Gaius’ heartbeat had stopped its frenzy some time ago, ever since he understood that this wasn’t a battle he could flee from. The situation was similar to that final battle Feng-Lang not too long ago, but it would seem that he was taking Paragon Saito’s place this round.

“Strong words,” replied the Demigod. “Show me then, where this resolve of yours lies!”

The young man abruptly appeared within striking range of Gaius, and an incredible force rattled Gaius as he blocked with the Terminus reflexively. In this…Divine Territory, the Demigod’s speed was one that he nearly couldn’t follow, and it was all he could do to even block the falling blade.

Without some of his newer Engines, Gaius wouldn’t have been able to resist at all. The Saviour was coming in handy here — whatever internal injuries he had sustained in the past few exchanges had been healed up with utmost efficiency. His latest acquisition, the nameless Engine made with help from the Oracle, was the only thing allowing him to put up a decent struggle against the Demigod. Without its predictive abilities…

Making a mental note to thank Galina, Gaius locked blades with the Demigod, before being blasted back yet again. With such an opening, the Demigod drove his longsword directly at the reeling boy.

With yet another massive effort, the boy parried it, and in that collective moment of vulnerability, the Dragoon erupted out from his body. The Demigod’s eyes flashed, and with his left elbow and knee, caught the blade of qi a heartbeat after it appeared.

Pain wracked Gaius’ body a moment later, as his enemy shattered the manifestation with a single blow. Blood trickled down his lips, but his left hand reached for some of the artefacts he’d refined over the past few months. Palming a dozen small balls, Gaius tossed them at the charging Demigod, and the resulting explosion sent him back even further.

A metallic taste flooded his tongue — the little bombs had exploded in the Demigod’s face, but the Demigod was already one metre away at that time. Stabilising himself, Gaius waited for the smoke to clear, and his heart skipped a beat as an unscathed Demigod appeared.

“Good fight. Shall we continue?”

Before Gaius could reply, he’d burst into motion. The longsword carved out tens of brilliant arcs over a single second, and Gaius’ muscles began to burn as the boy blocked attack after attack. He wasn’t parrying them either, not at such a speed, and the force behind each and every blow shook his insides.

The Demigod had kicked it up a notch. Despite his tranquil expression, Gaius had the feeling that his opponent was enraged now, and under the furious onslaught, he couldn’t even use any of his other artefacts now.

Even those commonly touted as life-saving cards were crushed relentlessly, and after the third trio of Palisades were cut through like butter, Gaius swore to himself to never make any more of these useless items.

His Barrier shattered after blocking the fourteenth fatal blow. Its efficiency had been strengthened by a noticeable degree after assimilating so many Engines, but he couldn’t repair it fast enough anymore; simply blocking his opponent’s attacks was enough to weaken it somewhat.

A moment later, cold steel ran through Gaius’ abdomen. The Demigod withdrew his longsword, and Gaius grimaced as his inwards began to show. Placing his left hand on the open wound, the boy glared at the Demigod. Such a strike was essentially fatal, but he was banking on the Saviour to work as hard as it could right now.

“You can’t win. And I haven’t even used the powers of my Divine Territory yet. If you continue to fight, you will die. Surrender,” the Demigod urged. “The demons are coming, and your combat ability will be sorely needed.”

“I’ll never bend,” Gaius replied. Drawing himself up to his full height, Gaius blocked off the open wound with some qi. “If this was another place, I might have listened, but not here.”

“Not here?” Before the Demigod could ruminate on his words, Gaius exploded into motion once more. Up until now, Gaius had been on the defensive, which meant that the properties of the Terminus hadn’t really come into play. Now that the Unity had vanished from sight, Gaius no longer had any worries in mind — his desire had shifted to killing this familiar spirit.

This was the best chance he had. With the Demigod convinced of his superiority right now, he was probably not going to use the restraining abilities of his Divine Territory. He would try to block the attack, but Gaius had full faith in the unparalleled might of an attack backed by the Terminus.

“A desperate attack?” The Demigod shifted his stance. “It seems that I must teach you despair. Bring it!”

Qi exploded out of Gaius’s back and right arm, and blood began to well from his skin. The Terminus shone, cutting a brilliant arc and bearing down on the Demigod, who met it with his own longsword.

It shattered into a dozen pieces. The Terminus had cut through his defences, and at such close proximity, even the young man couldn’t dodge the deadly strike. Gaius felt the blade cleave through skin and flesh, and an anguished scream followed as the Demigod, who was missing an arm and a huge chunk of flesh from his torso, forcibly tore himself away from the melee.

An incredible pressure fell onto Gaius in the next moment, preventing him from moving.

“Y-You!” The Demigod continued to bleed out. “You would injure me so?!”

His eyes flashed with a fell madness. “You will pay! That Unity has someone you care about, right?! I’m going to slice their flesh up and drip their blood on your face, mark my words! But first, I’ll kill you!”

He clenched his fist, and Gaius heard his body begin to crack. It was almost as if the world itself was the Demigod’s hand, like a Lord’s Fief. But none of that mattered compared to the Demigod’s words, which chilled his heart instantly.

Gaius wasn’t even able to clench his fist. I should have learnt how to use the Zeroth Release properly. Or if I was a Knight, I could have resisted…a Knight?

Time seemed to slow drastically as the boy’s mind shifted to the thing he never wanted to do. But he had little choice now. If he didn’t…a whole lot of people would die. He would die. And most of all, the people he cared about would.

At this point, any solution was the best solution.

Consequences be damned.

Gaius closed his eyes and reached for the abyss below his soul, the one he felt years ago, when he was on the verge of turning into a slaughterer. He’d started to understand some things long ago, at the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning, little conjectures that he’d never dared to even think about fully.

Until today.

As his vision changed, a whisper entered his ears. “You’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting.”