The Strongest Swordmen Vs The Strongest Unknown

Kento realized immediately first where they were. Even with his strength, he was concerned and scared for the first time in his life. Kouki and Yasuhiro followed along, now noticing what the problem was. Agatha did not understand as she was not a swordsman technically.

Kento: “Agatha, tell your master to piss off. If his goal is to kill us all, then he’s going to succeed. This isn’t the sea that we thought we had to cross. This is–”

Kouki: “The Tombs of Bramblebind…”

Yasuhiro: “Aw hell. You stupid tree. We are going to need everything you got. This place is designed to kill swordsmen. Everything here will mimic us.”

Kouki: “Brother, do not use your powers. Physical fights only. Do not even use mana. We don’t have any choice but to move forward.”

Agatha thought, ‘Master, what is your goal?’

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kazuki stepped forward to face King, who had still kept Ryoko alive, now hanging by a rope midair, unconscious, and bleeding from his whole body. They were just outside of Saint Crosses Cathedral, which had been evacuated a while ago via The Association.

It was fairly small, but there was a lot of land that surrounded it, which is what King liked. He picked this spot knowing that Kazuki would appear. He glared down at him from the sky, then walked down as if there were stairs, standing not more than 3 feet from Kazuki.

King: “Kazuki, you cannot defeat me. I want you dead. This fight starts now. Go ahead. Try and touch me. You won’t.”

He glared at Kazuki as if he was 5 feet taller than him and spoke in a threatening tone. Kazuki said one sentence before attacking, which was “I see,” and immediately threw a punch at King so fast that if someone was watching this fight, it would look as if they just remained in the spot where they were.

King barely moved to avoid it and said, “Your skills have grown soft.”

He then punched Kazuki in the stomach, which would’ve killed anyone with sheer power. His punches shattered organs, broke bones, and directly targeted people’s mana cores, but Kazuki took the hit with his armor as it did crack in the slightest though.

He laughed looking at the small crack.

Kazuki: “Indeed that was unavoidable. Was sitting in darkness all this time what made you stronger? I remember the time when–”

King didn’t let him finish and punched him again, this time making him fly across the area and land right in the Cathedral. “I see,” he said again, but King appeared once again in front of him trying to hit him again before Kazuki disappeared with an Egress Chaplet.

King closed his eyes, tracking the air and flew over right to where Kazuki reappeared, punching him again, cracking his armor slightly once more, sending Kazuki into the sky before he came back down.

King: “Why aren’t you fighting back?”

Kazuki: “It’s not that I am not trying to, but you are certainly stronger than me, old friend.”

King: “Friend. What a term. If you don’t take this seriously, you’re going to die. I’m not playing around this time, Kazuki. Should I remind you what happened to the Alcion Clan? ”

Kazuki: “Oh? Trying to hit a weak spot in me? I see.”

King: “You may think you have engraved your name in history as the Greatest Swordsman ever, however we are 2 sides of the same coin, yet my name is not known. You cast me away to die, but the Sacred Tree recognized my strength and gave me power greater than yours.”

Kazuki: “Is that the truth? Let me ask you, King. I was a young boy and did not know any better. Would you not have done the same to save your own life?”

King: “No.”

Kazuki: “No? That was a quick response.”

King: “You were my friend, Kazuki. Friends sacrifice things for each other. That includes their own lives. You abandoned that belief. Becoming older does not change that fact. You made a foolish choice to gain strength.”

Kazuki: “I see. I’m sorry. Then let me ask you this. Do the millions of people I have saved with this power change your mind? If you care that much, then I’d like to hear your opinion.”

King: “No. I do not care about people anymore. You made me think this way. I could care less about the millions you saved. You still hurt me and turned your back on me. All the people that you have killed, you have hurt them for eternity. Unlike you, I have not killed a soul.”

Kazuki thought, ‘He’s still human. That’s why he must not be killing Ryoko. He doesn’t want to kill anyone, but me. Now, how do I approach this?’

King: “Kazuki Alcion, the Greatest Swordsmen of all time, your time will end here. This man that let me out, Astro Ishikawa, you may blame him for your death. Once you're dead, then I will kill the brothers that are connected to the tree to harness the rest of its power…Tenebral Genesis, Void Chant: Nihilbirth.”

All of creation ceased to exist.

The area around them froze, then folded in on itself much like the Dark Mold did. King had control of darkness that existed before creation. Gravity and distance did not exist anymore. Everything became one connected ball of mass, allowing King to completely control everything.

Kazuki: “Hmm, White Dwarf: Compressed Infinity…Supernova: Endflare Cataclysm.”

Kazuki’s White Dwarf ability granted him not mana, but energy into a singular point to protect him from King’s upcoming attacks. Supernova created cosmic flares that exploded all over the place, creating ripples in time and space that allowed Kazuki’s mana to connect to the space that King created, letting him fight like normal.

Both of their powers were beyond anything that anyone could ever face, however they were equal, having power from the same entity.

