Chapter 24: The Final Battle?

Zyelt laughed, as his blade shined a deep, dark purple, and he points it at Iskatl, before dashing forward, slicing the air and sending forth an arc of pink energy, which he'd then hold his hand up to fold the projectile, so it would change trajectory to hit Iskatl directly.

"Justice Monarch, Iskatl. Combine your Resonance. Resonance is just paint to you, combine the red and blue to create purple, Iskatl."

The Reliquary spoke, yet it wasn't the Reliquary. It was her; the Goddess.

Holding his hand out, that flame from before would pulse in his hand, and he held out his other hand, his new power, Justice Resonance, burst out. It was a concept, and it felt strange to wield something that had no substance, but he let his body act on its own, splicing the Justice Resonance into the fire to create a golden flame, with a black hue. He tilted his head and that golden flame took shape, coalescing around Shamash to awaken something else within it.

"YES. WONDERFUL, LORD ISKATL. TRULY WONDROUS. THE HEAVENLY KNIGHT WHO WOULD DOMINATE HELL."

Shamash roared in his ear, and Iskatl felt the armor Shamash created creep all the way down his body, covering every inch of his body aside from his head before he looked to Zyelt, his head throbbing as he laughed loudly, and let his blood take control. Time had slowed as Zyelt made his assault, and Iskatl took shape of an even greater power than before. The projectile was slashed in two and Zyelt only tilted his head as he held his hand out.

"Do you think you dwarf me in power? Your power is from the King, mine is from the Dragon that lies in wait to consume that King. My Grace, it comes from my obsession with folding paper. So many cranes made, and now I can fold existence itself."

Iskatl felt his mana itself being grasped, before Zyelt moved his hand slightly, and he coughed up blood.

"Mana levels reduced by half. Will take a moment to recover."

The Reliquary chimed in before Amani stepped forward.

"SCYLLA'S SPEAR, THIRD CONFIGURATION: LUNAR FLOOD."

The air was covered in black wisps of light, which would all form multicolored beams of black, pink, and purple and assail Zyelt. Thousands and thousands of beams of light would rain down upon Zyelt, as Amani shouted.

"You killed my mom, and my dad! Now you think you can kill the man I love too?! No!"

Iskatl blushed at hearing her admission, before Kouga and then Valkyr stepped forward.

Zyelt was standing there, tilting his head - as if the moonlight wasn't affecting him at all... Amani's eyes widened as she noticed that all the light beams assailing him were being absorbed by his blade.

"When I impaled you all that time ago, the blade permanently remembered something it was so hungry for. In it's released state, the blade devours all of its favorite meal, your moonlight. Scylla's spear? Give me a break, dumb bi--"

Kouga's fist hit him in the face as he tilted his head, looking to Kouga. His nose began to bleed, and he'd sigh deeply before he held his hand out, gathering that blood from his nose in his hand, and stabbing through Valkyr with it. Valkyr looked to Zyelt with a smile.

"Do I scare you?"

"My mother warned me about girls like you, so I'd rather be cautious. Though... You feel familiar."

Valkyr tilted her head before holding her hand out.

"Die for me."

Zyelt felt an unknown force begin to crush him, as he approached Valkyr slowly, only for Iskatl to stop him with his blade blocking his path.

"Take another step."

He also felt Kouga's fist against the back of his head, before the wolf spoke coldly.

"Like he said. Do it, I dare you."

Zyelt slashed his blade up in the air and light beams began to rain down, assailing the four before he rushed forward to grab Valkyr, only for her to disappear then reappear a few feet away. His full attention was on Valkyr, as if she were the biggest threat to him here.

Amani, Kouga, and even Iskatl were all trying to keep his attention, yet he wanted Valkyr. It was a tough situation, trying to separate the Dragon Priest from it's target. There was clearly a deeper connection here, like with Iskatl and Zyelt.

"Iskatl, be ready."

Shamash echoed in his very being before he stepped back, and held his blade in front of him, getting ready to parry. His movements, assisted and accepted by his tool for justice.

"That's it, asshole!"

Valkyr waved her hand, and a bright orange light slashed into Zyelt, cleaving through him and straight to Iskatl, who would deflect the blow right back at Zyelt, and into Valkyr's hand, cutting off his arm with no difficulty at all, a stinging pain felt in Iskatl's arm as he screamed in pain, before Zyelt laughed softly.

Then, a roar shook Iskatl's very core, and caused him to fall over, losing consciousness immediately before glass shattered in his ear, and Golden flame covered him, and the other three, causing them to remain as that roar continued, causing the world to shake violently.

"Unstoppable Foe encountered. Emperor status attained. Penance Emperor, Justice Monarch. Sovereignty approaches for oneself. Ruler Grace: Penance Amplification acquired. Penance Amplification effects: When encountering a Sinner, the user's mana begins to increase at an exponential rate, making them surpass the Sinner several times over. Notice! Reliquary expanded. Would you like to enhance Justice Flame using Penance Amplification?"

He'd nod, and that Golden flame ascended yet another time. Gold and crimson fire burned deeply, escaping every single one of his pores.

"Would you like to infuse your mana with Amplified Justice Flame? Warning: This will modify your mana nature forever!"

He nodded softly, and spoke out. A steamy breath escaped his lips as the Reliquary spoke once more. This entire time, time wasn't passing, all of this was in his head.

"Alkutha's blood, combined with Penance Amplification, combined with Justice Flame, combined with Demon's blood, combined with the Hell Serpent bloodline has ascended your flame even further. Sinners are now to be punished in this world how they should have always been punished. Sovereign's Knight against Ouroboros' Darkness. Your tools will prevail against his raw might. Would you like to continue?"

"Yes."

The very next moment, there was only darkness, and Iskatl gazed before Zyelt. The pair locked eyes and Iskatl snarled, to which Zyelt sneered.

"Well, I hate to do this, Detective. I was hoping to slaughter your friends, but they're much too troublesome. Just you and I, fighting together forever in Hell."

That Golden and Orange flame covered Iskatl's entire body, as Shamash whispered in his ear.

"This isn't Hell, it's Purgatory, and we need to show him what Hell truly is. Don't we?"

Iskatl nodded as he looked around. It was just him, and it was Zyelt. No friends, no anything. Just him and this murdering bastard. This story was to end how it began; with two opposing sides of Justice fighting for their personal truth and ideals. Or was it for vengeance? Gods only knew what Iskatl could even be thinking at this rate. What did it matter? All that mattered was the bastard that got away wasn't getting away a second time. This second chance was just prolonging his miserable existence, and Iskatl couldn't help but laugh. His laughter erupted throughout the realm, breaking up the silence as Zyelt took a step back.