While the battle between the other Nine Pillars of Power raged on against the other Nine Testaments of Darkness, the battle between the Phoenix Titan and the Calamity Titan intensified. Both were strong, overly powerful and confident that each could defeat the other, but their reasons for battle were completely different. In the Calamity Titan’s case, he fought for revenge against the man who he once called as his blood brother while the Phoenix Titan, on the other hand, fought to save the world and possibly save his brother from himself.

“I will defeat you no matter the cost!” the Calamity Titan shouted as their battle raged across the eastern part of the Human Continent, where the Floria Kingdom was located.

“Do your worst,” replied Lakshman, keeping pace with his enemy and fighting back with equal fierceness to his enemy.

Each punch, that was delivered, carried a lot of force behind it and the collision of them sent shock waves in all directions and shook the entire continent. Each kick sent the other flying away from each other, but they instantly recovered and came back swinging with fists and legs without a drop in their speed and stamina. Often, a powerful shockwave sent the two warriors away from each other, which spurred them into firing energy blasts at one another.

“Sosakave!” Lakshman shouted, dissipating the energy ball he was about to launch and hurling his fist forward to release a powerful shockwave that swept forward and buffeted the Calamity Titan before sending him flying away.

Not giving his enemy an opportunity to escape, the Phoenix Titan instantly activated Instancity, which drastically improved his speed and, within seconds, he reached the flying Calamity Titan and punched him into the air. The Calamity Titan groaned as he flew high into the air and as Lakshman kicked off the ground to fly towards him, Lakshman raced past him and appeared before him as he prepared to send him tumbling towards the ground with a heavy impact.

At the very last second, the Calamity Titan gritted his teeth and activated his power, which made him vanish on the spot. This momentarily startled Lakshman, and he instantly began looking around when his enemy suddenly materialised behind him and delivered a powerful punch to the Phoenix Titan’s back. Lakshman instantly widened his eyes in shock and let out a painful groan as he fell forcefully downward and crashed heavily on the ground, causing an explosion of dust and rocks to occur and fly in all directions.

The Calamity Titan began rapid firing energy blasts of darkness, which collided into the smoke and exploded with great force. The continent continuously shook from the numerous explosions, the survival of the desperate Floria Kingdom against this punishment was only because of the very strong barrier spell that Lakshman had cast before battling his enemy. Several seconds passed and the Calamity Titan stopped launching his attacks so that he could see the result from his shooting.

It took the smoke several seconds to clear and, as the view came back to normal, Lakshman appeared standing firmly while breathing deeply. He looked a little bruised and dust was covering his body, but he looked mostly unharmed as he stared up at his enemy, who was hovering way above him.

“You got be good with that back strike, but what’s with the blasts? What were you aiming at?” Lakshman asked, his bravado clearly recognisable in the manner in which he spoke.

The Calamity Titan, sensing that his enemy was toughing it out, snorted and replied in a loud carrying voice.

“Nice bravado, but I can see through you, Phoenix Titan, and do you know what I see? An enemy that’s slowly getting tired from the prolonged battle!”

Lakshman smiled, but inwardly, he was worried because he knew the words his enemy spoke was true. The blasts had all hit their mark, and he took considerable amount of damage, but he had quickly cast Restoration on himself briefly before rising to his feet to make sure his enemy does not think he was weakened in the slightest.  Now, the Calamity Titan smirked down on him with a knowing look on his face that did not bode well with the Phoenix Titan.

“I know you better than anyone else, Phoenix Titan. No matter how much damage you take, you still appear strong and bold in front of your allies and enemies to boost their morale and surprise your enemies. It’s all too obvious,” he said and smiled at the look of discontentment on his enemy’s face.

Lakshman did not say anything, but deep within, he was smiling in satisfaction at how much his brother had grown. While he did not like to see them fighting as enemies, he still felt a twinge of pride to see him become a capable person of his own right. That feeling lasted for a fleeting moment because the Calamity Titan suddenly raised both of his hands in front of him and said a technique name to in activating it.

“Nitro Buster!”

In an instant, a small pulsating black lightning energy ball formed in between his hands and it quickly increased greatly in size, which he raised and held over his head with an evil grin on his face.

“Well, if you want to continue to act that way, then let’s see how you handle this one!” the Calamity Titan shouted at him and began descending towards where his enemy stood, a dumbfounded look on his face.

“What the hell is he doing?!” Lakshman thought, greatly shocked to see his enemy descend towards him with the mass of pulsating energy ball held firmly over his head.

