[Third Person Pov]

Lucian was the first to move, refusing to allow even a heartbeat of hesitation to exist between them. Darkness poured from him in thick, suffocating waves as he coated the blade of his scythe in a condensed mantle of shadow. The light around the weapon bent and distorted as if reality itself recoiled from its presence, wisps of black vapor rising from the edge like slow-burning smoke from a dying star.

With a sharp exhale, Lucian brought the scythe down with all of his might.

The air screamed as it warped beneath the force of the strike, and a razor-thin crescent of darkness tore forward, carving through space toward Agares. The Great Demon vanished at the last possible instant, teleporting away just as the attack passed through where his body had been. Lucian’s blow continued unabated, splitting the ground apart with catastrophic force. Massive fissures tore open beneath it, and from the ruptured earth, a towering surge of shadow erupted skyward like a blackened geyser.

“What an attack~” Agares whistled, his voice carrying easily through the destruction. “I can see now where your arrogance stems from.”

Lucian had already spun on his heel, swinging his scythe again with lethal intent. Each strike left long, trailing scars of darkness hanging in the air, the afterimages of his attacks lingering like wounds in reality itself. Agares moved through them effortlessly, dodging at such impossible speed that his form fractured into multiple afterimages.

“But that is all it is,” Agares sneered, contempt curling his words. With a violent burst of motion, he redirected Lucian’s blade aside with a focused blast of hellfire.

Before Lucian could recover, Agares seized the shaft of the polearm, yanked him forward, and grabbed him by the head. In a single, brutal motion, he hurled Lucian downward.

Lucian twisted midair and landed on his feet, but the impact shattered the lava-coated ground beneath him. Cracks spiderwebbed outward as molten liquid splashed and hissed around his boots.

Agares raised his hand, and a storm of hellfire thundered down from above like a descending lance, scorching the air itself.

Lucian answered without hesitation, thrusting his hand upward and launching a black firebolt to meet it.

The two attacks collided, erupting into a violent storm of multicolored flame that spiraled wildly between them. Heat, shadow, and infernal energy churned together until the battlefield vanished within the chaos. Then, without warning, Agares burst through the storm cloud, his form tearing through the inferno.

Lucian shadow-stepped away just in time as the demon’s presence slammed into the ground. The entire illusionary domain convulsed violently, the shockwave rippling outward like a magnitude-six earthquake.

Lucian raised two fingers and formed an okay sign over one eye, focusing his gaze on Agares as the trembling world struggled to remain intact.

“Ophis,” he called, invoking summoning magic.

Beneath Agares’ feet, his shadow bulged and split apart as Ophis erupted from the darkness below. The massive serpent snapped its jaws around the demon and surged skyward, shadows trailing in its wake.

Lucian extended his hand, and dozens of intricate magic circles flared into existence around him. Curse-weapon projections materialized within them, raining down toward Agares in a relentless barrage.

Fire ignited across Agares’ skin, at first curling like smoke before violently combusting. A roaring field of heat and flame enveloped him, forming a blazing protective barrier. Ophis burned away mid-ascent, its form disintegrating into a shower of shadowy wisps, while Lucian’s summoned weapons melted and warped before they could reach their target.

“Now then,” Agares said calmly, his voice layered with growing power, “I think I’ve been a little too passive. I am a demon of my word, after all.”

His energy surged—and then he vanished.

He reappeared directly in front of Lucian faster than Lucian could foresee. Instinct alone guided Lucian’s movements as he raised his defenses, barely managing to react as Agares unleashed his overwhelming power. Every attempt to teleport away was thwarted, Agares appearing in front of him before Lucian could even fully materialize.

Lucian unleashed everything he had—magic, spells, curses, illusions, and spiritual techniques—each used carefully, as his spiritual reserves were far more limited than his magical ones. The illusionary space became a maelstrom of explosions and blinding light.

Then Agares lanced his claws upward, striking Lucian’s weapon and knocking it from his grasp. Before Lucian could recover, Agares began raining down blows at an utterly supernatural speed. Each punch carried a force so immense that the air trembled and burst apart with sharp, concussive pops.

Cracks splintered across Lucian’s armor, its seams screaming under the strain. Even with his defenses raised, it was clear—no armor could endure the relentless assault of a Great Demon forever.

Agares seized Lucian by the head, his claws digging mercilessly into his skull, and forced him into a baptism of hellfire.

