When the rift let Ain through, he was immediately upon Agon. They were falling from the sky, and the Plane that they went to was new to Ain. It was made of fire. It wasn't a roiling mass of fire, like a sun; the Plane still mimicked Creation in that there were trees and mountains and oceans -- but they were all made of fire. In this Plane, fire could exist in a solid state, and the alchemists of old called this material Pyrax. It was extremely uncommon in Creation, but it did exist in several places. However, this Plane was entirely made of it. Liquid fire, solid fire, normal fire. And it was not ordinary fire either.

Immediately, Ain could feel the fire's entropic influence, and his body felt heavy. Just breathing the air made Ain feel slightly drowsy and... hopeless. It was similar to Punishment Storm lightning in that regard, but not as devastating.

Wasting no time, Ain spun his body in mid-air with a corkscrew motion, and launched off the air as if it was a solid platform. He crossed the distance to Agon within the span of a heartbeat and reversed his grip on Avarice in order to stab down. The tip of his sword slammed into Agon's gorget, but the hard outer shell would not give even a milimeter. All Ain could do was scratch the surface of the black metal, which was an accomplishment in itself due to the surrounding field's defensive properties. Those particles of black and purple luster served a purpose, after all.

Agon also spun in mid-air, and lashed out at Ain with a sword made of icy blue fire. The sword appeared frozen and yet it was plasma at the same time.

Ain leaned his head back, Agon's sword passing underneath his chin, close enough for Ain to feel the chill and the oppressive heat of the blade. And then Ain recoiled from his motion, and twisted his body hard enough to land a kick against Agon's neck.

The impact was powerful enough to create an expanding sphere of vapor around the two as the pressure wave caused the water in the atmosphere to transition a phase change and as a result Agon was launched towards the ground, while Ain was sent flying the opposite way.

Both of them landed gracefully on their feet, and Ain found himself in a rocky, hilly terrain of sorts. It was all made of fire after all. The grass on the ground was made of orange crystal-like flames, and the rocks were similar. The ground was brown and extremely hot, but the heat didn't bother Ain.

"I thought you were dead," Ain said, turning his left shoulder towards Agon, and holding his sword in such a way that its position was concealed from his opponent.

"I was dead," Agon replied with a hollow tone, mimicking Ain's posture. "But then I was Saved."

Ain tilted his head. He had half a mind not to ask the obvious question. Half of him didn't care -- the same half that just wanted Agon dead. But the other half prevailed. "Saved?"

With the question in the air, Ain advanced forward. He jumped and his trajectory was such that he appeared to float half a meter above the ground, never slowing down or accelerating; perhaps he was flying. His back was turned towards Agon, storing the necessary energy in his body for when he reaches his target.

And once Ain did reach Agon, he twisted his body to its normal orientation and carried with it all that stored momentum in order to slash Avarice at Agon, who deflected the blade with his. The two blades striking each other produced an earthshattering sound, literally, that extinguished the solid flames around them. Embers blew off the ground as the grass dismantled under the pressure of these two warriors, and the rocks turned into wisps of fire that fanned out for dozens of meters.

"I was saved by Her," Agon replied, thrusting his sword at Ain with two quick jabs, both of which Ain dodged. "I was born without purpose in life, and I didn't realize it then, but I was already dead. Without purpose, there is no meaning to life; without meaning, one cannot have a life."

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The particles around Agon coalesced to form a ring of swords around him, ethereal black and purple, and they orbited him for several, very fast revolutions before halting, hovering in mid air, and turning to point at Ain.

Ain jumped back, concealed Avarice again and released his breath. His Circuits connected, half to his own Concept, half to Excidium.

Ain understood Agon, but didn't agree with him. How many things would Ain give up to trade places with Agon, and have a meaningless, ordinary life? If Ain's life had any purpose, it was to betray Humanity and his own heart.

"Poor you," Ain said, and for once his tone was filled with venom. "So what is your meaning now, Agon the Holocaust King? Killing more innocent women and children?"