King dashed at him at faster than the speed of light, only barely seeing afterimages from his shadow passing him, slicing at his armor, which ultimately blocked his attacks from his White Dwarf ability.

Kazuki focused, slowing down time just ever slightly, but the environment prevented even his strength from completely stopping time. When he tried this, he quickly realized that it was not working. ‘As I thought,’ he said in his mind, still tanking the incoming attacks. ‘Time is a made up concept. It does not work here.’

Kazuki swelled his body with mana that expanded so large that it made this space seem like it wasn’t endless.

Kazuki: “Full Moon: Divine Reflection!”

King suddenly stopped attacking, knowing that his attacks would come right back at him. Instead, he appeared in front of Kazuki, face to face, and slowly said, “Umbra Assimilation: Adaptive Darkness.”

He then punched Kazuki so hard, trying to pierce his heart, but his armor was too strong as it cracked again just slightly.

King: “Ah, I tried to reach your core. That defensive ability is pretty strong. However, my ability won’t stop adapting.”

He rushed at Kazuki, who now ran and avoided any critical hits. Kazuki knew what he was doing with not a worried look on his face at all.

He jumped high in the air, turned to look at King who chased after him and chanted, “New Moon: Veil of Null Eternity.”

He disappeared midair as King missed his punch. Currently, Kazuki did not exist. Even King forgot for a split second why he was here or who he was fighting. His ability erased him from the timeline, however this was dangerous for Kazuki who had a limit for 3 seconds before time would take him for good and he would be lost forever.

He appeared behind King, slicing down at his legs, trying to avoid a fatal spot, but King jumped and kicked Kazuki across the space.

King: “Ah, my mind went blank for a second. Some trump card you have? You’re too slow, Kazuki.”

Kazuki: “Haha. I see that chaplets don’t work on you here. I tried all 70 of them at once, but nothing came to be and my timeline was up. Interesting power you got there.”

King: “You act as if chaplets affect you either. Enough talking…Shadow of Tomorrow.”

Kazuki’s body was pulled into his own shadow into the ground, which proved to just be more darkness with flashing lights, blinding his vision. Alcion separated from Kazuki, slicing away the shadow before he tried to emerge back to the top, but King was awaiting right above him as if it was a mirror that you could phase through.

He punched through, missing Kazuki’s body as Alcion swept his body away back above the surface. “Red Giant,” Kazuki called out, forming a gigantic ball that fell from the darkness above.

“Noctis Requiem,” King said, holding his hand up to the giant ball of red flaming mass that aimed down at him and completely erased it in a second, disappearing into nothingness. Behind it came Alcion that targeted King’s stomach, but King was just as fast, evading left, right, up, and down, and then kicking Alcion back at Kazuki.

“Oblivion Vein!” King yelled out loud. His veins turned black and he stuck his hands in the darkness on the floor beneath him, which branched out at a rapid speed.

“Alcion! Go!” Kazuki said, having planned for this. “Last Quarter: Dusk Equilibrium."

Emerging from the empty time and space around them were various versions of Agatha Rekka from the past. His power manipulated life, allowing him to bring her back under his control, however they were not real, just figures of imagination that contained her past power.

King laughed, immediately bolting at Kazuki, bypassing the 8 Agatha’s that he controlled. However, he underestimated them, as one specifically dressed in all pink leather and having red hair grabbed his leg, chucking him across the blackness.

Kazuki stood there not doing anything, but cockily said, “Ah, I see. Although the other 7 are very strong, it seems you underestimated the main Agatha Rekka. This is her true potential, even on par with me. The first ever born into existence. Even I would struggle in a 1 on 1 against her.”

King: “Graviton Abyss.”

Black holes popped up right underneath all of them, causing 7 of the Agatha’s to fall through, but the main one stood right where she was along with Kazuki who wasn’t affected.

Kazuki: “Ah, I guess the other 7 would work on anybody else but you. What a shame.”

King didn’t say a word, but clashed with both of them, throwing kicks and punches so quickly that Agatha and Kazuki couldn’t even slice at his body. Even at his size, his combat skills without a sword were insane. He was countering two of the most powerful people in the world with just his body.

Agatha: “Realm Mover.”

The space around them suddenly shifted into daylight. They were in an empty park with black trees, as King’s power was still seeping through even with Agatha shifting it. “Waning Gibbous!” Kazuki called out, bringing down an invisible slice of intense mana that King could not dodge.

It sliced his body, but only drew a scratch of blood.

King: “All that for a drop of blo–”

All of a sudden he couldn’t talk. He only thought, ‘What did he do?’ but before he could do anything, Agatha slashed at his body so deep that it exposed his heart. “Master!” she called out. “Yeah!”

Kazuki bolted forward, purposely trying to grab his heart for a reason, not trying to slice his head off to save Astro who remained inside.

In the small time of 0.000001 seconds before Kazuki reached him, thoughts flooded through King’s mind. ‘No….No…No! No! No! NO! NO! NO! NO! I WON’T LET IT HAPPEN!’

