Lux soared up higher and higher, and entered the cloud with red lightning running wild inside. Ferdinand caught up with Lux. He squeezed his neck, stared at his face, and said, while both of them were still rising up, "You shouldn't have come here. You should stay in your tiny nasty rathole with that whore of yours and wait for everything to end."
"I'll do that… only when you die!" said Lux, before opening his eyes, revealing his illuminating blue eyes, and holding up his hand above his head. Suddenly, a myriad of glowing blue dust appeared out of the air around Lux's hand and coalesced into a glowing blue crystal knife in his hand.
Lux stabbed Ferdinand in the neck, but his expression unchanged, as if he didn't feel any pain. He kicked Lux in the stomach with both of his feet, shooting him back to the city. Lux hurtled out of the cloud, straight to an old stone castle near the city. He crashed into a tower and dropped into a courtyard. He bounced along the ground for several yards before stopping. The tourists, who were wandering within the castle walls and taking photos, scattered away as Lux destroyed the tower.
"You can fight me, my friend, but you can't defeat me." Ferdinand leisurely descended from the sky in a standing position with a knife in his neck and landed on the grass next to Lux. "I'm the chosen of the Ender, you're no match for me." Ferdinand yanked out the knife and crushed it. The knife shattered into glittering blue dust and faded away. Ferdinand's stab wound healed instantly and completely, after he removed the knife. Hot steam gushed out of his wound while it was closing.
"You're full of yourself, just like your master." Lux slowly got up from the ground. His body bore only a few scratches, and his suit was slightly torn, as if his body and outfit were made of steel. Furthermore, he didn't bleed, and his wounds were radiating blue light.
"And you're weak, just like your father," said Ferdinand.
"My father isn't weak. He stood for his children, protected them with everything he had, and ignited a blazing fire of hope in their hearts once again. Those are the actions of a strong father."
"If your father isn't weak, then why did he lose to my master?"
"My father is a brilliant man. He always has a plan. He lost to Farsilon on purpose, so that one day he'll return with greater power, and overthrow your master in the end."
"Like father, like son. Utter fools."
"I swear on my heart that those words will be your last. I won't allow you to insult my father any longer."
"Good! Because I'm starting to get bored."
Lux yanked open his shirt, revealing the blue triangle crystal that was embedded in his chest. "You believe you're immortal, invulnerable, and so powerful that you can toy with the lives of mortals." Lux's body and the crystal on his chest glowed. "But the truth is, you're even weaker than them. They don't have to live by preying on the innocent, just like you. They're strong enough to stand for themselves and for others. And in the end, you will fall by the hands of the innocent people you prey on." Blue light flew out of the crystal, entirely enveloped Lux's body, and formed into full armor and a cape. When the light faded away, it turned into a majestic white metal armor and elegant blue cape. "Your tyranny, cruelty, and inhumanity will end here by my hand!" His cape danced in the wind, his crystal displayed on the chest of the breastplate, and his glowing eyes could be seen through the magnificent yet intimidating helmet. Lux was now as majestic as the king of heroes. "No one should live in fear. You have no right to take away their peace, their lovers, or their lives. The only right you have is to be wiped out from the face of Arteon." He created a blue crystal sword in his hand and pointed it at Ferdinand's face. "I'm Lux, the First Vanderer, and I'll wipe you out from the face of Arteon!"
Ferdinand laughed. "You?! Wipe me out?! Don't make me laugh!"
"You're no god. You can be defeated!"
"You're right. I'm no god." Ferdinand grinned. "I'm far more than that."
"Arrogant! I have no doubt why Farsilon chose you."
"You have determination, my friend. But what can determination do when you lack power?" Ferdinand produced a red crystal trident in his hand.
Ferdinand's trident looked horrifying, as if it were the armament of the devil lord, while Lux's sword looked majestic, like the blade of the king of the heroes.
"I'll remove you from existence and bring peace and happiness to the people of Arteon once more!" Lux assumed a high sword stance.
"Be my guest!" Ferdinand spun his weapon and adopted a trident stance.
They charged and threw their weapons at each other. The sword and the trident collided, creating a clang as powerful as thunder. They struck, parried, and dodged each other's attacks. Lux slashed; Ferdinand parried. Ferdinand thrust; Lux evaded. Then, both of them delivered powerful strikes to one another. Their weapons crashed, and they bounced away from each other. After they stopped moving backward, Ferdinand spun his trident around with one hand, showing off.
"Quit playing around! This is not a game!" shouted Lux, adopting a sword stance.
