While the earth cracked and the sky exploded, Rat sat in absolute stillness, running his fingers over his hands as if brushing off dust. He didn't raise his head, didn't turn, as if all this destruction meant nothing to him.
He knew.The end was approaching. The end he had been waiting for without announcing it.
Above, the sky turned into an open wound. The color red flooded the horizon until the world resembled a breathing hell.
Ronny,who had half-buried himself in the ground due to his previous attack, slowly raised his hand, halting his strike. He looked at the fiery horizon, and a slight smile formed on his lips—a smile of someone who wants to see the true end.
"Show me what you've got,Edgar..." he shouted, as if testing his opponent in the final round.
Edgar raised his head, blood dripping from his brow, his eyes gleaming like two cold embers. He looked at the cracking sky, which began to emit a metallic screech as if the gates of hell were slowly opening.
The wind began to swirl around them.Sand rose, disintegrating in the air. Then came the sound...
"Ggggggggggg..."
A sharp,deafening screech, erupting from above.
And from the midst of the forming black hole, something gigantic emerged. As if the storm had given birth to a being from wrath itself.
The Thunder Serpent.
It writhed in the sky like a red flash of fire,emitting a sound mixed of thunder and roar.
The thunder vibrated,the air tore around it.
Every flash left a red trail above the clouds.
Ronny didn't move at first. He was astonished. He couldn't believe his seemingly weak opponent had managed to summon something like this.
He asked,in a heavy tone mixing astonishment with admiration:
"Hah,boy... what's your rank?"
Edgar wiped the blood from his face with his thumb and said without hesitation:
"E."
Ronny laughed, a short laugh full of surprise. "Impossible... If you're E and summoned this beast... what will you do when you surpass the ranks?"
Edgar didn't answer, just looked at him with enigmatic eyes, as if the question didn't concern him.
And at that moment...the Thunder Serpent struck from the sky!
Booooooooom!
It shot towards Ronny at an air-rending speed.
Ronny didn't flee.He raised his fist and plunged it into the ground.
Craaaaaack!
The earth quaked,and a massive rocky wall rose from it, cracking under the impact of the blow, but it blocked the first lightning strike.
Then he turned in a single step,every muscle in him screaming with power, and ran around the wall towards Edgar.
Edgar tried to raise his sword, but his body was too heavy with pain.
Boooom!
The punch came like a meteor.It hit him and his body flew back staggering, dragging a trail of dust and stones behind him, tumbling across the ground, leaving crater after crater, until he stopped at the edge of an earthen slope.
Ronny, exhaling steam from his mouth, raised his head towards the sky.
The serpent was still there,coiling and writhing in a vast electrical circuit, but it seemed confused.
As if Ronny's blow to the earth had affected it.
As if it had extinguished something within it.
His gaze returned to his real opponent.
The dust began to clear.
And in its center...Edgar stood again, leaning on the Resurrection Blade.
His breaths were heavy,his blood staining the ground, but he was standing.
His eyes were fixed,looking at the only target before him: Ronny.
He moved.
He ran.
Each step created a smallbooom in the ground.
He didn't stop.
Ronny smiled,set his feet in a ready stance, and raised his fists.
But...Edgar didn't head towards him.
A step before reaching him,he suddenly veered at a sharp angle!
Ronny realized the trick too late.
"Damn it...he tricked me—"
Before he could finish, red light reflected on his cheek.
He looked sideways—only to see a huge shadow falling from above.
Booooooooooooooom!!!!
The Thunder Serpent hit the ground like concentrated lightning.
It completely crushed Ronny.
Silence.
The earth shook,then settled.
The sky released one final sigh of light,then calmed.
Even Rat—who had been licking his hands moments before—stopped. He slowly raised his head, his eyes widening.
He said nothing,just watched.
Watched the end he had anticipated.
In contrast, Edgar was standing with difficulty.
Breathing faintly,dragging in air as if it were a knife.
Sweat mixed with blood on his face.
He whispered,in a barely audible voice:
"Did...I defeat... him?"
But the answer wasn't long in coming.
From the depths of the dust,from the heart of the crater, a faint sound was heard at first... then it rose.
Footsteps.Slow. Heavy.
Ronny emerged from the crater, dusty, burdened with soil, but alive.
A smug smile was on his face.
He said,raising an eyebrow:
"Not bad,boy... not bad."
Then he continued,his voice growing more serious:
"But now...I'll have to end the party."
He raised his head to the sky and let out a scream.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!
A scream that shattered the silence,its echo reverberating between the mountains, making the clouds tremble.
It wasn't just a scream—it was an explosion of power.
The very air vibrated around him.
Energy surged from his body like rising waves towards space.
Then he began to walk.
Each step made a sound.
Booom...booom... booom...
The earth shook,dust danced at his feet, and the sky reflected his shadow, which grew with each step.
Edgar didn't move.
The energy he had been drawing on began to fade.
His knee bent.
Then he fell.
His eyes closed and he lost consciousness.
The serpent,up there, suddenly lost its glow and began to dissolve into the sky like a dying spark.
Silence.
Everything returned to stillness.
Ronny approached, stood beside him, looked at him for a long moment and said with a strange calm:
"It seems you fight to survive...but you must do better."
His voice held a hidden respect, as if acknowledging his opponent's courage.
But before he could utter his next word—
Another sound pierced the place.
Mysterious,angry, as if emanating from the depths of the earth.
"I was meditating... and you interrupted me."
Ronny froze.
The voice continued, darker:
"You vile humans...You weren't content with torturing me in your filthy world... Now you've followed me from your hell to this pure world... and soiled it with your filth."
Ronny felt a chill run from his spine to his fingertips.
He couldn't move.
Only his head turned slowly,emitting a metallic creak as if his neck had rusted from terror.
And there...
A few steps away,amidst the dust, stood the wild Knight.
His dragon armor was magnificently black,his sword dragged on the ground, each step producing a sharp metallic scraping sound.
His dark eyes blazed with a glint of vengeance.
He raised his sword slightly and pointed it at Ronny, the distance between them mere meters, and his voice finally emerged, as if stabbed directly from his chest:
"Now... we will finish what you started."
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The earth fissured under his feet.
Ronny swallowed hard,Edgar completely unconscious,
while Rat finally looked up and said in a faint voice,as if speaking to himself:
"He has changed."