Damian hurled a flurry of batarangs at Slade, who deflected them effortlessly, his focus unbroken as he continued charging forward. The two clashed, swords locking in a shower of sparks. Using his superior strength, Slade pushed Damian back, forcing him to flip away and throw a smoke bomb to the ground. It erupted instantly, filling the air with a thick cloud.

Slade stopped, listening intently. Deprived of his vision, he relied on his enhanced hearing, detecting every shift in the smoke. Without warning, he spun and blocked a sword strike from Damian coming from behind, then lashed out with a kick that slammed against Damian’s jaw. Damian spun through the air, skidding to a stop, wiping a smear of blood from his lip.

“Robin!” Raven’s weak voice called out, concern etched across her face.

“Go finish the deal. He’s mine,” Damian said sharply, rushing back toward Slade. Raven nodded and moved toward the center of the shrine, leaving Damian to face his foe. Slade swung both swords in a horizontal arc. Damian slid low and drove his blade upward, carving a deep gash into Slade’s abdomen. Slade grunted, tossing one sword aside, only for it to impale Damian’s thigh as he rose.

Seizing the opening, Slade leapt high and brought his sword down. Damian raised his weapon to block,the clash rang out with a deafening clang. His eyes widened as his sword shattered under the force. Twisting to the right, he dodged the strike and used the broken blade to stab Slade’s arm. Slade grunted, swinging with his free hand and punching Damian in the face. Damian was sent flying, skidding across the shrine floor before slowly pushing himself up.

Gritting his teeth, Damian yanked the sword free from his thigh as Slade pulled the dagger from his own arm. “Not bad, boy,” Slade said, picking up his remaining sword. His now-limp right hand rendered the other useless. “But this is where it ends.”

He charged forward, thrusting his sword with lethal intent. Damian leaned to the side just in time as the blade passed through his armpit, narrowly missing him. In a swift counter, Damian drove his blade deep into Slade’s chest, twisting sharply as he pushed upward. Slade froze, eyes widening in shock, before his body split in two. Yet strangely, no blood flowed. His features warped, flesh burning and twisting as he transformed into a demonic figure before igniting and collapsing into a drifting pile of ash.

Damian took a cautious step back, watching the remnants scatter in the wind. A question lingered in his mind: had Slade truly died, or was he still out there in hiding or possibly taken back the League?

Damian’s thoughts were interrupted by Raven’s voice rising into the air.

“Grant me the strength of mighty Azarath… to contain the demon Trigon within the new sacred shard… now and forever!”

Her chant echoed across the shrine as she thrust her hands forward. A towering pillar of violet energy erupted from the center of the shrine and shot straight into the sky, its light illuminating the entire mountain peak before vanishing into the heavens.

Meanwhile,Kandhaq City

Across the city of Kahndaq, most civilians had already taken shelter inside their homes after the bizarre sequence of events that had shaken the entire region.

Night had turned into day not once, but three separate times. Each surge of light had grown stronger than the last, followed by scorching gusts of wind that swept through the streets. People caught outside had suffered minor burns from the heat alone.

Then came the storms.

Violent winds, thunderous tremors, and earthquakes had rolled across the city, leaving buildings cracked and roads fractured. Just as the chaos finally began to calm and people dared to believe it was over,two entagled streaks of red and blue tore through the skyline.

They smashed through one skyscraper after another like living missiles, each impact producing a deafening boom that shattered steel and concrete alike.

If anyone could have followed the movement with their eyes, they would have seen the truth.

The two figures tearing through the city were Max and Trigon.

The pair burst through another skyscraper and crashed down onto the street below. The asphalt collapsed beneath them as they slammed into the ground, craters spreading outward like spiderwebs.

They struck each other at the exact same moment.

Two fists collided with two faces.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the surrounding blocks, shaking nearby buildings and shattering every window within a three-hundred-meter radius.

The force of the blow sent them tumbling across the street like wrecking balls.

Max recovered first.

With a sharp grunt he grabbed Trigon by the ankles, using the demon’s own momentum against him. His muscles tightened as he swung the massive demon forward and hurled him across the city.

Trigon spun violently through the air before managing to right himself.

He crashed straight into another skyscraper, his body tearing through several floors before the building groaned under the impact.

But Max was already moving.

Before Trigon could even steady himself, Max was on him.