He gathered his hands together drew them back in preparation for his attack, which he began by saying, “Pho-nik…!”

“AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!” The Calamity Titan yelled, his speed gradually increasing with his descent.

“Ala…!” Lakshman said, a blue energy sphere gathered in the palms of his hands, getting ready to be fired.

“UUURRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” The Calamity Titan roared as his descent suddenly sped up with a great momentum.

This caused Lakshman to widen his eyes in shock and think, “What are you doing?! Get away! I don’t want to shoot you!”

As his enemy drew nearer to him, Lakshman realised, with horror, that the Calamity Titan did not intend to move away. He was sticking with the course of delivering the attack directly to his enemy, which made the Phoenix Titan’s eyes to widen in shock. Unable to shoot at the man whom he still considered as his brother, Lakshman released the energy and it disappeared in an instant before he leaped away just in time.

“I KNEW IT!!!” The Calamity Titan yelled with a gleeful expression on his face as he soared down and brought the energy ball down to smash it against the ground.

The moment the volatile Energy Force collided against the solid mass of land, a great white flash occurred before an enormous explosion occurred. It was so powerful that a devastating wind was released, which blowed in all directions with a force that threatened to destroy the landmass. Lakshman, who had leaped away, turned around and brought his arms in front of him quickly to defend himself at the last second due to not having the time to conjure a barrier before the quickly spreading light enveloped him.

The entire Human Continent shook so violently that felt like it could get destroyed while several parts of the continent split away, changing the area into large gorges. The inhabitants did not fare well as most stumbled and collapsed on the ground, clutching their heads in desperation as their world shook so violently that they might as have been in a rocking boat during a violent storm. The people of the Floria Kingdom had it worse, with their homes severely punished with damages and their utensils were thrown in all directions. At the castle, the wives of the Phoenix Titan, the wife of the Phoenix Emperor, the wife of the Sword Titan and the wife of the now deceased Sword King along with the rest of its inhabitants lay on the ground with their eyes tightly closed. All the children were crying, which created a scene of pure pandemonium as the situation escalated out of hand.

“My god!” Sonia exclaimed, not believing the powerful force that was shaking the very land she lay on while desperately holding her baby daughter from harm’s way. “This is unreal!”

“What’s happening?!” Sasha, the Phoenix Emperor’s wife exclaimed, looking around at everyone with wide eyes.

As everyone was panicking in fright, Marilia raised her voice and shouted, “Everyone, calm down! It will soon stop!” Then, in a worried tone, she spoke to Ondine, who lay next to her and wondered aloud, “I do wonder what’s happening for this to be happening right now.”

Ondine merely grimaced and shook her head slightly, but deep down, she knew why it was happening. The rest of her husband’s wives, Emilia, Cantia, Venezuela, Erza, Sonia and Sumara sensed that they also knew the answer to Marilia’s question. They did not voice their concern aloud because they knew how much fear it would cause everyone when they were slowly calming down.

“Lucky…” thought Ondine, closing her eyes and praying for the victory of her husband, and she was not alone as the others also did the same in the same silent manner.

On the battlefield, the explosion had disappeared, but the destruction it wrought left a devastating mark on the continent. Lakshman, who had survived the explosion with minor bruises and cuts, stared at the location of the explosion with a horrified look on his face. There, where the explosion had occurred, was a huge hole that seemed to go very deep into the depths of the world. All around it, the land was cracked that let the ocean flood into it in large masses.

“No…!” Lakshman exclaimed in a slow drawn out voice, eyes like that of big circles as he stared at the destruction of the land he had been desperately trying to protect.

At that moment, the smoke cleared to reveal the Calamity Titan hovering above the ground with dust covering his clothes while looked towards the destruction. Sensing a pair of eyes focused on him, he turned and upon noticing that it was his enemy, he formed a wicked grin expression on his face. He could see the distraught look on the Phoenix Titan’s face and it satisfied him by a great amount.

“Why…? Why did you do this?!” Lakshman exclaimed, unable to believe that such destruction was wrought upon by his brother.

“Why?” The Calamity Titan asked and, for a moment, he looked thoughtful before he said with a smirk, “It’s probably because you did something similar to my continent in the past, although, in my case, the entire continent was wiped out. You should feel glad that I only destroyed this much!”

