Arthur stood with spear crackling with violet lightning, his eyes blazing waiting for Baran to move.
And Baran attacked first, the Demon Monarch launched himself forward with frightening speed a blur of dark armor and crackling lightning, his greatsword descending in an arc. Arthur's spear came up, deflecting the blow, but Baran was already moving, his attacks coming in a storm of steel and fury.
Blasts of lightning erupted from Baran's mouth, searing bolts of demonic energy that forced Arthur to dodge, to weave, fire followed, a torrent of hellfire that would have consumed anything in its path.
Arthur moved through it all, a shadow dancing through the chaos, his spear deflecting, and his Ruler's Authority redirecting the flow of Baran's fire and lightning.
Legia recovered and rejoined the battle, the Giant Monarch's fist descended like a meteor, its impact explosive, Arthur dove, the fist missing him by inches, the shockwave sending him stumbling.
Baran was there with his greatsword swinging, its edge aimed at Arthur's throat.
Arthur's spear caught the blade.
CRACK.
The impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield. Arthur's knees bent, absorbing the force, his eyes never leaving Baran's.
"Your speed," Arthur said, "is not bad but your strength, is nothing compared to your friend over there."
He pushed and Baran was thrown backward, his boots carving furrows in the ground. His greatsword came up, ready for the next attack,
Arthur was already there.
His spear traced an arc that caught Baran's arm, not the blade, but the arm. Violet lightning erupted from the point of contact, and Baran's scream was raw, animalistic, tortured.
His arm was severed from his body, tumbled through the air, landing in the frozen ground with a wet thud.
Baran stumbled backward, his hand clutching the stump, his eyes wide with shock.
"My arm..."
He looked at the wound. The flesh was already trying to regenerate, but it was so slow. Agonizingly slow. The flesh knit together, but the process was painful, halting, as if something was fighting it.
Legia stepped back, his eyes fixed on Arthur's spear.
"Your weapon," Legia said, his voice filled with concern. "It's cursed."
Arthur's smile was cold. "My weapon inflicts curses, if I can land hits on you, it means you'll die."
Baran's voice was a snarl. "You just made that up!"
Legia's eyes narrowed. "Be careful of his weapon, Baran. He is not making that up."
Arthur's smile widened.
"I'm always glad," he said, "that there is a smart one among my enemies."
Legia's eyes blazed. "You will pay for that insult, Shadow."
He attacked.
The Giant Monarch's fists descended in a storm of explosive force, Arthur moved through them, barely, but Legia's strength was immense, and the pressure was building.
Baran joined the assault, his remaining hand gripping his greatsword. His attacks were fast, desperate, filled with rage and pain.
Arthur was being pushed back.
Legia's fist connected with his guard, a blow that sent him stumbling. Baran's blade came from the side, aimed at his heart.
Arthur moved.
He spun, his spear catching Baran's blade, redirecting its momentum toward Legia. The Giant Monarch's eyes widened, but he was too slow.
Baran's blade carved a furrow across Legia's chest.
Legia's roar was a sound of pure rage. "BARAN!"
"I didn't... this bastard!" Baran started.
Arthur was already moving.
He appeared in front of Baran, his spear driving into the Demon Monarch's chest. The blade pierced through armor, through flesh, through bone. Violet lightning erupted from the wound, crackling across Baran's body.
Arthur threw him upward.
Baran soared into the sky, his body spinning, his scream lost in the wind. Lightning connected with him a bolt of violet energy that crashed into his body, sending him hurtling back to the ground.
He landed with a crash that shook the dimension, his body lying in a massive crater, his chest heaving.
Legia looked at him.
"Tch," the Giant Monarch spat. "How weak."
Arthur's voice was flat. "No. He is surprisingly not weak at all."
Legia's eyes found him.
"I'm just far too strong for both of you."
Legia's fists clenched. "You really think you are superior compared to us..."
Arthur's eyes blazed violet.
"I'll demonstrate that for you."
His shadow armor shifted.
It flowed across his body like liquid darkness, reforming into something new, something leaner, sharper, more regal. A knight's armor, elegant and deadly, its surface gleaming with violet light. A helmet covered his face, its visor a slit of pure shadow, a plume of violet energy trailing behind it.
