from his blood. It almost made me feel sick.

‘Striking Tide!’ I shrieked, my voice muffled by the water.

I swiped my sword across his midsection as he shot past me. He gave another muffled yelp of pain.

Another groan of agony escaped his mouth as I stabbed him in the stomach. I pulled my sword upward, bringing Maltor’s body above my head. Kicking my feet, I pushed the two of us up and out of the water.

I drove him into the sky. His blood dropped down onto my soggy hair and clothes, almost making me grimace.

‘Maltor…’ I said quietly as I slowed our ascent. ‘You should have known that you were doomed to fail.’

I hurled him forward, throwing him back towards the field below. As his body shot through the sky, I reached into my tool belt with my left hand and grabbed two of the small explosive balls.

For a moment, I tracked his body through the sky. Then, I launched the balls forward towards him.

They sailed through the air. I watched with bated breath, praying that they hit their mark. And, Gods, they did.

I didn’t exactly see them make actual contact with Maltor. All I could see was them flying through the air after his body, getting closer and closer. Then he was absorbed by a loud bang and two large balls of fire.

The moment I saw the explosions, I angled my body and began to soar down after him.

The roaring wind raced past my ears as I flew. My hair flew backwards off my forehead. The adrenaline in my veins doubled.

A few flames still remained in the air. Sparks lingered in the sky in the spot where the explosive balls had collided with Maltor.

Gritting my teeth with effort, I manipulated the remaining sparks into powerful, roaring flames that swirled around my sword in bands.

‘Fire Breathing, Ninth Form!’ I thundered, my voice alight with fury. ‘Infernal Rage!’

I sped up. I raced towards Maltor’s body, which still had not yet made contact with the ground. As I did so, crimson flames formed around my entire body, enveloping me and turning my vision red.

As I got to Maltor, I hacked and slashed at his body rapidly, with quick, harsh movements that he couldn’t have blocked if he tried. With each hit, the flames on my sword flared up slightly.

Maltor crashed into the ground below with a dull thud, his clothes slightly charred.

He was somehow still conscious, evident by his faint splutters and coughs. His body twitched every so often. He was trying to get to his feet.

After I landed, I noticed my other sword lying a few feet away from me. I calmly strode over and picked it up with my left hand.

When I turned back to Maltor, I noticed the true severity of his injuries. The explosions had really done him in. There was an entire chunk about half the size of a football missing from the left side of his waist, and there was a hole about the same size on the right side of his midsection.

‘Maltor…’ I said quietly. ‘You won’t win here.’

He coughed blood onto the grass next to him.

‘R-Really?’ he scoffed, but his voice was faint. ‘Just because my bo-body is fucked right…now…doesn’t mean I c-can’t…fight.’

The black energy appeared over his blades. They gently floated out of his hands and shot towards me.

‘Light Breathing, Fourth Form,’ I muttered softly. ‘Scattered Rays.’

My blades shone marvellously, better than they had done all day, and I deflected the first four attempted attacks from the floating blades with magnificent speed.

As the blades came for me, I could see Maltor shakily getting to his feet in the background. Steam was pouring thickly from his numerous wounds, but he still found the energy to glare at me with pure resentment.

Then, he roared.

He ran forward, grabbing his swords from the air. He didn’t stop pushing, either.

Maltor ran against me, nearly knocking me over with the force with which he came at me. He drove me back, and I desperately tried to keep myself on my feet.

‘This war is mine to win!’ he shouted as he continued to push me back. ‘You just can’t see why I have to do what I’m doing!’

He pulled his swords back before swinging them around thrice, each a blow more powerful than the previous.

Desperately, I blocked the three attacks. Something about him was different. He may have been angrier. He may have been more powerful. Or, he was just using his pent-up rage to appear more powerful.

I jumped to the side to avoid one of his attacks.

‘Righello was more of a threat,’ I snarled. ‘You’re not shit.’

Maltor gave a great roar of anger, swinging his right sword out to catch me in the stomach. Unfolding my wings and leaping into the air, I just barely got out of the way in time.

‘Sixth Form: Shining Blade!’ I yelled frantically as Maltor slashed his sword up at me.

My right blade shone brighter than ever as I used the final form of Light Breathing. Right as Maltor’s sword reached me, I brought my shining blade down to meet it.

The clash resulted in a blinding white light and a deafening boom. Everything around me became shrouded by the brightest light that I had ever seen.

Maltor leapt into the air and extended his wings. He flew forward towards me, and fast too.

He drove me back through the air, giving grunts and snarls every time he swung his sword at me. Each time he tried to hit me, I expertly blocked and attempted to fire back with my own attack, but he would always find a way to avoid getting hit by mine as well.

‘You rotten piece of rat shit!’ he roared as his blade glided down my chest.

Blood shot out from my new wound, and it was all I could do to not cry out in pain. I blocked another hit from his sword, but it didn’t matter. He spun rapidly in the air and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to my chest.

The world span and stars clouded my vision as I sailed backwards through the air. After a few painful seconds that felt like decades each, I smashed into the ground. Dirt and blood became unwelcome tastes in my mouth as I wearily looked up.

