The flames continued forward, forcing him to vanish in an explosion of black lightning just before my fist could reach his chest. I immediately looked upward and found him already above me, his sword descending toward my head with enough force to split the earth beneath us.
Rather than dodge, I raised my face and released a thunderous roar, causing a pillar of blazing fire to erupt from my mouth and collide directly with his descending sword. The resulting explosion shook the surrounding void and sent Steve flying high into the sky, but before he could regain control, I appeared above him and swung my leg downward with tremendous force.
My kick struck his back and sent him plummeting like a falling meteor, his body smashing into the ground hard enough to make the earth explode beneath him. For several seconds, the battlefield disappeared beneath a thick cloud of dust, and then a figure slowly emerged from the crater.