Ain abandoned any thought of defensive fighting as the embers of his fury increased in intensity. Warm-up was over.

In an instant, he appeared before Agon and his sword was on Agon's neck immediately, bouncing off the armor after a cataclysmic impact that sent Agon stumbling backwards. Before Agon could get very far, Ain grasped one of the blades hovering around Agon and ripped them out of his halo.

Dashing forward, Ain continued his barrage of blows against Agon's hard shell. Agon couldn't even keep up with Ain's onslaught, trying to parry each attack, but always too late. The blows landed on his wrists, shoulders, torso and neck with unerring precision, and they were relentless.

But it was meaningless. The armor wasn't crumbling under Ain's attacks, no matter how hard he struck it.

When Agon jumped back to gain distance, Ain threw the ephemeral sword he stole from Agon's halo with such force that the clouds overhead were obliterated. The sword pierced through Agon's shoulder, and went straight through so cleanly that it didn't impart any inertia on Agon at all.

Ain watched Agon with a cold expression, and his voice was equally icy. "So who is 'She'?"

Agon chuckled, sliding the flat of his palm over the hole in his shoulder, and a purple-black glow emanated from his palm. When his palm passed over the hole, the wound closed and the armor was whole once more. "You know her. You dedicated your life once to finding her."

Ain tilted his head. "You are lying."

"Why would I lie?" Agon asked, shrugging helplessly. "She found me, on the verge of death and she saved me; not just my life, but she gave me purpose and meaning. She truly gave me Hope, as she was supposed to."

Ain couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he didn't think Agon was lying. He sensed this in him, and back then, he couldn't tell what it was but to Ain it truly seemed as if Agon was saved -- that was the feeling coming from Agon. As if he found hope.

"Yes," Agon said, observing Ain's reaction. "That's right. Lady Alexandria, the Lost Pillar of Hope, saved me. She is not who you thought she was. She is more than that, and infinitely more important. Although, it is a shame that it seems I cannot convert you to our cause."

Ain's fury evaporated. Now, he just felt sadness. He dedicated his life to finding Alexandria -- who was supposed to bring the Principle of Hope to Creation. But before she could do this, she disappeared, leaving the Edict behind. Why? Why did Alexandria disappear? What happened to her?

But now it seemed that Alexandria chose the likes of Agon to champion her cause and the cause of Creation. Why Agon? What was Alexandria's true goal if not the salvation of Creation, or was Ain misunderstanding something here?

He was sad, because it seemed like Ain wasted his life looking for Alexandria. Deep in his heart, Ain felt that Alexandria would be the solution to Perdition. Ain felt that with Hope in Creation, war and tragedy could be avoided. But now it seemed like he was wrong.

If Alexandria chose Agon, then Ain would have to kill Alexandria too.

With sadness and that determination in his heart, Ain poured magical power into his body, no longer holding anything back.

"Sword of Beginnings: Mortal Liberation," Ain said, raising his sword above his head and both the ground and the entire sky fell into it, spiraling down and up as if sucked into a vortex.

Agon stared at Ain's sword as it began to glow with a blinding white light. The matter falling into the sword -- as if it was a black hole -- began to even create an accretion disk around itself, as all matter that touched the blade was reduced to its atoms. And Agon misunderstood something. "Akashic Realm..."

The Sword of Beginnings was a Heavenly Emperor Method, but in Ain's hands, this method surely counted as the Realms beyond the Heavenly Realm -- the so called Akashic or Logosian Realm.

As the ground crumbled underneath Agon, and ripped free to become devoured by the liberation sword, Agon took several steps backwards. He could hear the angelic voice of Avarice singing in his head. In fact, all living beings could hear that voice. It said: I am Astra Ruina; the Liberation. May the Cycle have mercy on you, creatures of earth and fire, for I shall have none. May my name echo forever in the halls of the King and Thorns, and in the Houses of Order, so that you may remember it in your next life. I am Astra Ruina; the Star of Liberation; the End of Life; the Beginning of the Cycle.