Violet lightning split the sky. The earth cracked under Sosuke's boots, glowing veins of energy crawling across the stone. He lifted his sword, eyes locked on Julius. His grin sharpened. "No mercy."
He vanished in a flash. Steel carved through the air, striking Julius' arm clean off.
Julius didn't even flinch. The limb reformed instantly, molten mana stitching muscle to bone. His claws lengthened, slicing forward. Sparks flared as they met Sosuke's blade. Then his eyes ignited. Twin beams of searing heat burst from his gaze, ripping through Sosuke's side.
The blast tore flesh. Blood vaporized. But the wound sealed as quickly as it came, steam rolling off his body. Lightning pulsed beneath his skin like veins of fire.
Julius chuckled. "So you've learned regeneration. That's how you crawled back from death." His laughter echoed. "Let's see how long it keeps you alive."
Sosuke tilted his head, rain dripping down his face. "You sure you've healed from Gabriel's scar?" His smirk cut deeper than his words. "I can see it. Every pulse in your core. You're still broken."
The grin on Julius' face faltered for a breath.
The clouds thickened, turning the night into a bruise of thunder and rain. Sosuke's pupils blazed like two violet stars. The pressure of his aura distorted the air, shaking the ground, tearing stone apart.
He moved again. Faster than light. The sword struck Julius' claws in a storm of sparks. Each impact warped the sound itself, thunder bursting from every clash. Sosuke's blade crackled with lightning as he swung, meeting Julius' hardened claws that gleamed orange with mana.
A clean break. The katana shattered.
But instead of fading, the fragments spiraled around him, fusing into his lightning. It surged into his flesh. The air trembled.
Sosuke lunged. His hand clamped Julius' throat, lightning crawling across his fingers. He leapt, dragging the king's face through stone and dust, then hurled him into the ruins below.
Julius crashed through a dozen walls before cratering in the courtyard. Rubble rained down. Sosuke descended after him, every bolt of lightning in the storm answering his rage. It struck the courtyard like divine judgment, burning through Julius and the earth alike.
The king's roar cut through the thunder. He shot upward, slamming Sosuke into the ground. The heat from his eyes carved the world open, melting stone into rivers of fire. Sosuke twisted aside, the beams grazing his shoulder. He kicked Julius off and rolled to his feet.
Julius' body was shifting. His horn lengthened. His hair darkened. The last traces of humanity slipped away.
Sosuke straightened, breathing hard but smiling faintly. "So that's what's left of you."
He remembered Gabriel's words. Julius' power was flawed, cracked from within. A scar carved deep into his core. It would never heal.
Sosuke raised his arms. Lightning spiraled, linking the heavens to his will. Julius responded, eyes burning bright as stars. Two forces clashed in a line that tore the horizon apart.
The world screamed.
BOOM.
The explosion swallowed the castle. Stone and flame scattered into the storm. The two were flung apart, their bodies crashing through walls, halls, pillars. Sosuke's armor dented, his breath ragged.
He slid against a half-collapsed wall and stopped. Rain poured through the gaping ceiling, each drop sizzling on his skin. He stared up at the storm. "I'm sorry, Rin," he whispered. "But if protecting everyone means burning everything I have, then that's the price." His hand pressed to his chest. "I hope you can forgive me. Though, I'm not sure I've forgive myself for anything I've caused…"
The wall in front of him vaporized.
Flames cut through it in spirals, molten and precise. Sosuke barely sidestepped, the beams searing past his face. They left molten scars across the floor.
"You have so much anger in you, boy! After all these years, that hatred still burns?" Julius' voice echoed across the ruin. "You have no family, no one who cares. You should've ended it yourself."
He emerged from the shadows, lunging at Sosuke from the side.
Sosuke's katana burst into form, blocking the blow. Julius' claws clung to the blade, sparks scattering through the air as their eyes locked.
"I'll break you before I kill you."
"My hatred for you isn't the only thing that keeps me going." Sosuke's jaw tightened, his arms trembling from the pressure. "I have people who matter to me, and protecting them is my mission!"
Lightning flared behind his arms. The surge blasted Julius backward, tearing cracks through the floor beneath them.
Beams of searing mana cut across Sosuke's shoulder, ripping flesh away. The wound closed slowly this time, the marks of rapid mana decay spreading through his veins. "Agh!" His body twisted from the pain. Deep down, he had always accepted that this fight would cost him his life. Maybe that was what he wanted.
