Zero rushes forward, destroying the ground he was previously standing on, sword raises high, readying to swing down at Raven.

Before the blade can contact Raven's body, he is fast enough to block the attack using his still-sheath blade. When the two weapons make contact, they let out a massive shockwave that would send anything or anyone flying.

He grabs his blade handle with both hands and pushes Zero back, only a little. Taking this opportunity, Raven ran forward, leaping into the air and swinging his sheathed sword toward Zero, but it was futile as Zero brought his sword up and blocked the attack.

Zero then uses one of his hands to grab onto Raven's throat before kicking him away with a loud crack and sending Raven flying back, hitting one of the pillars of the basement. When Raven's body lands on the ground, he starts coughing blood.

"What the matter, demon? Your fear is trembling!" Zero says while walking toward Raven, trying to stand back up.

"Bastard!!" Raven yells before launching himself toward his right arm, reeling back with Zether in his right arm.

"Serpent-!"

Throwing his right fist forward, Zero quickly stops it, seemingly creating an energy shield blocking the said attack; however, it does not discourage Raven.

"-Spike!"

Follow up his attack with an uppercut with the energy shape jaw rising from the ground, trying to take a bite of Zero himself. However, it was still futile in the end, with Zero swinging his sword and dispersing the energy shape jaw in an instant; he then followed it up by swinging his sword at Raven, who took the attack head-on.

The sword cuts along Raven's chest, leaving a slash mark on his chest that starts to bleed intensely while also, at the same time, sending Raven sliding backwards.

"Pathetic", Zero says before pointing his sword at Raven, who is still bleeding and trying to get back up Zether starts to gather inside the blade, which Raven immediately takes notice of.

"Disappear"

With one single word, the gathering Zether shoots outward from the gun barrel of the top of the sword and blasts away everything in its path, aiming to destroy and erase Raven right then and there.

Raven, regardless, is fast enough and dodges away from the beam before looking back at Zero, who has already taken his stance.

"Masked bitch." Raven says while spitting some blood out of his mouth before looking down at his chest and seeing the slash wound from Zero's sword still bleeding intensely, 'Why is it not healing already?'

Clearing away his thought, Raven grabs his sword with his right hand in a reverse grip while also leaning forward a little, with Zether starting to gather around his sword, with its black-green energy forming around the sheathed sword.

"Carnage-!"

Raven launches forward at an insane speed, seemingly creating a shockwave from this movement alone. It only takes a moment for him to arrive in front of Zero before swinging his sword forward, sending a destructive wave of Zether in front of him that is quickly blocked by the energy that Zero put up.

"-Inferno!!"

However, Raven did not stop there; he followed up his sword swing with another swing of his sheathed sword, sending another wave of black-green Zether forward, this time in a much bigger blast, with the energy taking the shape of the head of a monster with it jaw open wide.

Grabbing his sword with both hands, Zero swung his sword horizontally, dispersing the massive wave of destructive energy with a single swing of his sword; however, that was nothing more than a distraction.

Appearing behind Zero with his sheathed sword raised above his head, Raven is falling downward with his sword already gathering up Zether to the point that it starts to glow in the dark. The amount of Zether gathering up in one spot distorts space itself.

"Sky Divider!!"

Swinging his sword downward with all of his might, Raven aims to finish the fight right then and there. With the sword turned, leaving a trail of black-green energy behind, Raven's sword is filled with black-green Zether that is taking the shape of the face of a monster.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

However, without turning around, Zero raises his sword above his head, blocking the attack quickly without sweating. However, the ground beneath Zero feet immediately cracks, leaving a massive crater on the earth where he stands, with the sound of a resounding shockwave quickly following behind.

"Your struggle is futile," Zero says before swinging his sword, breaking their stalemate and leaving Raven wide open; Zero immediately took advantage by grabbing the airborne Raven before slamming him down on the ground, creating an even more prominent crater on the floor.

Raven coughed out more mouthfuls of blood immediately before grunting in pain, but Zero could not care less; moving his sword, he aimed to stab Raven right in the gut.

Still, Raven was fast enough to pull out his gun from the holster and immediately shoot an energy bullet right into Zero's face. Still, the bullet bounced away from Zero's helmet before disappearing. However, it was to make Zero stumbles and give Raven enough time to move out of the attack.

