The air thickened with a heavy tension.
Passersby had fled, leaving behind the echoes of a market devastated by cold.
Harvey stepped forward, his icy breath cutting through the air.
> "You hit me, lowborn… I will carve your name into eternal ice."
His Anima manifested.
A bluish mist escaped his body and formed around him an aura of frost shards, crystals dancing like frozen fireflies.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
> Anima Manifest: Cryo-Heart, the Soul of the Blue Zephyr.
Everything began to freeze around him, slowly, methodically.
Ice structures rose, forming a translucent cage where the temperature plunged abruptly.
Rastaban, for his part, lowered his red hood.
His purple eyes lit up, reflecting the glints of frost.
> "So that's your Anima… a cold that devours everything, without distinction.
… Let me show you mine."
A red wave rolled out from his chest, and the shadows of the market began to tremble.
The cracks pulsed like living veins.
> Anima Manifest: Purple Echo — Blood of the Fallen Stars.
Their energies collided, producing a shockwave so violent that the walls shattered.
The air vibrated, the ground split — the temperature swung between absolute zero and searing heat.
---
Harvey made a sharp motion.
> Anima Fragment: Polar Ice Lances!
Dozens of icy spikes erupted in all directions.
Rastaban pivoted, avoiding the first ones, shattering others with a flick of his hand.
Each shard he touched melted and turned to red dust.
> Tch… he dissolves my Anima…! Harvey thought.
What is that power? It's like it "inverts" matter itself…
Rastaban charged.
His fist haloed with red light.
> Anima Fragment: Scarlet Fist — Reverberating Wave!
The impact blew apart the ice pillars, sending Harvey skidding several meters back.
He slid on the ground, braced himself against a frozen column and smiled.
> "Not bad.
But I wonder how your blood reacts to absolute cold…"
He struck the ground with his fist.
A tide of ice spread at breakneck speed.
> Anima Fragment: Crown of Frost!
Blue spines rose from the ground and rained down on Rastaban.
He raised his hand and murmured:
> Purple Resonance: Mirror of Inversion.
A red halo surrounded the spikes, instantly turning them back against Harvey.
The impact pulverized the surrounding walls.
Harvey fell to his knees, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
But his eyes still shone with a mad light.
> "Good. You deserve to see… my Symphony."
He placed both hands over his chest.
A crystalline note rang through the air, pure and cutting.
The entire space seemed to freeze.
> Anima Symphony — Song of the Frozen Sky!
An overpowering wind swept everything away.
The sky turned white, shadows vanished.
Even the light seemed to have turned to ice.
Rastaban, at the heart of the storm, smiled.
> "A Symphony, huh? Interesting."
His veins began to glow.
The ground crumbled beneath him, and a purple light surged from his palms.
> Anima Symphony — Primordial Resonance: Scarlet Judgment!
The clash of the two Symphonies made the street implode.
A ring of fire and ice formed around them, consuming everything in its path.
Red and blue shards fell like stars.
Arata, witness to the duel, murmured weakly:
> "This… this is a battle between gods."
When the light died away, Harvey lay on the ground, breathless, eyes wide.
Rastaban panted, one knee on the ground.
> "You're tough, I'll give you that…
But your Anima is too cold for a living heart."
Harvey gritted his teeth.
> "Tch… you haven't won yet…"
Rastaban rose slowly, his gaze shining with an almost sad gleam.
> "I don't need to win. I just need… to shut you up."
One last burst of energy exploded, then silence returned.