Arctaius and Ignatius continued their face-off, neither saying a word. As the already thick tension seemed to build more… Ignatius clenched his fist, bending his knees, and Arctaius began to raise his arms. It was then that the emperor burst forward, launching a punch at Arctaius, which sent him flying out of Rizian. He began his descent to the road below. Ignatius, not wasting a second, would soon follow, jumping out and flying after him. As Arctaius took notice, he stopped himself mid-air, landing on the road. Selenium would soon follow, landing about 40 feet away.

As the two stood, new arrivals began to make their way toward Rizian, two proto-humans flew over the ruined streets of the metropolis. Both of the fighters sensed them but opted to ignore it, focusing on their opponents. Just left of them, there was a building that was just a few stories high, and one of the only ones that remained standing. It was here that two of the proto-humans the two sensed would land. A man wearing a uniform typical of a Martial artist, Yu Liang, followed by another man with a simple white coat, Bijan Lafeyah. Liang looked down onto the street, his gaze moving to Arctaius, and then, Ignatius.

“So, looks like we get to meet Selenium Ignatius in person... ”

Bijan followed the man’s gaze, looking at the Emperor as well, before returning his gaze to Liang.

“Yeah, but… He’s strong enough to be a danger to us all… This doesn't look good.”

Elsewhere, farther away from them, 3 more members of the group began to draw closer, Alarick, Kazimir, and Zhao. Soon joining the two on the building above where the two fought. They glanced at one another silently, nodding. Alarick stepped forward, walking past the rest, and stopping at the edge of the roof.

“You aren’t wrong...”

Bijan put his hand on his chin, as he continued his statement.

“I believe we need to collaborate If w-”

As the words ran through Arctaius’ head, his eyes darted over at the youth, he soon began to speak, cutting him off.

“No… This is a personal affair, stay out of this.”

Liang arched his brows as he heard Arctaius’ statement, he soon stepped forward as well, coming to Alarick’s side.

“That man is nobody to take lightly. I can tell by his protomis, how this little cult stayed afloat, he’s stronger than any of the apostles. And it's no small difference either… Knowing you, I'm sure you’re more than capable of sensing that. Do you truly want to take that chance?”

Arctaius shifted his gaze, now focusing on the Martial Artist.

“But of course… The man who killed my family is right in front of me. Vengeance is within my grasp. There's no way I'd let this chance pass me by.”

This seemed to silence them. Their gazes went from him to his opponent. The memories of his past ran through his head once again as he focused his gaze on the man in front of him. Something which only caused his rage to simmer, more so than before. His muscles seemed to tighten, as he wordlessly flew forward, the ground behind him ripped apart with the force. Ignatius would take notice a moment afterward. He soon did the very same in response. The two fighters clash mid charge, stopping each other in the middle of their former spots. Their palms crashed into one another, with the shockwave sent outward shaking the ground. Regardless, they remained unphased as they dug their feet into the ground, attempting to push the other back. Arctaius gritted his teeth, as he attempted to keep his footing... Despite how strong he was, the one in front of him, was at the least, somewhere around the same level, something he took note of. For some time, the struggle continued, as the ground around them continued to break apart until Arctaius began to lose his footing. At first, skidding a tiny bit… But soon, he flew back, moving across the road as if he were a bullet. Ignatius would pursue, more than willing to press the attack. However, as Arctaius’ eyes darted over, he stopped himself, jumping to his right, out of the man’s path. As he took notice, he stopped as well, pivoting his body and giving the youth a strike to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. But he did not stop there, continually pounding the man’s torso with his fists. Before reeling back his left arm, and hitting his chin with an uppercut, that sent him bounding up, as his head went back. As the youth flew above, Ignatius followed. Arctaius began to lower his head once again, hearing the oncoming man, he moved out of his path, and attempted to start his own assault, hitting the Emperor’s cheek with a right hook…Only for him to float there, unfazed. Arctaius clicked his tongue, reversing, and getting out of melee range. Ignatius’s expression was blank. One could tell, he was less than impressed with the display.

“I must have gotten soft if the likes of you can land a hit on me.”

Ignatius soon flashed forward, appearing in front of Arctaius. Taking him by surprise. Almost as if it were on instinct, he immediately threw a punch at the man. However, Ignatius grasped the oncoming fist, redirecting it, and leaving his body open to his strikes. He soon reeled back with his free hand, twisting his body backward, before twisting it forward as his fist shot into the youth's stomach. Arctaius’ body seemed to shake with the force of the fists, his eyes widening... Although he soon regained his composure. He wasn’t going to let something like this shake him. He soon responded with a punch aimed at the man’s ribs. But as Ignatius took notice, he soon began to shift his torso, moving away from the punch, resulting in the man only being pushed back a bit. The effects of the punch, or rather, the lack thereof, did not go unnoticed by Arctaius.

“Danm!”

Ignatius would soon begin his counter-attack, beginning to shift his body back and forth as he began to return strikes of the fist, his face, his stomach, ribs, arms, everything was a target to Ignatius. His body continued to shift with every strike. Arctaius finding himself unable to stop them. He was not the only one affected. As the force that cascaded outward began to flatten the buildings, the city surrounding them. More so than the battle between the forces that had since retreated to other areas. Elsewhere, the five proto-humans that arrived on the scene earlier watched as this battle took place. Alarick’s eyes went between the two fighters, but he ultimately kept his gaze on Ignatius.

