As Elysia loses her way in the castle, trying her best to find herself on the right path again, and Ophelia continues to fight off the vampires invading her room, Kislev charges towards the bloodshed, not for more, rather, to end it.
.....
.....
"PAM! NO!" Esk screams out from behind, watching in horror as Pam's arm is severed from her body.
Screaming in pain, Pam dashes backwards as Thern steps forwards, doing his best to fend off Jyon's fierce attacks.
Despite the screams of Pam coming from behind, and the ear piercing laughter coming from Jyon in the front, Thern, despite all odds, remains composed and focused, giving his strength a purpose.
'Damnit... how can I win…? She's so strong, and none of my attacks can go through... she's just toying with me...' Thern thinks to himself, beginning to lose hope as his defense becomes sluggish the longer the battle continues.
'What if... I just ran?' He continues... his hope fleeting as his head gets overrun with these mind consuming thoughts.
However, rather than acting on impulse, he stands his ground, continuing to fight back despite his condition worsening, which in turn made Jyon shine with glee.
But as the fight continued, in a moment of turmoil, Jyon strikes Thern's sword so hard that it shatters, breaking in half as his blade falls to the ground.
And as her next attack sweeps through, it's moments from Thern's neck before it's stopped as Jyon is launched into a wall, creating a crater for her to rest before she falls to the ground.
Kislev had made it just in time to save the warrior's life.
Stunned, Thern stands there for a moment, before he drops to one knee, panting as if his breath had been stolen from him.
Looking around, Kislev quickly takes note of the destruction Jyon has caused.
With the smallest of things being Pam's missing arm, to the biggest of things with the multiple dead warriors from the troupe he had found on the way.
"You're all going to be ok, please stay here, I will finish this." Kislev says, hiding his eyes away as he sets them on Jyon as she gets up from her rest.
Staring at him for a moment, she laughs ecstatically.
"So, this is how you reveal it, Kislev Mori?" She says, grimacing as the words leave her lips.
Glaring at her, Kislev lets out a huff of breath.
"Pay in blood, Jyon."
Jyon laughs even further.
"Kislev, you fool, you've never beaten-"
Before the words could come out, she had already flown through two different walls.
"Absolute Hit." Kislev says, his words steadied in spite of the rage festering in his face.
Walking forward, through the dust and rubble, Kislev emerges in front of Jyon, his presence was that of a demon in front of a child.
Coughing out blood, Jyon looks up at Kislev as the bones in her left arm fixes itself.
"W-What the hell... what even are you anymore, Kislev?" Jyon says, her voice tinging with fear.
"I am Kislev Mori, The God Fist."
As he rains down countless strikes upon her breaking body, Jyon screams out in pain.
Each one of Kislev's blows glowed brightly with his golden hue.
He was in pain, knowing each one of these strikes were undeserving.
Knowing that Jyon Exanimus would simply do anything her brother asked, never any retaliation.
.....
Sending out one final blow, Kislev drops to his knees in anguish.
He killed his dear friend.
.....
.....
Rubble was around each and every corner of the castle.
The walls were breaking under each strike.
Both knew, yet, both continued.
As Albus' blade struck Cathitel's, the castle of Armatia grew weaker.
"Cathitel, you know very well that we do not have to do this." Albus calls out, his voice barely getting through the waves of destruction their swords caused.
"This all is for the true king, Nahka Aion." Cathitel yells back, continuing his flurry of attacks.
"Very well then, you truly have no place under Cassiel's promised ruling."
Dashing back, Albus stands still, his sword positioned in front of him, the exact same way he defeated Elysia in the past.
"What are you doing, you fool?!" Cathitel mocks, dashing straight towards Albus.
Within a moment's notice, Albus swings down at a speed almost unconceivable by most.
Of course, however, Cathitel is not in the reach of most.
Challenging his blade, Cathitel chooses brute force as he swings his sword up in an arc, barely managing to stop Albus' downward strike.
"Even with momentum, you cannot overpower me." Cathitel mocks again, pushing Albus' blade up, leaving him wide open.