With that, he burst into cold mirthless laughter that had no humour or sense to it. The laughter was a projection of the cruel satisfaction he was enjoying at the sight of his enemy feeling greatly hurt to see his continent so badly damaged. Suddenly, the laugher abruptly stopped and he turned to look back at the ocean with his eyebrows knitted together as he sensed something approaching them. Lakshman also sensed it, and he too turned to look in that direction with a frown on his face.

Several seconds passed as the object, that they sensed, slowly made its way towards them while remaining hidden by the deep sea. As the creature drew nearer towards the surface, it short itself out from the sea and into the air for them all to see, which made them both looked astonished upon catching sight of the monster that was headed towards them.

“What the hell?!” The Calamity Titan exclaimed, an astonished look on his face.

Lakshman, unlike his enemy, was subtle about his reaction, but his eyes nonetheless widened and he whispered, “No way…! Is that… a Leviathan?!”

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The monster, which had been identified as a Leviathan, had a massive body that could easily cover a portion of the continent if it was laid fully on it. The body was coloured in the ashen blue with the long years it dwelled in the ocean with wild scales covering its entire body from top to the end of its tail. The head was very large and fearsome looking as it roared at them by opening its mouth wide, which was large enough to swallow a small island in an instant.

The Leviathan swam around for a few seconds, jumping out of the ocean and beginning to discharge blitz lightning in all directions. The Phoenix Titan and the Calamity Titan soared away from the lightning as the smaller creatures of the sea surfaced, their dead bodies covering a small area with their vacant eyes staring straight ahead.

“What the hell is an ancient creature doing here of all places!?” The Calamity Titan exclaimed, a furious look on his face.

Lakshman had a similar question in his mind, but he was more concerned by why it was there in the first place. He had believed that the ancient creatures were taken care off by him and the Phoenix Clan due to the enormous threat they posed to the world. Now, one that seemingly survived the monster hunt of the ancient times, decided to raise its head towards the two people that were once involved in the killing of its kind.

The monster dived into the ocean once more and swam around before rearing up again in a different place, this time opening its mouth wide as a small sphere of energy gathered in its mouth. Lakshman widened his eyes in a shock of recondition of the attack it was about to perform.

“Neutron Blaster! Damn!” Lakshman exclaimed, surging with power and flying in the direction it was facing, which was towards the Floria Kingdom and, specifically, the castle where his wives were at.

As it let out a monstrous roar, the Leviathan fired the attack from its mouth, which became a massive wave of destruction that soared away at super speed. Not bothering to block it, the Calamity Titan soared away, but the Phoenix Titan arrived a few seconds later and held both of his hands out to block it.

The wave came with incredible force and smashed into his hands, causing him to instantly grunt in pain as his hands seared from the power. He exerted all of his strength and tried his hardest to hold it at bay, but the wave began to push him back for several metres before he finally came to a stop. By then, he was exerting the full brunt of his force to push it back, but he found himself a match of powers against the wave unleashed by the monster.

Realising he could not push it back, he exerted all the power he could muster and transformed it into his strength, which he used to move the wave upward while letting out a drawn-out scream of power.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The massive wave of destruction soared into the air, up above the Floria Kingdom and into the sky, where it could not harm anyone, but the smaller birds that were unfortunate enough to be in its path. Several seconds later, the wave died down and disappeared, which left the monster breathing very deeply that caused the wind to blow very fast in the direction it faced.

Just then, the Calamity Titan appeared above its head and, with a murderous look on his face, he yelled, “You stupid thing! Interrupting my battle!” He raised one hand into the air and gathered a small pulsating black ball of energy and shouted, “Go back into the grave we dug you many years ago!”

With that, he hurled the destructive ball down at the monster, which looked up a few seconds too late to evade it. At the same time, the Phoenix Titan appeared out of thin air between the ball and the monster and, gathering energy into his clenched fists, he punched the energy with tremendous force, blasting it back the way it came. At the same time, he soared down towards the monster and delivered a powerful punch straight at its forehead.

The Calamity Titan was startled by the action that his enemy had performed, got out of the way just in time to let his energy ball soar high into the air and explode. While that was happening, the monster’s long body swayed as it lost balance and slowly fell backwards into the ocean with a heavy splash that made the water rise high into the air before falling back down. The monster, out cold from the powerful blow to its head, slowly sank into the depths of the ocean to return to its sleep once more.

“You saved the monster,” said the Calamity Titan, shaking his head while looking down at his enemy as if he could not believe what he had just done. “Honestly. I’m surprised. You actually saved it instead of killing it like you normally would’ve done!”