“It’s just like we thought. Ignatius is an issue.”

Zhao focused his gaze on Ignatius as well, as he put his hand on his chin. His gaze was a calculating one. There had to be more to this than pure power alone… Though this was just in his mind, it could be just that. Or so he thought until he began to take note of how the man’s body moved.

“The way he's shifting his torso around… Both when Corde attacks, and he does attacks of his own… With this, we can assume that he's using That style.”

Liang focused his gaze on him as well, before glancing back at Zhao.

“Cessatempas… (Calm Storm). Given that art is hard to master, there isn’t much he can do without knowing how to counter it. And given that art was thought to be extinct, I doubt he knows what to do against it. The high precision strikes that style employs will be a problem, And there's no doubt that Ignatius has seniority over the apostles. The fact that he's well versed will make it worse. Wide swings won't work on him, it's the antithesis to Corde’s brawling.”

Ignatius’ attacks on arctaius continued. As his hips and torso continued to gyrate back, forth, left and right, the strikes continued to fall all over the youth’s body, and they’d begun to take their toll, a small amount of red liquid dripped from Arctaius’ nose. A result of the repeated strikes.

“Dammit… I need a new strategy… I can't take much more of this… I need to begin fighting at full force… but his fighting style is an issue as well, I need to create some range until I figure out a way to counter that.”

Arctaius would begin a plan of action to stop his opponent’s attack, crossing both of his arms over his chest, stopping a punch aimed at them. Though this did not leave his arms undamaged, leaving subtle, yet somewhat noticeable bruises and his body was shoved back by the force of the punch. Ignatius said nothing as he moved to follow, not realizing that it was his intent, until Arctaius’ thrust his palms forward, aiming them at Ignatius.

“Solis Pulsar!!!”

The burst of yellow light flashed forward. As it did, Ignatius soon pulled his mechanical left arm back, as a dark blue glow seemed to surround it, he thrust it forward, before a flash of blue light flew forward.

“That won't be enough to stop me…”

As the bursts of plasma crashed between them, electricity began to crackle between them, as they both struggled to push the other out of the way. However, this only resulted in both of the beams dissipating. Both attacks ultimately remained ineffective. But Arctaius did not stop there. The bursts continued to fall upon his opponent, as more of the bursts came out of his palm, Ignatius would begin to zip across the sky, avoiding the attacks, or stopping them with bursts of his own. Ignatius squinted his eyes at the man’s power. He was better than he expected, to say the least, but for that reason.

“I need to end this quickly.”

Soon, Ignatius stopped moving, or, that's' what it looked like to all of those there… Until, the man appeared behind Arctaius’ in addition to the latter being sent cascading into the ground, the ground under him rupturing with the force. This action or lack thereof changed the expressions of those spectating this fight, their looks were painted with surprise at the action… They were not the only ones, however. Arctaius had the very same expression of confusion, as he lifted himself from the crater, looking up at the man.

“That… wasn't speed, Even if it was, I would've at least sensed some movement, How did he-”

His thoughts went silent for a moment, And as they resumed, Ignatius appeared on the ground under him, his knees bent. And though he wasn’t within his range, Arctaius’ body contorted, almost as if he was struck across his body once again. Ignatius glanced over his shoulder at his opponent.

“You should've accepted their support when you had the chance… Though, you would have only delayed the inevitable…”

Part B

“I knew that he was going to be a challenge beforehand… But this is just getting worse. On top of my disadvantage form before… There was whatever he used just now. If I don't figure that out, my chance of victory is lowered drastically. There was a strange feeling, but that doesn't tell me anything....”

A golden light began to swirl around Arctaius once again, as he began his ascent. Ignatius swiftly took notice of the ascent.

“I don’t know what you’re planning...But it won’t work.”

Ignatius turned on his heel, as he bounded up to follow the youth. Soon reaching him, and blocking his path upward. Arctaius gritted his teeth as Ignatius began to throw strikes at him once more, shifting his body once again. Arctaius, unwilling to let himself get hit, would attempt to dodge the strikes as best as he could, limiting the man’s strikes to misses, though narrow ones. However, his body continued to shake with the force, even as he avoided them.

“If he's not using that whatever, let him do what he did earlier… I'm assuming that there's some sort of drawback… perhaps a cool-down period? Either way, it’d be better to stop it somehow.”

Arctaius would soon reverse, moving out of the way of a right hook aimed at his cheek. Ignatius’ eyes moved to follow him as he moved back, as he clenched his fists, yelling at his opponent.

“I'm just getting started!!!”

Arctaius charged at Ignatius, who put both of his arms up, prepared for another punch… However, rather than doing so, Arctaius went to kick his side, and within a moment, the man took notice of the feint, and moved to throw a kick as well, stopping his attack in its tracks… Though Arctaius felt the impact of the clash, it was much less pronounced than before.

“That was a good hit, however, it was much weaker than his punches… If I force him to keep using his legs, I have a much better chance!”

Arctaius soon backed up, reeling his fist back, before driving it into his opponent’s left cheek. His head turned as a result of the impact. He was ready to press his attack, throwing another punch, aimed at his chin. But Ignatius stopped the short live assault, by shifting his hips back, with his torso and head following, moving out of the way of his Attack. He soon grabbed the offending arm, and smashed his fist into the youth’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Before he released his grip. Arctaius tightened his fist, his intentions clear. But before he was able to counter, the man appeared behind him.

Arctaius: Again?!

To Be Continued