"It's always a game to me!" yelled Ferdinand.
Lux charged at Ferdinand and executed a horizontal slash at him. Ferdinand, who was still twirling his weapon, crouched down to evade and then struck Lux in his side. Lux flew away and fell to the ground. But before Lux could get up, Ferdinand high jumped at Lux and stabbed the trident at him. Lux rolled aside, narrowly dodging the weapon, and quickly stood up. Ferdinand pulled the trident out of the ground, spun it around, and assumed a stance. Ferdinand stabbed the trident at Lux's face, before Lux blocked it with his sword. His sword slid into the gap between the trident's tines.
Suddenly, Ferdinand cracked a creepy grin and flung Lux's sword out of his hand. Ferdinand repeatedly jabbed and whacked at Lux. Lux barely dodged all the attacks. When Ferdinand thrust at his face again, Lux crouched down to evade, lunged at him and threw him to the ground. The trident slipped out of Ferdinand's hand. Lux repeatedly smashed Ferdinand's face with both of his fists, but Ferdinand embraced those punches with a smile. Ferdinand grabbed both of Lux's fists and slowly pushed them back toward Lux. Lux couldn't punch him anymore, so he headbutted him instead.
"Whoa! That was good!" said Ferdinand, shaking his head. "But not good enough!"
Ferdinand returned Lux the headbutt. His head was so hard that even wearing a helmet, Lux was dizzy from that hit. Ferdinand kicked Lux in the belly, sending him away, before leisurely getting up, cracking his neck, and saying as all the wounds on his face healed, "This is going to be fun!"
Ferdinand flew toward Lux at the speed of sound, seized his face, and brought him to the wall. He smashed Lux against the wall, breaking through it, before flying to the city with Lux in his hand. He slammed Lux against buildings, penetrating through a row of townhouses, leaving holes in them. Some of them collapsed.
After piercing through the last building, they entered a colorful tulip field. They flew over the flower field that stretched far to the horizon and broke through two windmills before Ferdinand flung Lux into the red tulip field. Lux glided along the dirt, destroying all the flowers in his way, and when he stopped, he jumped back to his feet.
Ferdinand landed on the field, picked up a flower, and took a sniff. "Ah! Flowers, the beauty of nature and the ornaments of a green world. They grant many worlds delightful scenery and alluring scents. But no matter how beautiful and aromatic they are, in the end, their time will come, and they will become dry, ugly, and dead." The tulip in his hand instantly withered and shattered into dust. "Just like all living things."
"There is beauty in everything, even in death. The cycle of life is a wonderful thing when it isn't intervened with by bloodthirsty murderers. Everything and everyone deserves to end at the hand of time, not at the hands of you or your master."
"I'm time, my friend, I'm the ender. I'll be their end, whether they want it or not."
Lux and Ferdinand walked in a circle, glaring into each other's eyes.
"I have to admit, you wield your weapon well, Vanderer, even for a beginner."
"I may not be as adept and powerful as my siblings, but I've trained enough to defeat you."
"You know what? I think we've demonstrated our proficiency with weapons enough. Why don't we showcase our skills in an unarmed fight?" Ferdinand stopped walking and assumed a kung fu stance.
"No! I will not play along with you!" Lux created a greatsword in his hand and took a sword stance.
Ferdinand chuckled. "Have you grown tired of fighting in the same way?"
"I don't fight for fun. I fight to protect innocent people and to destroy evil, like you."
"Why don't you shift to an unarmed fight? Maybe you can defeat me with it?"
"Never!"
"How about this?! If you use a weapon, I'll use it as well." Ferdinand conjured a trident and adopted a trident posture. "But if you don't use it, then neither will I." Ferdinand shattered his trident to dust and returned to the martial art pose. "The choice is yours. Besides, aren't you capable of creating a weapon whenever you like? Then, what are you afraid of?"
Lux thought for a moment, evaluating each option, before disintegrating his sword and shouting, "Fine! If you want an unarmed fight…" Lux shattered his armor for mobility, and adopted a boxing pose. "Then I'll give you an unarmed fight."
"That's the spirit. Now, for the arena…"
Ferdinand lifted up his foot and conjured a scarlet flame around it. After he stomped the ground, the red flame ran out from his foot, creating a ring of fire wall around the two fighters.
"Let the game begin!" shouted Ferdinand.