Julius drew in a long breath, his body glowing faint orange and red. "The abilities of my generals? I command them all. I am the storm, the corruption, the justice your world denies. I was born to destroy and to rebuild. Nothing can stop me."
He slammed his palm into the floor. A sigil flared beneath Sosuke's feet.
The ground erupted. Thick vines and branches coiled upward, snaring Sosuke and dragging him through stone and debris.
Lightning erupted from his body. The vines split apart in a flash. Sosuke landed hard, smoke rising from the impact. Through the dust, a red streak whistled through the air. Blood pierced his thigh.
He fell to one knee, breathing sharp. Blood dripped down his leg before the wound began to seal. "All the generals' abilities…"
Regeneration. Nature magic. Blood manipulation. And others still hidden. His mind raced. How am I supposed to fight that? My lightning is predictable. Simple destruction. Why am I like this?
The gash finally closed. He rose again, off balance but standing.
Julius stepped into view, slow and deliberate. His footsteps echoed like drums. A faint black crown hovered above his head, small crimson jewels glinting in the storm. "Fitting of a true king, wouldn't you say? Power is something you could never understand. The gap between us only widens."
"I will sacrifice—"
"Your life?" Julius interrupted, his grin wide and venomous. "Then die for nothing. Your friends will follow you into the dirt once you fall." He laughed, the sound sharp and cruel. "And I'll make sure it's slow."
Sosuke raised his katana, his grip shaking. "I-I won't let you."
Julius covered his mouth, pretending to hold back a laugh, but it broke free anyway. "Where's your resolve?"
The ground splintered as he charged. Claws slashed through air, tearing past Sosuke's cheek as he ducked away. His katana struck Julius' back, but the king didn't even flinch.
Their movements blurred. Julius pressed harder, his strikes wild but precise. Sosuke's dodges grew slower. Then the claws connected. Flesh tore. Blood streamed down Sosuke's face and neck.
He fell to one knee, clutching his cheek. Julius stood before him, looming. "This is sad."
Sosuke's eyes stayed fixed on the ground.
Was I stupid for coming here? Did I really believe I could take on the Blight King? Not like this. Not with this strength.
Julius kicked him back. Sosuke crashed onto the stone, his weapon clattering away. He lay still, staring up at the storm. Rain soaked his hair.
"You never had a chance, Estrella," Julius said. "Change is made through power."
Sosuke's lips moved. "Change can only be made through power."
He stared upward, eyes flickering. That's right… I forgot. I can't beat him with what I am now. But that's not all I have. My lightning hasn't evolved since Lance Sterling.
He pushed himself up. Lightning chained from his chest to the hilt of his sword, pulling it into his grasp. One step at a time.
Julius didn't wait. He lifted his hands, merging Sosuke's blood with his own. The liquid swirled into red spheres that launched toward him. They burst into spikes midair. Sosuke dashed through, lightning cracking around his feet. He shattered each spike with arcs of energy and closed the distance.
A vine shot from the rubble, impaling his arm and twisting tight. His grip faltered. Another vine ripped the katana from his hand. Julius slipped behind him and slammed a fist into his stomach.
Sosuke staggered, breathless. But his eyes glowed violet, the light spreading through the rain. He grinned. Lightning wrapped his arm and shredded the vines apart. He spat blood into Julius' eyes and lunged forward. His fist met Julius' cheek, thunder bursting from the impact. The Blight King flew back, smashing through a wall.
Sosuke glanced at his palm. The lightning there gathered tighter, burning hotter, until it turned white-blue. The heat scorched his skin, but he didn't stop. It lengthened into a whip of plasma.
He moved. The whip cracked through the air, striking toward Julius.
Julius raised an arm coated in hardened blood, but the strike melted straight through. He leapt back, just avoiding the next swing. His arm regenerated in a hiss of steam. His grin twitched. "You're learning."
Sosuke stayed silent. He swung the whip to the side, wrapping it around a block of shattered stone. With a pull, he hurled it forward.
Julius countered with a streak of blood that sliced the debris clean in two—
—but the whip followed from behind, cutting through the smoke. It lashed across Julius' chest. He fired twin beams to deflect it, but the whip struck first, branding his flesh in glowing scars.
Julius' smirk thinned. "I see now." His voice was low, bitter. "You won't hit me with that again."