To Kazuki and Agatha’s surprise, King screamed out loud, creating a black glass barrier that surrounded him and continued to extend at them both as defense, and as an attack.

Alcion split off in 4 shards, still containing its full power and stopped the section that came at Kazuki. “Agatha!” he yelled out. “Now!”

Agatha: “Okay! Breaker of Worlds: One True Singularity!"

A small white light extended from her chest, stopping everything that approached, even King who was stuck in his state at the moment, but they had to hurry, knowing King was extremely strong. Kazuki busted through the barriers along with Agatha who both reached out to his heart, grabbing onto it and pulling.

But, it wouldn’t pull.

It began to beat even with Agatha’s power, and his eyes rolled back, awakening his body and looking down at both of them smiling, saying “Nightmare Monarch.”

Their bodies were pushed back, but not just their bodies, their souls as well. “Oh no you don’t,” Kazuki said. “Main Sequence: Celestial Dominion.”

Their bodies came back to them before King could do anything, and Kazuki now harnessed perfect balance, allowing him to continue on an endless cascade of attacks, as slashes of moons and stars pushed King back.

Kazuki: “Having fun, old friend?”

He appeared in front of King, kicking him in his chest, making him puff out 50% of the air in his body as the waves of attacks still targeted him, chipping away at his defense.

Agatha appeared behind him as he flew backwards, unable to control his body with the attacks coming at him. However, what Kazuki and Agatha did not know was that the move he unleashed earlier did not just remove the souls from their body, but created shadows of them that emerged behind Agatha who could not even track them, as they slashed her body, making her bleed profusely.

Agatha: “M-Master…”

Kazuki: “Ah that’s okay Agatha. This is a worthy opponent. After all, he’s probably the 3rd strongest of the 9 Worlds. It’s okay. If you have the strength, use your trump card please before you perish. After all, even though you are not the strongest of the 9 Worlds Agatha, your ability is most certainly number 1 out of anything. Oh, but please keep me out of it. That way I can get to King before you perish.”

Agatha: “Ok-Okay…Singularity Expansion: Control Over All.”

Even worse than her ability before that stopped King, this allowed for her to have complete control over King’s body and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. She had control over everything and anything in the entire world. Even the strongest person couldn’t stop her, not even Kazuki, however he was released from her ability at the moment, and walked up to King who was completely frozen in time.

Kazuki: “I’ve always admired this ability, Agatha. It’s like the Time Chaplet, but 100x more powerful. You are strong. You don’t have to suffer anymore. You can waste away until I call you again.”

Agatha: “Th-Thank you, master.”

She disappeared into thin air as Kazuki grabbed the heart this time, focusing all his mana onto his hands, which shined so bright that it would’ve blinded anybody within a 10 mile radius. He ripped it out, watching King’s body fall to the ground.

Looking at the heart, he stuck his finger inside, purposely pulling out a black ring that was encased in it, in which he put it on, harnessing darkness that collided with his own mana until it was purified and out of the ring came Astro’s soul and body.

Kazuki put his soul back inside saying, “Welcome back, Sir Astro.”

Astro: “I figured I’d see you. I was banking on you to save me. Looks like you came through.”

Kazuki: “Hahaha! I did have some help indeed. Even with my strength, that boy over there is much stronger than me. He was the first ruler of the Dark Mold. I’d only imagine that his strength is greater than mine. Although the Dark Mold is a realm in this world, it has the power to become the 10th World of Protration in itself.”

Astro: “Kazuki, how are you going to get everyone back? I’m sorry, but I’m selfish. I need Welpen, Lucky, Dante, and Ryoko back. They are my goal right now. I could care less about anyone else to be honest, but I am grateful that you are helping.”

Kazuki: “Hmm, well I already teleported Ryoko out of here. He is safe and sound. So, we just need to get to that skeleton that appeared earlier.”

Astro: “Skeleton?”

Kazuki: “Yeah, a skeleton creature kidnapped the bodies in front of me. Don’t worry, I will get them back. But for now le–”

A sword shifted right through Kazuki’s body. He turned around to see King smiling, covered in blood, pushing this dark blue shadowy sword through his body.

King: “Just cause I fight with my fists, doesn’t mean I don’t have a sword…Black Lantern of Despair: “Ultimate Sacrifice!”

All sizes of lanterns began to appear in the area one by one as it reverted back to the darkness that covered them from before. Different colored flames lit up in each of them before opening and engulfing the area, burning everything in its path.

Astro bolted at Kazuki, still having mana left from his scythe, and just enough to use Shadow Teleportation to get them out of there that combined with Kazuki’s mana to be able to bypass time and space in their small area.

King’s body fell to the ground as Kazuki looked at him, unsure what to think as they teleported back to a familiar face that Astro thought of for some reason at Moonshadow Village.

Every Jelly at the village surrounded Kazuki praising him like a God, as the three leaders came over, welcoming Astro again along with his friend this time.

Azelth: “Ah yes, the man who defies fate. We have seen you in our scripts, Kazuki Alcion.”