Instantly leaping to my feet, I realised just how angry Maltor was. He wasn’t even giving me a spare second.

Nearly twenty swords flew towards me, and they were all coated in his strange black energy. I had but two seconds to decide my next move.

How in Tartarus was I supposed to avoid or deflect all of them at once? My body was alight with terror as I realised there was almost nothing I could do.

One second left.

‘Water Breathing, Tenth Form!’ I barked quickly. ‘Constant Fountain!’

I shot forward with incredible speed, swinging my swords around my body and over my head to deflect the attack. I made sure to keep my swords in constant movement, as that is how Constant Fountain worked.

With each swing of my swords, my move grew in power because of my continuous momentum.

Maltor watched, terrified, as I ran towards him. He thought that I would die in that attack. I grinned.

I was thankful that Constant Fountain existed. It was perfect for my situation. So long as I kept my swords moving, the move would infinitely grow in power.

One of the swords was a bit quicker than I had expected, and it impaled me directly in the right side of my chest. I merely gritted my teeth.

Time slowed as I reached Maltor. He glared down at me, his eyes full of both the purest form of anger and the most unique form of horror. Still drenched in seawater and his own blood, he realised that he really was powerless against me.

I swung my sword up and around, perfectly aiming it at the side of his neck.

He had killed Jeremy. Or, at the very least, had him killed. I couldn’t excuse-

‘You think I wanted him dead?’ Maltor roared desperately the instant my blade made contact with his neck.

I froze.

Maltor stared down at me, his eyes full of an emotion that I could not have even begun to describe.

‘Why would any sane person want to kill their own brother?’ Maltor continued, his voice raw with that same strange emotion.

His blood slowly began to trickle over the surface of my blade. My sword was only embedded into the side of his neck by a few millimetres or so. I had come so close.

‘You tell me,’ I snarled, tightening my gut.

Blades of grass extended and thickened beneath Maltor. They shot up and wrapped around his ankles before violently slamming him into the ground a few metres in front of me.

‘You’re the one that did it,’ I said calmly. ‘Don’t ask me the questions.’

‘He posed a threat to me!’ Maltor yelled hastily as I slowly began to walk towards him. ‘I couldn’t have him telling you things that you have no right to know!’

‘I know enough about you,’ I spat. ‘Everything that I know about you is enough to make me want to tear you apart limb by limb.’

Maltor said nothing to that, presumably he was using too much energy trying to get back to his feet. So I continued.

‘I will finish you here as I did to Amy and then I shall move on to my next opponent in this vicious cycle. After you, many more will come and they still will not bring me down. I went from Amy to you and I will go from you to Alfonso. Save your breath and let your final moments be filled with silence.’

I bent low, readying myself to take the kill.

‘I applaud you for lasting this long, Maltor. But I will allow your death to serve as a warning to anyone who dares challenge me again.’

‘Fire Breathing, Third Form,’ I murmured. ‘Handled Fire.’

I darted forward as Maltor did the same. We met in the middle and his pitch-black blades collided with my flaming ones.

I gracefully hacked and slashed at the air, blocking and deflecting each and every hit that he threw my way.

‘Seventh Form.’

I brought my right blade up with terrifying power. It glided along the centre of his body, but he did not cry out. He took it fiercely.

Then we resumed. Our arms were blurs, and even I was having trouble keeping up with where our blades were through the storm of my flames.

‘Just…Just…die…’ Maltor groaned.

The sounds that our brawl was creating would have made Hades’s toes curl. Screaming in rage, Maltor and I desperately tried to get through the other’s guard.

Pain erupted in my chest and stomach simultaneously.

‘W-What?’

Maltor had impaled me in both places without me noticing.

‘Jeremy would be disappointed,’ Maltor snarled as he pulled his blades out from my chest.

Then, quicker than I could react, he slid his left sword across my neck and his right one across my stomach.

I had survived a lot worse. Entire limbs of mine had been cut off and I’d still found the strength to fight. So why was my vision going blurry at that?

Maltor kicked me in the shin, sending me crashing to the dirty grass below.

‘Now I’ll do to Ethan what I failed to do four months ago.’

I heard Maltor’s footsteps get quieter as he presumably walked over to my friends.

Did he really think I was just gonna lie there and let him do that? Was he insane?

Using my swords for support, I got to my feet. I could barely stand. What had he done to me?

The memory of Jeremy’s body flashed through my mind. I wasn’t going to let him get away.

My wings snapped out to their fullest extent. With a single flap, I was in the air. Every muscle in my body ached, but nothing hurt more than my shame.

How had I let him push me to such a state? How was I, Albert Santrrer, in a difficult spot against him? I had promised everybody that I would kill him. I was failing them all.

‘Fire Breathing, First Form!’ I screamed as I locked my eyes on Maltor’s back. In front of him, I could see my friends. Ethan determinedly gripped his sword. ‘Clockwork Fire!’

I flew forward, setting my swords on fire. I rushed towards Maltor, one thing on my mind.