His spear dissolved into shadows.
Arthur stood before Legia, unarmed.
Then he spread his gauntleted arms.
"Come forward."
Legia's eyes narrowed. "You're sure you don't want to use your toys?"
Arthur didn't respond.
He appeared in front of Legia, in a blur of shadow and light. His fist connected with the Giant Monarch's face with enough force to send him flying.
Legia tumbled across the frozen ground, his massive form carving a trench that stretched for hundreds of meters.
Arthur's voice carried across the battlefield.
"It would be too easy that way."
.
.
.
.
The Other Side of the Battlefield - Raven VS Sillad
Raven and Sillad were locked in combat, a clash of ice and darkness, of monarch magic and demonic power.
Sillad was frustrated.
His ice constructs shattered against Raven's barriers. His cold attacks were deflected by her dark magic. And every time he tried to press the advantage, she countered with something unexpected, something new.
"Get out of my.." Sillad snarled.
"Not happening," Raven cut him off.
Dark chains erupted from her hands, racing toward Sillad, trying to wrap around him. He dodged, weaving through them, his ice forming barriers that shattered against her magic.
A spear of ice formed in his hand, a lance of frozen death, aimed at Raven's heart.
He threw it and Raven's barrier rose, a dome of dark energy that caught the lance, shattered it, absorbed its force.
Sillad's eyes blazed.
"DIE!"
He unleashed Hell.
Except it wasn't Hell. It was ice, a spreading wave of frozen destruction that covered everything in its path. The ground became a sheet of ice. The sky became a blizzard. The air itself became a weapon, its cold reaching for Raven's soul.
Raven shielded her eyes.
Then she smiled.
"I also have a special move," she said. "Show off."
Her power exploded.
Her clothes shifted, becoming white, pure, radiant. Her magic surged, a wave of energy that pushed back the blizzard, that shattered the ice, that burned with the light.
She rose into the sky, her form gleaming, her eyes blazing.
"C'mon," she said, her voice carrying across the battlefield. "Monarch of no one."
Sillad's eyes widened at her power saying to himself. 'When did this insignificant rat become so strong...'
The battlefield between them had become a frozen wasteland, a patchwork of shattered ice and scorched earth, but she had pushed it back.
Her white form gleamed against the frozen landscape, her power a beacon of light in the darkness of the Dimensional Gap.
Sillad body was battered, his ice cracked and broken. His eyes burned with frustration, with a fury that had been building since the moment Raven had appeared.
"You must be wondering," Raven's smile was cold. "why you can't even harm me. Why I'm so strong."
Sillad's eyes narrowed.
"I bet you probably killed your world's Justice League," Raven continued. "Probably even my other self." Her smile sharpened. "Well... let's just say that in this world, I'm free."
She spread her arms, her white form gleaming with power.
"Free of the chains that bound me for so long. Free of the father who sought to control me. Free of the darkness that I was born into."
Her eyes found his.
"Thanks to the one you are trying to kill."
Sillad's jaw tightened.
"You see now," Raven said, her voice soft, "why I simply cannot let you get away?"
Sillad straightened. His ice crackled around him, his power surging.
"Tch..." He shook his head slowly. "I'll admit that we didn't count for you. But it will change nothing." His eyes blazed. "Even at a great cost, you will both die."
Raven's smile didn't waver.
She raised a hand toward him.
"How pathetically delusional."
Light erupted from her palm, a beam of pure, radiant energy that crossed the distance between them in less than a moment. It connected with Sillad's chest, the impact sending him hurtling backward, his body carving a trench through the frozen ground.
Sillad crashed to a stop, his form smoking, his ice shattered around him. He pushed himself up, his eyes wide, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Impossible," he breathed. "How can you..."
Raven's voice carried across the battlefield.
"Because I am not the chained daughter of Trigon, bound by fate and fear." Her eyes blazed.
Sillad's hands clenched, he rose to his feet.
"This isn't over!" he said, his voice a snarl.
Raven's smile was gentle.
"No," she agreed. "It's not until I decide it's over."
/-\
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