The battlefield around them was beyond repair—mountains of debris, rivers of molten metal, and storms of loose energy that flashed across the horizon like miniature suns.

It was no longer a duel between two men. It was a calamity given form.

Cain tightened his grip on {Eidwyrm}. His voice came out low, ragged. "You're not walking away from this."

Nebula raised his arm, summoning a single remaining blade—a thin, trembling sliver of silver light. "Neither are you."

For a moment, neither moved.

Then both attacked.

The world held its breath.

Their strikes met at the center of the crater, the impact producing a sound that was not sound—a vibration that rolled through the ground and sky alike. The energy released spread outward like a pulse, flattening everything it touched.

The clouds above scattered. The rain stopped. Even the wind seemed to freeze.

Then the pulse exploded outward.

A blinding flash swallowed everything in sight. The crater deepened, swallowing the remains of the battlefield. When the light faded, only silence remained.

At the heart of that silence, Cain stood kneeling, {Eidwyrm} buried in the ground. Blood dripped freely from his arms, staining the cracked soil beneath him.

Nebula stood several meters away, chest rising and falling slowly. His blade arm hung uselessly at his side. One eye was swollen shut.

Neither spoke.

Neither smiled.

But both understood.

This fight wasn't over. Not yet. The next blow would decide who fell first—but for now, they simply stared, two monsters barely held together by hate and defiance.

The storm gathered once more above them, dark and trembling, as if the world itself waited to see which one would break first.

The storm finally broke.

A deafening crack of thunder tore the sky open, and the heavens themselves seemed to bleed light. Rain came in torrents, smashing against the molten earth in a hiss of steam. The battlefield—already ruined beyond recognition—was now a vast basin of mud and glowing metal.

Cain didn't flinch as the first bolt of lightning struck nearby, vaporizing a section of the ground. His eyes were locked on Nebula, who stood opposite him in the chaos, still breathing hard but very much alive.

The rain washed the blood from both of them, but it couldn't clean the hatred in their eyes.

"Still standing," Nebula muttered. His voice was raw, frayed. "You don't know when to die."

Cain's reply came through gritted teeth. "Been told that before."

He rose to his full height, {Eidwyrm} dragging through the mud, the crimson cracks along its length glowing faintly with every step. His aura flared—not as blinding as before, but dense, heavy, enough to make the rain itself hesitate midair for a fraction of a second.

Nebula rolled his shoulders, summoning more blades into existence. Each one emerged slower than before, flickering in and out as if fighting against instability. Still, he formed dozens.

The storm intensified.

Cain shot forward. Nebula responded in kind.

They collided in a shockwave that flattened the nearest ridge, throwing up mud and steam in all directions. Cain's blade met the wall of spinning shards head-on, sparks bursting from every impact.

The air screamed.

Cain weaved through the blades, eyes locked on his target. He feinted left, ducked under a horizontal strike, then drove his shoulder into Nebula's chest, slamming him backward.

Nebula twisted midair and used his own blades as footholds, flipping upright and sending a dozen spinning projectiles flying back at Cain.

Cain swung once—{Eidwyrm} cleaved through all of them in a single brutal arc.

The next instant, Nebula appeared right in front of him, his movement blurring through the rain. Cain barely parried the strike aimed at his throat. The force pushed him back, boots sliding through the mud.

Their faces were inches apart now, eyes locked in mutual hatred.

"Tell me," Nebula growled. "Why keep fighting when everything burns? What's left for you to save?"

Cain's lips curled into a grim smile. "You're looking at it."

He broke the clash with a headbutt, sending Nebula stumbling back. Before the man could recover, Cain pressed the attack.

The rhythm changed.

Cain was no longer simply reacting—he was dictating the pace. Each swing of his blade carried momentum like a storm tide, relentless and overwhelming. Nebula blocked with his forearms, his constructs barely forming fast enough to keep up.

The clangor of steel drowned out the thunder.

Nebula gritted his teeth, his arm trembling as Cain's next blow sent him crashing into the ground. He hit hard, dirt and sparks erupting around him.

Cain didn't let him breathe. He stepped in, bringing {Eidwyrm} down like a guillotine.

Nebula's eyes flashed. In the blink of an eye, his body disintegrated into a swirl of metallic dust—and reformed behind Cain, driving a knee into his spine.

Cain roared, spun, and slashed. The blade cut deep into Nebula's arm, nearly severing it. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the wound seared closed from the heat of the weapon.

Nebula's face twisted in pain, but he didn't fall back. He retaliated with a brutal hook to Cain's jaw, sending him staggering.

Both men were bleeding freely now.

Neither slowed down.

The ground cracked with every step they took, the sheer pressure of their movement tearing through what little remained of the terrain. Lightning struck the space between them, illuminating their silhouettes locked in constant motion—strike, parry, counter, evade.

Each hit carried intent to kill.

Cain found an opening, swinging low. Nebula caught the blade with both hands, stopping it inches from his stomach. The energy radiating from it scorched his palms, but he held on.

Cain leaned closer, their foreheads nearly touching. "You're slipping."

Nebula hissed through his teeth. "So are you."

With a grunt, he forced the blade upward, sending Cain stumbling back. Then, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Every remaining blade floating in the storm above them turned downward.

Hundreds of glinting edges descended like rain.

Cain looked up, exhaled, and moved.

{Eidwyrm} flashed once, twice, a dozen times in the space of seconds. His strikes blurred into a wall of motion, slicing through every falling weapon that dared to reach him.

The ground erupted around him in a series of detonations, and still he advanced.

When the final blade shattered, Cain was already within arm's reach. He swung with all his remaining strength.