As I reached him, I spun my sword in a circular motion with so much speed and power that it took off every single one of his limbs in a marvellous display of orange.

Not missing a beat, I swivelled in the air, roaring, ‘Fifth Form!’

My sword slashed across what remained of Maltor’s body. His eyes were filled to the brim with fear.

‘What the- How?’ he spluttered angrily.

The black energy coated his two dark swords, causing them to fly towards me. Not breaking eye contact with Maltor, I batted them away as though they weighed nothing.

Something surprised me. That same black energy was seemingly condensed into a sort of wall beneath his body. He was using it to replace his legs. He was using it to stay standing.

As I stared at him, I felt a year’s worth of rage build up within me, so close to bursting out that it was hard to keep a calm composure.

I shot forward through the air once more, bringing my sword around to the side of his neck. He mimicked one of his moves from one of our previous fights. He caught my blade in a small wall of black energy that he had placed by his neck.

But I pushed.

‘Why won’t you give up?’ Maltor screeched, terrified. ‘Why won’t you just stop fighting?’

I let out a scream of pure anger. My blade gradually got closer and closer to the side of his neck. His black energy was powerless against me.

Something impaled me from behind. Presuming it was one of Maltor’s swords, I ignored it.

‘Give up!’ Maltor roared, but my blade made contact with his neck. He choked at the new sudden pain.

The blade impaling my back slowly pulled away, only to come back again, this time into the back of my neck.

Screaming in tremendous rage, I tightened my gut more than ever before. The entire world went red as I set everything around me ablaze.

Maltor’s eyes widened and he pushed himself away from me using his wings. The sword in my neck flew out, which surprisingly caused more pain than it had when it went in.

‘Sir! Go!’ came a shrill voice from behind me.

Whirling on the spot, I found myself face-to-face with someone I had never seen before. A teenager about my height, with short black hair and utterly terrified green eyes.

He wasn’t telling me to go.

It hadn’t been Maltor’s floating swords impaling me after all. In fact, they were both still lying on the ground in the spots that I had batted them to.

‘Godspeed.’ I murmured, my voice dripping with rage.

In less than half a second, I had closed the gap between myself and this new guy and cleanly decapitated him. His head fell to the floor with dull thuds, bouncing twice before finally rolling to a stop. The headless body crumpled at my feet.

I turned back to Maltor, who was reeling in his lost swords with his dark telekinesis.

‘You’re not going fucking anywhere,’ I snarled at him through the wildfire that I had created.

Another one of his troops ran between him and me, desperately flailing his arms. This one was a bit older than me, about sixteen or so. His strawberry-blond hair was trimmed close to his skull in a buzz cut and his dark blue eyes showed a lot more determination than the previous guy had.

‘Dying for a shit-smear like him, huh?’ I growled. ‘How noble.’

I bounded forward, taking great strides to close the distance. I swiped and jabbed at his body until he fell lifeless in front of me.

Yellow lightning crackled all over my body. Panic began to set in. I couldn’t let it out. Not ever.

‘Remember who it was that stabbed you in the chest, Albert!’ Maltor choked, evidently trying, and failing, to sound intimidating. ‘You’ve beaten me here but you won’t do so again!’

No. That fool was trying to fly away from me.

He knew he was faster in the air. He knew that, unless I expended a lot more energy than he, I would never catch up to him. It was literally in our DNA. I was not designed to be fast in the air.

I dropped my left sword. I would give him hell even if he was fleeing.

As he began to turn in the air to get away, I grabbed an explosive ball. He would not get away. I would not let him.

I aimed the ball perfectly. I was like a master pitcher. I wouldn’t have missed it.

Someone dived at me from the left, tackling me to the ground. I slammed into the dirt, hard. The taste of blood returned to my mouth.

‘No!’ I roared. ‘Don’t let him get away!’

A sharpened blade of grass impaled my attacker in the side of the neck before I had even had time to look at them.

I leapt to my feet, desperately scanning the sky for Maltor. He was gone.

‘He went that way!’ Jay screamed, pointing. But I knew it was pointless. If I couldn’t see him in this level of light, then he had already used some means of transportation to get away.

There was not a word that could describe what I felt at that moment. Anger? Regret? Disappointment? They were the first three of countless that came to mind.

He had gotten away. Again. What was stopping me? What was it about me that always kept him alive? Perhaps some part of me still didn’t want him dead, although I couldn’t see how that could be possible after finding Jeremy.

I clenched my fists so hard that my palms began to bleed over the grips of my swords. Why couldn’t I just kill him?

‘Albert?’ Ethan asked cautiously from my right. ‘You okay? You know you don’t have to blame yourself again, right?’

‘You still beat him,’ Ali tried. ‘And you beat him damn good.’

I wordlessly turned away from them to face the force that was still struggling against RoCity’s.

If I couldn’t kill Maltor, I would bleed his forces white. Now that he was gone, I needed something else to take my rage out on. It was almost convenient that there was an entire army right in front of me.

I grasped my swords tightly.

‘Dark Breathing, Twelfth Form: Descent to Madness.’