Chapter 628: The Duel of Brothers
The skies cracked with each strike.
Blood Reaver’s crimson blade shone with Divine Aura as it tore apart clouds, aiming for Mephisto’s throat, while the pristine emerald scythe carved black scars into the land below, uncaring for either army. Each clash spread a thunderclap of aura, sending ripples that bent the wind and crushed the battlements below.
Orcs struggled, meanwhile, Levia’s eyes closed, gathering her mana and the slight divine aura from her Divine sharp and pouring it into her shield.
“Protect them!
Shield of the Demon Empress!”
A pulse of demonic and divine swirled together, enlarging into a huge shield that projected above the battlement, similar to Asmodeus and his blood dome. This special divine skill took her Demon Empress form and power to protect the army.
“Haa… this should be enough.”
Each moment, the magical shield built a new layer, growing them over and over again.
“Ryuji Vincenzo!” Mephisto shouted erratically, his voice split into two tones, one a guttural roar, the other harsh and raspy like Alan’s voice. “How many times must I break you before you learn what it means to defy a god!?”
“When did you ever break me!” Asmodeus bared his fangs, eyes blazing. “Not to mention, you’re not even a god anymore, but a parasite!”
Flapping his wings, he shot forward, cleaving at his foe. Blood Reaver descended in a brutal arc, while the scythe rose to meet it, sparks sprayed in torrents as the collision sent shockwaves ripping through the battlefield.
His immense divine force crushed two siege towers, which toppled to the floor from the shockwaves. The possessed soldiers lost focus and fell screaming in tremendous pain, their bodies broken before they hit the earth.
It was no longer a war but a reckoning.
Mehpisto staggered through the air, his right wing torn, but he still snarled back at Asmodeus without a care, using his power to half and trouble Asmodeus. “You think you’re special, with stolen power?!”
The more they fought, the more his petty tendencies showed.
Green light flooded his veins, burning away patches of Alan’s skin. He used his body to trick and control Nikolai as the fiery aura crackled around the undead. The air froze, then split apart in jagged rends as though the sky itself tried to flee.
The pressure clenched Asmodeus tight, tearing his wings as he resisted the maniac’s divine aura. Blood poured from his nose and ears, sizzling as it touched Mephisto’s aura, “Can’t you just die already, Old Man?”
“Ngh—!” He barely raised Blood Reaver in time, catching the scythe as it descended. The impact drove him downward, slamming him through three layers of cloud before he righted himself.
Mephisto loomed above like a storm given form, emerald fire spiralling off his body. Alan’s features flickered through the corruption. His lips remained tightly shut, no longer bringing blight to her life. He vanished from Mephisto’s sight, with each clash, his strength and speed growing.
“Pathetic,” the fallen god spat.
“Shut your mouth!” Rage surged through Asmodeus, threads snapping from his arm and weaving into Blood Reaver’s blade until it screamed like a living beast.
They clashed again. Blow for blow, aura for aura, the sky itself dimmed as if refusing to witness their struggle.
***
“Huff… huff…” Asmodeus’s chest heaved. His scales split open in glowing cracks, blood hissing into steam. His wings trembled, feathers falling like embers.
Mephisto was also falling apart at the seams. Alan’s holy energy resisted every pulse of corruption. The more he fought, which ate away at his control. Patches of his skin turned pale, glowing faintly gold before being smothered by green flame.
He could feel himself shaking free of the demigod’s power, causing his eyes to alternate between blue and green.
“you’regoing to tear yousdelf apart fool!”
“I’d burn a thousand vessels to erase you!” Mephisto roared, aura surging once more.
The scythe descended in a family slash.
This time, Asmodeus didn’t retreat.
Blood Reaver spun in his grip, threads unfurling into a cyclone of crimson light. With a roar, he hurled himself into the strike. The clash detonated, a storm of red and green swallowing the heavens.
“NGH—!” Mephisto’s scythe shuddered, cracks racing along its blackened edge. Emerald fire sputtered. His body faltered, blood spraying from his lips as Alan’s presence surged forward from within.
Asmodeus twisted with the momentum, dragging Blood Reaver across Mephisto’s chest in a savage arc. Flesh tore. Green fire sputtered and recoiled. For the first time, Mephisto reeled backwards, howling in both fury and disbelief.
“You dare!”
But even as he tried to rally, his divine aura fractured, leaking away in unstable bursts.
