"Old fool, let me ask you... when is a person the strongest?"

Fate stopped attacking and glared at Kai.

"You sound exactly like someone I know in the past, it's sickening. He was going on and on about how he'd do anything to protect the people behind him. He was insanely weak but to the very end, he kept resisting me, you give me the same feeling as him so the answer to your question, it's when you're protecting someone. Though I don't like it, I agree. The power he showed during that time was many times greater than normal."

Fate spat on the floor as if that very thought disgusted him.

"Wrong answer, it isn't to protect, it's desperation. Desperation to accomplish something they truly want to accomplish, that's when a person is the strongest. They say someone gets stronger when they try to protect others but that's only for the ones who wholeheartedly care about others, a true person gets stronger as they get desperate. Right now..."

Taking another battle stance, Kai took out his Enchanted Gear, Lightbane the scythe.

"I'm desperate to beat you to death."

Clear my mind.

Calm my body.

"[Unseen by vision, immaterial by touch, unshakable by speed, and immortal against power. A God can not lose a shadow, the shadow has unparalleled power. "

Seeing that Kai's power was surging, Fate quickly created a dozen balls of flames which all headed for Kai.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

"Warding off the strongest attacks and remain untouched, the shadow is unstoppable."

As if none of the fireballs affected him, Kai continued chanting in his position.

"The toughest of armor pierced, the shadow is unblockable. I am the shadow, and the shadow is one with me]."

Kai's eyes turned black as he disappeared and appeared right next to Fate.

"That won't help you!"

Though it did provide Kai a huge boost in power, it wasn't enough against Fate. A quick sweep of his arm stopped Kai from attacking but without stopping his movements, Kai swung the scythe. An instant transition from dodging to attacking.

"[Execute]."

Time seemed to stand still as Kai's scythe swung and pierced through Fate's body. Kai knew that targeting his neck was too much, that's why he took the route that would give him a handicap- he removed Fate's arm and sliced his chest. That would've been ideal but unfortunately, Kai was far too weak.

The scythe was stopped at Fate's shoulder but it pierced all the way to the bone, Fate grimaced and quickly strangled Kai but as soon as he grabbed Kai's neck, Kai faded into darkness.

"Can you see in the dark?"

As soon as Fate heard Kai's words, his surroundings turned darker, Fate did all he could to try and disperse it but he couldn't even hit it, let alone disperse it all.

"Stop hiding and show yourself, you coward!"

"The shadow follows, it doesn't take initiative."

Hearing Kai's voice right beside his ear, Fate swung behind him but all he hit was empty air and looking around once more, he was completely isolated in darkness. He couldn't see himself even if he put his hands in front of his face, now he had to rely on his hearing but after hearing Kai, it looked like that was also unreliable. Of course, he wasn't out of methods.

Feeling a sharp pain by his thigh, Fate created an explosion centered around him but none of it hit Kai. None of Kai's attacks were enough to pierce through his skin other than things at the level of Execute and Abyssal Wolf. Not even Kai with four wings had that much power.

Thigh, arm, chest, back, Kai kept on striking those four points but it was futile, no matter how much Kai attacked Fate, it only made him feel a sharp pain for an instant.

"When will you stop? I'm sure you've realized that no matter what you do, you won't be able to do any significant damage. Not unless you somehow learn how to handle Green Ki in this limited space but we both know only a fool would expect that to happen."

Staying silent, Kai continued his onslaught but even this tactic wasn't a permanent solution, Fate was getting closer and closer to hitting him. Even if he sped up, Fate would still catch on and if he used his wings, then Fate would be able to sense his position. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place but he couldn't give up here, humanity may as well be dead if he were to lose here.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Thinking back now, perhaps he did have a variety of ways to prevent Fate from escaping but at the time, he was caught off-guard and the result was this life and death battle where just a single mistake would cost him his life.

Just a little bit more...!

Kai yelled out in his heart.

A little bit more...!

Striking Fate once more, Kai wanted to end it as soon as possible. The pain, the frustration, the fighting, he wanted to end it all and go to rest.

Yeah... if I just go to rest... No, I can't do that. Crap, it's the influence of his eyes, they're getting to me.

He'd been ignoring the power of Fate's eyes this entire time but he just about reached his limit, even if Fate wasn't looking at him anymore, the damage was already done. He tried to relieve himself with the presence of Amelia and Erina but it could only do so much.

"What's wrong? Your strikes are getting weaker and slower!"

Fate finally caught on to Kai's speed and grazed him but just a little bit of pain wouldn't even make him flinch. He's been assaulted by the eyes of death for hours, why would he be afraid of being grazed?

But unfortunately for Kai, after that graze, Fate's attacks became closer and closer up to the point that Kai was hit square in the chest and along with that hit, the darkness dispersed.

That single hit was enough for the living armor on Kai to fall on the floor. As if a shockwave of air passed through from his chest through his back, only the living armor on his chest and back fell off.

