Lacolone's aura exploded scarlet-white, shaking the arena. His katana blazed while a pistol materialized in his other hand. "For Salah!" he snarled, firing — bullets tearing space itself. Elito raised his Eclipse Blade calmly, deflecting them with sparks of black flame. Grief became fire. Fire became blade.
Lacolone blinked through Driftform, appearing behind Elito, blade descending. Elito parried with one hand, laughing. "Sharp, but not sharp enough." Lacolone's gun shifted into a blade mid-swing, cutting sparks across Elito's chest. The vessel cracked, scarlet light leaking. Elito smirked, "You can scratch heaven. But you cannot kill it." A cut into god was only the beginning.
A Riftquake BOOM shook the arena — Valgor landed a massive fist into Elito's ribs. The floor crated, shockwaves shredding coffins above. Blood poured from Valgor's mouth. "Not gone yet!" Elito coughed scarlet flame, body bending unnaturally. Lacolone shouted, "Valgor—!" The dead would not stay buried.
Walid leaped from behind, old-world steel glowing, slashing across Elito's neck in a golden arc. Elito's head separated from his body. Blood and scarlet light geysered into the air. Walid landed, sword dripping. "For Salah. For all of us." Steel spoke the word: death.
Lacolone followed, cutting Elito's torso into dozens of pieces mid-air. Jessica fired Riftquake bullets through the fragments, scattering them further. Maya screamed, aura pouring healing threads over Valgor and Walid. The Kid watched, faintly amused. "They think this is victory." Elito's fragments fell across the arena floor, twitching. They carved a god to ash.
The pieces glowed scarlet, veins crawling like roots. Elito's laugh echoed from every fragment. His head turned, upside down, lips smirking. "Mortals… such fire." His body reknit, sinews of scarlet light pulling together. Valgor muttered, "…Impossible." Death was an inconvenience.
Fully reformed, Elito slammed his Eclipse Blade into the floor. A tidal wave of scarlet fire erupted outward. Lacolone shielded Maya with his katana, taking the brunt. Jessica teleported Eden out of the blast, coughing blood. Valgor was hurled into a pillar, ribs shattering again. The King reminded them: despair has no bottom.
Lacolone reappeared mid-air, teleporting faster than eyes could follow. Elito matched him step-for-step, sparks raining like stars. Blades clashed, gunfire merging with katana slashes. A Riftquake bullet detonated inches from Elito's face. He grinned through the explosion, swinging without pause. Speed became infinity, infinity became slaughter.
Maya poured Salah's lingering hymn into her aura, amplifying the group's strength. Her wings burned white-scarlet, cracking under the strain. "Don't you dare take him too!" she screamed. Her healing chains held Elito for a heartbeat. Lacolone slashed through Elito's chest again. Her love was war made flesh.
Even bisected, Elito kept walking, smirking. "How many times will you kill me before you understand?" He leaned close to Lacolone. "This vessel cannot die by mortal hands." Lacolone roared, stabbing both gun and sword through his chest. Elito laughed bloodily. "Good. Keep feeding me your despair." The King drank rage like wine.
Valgor dragged himself up, fists broken but still burning blue fire. One last Riftquake punch smashed into Elito's spine. The crack resounded across the arena. Elito winced, blood spraying. Valgor coughed, "That one… for Salah." The broken refused silence.
Walid rushed again, blade glowing like the sun, slicing Elito's arm clean off. "We'll cut you until nothing is left!" The severed arm crawled back, reattaching instantly. His vessel glowed brighter, cracks spiderwebbing across his skin. The god bled. The god laughed.
Their clashing blows collapsed the inverted cathedral walls. Scarlet fire poured in from the void. The Kid balanced on falling debris, grinning. "Beautiful carnage," he whispered. Jessica reloaded, aura crackling. Reality trembled with every strike.
Lacolone, Valgor, and Walid attacked together. Bullets, fists, and steel converged on Elito. Maya amplified them with chains of healing flame. Eden sealed the ground beneath with glyphs to hold Elito. He was struck from all sides, torn apart again. For one heartbeat, the impossible seemed possible.
Elito's body collapsed into ash. Silence. Everyone stared, panting, bloodied. Maya whispered, "…Is it over?" Ash swirled back together, faster this time. Elito reformed, smiling wider, aura darker. Hope was crushed under his rebirth.
Fully restored, Elito raised his blade high. "Kill me a thousand times. I'll still be here." His vessel cracked deeper, leaking storms of scarlet fire. Lacolone snarled, "Then we'll cut you ten thousand!" They charged again, even as exhaustion ate them. This was no fight. This was survival.
Elito's swing split the arena in half, void opening beneath. Jessica barely teleported herself and Eden from falling. Valgor clung to the edge, bloodied and faint. Walid pulled him up with one arm. Lacolone glared through the flames. "We don't stop." Even against infinity, mortals clawed upward.
Elito stood fully reformed, Eclipse Blade raised, vessel glowing like a cracked star. Around him, the heroes were burned, broken, but still alive — bloodied swords, shattered guns, trembling fists. They carved him to pieces, burned him to ash, severed his head — but the King would not fall. And so, their despair deepened.