Golden radiance collided with the Abyss, flooding the shattered chamber in divine light. Alioth stood unmoving at the epicenter, his blade locked against the Heroes’ Slayer’s greatsword, their weapons grinding together in a storm of opposing force. Energy crackled where they met—light devouring shadow, shadow swallowing light. The shockwaves alone were enough to rattle the mirrored walls, fractures spiderwebbing across their glassy surfaces.

For the first time, the Slayer was forced back.

A flicker of something unfamiliar crossed his face.

Shock.

Star lay frozen where she had fallen, her thoughts scattering beneath the ringing in her ears.

“You…” she breathed.

Alioth glanced over his shoulder, offering her a warm, reassuring smile—calm, steady, as though the battlefield itself could not touch him.

“We meet again, Star.”

The Slayer’s brief surprise dissolved, replaced by a slow, unsettling laugh. It began low, almost thoughtful—then grew into something jagged and venomous, echoing across the chamber like broken bells.

“Ah… the great Blonde Hero,” he sneered, crimson eyes gleaming with corrosive delight. “You’ve returned. Tell me—do you still cling to that foolish notion of yours? That childish dream of saving everyone?”

Alioth’s gaze did not waver.

“Some things never change,” he said simply.

The Slayer’s smirk sharpened. “Look at you. Weaker than I imagined. Is this truly what remains of the legendary Alioth Castor? The savior they worship?”

Alioth tilted his head slightly, the faintest smirk touching his lips.

“And yet… even as I am, you still fear me.”

The Slayer’s expression flickered—just for an instant—before his laughter returned, sharper than before.

“Fear you? Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve waited for this moment—to watch you fall. You’re nothing but a shadow of what you once were.”

Alioth stepped forward, his sword gleaming amid fractured reflections.

“Then let’s see if that’s true, Heroes’ Slayer.”

The laughter died.

The Slayer’s eyes darkened, malice igniting in their depths.

“Then show me,” he said coldly, “whether the great Blonde Hero still remembers how to fight.”

Alioth inhaled slowly—then turned, voice soft but resolute.

“I’m sorry.”

Before anyone could react, golden energy erupted from his palm in a blinding surge. Divine light expanded outward, forming a radiant barrier that forced Star, Seth, Klara, and Friedrich backward, pushing them out of the chamber.

“No—Alioth, wait!” Star shouted, scrambling toward the shield.

Her hands struck the barrier—but it held, unyielding, shimmering with power far beyond her reach.

Alioth faced forward again, expression unreadable.

The chamber sealed.

Silence fell.

Then—

Darkness flashed.

Gold answered.

The Heroes’ Slayer struck first, his greatsword howling through the air like a dying beast. The force of the swing shattered the mirrored floor beneath him, sending shards erupting outward.

But Alioth was already gone.

A streak of radiant motion.

They clashed.

The sound was deafening. Divine steel met abyssal iron, the collision birthing a shockwave that cracked the chamber walls. Air twisted violently around them, forming a spiraling vortex as their battle began to warp the space itself.

Outside the barrier, Siegfried slammed his fists against the golden shield.

“Damn it! We can’t just stand here!”

Klara’s eyes scanned the glowing sigils woven into the barrier’s structure, her jaw tightening. “This isn’t ordinary magic… it’s divine.”

Seth’s ears flattened, fangs bared. “Then we break it.”

Inside, the duel raged.

Alioth twisted midair, body flowing like water as he evaded a follow-up strike that carved through the air itself. The Slayer pressed forward relentlessly, blade blurring into a storm of black steel.

Alioth caught the next blow—but the impact drove him backward, feet skidding across fractured glass before he surged forward again. His sword flared, rising in a flawless arc aimed for the Slayer’s throat.

Steel collided once more.

The Slayer sneered, driving forward with crushing force. His strikes were merciless, calculated, each swing capable of cleaving mountains.

Alioth did not yield.

He wove between the blows with impossible grace, countering with equal precision. Mid-motion, his weapon shifted—golden light elongating into a radiant glaive just in time to intercept a descending strike.

The clash bent reality itself.

The Slayer’s smirk deepened. “You care too much for them. That’s your weakness.”

Alioth’s grip tightened.

“No,” he said quietly. “That’s why I must win.”

Without warning, the glaive dissolved.

A golden spear formed in his grasp.

He thrust—light erupting forward like a comet.

The Slayer twisted aside, the strike missing by the breadth of a heartbeat. He countered instantly, blade rising in a slash wreathed in writhing Abyssal tendrils.

Alioth dodged—barely. A thin line opened along his cheek, black mist clinging to the wound.

He did not slow.

The spear dissolved.

A golden bow took shape in his hands.

He loosed a volley—radiant arrows streaking like falling stars. The Slayer deflected several, evaded others—but one pierced through his shoulder.

He growled.

Then smiled.

“Is that all you have, hero?”

Alioth’s eyes narrowed.

The Slayer surged forward, body consumed by Abyssal force, moving faster than before. His strikes fell heavier, reality distorting around him as though the world itself rejected his presence.

Alioth met him head-on.

Light blazed from his blade as he countered, each clash igniting another storm of opposing force. Divine radiance and abyssal shadow collided in a violent tempest that shook the tower to its foundations.

The chamber trembled.

Mirrors shattered.

The air thickened beneath the weight of two legends colliding.

Outside the barrier, Star and the others could only watch—unable to follow the speed of their movements.

“They’re too fast…” Klara whispered.

Seth’s fists clenched. “We have to do something!”

But they could do nothing.

This was no ordinary battle.

This was myth against nightmare.

Another deafening impact erupted within the chamber.

The golden barrier flickered.

Hairline fractures spread across its surface.

Then—

A crack.

Deep. Resonant. Like the world splitting open.

Friedrich’s eyes widened. “Something’s wrong.”

The shield trembled.

Another fracture tore across its light.

Inside, reality itself began to warp—

And the barrier started to shatter.