His fist drove upward in a brutal uppercut that launched the demon skyward, Trigon’s back scraping along the shattered exterior of the tower as he was forced upward.

Max followed immediately.

He rocketed into the air and twisted his body, unleashing a powerful spinning kick.

The strike connected with a thunderous crack.

Trigon’s enormous body was sent flying like a cannonball, tearing through the air as he was launched far beyond the city limits,hurtling toward the endless desert beyond Kahndaq.

Max roared.

The blue, steam-like aura surrounding his body intensified, crackling violently as arcs of lightning danced across it. His ki surged outward, blending further with his chakra until the air around him distorted from the pressure.

Then he vanished.

A sonic boom tore through the sky as Max rocketed after Trigon, catching up to the demon within a second.

His fist shot forward, aimed straight at Trigon’s face.

Trigon caught it effortlessly.

Max’s eyes widened slightly.

He threw another punch with his free hand.

That one was caught too.

For a brief moment the two hovered in the sky, fists locked in each other’s grip. Then, almost simultaneously, both of them lunged forward and slammed their foreheads together.

The headbutt cracked like thunder.

The sky itself seemed to tremble from the impact.

Trigon’s eyes flared with crimson light.

Before Max could react, a blazing beam of demonic energy erupted from the demon’s eyes at point-blank range.

The blast engulfed Max instantly.

The beam pushed him backward through the air, shredding his shirt to pieces as the force of it drove him several meters away. Max gritted his teeth and forced his arms up, shielding his face while struggling against the overwhelming pressure.

Trigon scowled and poured even more power into the attack.

The beam intensified.

Max leaned forward and forced himself through the torrent of energy. Inch by inch he pushed closer, his aura screaming under the strain.

Then, the moment he got close enough,he struck.

Max’s hands shot forward and clamped over Trigon’s eyes.

The beam scattered wildly through the gaps between his fingers, streaking off into the sky in chaotic bursts of energy.

Trigon roared in fury and tried to rip him off.

Max twisted his body in midair and slipped behind him, locking his left arm around Trigon’s neck in a brutal headlock.

The demon thrashed violently.

Max ignored it.

His right hand pressed firmly against Trigon’s back as golden light began to gather in his palm.

His ki surged, compressing into a blazing sphere of deep yellow energy.

“Take this!”

The energy erupted.

A devastating ki wave blasted point-blank into Trigon’s back, engulfing the demon completely. The beam carried him like a projectile across the sky and hurled him toward the desert beyond Kahndaq.

The ground exploded on impact.

The blast drilled deep into the desert floor, carving out a massive crater and melting the sand into glowing rivers of lava.

Max slowly descended from the sky, breathing heavily as he looked down at the destruction.

Where Trigon had landed now stood a ten-meter-wide pit. Molten rock bubbled along its edges, the intense heat turning the surrounding sand into glass.

For a moment, nothing moved.

Then a crimson hand rose from the molten pit.

Max inwardly groaned.

Trigon emerged from the crater, lava dripping from his body like burning rain. The aura around him had deepened into a darker, more menacing crimson. The black markings across his body now glowed a fiery red as arcs of scarlet lightning snapped around him.

An overwhelming sense of danger washed over Max.

Before he could react,a fist slammed deep into his abdomen.

Max’s blue aura vanished instantly.

His eyes bulged as the air was forced from his lungs. Blood and spit burst from his mouth while his body was launched hundreds of meters across the desert.

He skipped across the sand like a stone across water before finally skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust.

For several seconds he remained still.

Then Max slowly pushed himself up and coughed out a glob of blood.

Across from him, Trigon descended from the sky. Crimson lightning arced around the demon’s body as he landed, the ground cracking beneath his feet.

Max straightened, wiping the blood from his mouth.

His expression hardened.

Slowly, he began forcing every ounce of chakra in his body toward his heart. The organ started beating faster… and faster… until the sound of it echoed in his ears like a war drum.

He raised his thumb and pressed it firmly against his chest.

It had been a long time since he had felt truly threatened.

But strangely enough…He felt a flicker of excitement.

Trigon had just speed-blitzed him. Max had barely even seen the attack coming, which meant the demon had finally started taking the fight seriously.

Max exhaled slowly.

‘Good…’

His aura flickered faintly around him once more.

‘If that’s the case…’His eyes sharpened.

‘Then I guess I should stop holding back too.’

End of Chapter

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