They charged at each other and began throwing punches and kicks at one another at the heart of the arena. Ferdinand high kicked Lux, and Lux bent down his head to evade. Lux threw a punch at Ferdinand, and Ferdinand parried it with his arm. The fight proceeded ferociously, like a battle between two grandmasters of martial arts. After they attacked, dodged and parried each other for a full minute, Lux saw an opening and landed a powerful punch on Ferdinand's face. Ferdinand staggered, offering Lux an opportunity to clench both of his fists and thrust Ferdinand's chest with them. Ferdinand darted away, his feet sliding along the ground before he plunged his hand into the ground to slow himself down.
"Not bad, my friend, not bad," said Ferdinand, wiping a drop of blood that flew out from his mouth.
Lux joined his feet, stretched his back, put one hand behind his back, extended the other hand toward Ferdinand, and beckoned him.
"You'll get what you want, you little trash!" Ferdinand smashed the ground, cracking it and stood up. "Now, let's spice things up!" Ferdinand smashed his fists together, and his hands and feet blazed with scarlet flame.
Lux's eyes widened in surprise.
Ferdinand sprinted at Lux and dropkicked him. Even though Lux blocked the kick with his arms, the impact still sent him flying away. When Ferdinand saw Lux falling down to the ground, he jumped up into the air and dropped the fire foot down at him. Lux rolled away and Ferdinand stomped the ground. The ground cracked and the scarlet flame spewing in every direction out of Ferdinand's foot.
Lux quickly got up from the ground and shouted, "You're cheating! You said this would be an unarmed fight!"
"Cheating?! Do you see any arm on me?!" Ferdinand spread his arms.
"I see fire on you, and that's enough for me to know that you don't play by the rules. You fight without honor, just like your master!"
"Playing by the rules is boring sometimes. That's why we spice things up with a little dirtiness."
"You said that yourself!"
Lux fabricated glowing large blue punching gauntlets and kicking greaves over his hands and feet. Each pair was made of crystal and beautifully designed, as if crafted for a god of fighting. Even though they were so gorgeous, they were intimidating as well.
Lux assumed a Muay Thai pose, and his gauntlets and greaves emanated blue flame-like energy.
"Cool toys! Can I have one?" said Ferdinand.
"You have to take it from my dead body!" yelled Lux.
"In that case…" Ferdinand clenched his fists, and the scarlet flame blazed brighter and larger than ever. He adopted a kung fu stance and said, "I'll rip them out from your corpse!"
Ferdinand punched at Lux from a distance, shooting a jet of scarlet flame at him like a flamethrower. Lux dodged the column of fire and charged at Ferdinand. Ferdinand stepped backward and blasted scarlet fireballs at Lux. Lux sidestepped the fireballs, approaching Ferdinand closer and closer. As he reached him, he uppercut him, and the power that dwelled within the gauntlet enhanced his strength, sending him into the air. While Ferdinand was soaring up, he rolled in the air to stop himself and kicked at Lux, firing a fireball out of his foot. Lux rolled aside to dodge the fireball, before Ferdinand gracefully descended and landed perfectly on the ground. Ferdinand charged at Lux and dropkicked him from a distance, throwing a gush of flame at him. Lux ran to the flame, jumped over it and dropped down to Ferdinand. He stomped at Ferdinand, but Ferdinand dodged by hopping backward, causing him to hit the ground instead. Ferdinand stretched his arms, dusted his shirt, and taunted Lux by beckoning him. Lux took a deep breath to suppress his anger and charged at Ferdinand. Ferdinand plunged his palm toward Lux, shooting a stream of flame at him. Lux stopped charging at Ferdinand and dashed around him in a circle instead. Ferdinand chased Lux with the fire, before Lux kicked a chunk of dirt. Ferdinand paused spraying the fire and struck the dirt with the back of his fist, breaking it to pieces. Lux rushed at Ferdinand and threw a punch at him. Ferdinand dodged the punch, and both of them engaged in a ferocious hand-to-hand fight.
While the two fighters were battling violently, scarlet lightning struck wildly throughout the tulip field. The whirlwind pulled the flowers out of the ground, carrying them up to the sky. A myriad of flowers soared up in a beautiful spiral shape, creating a wall of red tulips around the two warriors.
Lux delivered a butterfly kick at Ferdinand. Ferdinand jumped away from Lux, narrowly avoiding the foot that was coming straight at his face. Lux tried to approach Ferdinand, but every time he got close, Ferdinand would jump away and drive him back with fireballs and jets of fire.
After failing to gain on Ferdinand, Lux stopped running, inspected the distance between them, and closed his eyes.
"Ooh, someone's planning the charge," said Ferdinand.
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