There was a heavy emphasis on the ‘killing’ and his eyes flashed dangerously. Lakshman returned the gaze evenly without showing the slightest expression on his face. Then, he suddenly surged with power and vanished from sight, which surprised the Calamity Titan before he felt a heavy blow delivered from his back, which was delivered by the Phoenix Titan that had appeared behind his back.

The Calamity Titan grunted in pain and fell forcefully towards the small strip of land floating on the ocean before using his force to break the fall and land lightly on his feet. The blow was not severe as his back only throbbed in slight pain, and he witnessed his enemy slowly descend to land on another strip of land that floated over the ocean, with several meters gap between them.

“I’m done killing for a lifetime,” said Lakshman, his face filled with sorrow when he spoke. “I’ve chosen to change my ways and, for a change, I’d like to protect and save all that I can.”

His enemy stared at him in disbelief for a moment before chuckling in dark laughter as he said, “Really? You want to change? Now of all times? Ha! Not a chance! Do you think you can simply run away from all the killings that you’ve done?! Do you honestly believe the number of crimes you’ve committed in the name of ‘uniting the world’ could be considered acceptable?!” He began shaking his head and said, “No…! It isn’t acceptable and what you did to me is even more unforgivable!”

He yelled the last word and instantly began to surge with power, which had caused the wind to blow wildly as the shock waves were sent in all directions. The ocean’s surface got disturbed by his power with his aura radiating in deep purple as an outward manifestation of the feelings boiling within him.

“then, I’ll just have to prove it,” said Lakshman, and he took began to surge with power while radiating golden-red aura that surrounded him.

The two stared at each other for a moment before the Calamity Titan made the first move of firing a powerful energy blast at Lakshman. A magic circle appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye where Lakshman stood before he dodged the blast, which destroyed the land he had been standing on. While hovering in the air, he saw the Calamity Titan charge at him at super speed, and he moved forward to fight him back with all he got.

Their battle intensified with their speed, power and strength increasing dramatically in comparison to their previous battle before the Leviathan’s interruption. The Calamity Titan was fighting with a clear intention of killing his foe without a shred of mercy by the lethal killing moves he was performing, but Lakshman was fighting back with the intention of defeating his enemy and freeing the brother he had raised with his own two hands.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to be against Lakshman as he was gradually growing weaker by the second as he pushed himself to match the pace of his enemy. The short battle with the Leviathan, where he had used all he had to push the wave of destruction away into the air, had taken a lot out of him. Then, using the intense force to knock the ball of destruction, which was intended to kill the Leviathan, away while also knocking the monster out cold put a lot of pressure on him.

Lakshman himself knew he was weakening by the second, but he continued to fight on with a certain plan in mind. The form of that plan was unclear, but a faint hint of it could be felt with each step he took that caused a magic circle to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. The Calamity Titan often caught sight of this happening and disregarded it as a magic circle that helped with boosting his opponent’s movement.

The battle raged on with the two warriors exchanging very fast blows at one another, but it eventually turned into a one-sided beatdown with Lakshman taking most of the beating. The Calamity Titan relished this opportunity and never gave his enemy a chance to recover, even when he backed away, in order to bring about his demise. This showed the truly remorseless hatred the Calamity Titan felt towards his enemy.

“You’re weakening…! I can feel it…!” The Calamity Titan spoke in a voice like that of a kid playing with a toy.

Lakshman was gasping more frequently and breathing heavily as he was becoming more tired by the second. Soon, even his body started to become sluggish as he lost his footing several times and stumbled momentarily before regaining his posture and fought on, trying his best to fight to the best of his abilities. This did not improve his chances one bit, eventually, he got pummelled before managing to get away from the surprise attack.

After one prolonged incredible battle, Lakshman struck the Calamity Titan on the side of his face as hard as he could, but it only managed to send him sliding back several meters before coming to a stop. With an evil grin on his face, the Calamity Titan came forward with his arm swinging and smacked the Phoenix Titan across the side of his face. This blow sent Lakshman flying away before crashing landing quite a distance away.

As he groaned from the pain and slowly got to his feet, the Calamity Titan snorted and said, “Is this all you got? Come on! I thought you promised me you’d defeat me and that you’d get stronger than me! Now, here you are, biting the dust because of what exactly? Care to tell me? Hmm?”

He was taunting the Phoenix Titan with a gleeful grin on his face and watched as his enemy struggled to move into a kneeling position. Lakshman, for his part, was breathing deeply when he suddenly took a large intake of breath before letting it out slowly to steady his racing heart. He momentarily closed his eyes and steadily calmed his mind before reopening them to look in the direction of his enemy, who stood calm and proud with the battle being in his favour as they were on individual strips of land that were separated by the ocean surrounding them on all sides.

