Then the marble beneath Alexander's feet shattered apart.
And he swung.
Alexander's longsword cut through the air with brutal force, Physical Ascension surging through his body while the strike came straight toward Archon's head.
Archon reacted immediately.
Her scythe came up fast, crimson energy flaring around the blade as both weapons collided head-on with a massive burst of sparks, the impact echoing across the palace entrance like thunder while nearby knights staggered from the shockwave.
She pushed against him.
Alexander pushed harder.
His boots dragged across the cracked marble while every muscle in his body tightened under the pressure, sparks falling between them as the floor beneath their feet continued breaking apart.
Then Archon twisted the scythe sharply and redirected his strength to the side instead of stopping it directly.
Alexander stumbled half a step.
Archon moved instantly.
Her scythe swung sideways toward his ribs.
Alexander twisted back just enough to avoid a direct hit, but the blade still scraped across his armor hard enough to crack the metal and spin him sideways.
She didn't stop attacking.
A diagonal slash came first.
Alexander blocked it.
Then a horizontal swing.
He ducked beneath it.
Then a third strike came down directly toward his shoulder.
This one landed.
The impact slammed Alexander onto one knee while the marble beneath him exploded apart from the force.
Archon raised the scythe overhead immediately after.
Going for the finishing blow but Alexander reacted fast.
He stabbed his sword into the ground and pushed himself sideways just before the scythe crashed down where he had been, the blade smashing through marble and throwing broken stone across the palace floor.
Alexander rolled away and forced himself back onto his feet, breathing harder now while pain burned through the cracked armor on his side.
Still, his eyes never left her.
Archon rushed him again.
Faster this time.
Her scythe spun around her body while crimson energy flared brighter with every strike, forcing Alexander backward across the ruined palace entrance.
Steel clashed over and over.
Alexander blocked what he could.
The attacks he couldn't fully block still slammed into his armor hard enough to shake his entire body.
Step by step—
He got pushed backward until his boots struck a collapsed pillar behind him.
Nowhere left to move.
Archon saw it instantly.
She pulled the scythe back for one final strike, crimson energy building heavily around the blade.
Then she attacked.
Alexander waited until the exact moment she committed forward before suddenly dropping beneath the swing entirely, the blade cutting through the air just above his head.
Then he drove forward.
His shoulder slammed hard into Archon's chest.
For the first time—
She lost balance.
Archon stumbled backward across the broken marble while Alexander charged immediately after her before she could recover.
He grabbed her weapon arm tightly by the wrist, forced it aside, then slammed her back against the remaining pillar with enough force to crack the stone behind her.
Her scythe slipped from her hand and clattered across the floor.
Alexander raised his longsword instantly the blade stopped directly at her throat silence filled the palace entrance both of them breathing hard.
Ash drifted slowly through the air while the knights around them stared without moving.
Archon looked down at the sword against her neck.
Then slowly looked back up at Alexander, a faint smile appeared on her face again.
Alexander's arms trembled slightly from exhaustion and pain, blood dripping slowly from the cracks in his armor but the sword never moved away from her throat.
Then it hit him..
Alexander suddenly coughed violently before blood spilled from his mouth and splattered across the palm of his hand, the sight making his eyes narrow slightly in confusion while a sharp, burning pain twisted violently from somewhere deep inside his body.
His breathing became uneven immediately afterward.
The pain spread fast.
Alexander lowered his gaze toward the cracked section of armor where Archon's scythe had struck him earlier, noticing now what he hadn't realized during the fight, a thin cut hidden beneath the fractured plating, small, deep enough for blood to slowly run down beneath the damaged armor.
Then he looked back up at Archon.
His grip around the longsword weakened slightly.
The sharp pain inside his body intensified again, forcing his arm to tremble while the blade slowly lowered toward the marble floor beneath him, dizziness beginning to cloud his vision as the venom spread further through his system.
Archon rose calmly back onto her feet nearby.
She dusted pieces of broken marble and ash from her clothing with complete composure while her crimson scythe lifted itself from the floor and floated smoothly back toward her side, rotating lazily through the air once more as though the weapon itself already understood the battle had shifted.
"I already knew I couldn't overpower you directly," Archon said calmly, her voice echoing softly through the ruined palace entrance while a faint, almost playful smirk appeared across her face. "But my venom can."
Alexander stared at her through unfocused eyes.
His body staggered suddenly, one hand pressed tightly against the wound beneath his armor while the other struggled to keep the longsword steady, veins tightening beneath his skin as the poison worked deeper into his bloodstream with every passing second.
The palace floor beneath him blurred slightly his breathing grew heavier and for the first time since the battle began Alexander looked unsteady.
