This situation is exactly what Ryzel wanted. To fight Zieg at his full strength, artifact and all. It was an indescribable feeling, whether he truly felt like he had to prove to himself that he had indeed surpassed Zieg or not to rid himself of his past regrets, he thought that this fight was something he had to see through.

“Zieeeeeeeeg!” Ryzel shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice containing all of his mixed emotions and conviction. All the mana in their surroundings was being gathered to settle upon him. His body constantly absorbed the mana of the world. He had never felt so powerful in his life. At this very moment, Ryzel was a Demon King. A true Demon King. It was like he was imposing his will onto the world, making an unspoken statement that could be heard across the lands, ‘I am the strongest. Not Zieg, nor any other being. With the hopes of my people behind me, I will never lose, never fall.’ He had the weight of his race bear down upon his shoulders, giving him strength. To end the oppression and exact vengeance. Nothing could stop him in his way of doing so, not even the former Demon King. This was the one thing he could never compromise on.

Cain’s ice covering the floors began disintegrating as a testament to his power. The two immortals gazed at one another at the distance, and both vanished in an instant. The force of their speed created to sonic booms as they collided with one another, sending out a shockwave of turbulent winds with them as the center that sent all those fighting far from them flying. The trail they traveled across the marble floors left two deep gashes in the ground.

The two traded blows at high speeds, generating gusts of winds that broke apart Galvane’s surrounding buildings.

“Stop this war, Ryzel!” Zieg shouted as he swung Bloodwhistler.

Stop? The mere suggestion caused a wave of emotion to flood over Ryzel.

“Stop?! You don’t have the right to tell me to stop! There’s no turning back for me! Did you know?! For the good of our race, I killed my own people! All of us needed a leader! Everyone admired you! I admired you! But where were you when we needed you the most?! Where were you when our brethren were being killed off?! Where were you when my brother died?!” All of Ryzel’s emotions erupted at once. Water slowly fell from his reddened eyes. He was crying. They were tears of unwillingness.

Ryzel had admired Zieg. He truly thought at that time, (Finally, finally. With him leading, we can return to the center of the continent. Our people no longer need to suffer in the North. We can finally live our lives happily.) He had placed his hopes and expectations on Zieg. But what was the result? Zieg disappeared. They were abandoned. That admiration twisted and distorted, causing his feelings to turn into hate, resentment, and wrath. That’s when he realized: he couldn’t rely on Zieg, or anyone else. If he wanted to reclaim their place in the continent, he had to take it back by force with his own power. The breaking point was the death of his brother, all the while people still believed in Zieg’s return. “He’ll return to save us,” they said. Those words were the catalyst to his actions.

Ryzel decided. Here and now, he would finally surpass Zieg.

Hearing those words, a strange expression entered Zieg’s face, and yet he understood. He understood Ryzel’s determination, his resolve. This was because he was exactly the same. The desire to exact vengeance for spilled blood. Perhaps he would still try to get revenge if it weren’t for a certain belief that he had. Zieg had the feeling that all of this, the holy crusade, the wars, and everything were part of a grander scheme. He felt like he was being manipulated into action by the machinations of someone else. The mastermind, Paragon. This bothered him to no end, making him change his goals into eliminating the root of the problem itself. He broke free from the cycle of wrath generated by the leader of Paragon, and was trying to save everyone else from being consumed by it as well.

Zieg and Ryzel exchanged attacks with one another at extreme speeds, pushing their bodies to the limit. Ryzel’s kicks and punches created waves upon waves of damage. Zieg was barely able to dodge his blows thanks to the intuition of his Wolf’s Instinct, but even the shockwave caused by them left his body feeling numb. Ryzel avoided every fatal blow, but his body was being slowly whittled away by the small cuts that managed to nick him. His body was beginning to be covered in numerous cuts.

Although Ryzel was the only one being hit, it looked like he was the one pressuring Zieg. His resolute figure appeared unbreakable. Ryzel’s unwavering conviction and willpower caused his movements to be more daring, and was actually pushing Zieg back. His thoughts sounded out clearly inside his head, (There’s too much at stake. I will not lose, not to you!)

The small, shallow cuts Ryzel was receiving made blood splash about. The blood coating Bloodwhistler caused the artifact to glow a bright red. Bloodwhistler was an artifact sword that had the ability to absorb the blood of its victims, draining their vitality and energizing the wielder of the sword. As the battle progressed, Zieg would only get faster while Ryzel would only get slower. So why? Although Bloodwhistler was making Zieg faster, Ryzel was still keeping up with him even though he was supposed to be losing energy.

Ryzel was exceeding his limits. He wasn’t fighting only for himself, but for his race. This was the very essence of a true Demon King. Right now, he was probably on par with a member of Paragon.

“War isn’t the only way, Ryzel! The real enemies are the masterminds behind the war, Paragon! We could coexist with others and establish peace! Isn’t that what we strived for from the very beginning?!” Zieg asked while his attacks made countless afterimages of red.