Taking this advantage, Raven stands back up before charging up his right hand in Zether, before his right hand itself takes the shape of a massive claw made of black-green energy. With that clawed right hand, Raven used it to grab hold of Zero's face and lift the armoured man into the air.

"Coiling Judgement!!"

Numerous spikes come out of Raven's clawed hand and start to stab into the body of Zero, with the sound of metal being pierced echoing throughout the entire basement. Still, there is no sound of Zero reacting to this or grunting in pain; the right claw explodes in a black-green Zether, sending Zero backwards in a cloud of explosion.

Despite taking the explosion head-on and having numerous spikes stabbed into his body, Zero quickly lands on the ground without difficulty, with his hole in the armour visibly healing rapidly before Raven knew it. Zero armour now looked good as new.

Raven is still, feeling massive pain and quickly loses his strength and kneels on the ground while holding onto his chest wound, which is still bleeding intensely.

"Why the hell is it still bleeding?" Raven says while still grabbing his chest in pain while also looking at the approaching figure of Zero.

"An admirable attempt from you, demon. But your struggle end here. I will end your life and stop your suffering once and for all." Zero says while slowly approaching Raven.

"Shut the hell up, you masked bitch!" Raven says while trying to stand back up, despite being in pain, 'Am I have to use the Crown again?'

The idea of using the Crown again is there in Raven's mind, but to use it so frequently in a single day is something Raven doesn't want to do, knowing full well the backlash that would happen if he activated the Crown power again.

However, unbeknown to both, someone is watching them from above the air while looking down on them with yellow-sun-like eyes.

"The same as always. How disappointing. At this moment, that woman going to…." The man, Samael, says while looking down at both figures below him.

'No, I still have another option…' Raven thought before standing straight back up with his chest still bleeding massive blood before putting his blade in front of him.

"I would never guess I have to use this thing so soon," Raven says through his pain, with his left hand grabbing the sheath of his sword while his right-hand grabs hold of the blade's hilt.

Taking a deep breath, Raven is ready to pull out his sword, which Zero seems to don't care about.

However, before Raven can pull his sword from its sheath, a magic circle appears above Zero's head, gaining both Raven's and Zero's attention. Raven stops pulling out his sword while Zero stops on his track before looking up at the magic circle.

Before both of them can react, the magic circle descend downward and envelops Zero in it. Zero had no time to respond as the magic circle wrapped itself around Zero, who was struggling and trying to break out of the magic circle.

"This...!? A Fiction Alteration!? Damned you, worthless fox! Why are you stopping me now? You and your mother always get in my way!!" Zero says while still struggling, trying to escape the magic circle.

"Oh, be quiet, why don't you?" A woman's voice rings out the entire basement, gaining the attention of Raven, who immediately looks up in surprise, "Just be a good boy and come home, Zero."

"Silent!! I will not be denied a chance to get the riddle of one of the demons from this world!!" Zero says, and cracks start to appear around the magic circle.

"Bastard! Don't you hear what I said?! Stop being a stubborn ass and come back!!" The woman yells in response before more magic circles appear above Zero, enveloping him even more.

"DAMN YOU!!" Those were the last words from Zero before he suddenly disappeared in bright light, leaving Raven alone in the room, who only looked around in absolute confusion.

"What the fuck was that?" Raven asks himself before slowly putting away his sword. 'Fiction Alteration? Isn't that one of the most powerful Arte Magia in the world? And that woman's voice? Who the hell is she? ...no, there is no point thinking about it right now. I need to finish this fast.'

Looking down at his chest, he can see that the chest wound has stopped bleeding and is healing very slowly. Grunting through his pain, Raven slowly stands back up, straightening his back before taking a deep, calm breath.

"Zero, The Infinite… Was that bastard one of the four Devas, like my master?" Raven says to himself before making his way deeper into the basement.

Above, in the air, looking down on Raven, Samael stares at the scene in front of him with unknown emotion running through his eyes. But even with his emotionless eyes, his face still decorates with that sadistic smile.

"Come on, Ravy, move your fucking ass. One more cycle, and I will finally see the path toward that conclusion."