Mephitosto struggled, his face pouring with sweat; a temporary core still had a significant amount of dramatic divine energy. His scythe pulsed, the corrupted aura writhing like a serpent strangled by unseen chains.
Then, with a sudden crack, it changed shape.
“Wat?”
The curved blade straightened, emerald flame shifting to silver light. What had been a tool of death now gleamed as a longsword, humming with holy resonance.
Mephisto’s scream split the skies. “NO! NOT NOW!”
But his voice was drowned out by another.
Calm and filled with resolution, a complete huma and nostalgic to Ryuji’s ears.
“Enough.”
The green flames flickered, then dimmed. The twisted aura peeled away, revealing Alan’s form, battered but unbowed. His grip tightened around the sword, his eyes no longer green, but rather the same light blue started helping the wounded.
Mephisto’s body throbbed; his arm, after several clashes, started burning with dark magic.
Asmodeus noticed the change in Mepisto’s movements, slower and sluttish, as if his magic noticed the trapped soul and worked hard to reveal it. aaaaa
“Alan!”
Asmodeus froze mid-flight, Blood Reaver trembling in his hands. His throat closed, emotions surging too fast to name them.
A hint of relief, rage and Hope.
Alan managed a weary grin, blood running down his temple. His voice was hoarse, but it carried the same warmth it always had.
That’s when he suddenly changed, aura calmer and a strange sense, causing Asmodeus to just freeze quietly.
“Hey, Ryuji.”
A soft voice different from the harsh growl of Mephisto, and when Asmodeus looked into the man’s eyes, the harsh green vanished in returned for a bright blue. “Do you remember when you said you always wanted to fight me as an equal?”
He raised the sword, its silver light cutting through the smoke and fire around them.
“How about it…. we fuflil that promise right now?”
At first, it almost felt like some kind of trap, but the next moment, he realised it was likely serious. Alan’s silver aura burned brighter with each breath, forcing back the last tendrils of green fire. The sky itself seemed to sigh in relief as the corruption recoiled, leaving streaks of clean sunlight across the battlefield.
“It’s been a while since I felt your holier than thou energy.” Asmodeus grumbled.
“Haha, well I tried my best.”
Mephisto’s roar still lingered, but it was no longer whole. His voice came ragged, distant, as though he’d been dragged into a cage. “No! You’re mine, you hear me? MINE!”
“Shut up, learn to read the damn room.” Alan grunted.
His eyes constantly switched between blue and green, as he grit his teeth, he looked at Asmodeus. “Please…. this might be the last time I can match your power.”
Alan winced, clutching his chest with his free hand, yet his sword never wavered. “He’s not gone. He’s clawing at my soul with every heartbeat.” His eyes flicked toward Asmodeus, the steel-blue glow steady. “That’s why… if I’m going to hold him down, I need you to bring out everything, Ryuji.”
“Alan!”
Asmodeus hovered opposite his enemy, and best friend in one.
He almost couldn’t bring himself to follow Alan’s words, but, biting his lower lip, he nodded.
“I undestand.”
From the moment he accepted his role in this world, Alan supported and suffered beside him. When he messed up, Alan took the fall too. He wanted to surpass the former hero, as a man and as a friend. And now here he was, battered and half-possessed, asking for one last fight.
“You’re insane,” Asmodeus muttered, but his grip on Blood Reaver tightened. His aura flared, red lightning sparking around his frame. “Insane enough that I can’t say no.”
Alan laughed with a weak, hoarse tone, but an unmatched smile.
“That’s the spirit.”
The air between them trembled, no longer hesitating, Asmodeus lifted Blood Reaver, while Alan held his silver longsword.
A calm breeze blew between them as the two no longer looked like bitter enemies or rivals but two friends fighting in the middle of a huge, icy plain. “Let’s go!” Alan roared, diving forward. His silver blade carved a gleaming arc, bright enough to blind the defenders on the walls.
“Don’t regret it!” Asmodeus answered with a roar of his own, a ripple of red from the edge of Blood Reaver meeting the strike with brute force, creating an explosion of aura that created a second dawn.
Silver and crimson collided, their auras entwining into a storm that shook the very foundations of Zar’Kaleth.
And as the storm raged, Alan’s voice cut through the din, steady and resolute.
“Ryuji… don’t hold back! Show me the level you’ve reached, let me see my best friend shine!”