However, instead of taking the chance to finish Albus, he dashes backwards, sweat dripping down his face as he stops in his tracks.
"You clever rat..." Cathitel continues, his voice shaken.
If he had attacked Albus there, he knows very well that the both of them would have died.
Albus had always been ready to throw his life away for Cassiel, even now more than ever.
.....
Glaring at each other from a distance, Albus stands there, not moving a muscle.
His presence alone had Cathitel begin contemplating.
Wondering if he could beat Albus, while escaping with his life.
'What have I gotten myself into...' He thinks to himself, before letting out a breath of desperate relief as he readies his blade.
"Albus!"
A voice calls out as the sound of running is heard.
It was Ophelia.
.....
After she had killed the remaining warriors in her room, savagely stabbing them with arrows, tearing their throats out, and even clawing them to death, she made it out of her room with minor injuries.
Once out, she made her way around the castle, searching desperately for Albus, remembering how he had passed by his room almost an hour prior.
Getting more desperate, she began calling out to anyone, before finally hearing the clatter of two swords as they blew through the castle.
.....
Breaking out of his stance, Albus quickly rushes towards Cathitel, throwing him off guard for a second before he recomposes himself, blocking Albus' eager attack.
"What's your deal, your style is so..." Before Cathitel could finish his sentence, he had realized the reason behind Albus' rushing behavior.
As a wide grimace spreads across his face, he opens his mouth.
"I see."
Kicking Albus away, he dashes backwards towards the sound of the voice.
"NO!" Albus screams out, following closely in pursuit.
Just a meter away, Cathitel swings his blade at Ophelia, catching her by surprise.
Only a second later, blood splatters across Ophelia.
It wasn't her blood, nor Cathitel's.
It was Albus.
Blinded by the thought of losing anyone else, his overall speed increased tenfold, all so he could take the blow for Ophelia.
As Ophelia looks down slowly, she's shocked to see the blade stabbed vertically through Albus' side clear as day.
"Bastard..." She mumbles meekly.
Not wasting another second, she grabs Albus, pulling him towards her and tossing him to the ground.
Cathitel, still stunned at what had happened, looks at Ophelia like a maniac.
"What-"
Before being able to speak, Ophelia had already drawn two arrows, releasing them point blank into Cathitel's right arm, leaving it out of commission.
As the arrows shoot clean through his arm, Cathitel screams out in pain as he's then kicked in the chest, causing him to take a few steps back.
"DIE!" Ophelia yells out, shooting another arrow straight towards Cathitel's head.
However, at this time, he had already composed himself.
Grabbing the arrow moments before it hits him in the head, Cathitel glares at Ophelia as he crushes the arrow.
"You naive warrior, the Exanimus do not die so easily."
Dashing forward, Cathitel punches Ophelia in the chest, shattering her ribs as she's launched over ten meters away.
Beginning to walk forward, Cathitel mocks her, calling her names, telling her how foolish she was, how she is going to be the cause of both her own, and Albus' death.
Before being able to take another step, he's stopped as something latches onto his ankle.
It was Albus, unconscious.
Without another moment's waste, his ankle is immediately crushed, blood spewing out like a broken faucet.
Letting go as he gets up, Albus stares at Cathitel as he writhes on the ground in pain.
Taking a step forward, Albus stomps on Cathitel's thigh, dismembering it completely.
Another step, and one of his arms is gone.
With one more step, his head is crushed, leaving only his dented mask.
.....
.....
Coming around a corner, Elysia finally makes it to the fight, although, at the end of it.
Walking forward with caution, she's quick to notice the dead bodies that lie everywhere.
At the end of the corridor, she focuses on the presence ahead, drawing her daggers, before realizing it was just the warriors of the Sanguine Blade troupe.
Without saying anything, she observes as Thern is laid against a wall exhausted and wiped out, Pam's wounds being treated, Esk grieving over his fallen companions, and finally, Kislev, as he's still knelt down in despair.