Royal knights watching from the formation could no longer stand still while their commander slowly weakened before their eyes.
Tension finally broke.
One by one, swords were raised across the palace entrance while armored footsteps echoed violently against the shattered marble floor, the remaining royal knights moving forward together despite the fear pressing heavily through the atmosphere around them.
And the Pandemonium troops responded immediately.
Black-armored soldiers surged forward from behind Archon at the exact same moment, weapons drawn while dark magical energy flared across the ruined palace hall as both sides crashed directly into each other.
Steel collided against steel once again.
Sound of battle erupted throughout the throne entrance while knights shouted commands over the chaos, blades clashing violently beneath burning fires and drifting ash.
Meanwhile—Alexander remained standing where he was, barely.
His vision had become blurry now, the palace lights distorting strangely before his eyes while venom continued spreading deeper through his body with every uneven breath he took, blood dripping slowly from beneath the cracked armor covering his side.
And Archon simply walked past him, calmly.
Her crimson scythe floated beside her while the weapon rotated lazily through the air, reflecting the burning flames surrounding the ruined palace walls as though the battlefield around her meant nothing at all.
She continued moving deeper into the royal palace.
Toward the king and queen.
Several royal knights tried to intercept her immediately.
One charged from the left with his sword raised high.
Another came from directly ahead while two more attempted to surround her from behind but none of them matched her.
Archon moved through them effortlessly.
Her magical spite power surged violently through the palace corridor while the crimson scythe spun around her body with terrifying precision, the blade carving through armor and weapons alike before the knights could properly react.
One knight was thrown backward into a pillar from the sheer force of her magic another lost his weapon the instant the scythe collided against it, steel breaking apart into fragments across the floor.
Remaining guards hesitated and that hesitation cost them immediately.
Archon stepped forward once more while the atmosphere around her grew heavier beneath the overwhelming pressure of her power, the burning corridor reflecting against her calm expression as screams and steel continued echoing behind her.
The palace itself felt like it was falling apart around her advance...
Back outside the kingdom walls, the war still raged without slowing down.
The battlefield had completely descended into chaos, steel clashing endlessly beneath burning skies while soldiers screamed commands through smoke, blood, and collapsing formations, the ground itself trembling beneath the weight of thousands still fighting across the shattered plains.
And within the middle of it all—Solarynth moved like a storm.
Blue and yellow lightning exploded beneath his feet each time he accelerated, his body tearing through the Pandemonium Legion forces at terrifying speed while enemy soldiers were knocked aside before they could even properly react, some crashing violently into their own allies while others collapsed from strikes they never fully saw coming.
"Where the hell is he?!"
"Track his movement!"
"He's too fast!"
Panic spread through sections of the Pandemonium formation while soldiers struggled to follow the blue mix with yellow streak weaving through the battlefield faster than normal eyes could properly process.
One Pandemonium archer suddenly spotted him through the chaos.
"There!" the archer shouted while quickly pulling back the bowstring. "I got him!"
The arrow launched directly toward Solarynth's head, cutting sharply through the battlefield air with deadly precision.
But Solarynth caught it mid-flight his hand snapped upward effortlessly while the arrow stopped inches from his face, lightning crackling violently around his fingers as the impact pressure dispersed outward through the air.
Before he drop it, nearby soldiers froze.
"What the…?"
"He caught it…"
Then Solarynth slowly lifted his gaze towards the direction where it was shot his Kurie eyes were still active.
Celestial rings spiraled continuously within his glowing eyes while battlefield movements, mana flow, muscle tension, and attack patterns reflected across his vision all at once, the world around him appearing almost slowed beneath the overwhelming perception granted by Kurie.
The archer's expression changed immediately for a brief second it felt like death itself had looked directly at him.
Then Solarynth moved ground beneath him shattered apart from the sudden burst of speed while blue and yellow lightning erupted outward in violent arcs, his figure disappearing almost instantly from where he had been standing.
"He vanished!"
The archer barely had time to react.
Solarynth crossed the distance in a blink before launching himself high into the air, wind spiraling violently around his body while lightning surged across his legs.
Then he spun.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again before unleashing a full 1080-degree kick directly into the archer's head with explosive force, the impact echoed across the battlefield like a gunshot.
That Pandemonium soldier was launched violently backward through the air before crashing directly into multiple allied soldiers behind him, bodies collapsing together while the formation broke apart from the collision itself.
Blue and yellow electricity scattered wildly across the battlefield and Solarynth landed smoothly back onto the shattered ground.
His white trench coat flowed behind him beneath the burning wind while lightning crackled softly around his legs, Kurie eyes glowing brighter against the chaos surrounding him.
Then he looked toward the rest of the advancing soldiers.
"Next."