Infernal flames erupted at point-blank range, engulfing Lucian’s body in a roaring torrent of heat. Lucian let out a guttural roar of agony as the attack did not merely burn flesh—it clawed directly at his spirit, searing essence and soul alike. The fire howled through him, stripping away protection as if it were meaningless. Portions of his armor flaked apart and disintegrated, revealing scorched skin beneath, blackened and cracked, burn marks etched deep into his body like cursed sigils.

Still gripping his head, Agares slammed Lucian face-first into the ground and then burst forward at super speed, dragging him along. Lucian’s body carved a violent trench through the terrain, earth and molten stone erupting outward as his form gouged through the battlefield like a living battering ram.

Agares came to a sudden stop and stomped down.

The ground answered with a deafening crack as a massive slab of earth tore free, rising like a jagged mountain wall. Agares seized Lucian and flung him at mach speed. Lucian struck the stone with explosive force, embedding deep within it as shockwaves rippled outward.

“Ahahaha!!” Agares laughed wildly.

He began dismantling Lucian’s armor piece by piece, each punch landing with brutal precision. Metal buckled, segments shattered, and fragments flew with every strike.

Without even looking at Lucian, Agares casually ran a hand through his own head, his expression bored, all while his other fist continued to hammer Lucian relentlessly. One final blow shattered Lucian’s helm entirely, the remnants scattering like scrap.

Then, with a demonic grin stretching across his face, Agares cocked his fist back and drove it straight into Lucian’s gut.

The impact was catastrophic.

Jagged cracks raced up the stone wall behind him as Lucian’s chestplate exploded into a storm of shattered metal. Agares stepped back as Lucian’s cheeks puffed and his body convulsed. He collapsed to one knee and vomited violently, a gruesome spray of blood splattering the ground as he coughed up dark, ruined chunks from within.

The wall behind him finally gave way, collapsing inward and burying Lucian beneath a crude tomb of rubble and dust.

“Hahaha! That was entertaining!” Agares laughed, basking in the fading echoes of battle.

Then he paused.

From beneath the debris, something shifted.

Lucian emerged slowly, pushing rubble aside as his skin began to darken unnaturally. His black hair bled into white, strand by strand, until it turned snow-pale. Crimson tribal markings crawled across his skin like living things, pulsing faintly with power.

“Haha… what a tenacious brat,” Agares chuckled, a hint of respect creeping into his tone. “Just stay down. You obviously stand no chance. You haven’t even properly injured me once. Suddenly growing a tan isn’t going to help you.”

“You say I stand no chance?” Lucian replied, rising fully from the wreckage. He wore nothing but his silver armor pants now. His torso was battered, bruised, and burned, skin split and bleeding, yet his posture remained unbroken. “And who decided that?”

“Me. I did,” Agares answered casually, pointing a finger at himself. “You honestly stand no literal chance.”

Lucian wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and stepped forward, boots squelching through his own blood. He walked toward Agares with open arrogance.

“Let me give you a piece of advice, Agares,” Lucian said calmly. “Keep your eyes open… but not too open. The glare of the sun can be rather blinding. And you might just miss how wrong you truly are.”

“Hahahaha!!” Agares burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha!” Lucian joined him, hands resting on his hip.

Agares laughed louder.

So did Lucian.

“HOW ARROGANT!” Agares snarled.

His tail speared through the air, stabbing precisely where Lucian stood—

—but Lucian burst apart into particles of light.

The glowing fragments danced around Agares before reassembling instantly at his side, near his head, moving at the speed of light.

Lucian appeared with one leg drawn back. His entire limb was engulfed in radiant golden energy, blinding in intensity. Tiny specks of light shimmered and buzzed around it like miniature stars, the brilliance casting harsh glares across the battlefield.

Lucian kicked with his whole body.

The blow slammed into Agares’ face with his full strength. The golden light detonated on impact, exploding outward in a cascade of radiant fireworks. Agares was ripped from the ground and hurled backward, tearing through the air and shattering sound barrier after sound barrier as he was launched across the illusionary space.

Agares flipped violently through the air, the sheer momentum splitting the atmosphere around him. His tail finally slammed into the ground, rupturing the terrain as he dragged it to bleed off speed. He dug his feet in, skidding to a halt in a low crouch.

Bracing himself, Agares wiped the corner of his lip.

A speck of blood stained his thumb.

He stared at it—genuinely surprised.

“You call it arrogance,” Lucian said as he landed lightly on the ground, standing tall, head held high.

“I call it pride.”

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