"...Looks like this is worthless now."

Feeling the pain from the attack, Kai could tell that the armor couldn't defend him anymore. A single command from him and the armor fell all around him.

Fate's eyes narrowed and focused his innate ability on Kai. One of Kai's eyes was forced to close due to the pain and he ended up kneeling on one knee.

"As I thought, you've simply been resisting all this time but nobody can resist that much mental pain, even if you could somehow resist the pain for as long as you've had, the stress will definitely affect you. Thoughts about dying will flood your brain just to get out of this battle."

Kai bit down on his lower lip until it bled to wake himself up and then he focused his mana to repel it but the limited amount of mana made him stop. He could just resist it, he didn't need to waste mana on something like this, he could use it to attack instead but he had his limits.

Kai's vision was blurry and his body was barely responding anymore after that one hit to his chest, his hands were shivering so he tried to summon a sword but he couldn't even hold it properly let alone swing it. Giving up on that thought, he dropped the sword and walked towards Fate.

"Stubborn to the end, huh..."

Watching Kai struggle, Fate took out a sword and prepared to stab through Kai's chest.

"Still, I must admit that of all the foes I've fought, you hold the greatest willpower and for that, I give you praise. I'll give you an ending fit for a warrior."

Embedding his sword in flames, Fate prepared to charge forward but in the instant he raised his magic power, some of the living armor in the form of blades floated upwards. Kai grabbed ten pieces and threw them one by one.

"Still struggling, just give up!"

Annoyed, Fate kept deflecting the blades that were thrown at him but just as Fate deflected about seven pieces, Kai sped up and threw each one faster than before, Fate was caught off-guard as Kai closed in on him after throwing the ninth blade. Fate swung his sword sideways but Kai jumped and spun his body in mid-air to avoid the blade. Then, he arrived in Fate's arms to stab the blade through his chest.

Fate was blankly staring at Kai's head, he was surprised to say the least.

Sphhhlt

The sound of blood splattering woke Fate from his daze, Kai succeeded in stabbing a weapon through him and the feeling of the blade piercing through his body was clearly felt. His heart was cleanly pierced through and the blade even pierced all the way through his back.

"Huh...?"

A sudden rush of blood rose up Fate's throat which he spat out immediately. Kai retreated the instant he stabbed the blade through and watched Fate with cold eyes. Fate wiped his mouth with his hand and looked at the blood on it.

"Huh...? Why am I bleeding...? I'm immortal!"

Looking at the blade on his chest, Fate pulled it out and watched the blood flow out.

"No, no..."

Seeing as how it flowed even more, Fate tried putting it back but he felt the pain and stopped.

"Y-you! Come and help me, I'm immortal so I can't possibly be bleeding! Not unless you suddenly have Green Ki but that's impossible!"

Fate inspected the blade and feeling the blade, he began to shake.

"YOU BASTARD, WHERE DID YOU LEARN HOW TO USE GREEN KI?!"

Fate was becoming hysterical, his speech had been degrading into that of a child's since Kai stabbed through him.

"I've heard before but hearing and seeing are really different, to think that your mind was really that of a child's... All this time, you've tried to play with fake anger and you only showed your true emotions when I brought out the scabbard. Even when you said you'd give me an honorable death, you were simply acting out as a noble. To be frank, you're pathetic."

Kai breathed out a sigh of relief, the pain from Fate's eyes disappeared.

"YOU DON'T GET TO SPEAK TO ME LIKE THIS! I'M IMMORTAL, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SOMEONE I STEP ON THE PATH TO BECOMING A TRUE IMMORTAL!"

Fate was pulling out his own hair as if he lost his mind.

"NO, NO, I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS!"

Because of his movements, the blood spilled out even further and he began turning pale, he fell down on his knees and tried to scoop up the blood, it was quite the morbid sight.

"As a farewell, I'll end your suffering."

Kai walked up to Fate who began grabbing his legs and begging for mercy, if he wanted to attack then he had the perfect chance but right now, he wasn't in the right state of mind.

"PLEASE SAVE ME! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! IMMORTALITY! WOMEN! RICHES! I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING I HAVE!"

"At least die like the noble you've always wanted to be..."

Fate had tears streaming down his face as he kept crawling up Kai's legs. Kai kneeled down to take the blade and with slick movements, cut off Fate's head.

"What was that thing that people used to say in this world... right, may your soul be guided to Natosu, rest in peace."

Kai snapped his fingers and burned down Fate's body. Since he was dead, the immortality with him had long since disappeared and his body became like a mortal's, soon, his whole body was burned down and not even ash was left.

Seeing the ashes scattered in front of him, Kai felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, his vision blurred and his body limped. It only lasted for an instant as he fell backwards into unconsciousness. The mental strain on top of the physical strain was too much for him to handle.

Yeah... It would be nice if I just rested here...

That was Kai's last thought as his vision turned black.