A sound of thunder erupted, followed by a shockwave that blew the surroundings; the ground was torn up, creating a cloud of smoke that obscured visibility.

    "I guess you aren''t just relying on your weapon to fight," Apollo commented, seeing how Nero was able to block his last attack without being pushed back.

    From above, a giant crater can be seen, and at the center of it are two individuals dueling at the torn ground beneath them, which began to be covered in flames.

    Apollo has been executing the swordsmanship he learns from Mahika, not letting his opponent form his attack. He plans to completely overwhelm him before disarming Nero away from his weapon. However, despite his initial advantage at the start, the sword''s might is still too hard to challenge, especially with Nero slowly adapting to Apollo''s fighting style.

    A radiant golden light arc with Nero advancing; midway to his attack, he began casting spells; these spells were rampant at the very start of the fight, but Jeremiah kept canceling them. Now, though, something was aiding the former king that made the artificial intelligence confused. What he cast was a different type of spell that didn''t have a direct effect on his creator. That is why he couldn''t cancel them like before.

    Nero successfully cast his spell, creating illusory doubles to obscure his true position. As the images surrounded Apollo, Nero unleashed a flurry of sword strikes, each one faster and more precise than the last.

    The receiver of the attack just smirked, his eyes narrowing as the skill Light of Aegis puts its maximum power to protect him, a dome of white light deflected the illusions and revealed the real position of Nero. Then, as if reading his opponent''s mind, Apollo sidestepped a downward slash and retaliated with a spell-infused thrust of his blade.

    "Fusion technique, Spell art!" magic and swordsmanship combine in a single strike.

    The tip of Apollo''s sword erupted with brilliant light, forcing Nero to fall back and shield his body. The power of the five elements was guided by the power of the sword, and the compressed attack brought great impact with it. And even distance wasn''t able to reduce the power it has.

    The tide of the battle keeps changing, and now Nero is being pushed back by a sword that barely existed than the one in his hand. However, despite the situation, he didn''t falter. He immediately began casting another spell, one that could amplify his physical abilities and infused his strikes with bursts of explosive energy. Excalibur glowed brighter as he launched a series of calculated attacks, each blow perfectly timed to exploit potential openings.

    Apollo reacted well and combined his foresight with his movements, so even with the fast rain of attack, Apollo was still able to parry and dodge, even landing a strike from unexpected angles.

    The biggest obstacle he has right now is Excalibur''s overpowering light. No matter what he does, it would block anything. It was the greatest defense he had encountered. He could not penetrate it.

    As soon as Apollo was gone, a group of men arrived. These people wore the insignia of the imperial house.

    "Well, it seems my dear brother got himself beaten," Augustus said; he was the one who led the army to investigate the riot that was currently happening.

    "Brother..." Nero began to speak, "You wouldn''t believe what just happened"

    The emperor just shook his head as his eyes fell on a certain object, "Well it seems you are right, I might not believe how this happened"

    Planted on the ground where Apollo was previously standing was a sword that made the battlefield broken as it is.

    "Your imperial majesty!" The nameless soldier who was always by the emperor''s side shouted in disbelief as the sword from the legend came to life.

    "Excalibur" Augustus just said as he summoned the sword to his hand. The weapon glowed, feeling the command, and without struggling, it flew and obeyed the order of the emperor.

    Nero defeatingly closed his eyes, knowing his brother had finally formed his connection to the weapon just like he did.

    "Ha.... Really, I wonder where my plan started to fail." he thought so until a certain someone came to his mind, "I wonder why you didn''t even see me, teacher." his mind trails off, thinking of a certain place that had long been forgotten by time.

    "That demon.....I am certain he has some connection with that place. His attacks were too familiar to me almost as if he was a mage there like me...." Bit by bit, the consciousness of Nero is fading away; even Nepheline''s cry wasn''t able to keep him from falling asleep. Deep within his dreams, a certain person was waving at him, a man he thought he had forgotten.

    "Teacher... Apollo"

    Sounds of explosion came to his ears along with eyes that bore pain and hate.