“Peace? We had peace! It was forcefully taken away from us! I’m only doing what’s right and forcefully taking it back, away from them!” Ryzel trembled with emotion. His arm flashed and he swung a heavy blow, a fist with all his convictions contained within it. The fist smashed onto the side of Zieg’s face, blowing him back and sending him crashing into a crumbling building.

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Zieg crawled out of the rubble of the building, and spat out a mouthful of blood. A trail of blood came leaking out of his mouth.

The former and current Demon Kings stood, firmly looking at one another, both possessing the resolution to win.

(I need to end this quickly) Zieg thought. Ryzel seemed to be growing stronger as more time passed. It was like his convictions were fueling him with boundless energy, energy that surpassed even that of the artifact Bloodwhistler’s ability.

Zieg began running towards Ryzel and picked up his pace. The two charged and collided at each other once more. Zieg seemed to be moving faster than before in an attempt to cope with Ryzel’s increasing energy. He made a feint with Bloodwhistler and attacked in another direction, blindsiding Ryzel and dealing him a debilitating blow. Ryzel’s right arm was cleanly lopped off and flew into the air.

“I won’t fall, I won’t let down our people like you have!” Ryzel screamed in rage. Invisible wires wrapped around Ryzel’s dismembered right arm the instant it was cut off. The wires moved quickly, stitching and reattaching his arm back together in the blink of an eye. At the same time, Ryzel lifted a leg, kneeing and launching Zieg up into the air. He proceeded to send a screw punch to Zieg’s gut in midair, sending him flying back into the previous collapsed building.

Zieg lay prone in the rubble, breathing heavily. A small smile formed on his lips before quickly disappearing. That was his plan. He just needed to get enough of his opponent’s blood to access Bloodwhistler’s fastest speeds. The next attack would decide the victor. He slowly picked his battered body back up and looked at the figure standing across from him.

Ryzel was overflowing with mana. He looked absolutely unbeatable. His power and mana was still rising just standing.

Zieg was gathering the remainder of his mana into his body, preparing to make one last, fatal attack.

The two managed to have a silent understanding. Neither could afford to lose. They’d go all-out.

Their bodies flashed as they reached one another. Zieg, with Bloodwhistler’s ability, was slightly faster than Ryzel. He jumped and made a final swing with Bloodwhistler towards Ryzel’s exposed throat. Zieg planned to quickly decapitate Ryzel to decide the battle.

Ryzel’s expression became incredibly ugly as time seemed to slow down for just the two of them.

During that moment of slowed time, the two looked into the other’s eyes.

Zieg’s intuition and instincts were screaming at him that he was in danger. Why? The phenomenon confused him, but he could no longer react in time and change the course of his swing.

Ryzel’s ugly expression slowly changed, and what appeared on the corner of his lips was… a smirk.

The change in expression caused Zieg to widen his eyes.

All of this happened in an instant.

Bloodwhistler continued to slash at Ryzel’s throat, until it finally reached his neck. Bloodwhistler touched Ryzel’s neck, and…

It stopped.

It couldn’t cut into Ryzel’s skin.

Zieg understood without needing to think.

Ryzel’s artifact. Ginkumo.

Invisible threads were wrapped around Ryzel’s neck, using it as a makeshift armor, completely blocking Bloodwhistler’s fatal blow. Zieg wasn’t even able to tell when Ryzel covered his neck with Ginkumo.

Ryzel slowly reached out with his left arm, opening up his palm into the shape of a grip. Zieg was able to see an illusion of a terrifying claw over Ryzel’s arm. It was too late, Zieg’s body couldn’t keep up with his reaction speed. He wouldn’t be able to avoid it.

Ryzel’s open palm reached Zieg, completely gripping his head in midair. Zieg’s vision was engulfed in utter darkness.

“It’s my win, Zieg,” Ryzel solemnly said, as he abruptly forced his hand holding Zieg’s head downwards.

“Worldbreaking technique: Impact Break!”

Zieg was dragged down head-first onto the marble floors. The muscles in Ryzel’s left arm tore and ripped. There was an explosion.

The ground beneath them was decimated in an instant. Cracking sounds came from Zieg’s skull as he was continuously pushed and crushed through the ground. The entire school sunk into the ground by several inches.

There was a large crater formed with the two as the center. Ryzel’s left arm broke, and Zieg’s vision dimmed as he directly lost consciousness.

…

Zieg awoke to find himself standing in an empty, dark space. There was a large divine door directly in front of him. He quickly became aware that this was his realm of consciousness.

Zieg grit his teeth together and tightly clenched his fists. His nails dug deeply into his palms. He lost. Even though he sought power for over a decade, he still lost.

The door called out to him, as if mocking him.

(I knew you’d be back, ahahah! I knew it, because we’re exactly the same! We both seek it, desire it! Power! Strength! Everything! Now, this time, open me!) the door tempted.

Zieg moved wordlessly to arrive directly in front of the door, placing his fingers on it and with all his strength, pushed…

…

Somewhere in the world, a saintly figure in white robes was gazing in the direction of the Grandiel continent. This figure was the leader of Paragon.

“Another god fragment has awakened,” he mused.