As Lakshman got into a sitting position, with his legs folded underneath him, he looked calmly at his enemy and said, “You really must think you got this victory in your pocket.”

Those words were spoken with a hint of sarcasm and, for a moment, the Calamity Titan’s smile faltered. He was unsure why his enemy would speak so boldly despite him being the one on the losing side. Anyone, who had seen them fight, would clearly say that the Calamity Titan had the advantage and he knew it himself as well.

“You’re bluffing!” The Calamity Titan said, his smile returning to his face.

This time, the Phoenix Titan put on a serene smile and said, “Never call out bluffs. It’s dangerous for your health.”

His enemy blinked in confusion and just as he was about to question him, the Phoenix Titan raised both of his hands and clapped them together. In an instant, several magic circles appeared around the Calamity Titan before chains burst out to wrap themselves at the unsuspecting victim. They wrapped tightly around his hands, legs and neck in order to keep him from moving from the spot he was on.

As he struggled to break free from the chains, the Calamity Titan exclaimed, “What the hell is this?! Tch! Free me! Dammit! Let me go!”

He surged with power and tried to fly, but the chains remained firm and strong, which kept him stuck to the spot. This puzzled him to a great extent because, despite the incredible amount of power he was unleashing, the chains still did not break. Now, he turned towards his enemy, his smile replaced by a furious look on his face.

“What are you planning?” He asked finally in a low growling voice, glaring menacingly at the Phoenix Titan.

Lakshman looked coolly at his foe and said in a calm voice, “Oh, nothing special; only something massive.”

With that vague words, he raised a hand and clicked his fingers. In an instant, a bright glowing light materialised out of thin air that surrounded them, which made the Calamity Titan realise they were surrounded in a very complexly drawn magic circle. He blinked in confusion as he stared around and then, a moment later, clarity could be seen as he recognised what the magic circle was.

“No way… You… This is…”

As he spoke in a quiet voice, the magic circle glowed brightly from time to time like a beating heart, readying for activation.

“Yes. You should be able to recognise it as it’s yours,” said Lakshman, smiling softly at his enemy, who turned to look at him with an alarmed look on his face. Lakshman spread his hand around and said, “Mass Destruction. Your rather complex and time-consuming spell that you were always fond off in the ancient times. Yes, the very spell that you often used in battles to win with the Phoenix Clan fighting it out while you drew it out before calling for withdrawal and causing massive destruction on the enemy’s forces.”

The Calamity Titan grew very angry at those words, and he exclaimed, “You dare—!”

“I dare because I can,” replied Lakshman, forestalling his enemy in mid-sentence, “because you told me yourself that I am growing weak. You’re right on that point, but I was growing weak because I was stalling to use this spell. Rather than fight an uncertain battle to who knows how long before winning, I thought it’s better to go for a swift, sure-fire,strategy to win this battle.”

“You won’t win!” The Calamity Titan bellowed, his eyes widening in shock as he glared fiercely at his enemy. “I’m the Calamity Titan, and I swore I will destroy you no matter the cost, and I will!”

“Let’s see about that once this is over, alright?” Lakshman asked easily with a cool smile on his face.

He raised his hands into the air and placed them together in front of him in a form of payer. Then, he placed them down on the ground and said in almost a whisper, “Mass Destruction.”

The large magic circle began to glow brighter and brighter with each passing second as the magic began to resonate. The wind began to blow wilder and wilder as the released shock waves were sent in all directions, disturbing the surface of the ocean and causing tidal waves to be formed, which swept in all directions. As the power increased, the world began shaking and it became intense as the increasing power seemed to reach its peak.

The Calamity Titan looked around at the glowing light with a frustrated look on his face and when a sudden flash occurred, he let out a drawn-out scream while trying his best to surge with all the power he had. The light enveloped them and the surroundings before a massive wave of light erupted from within and soared high into the sky, which split apart. This enormous release of power was felt by everyone around the world as the tremors and the shock waves reached them.

This was also the time the Nine Pillars of Power, who had either vanquished or defeated their enemies, began heading towards the dazzling light in the horizon. The closure of the battle began to draw nearer as all forces, be it man or god, focused their attention on the dazzling light.

A pair of purple eyes watched from afar with a fiendish smile on his face, and he said, “Yes… Almost there… Almost…”