=== Godrick ===
"…You… really are me."
Godrick's expression was hard.
"No. I'm what you could have been."
The words were heavy, but there was no time for more. Alter's snarl ripped through the air as the two lunged forward, their blades meeting with a clash so sharp it rang like a bell across the obliterated battlefield.
No magic shimmered in the air now, no halos of power or auras of divine light, just the raw sound of steel grinding against steel, the scrape of boots across shattered earth, and the deep, guttural grunts of two men putting everything they had into each strike.
Alter swung first, his blackened Caliburn cutting a vicious arc. Godrick caught it on the flat of his blade, the impact jarring his arms to the bone, and immediately stepped in to close the gap. His shoulder slammed into Alter's chest like a battering ram, forcing the other man back half a step, but Alter twisted with the momentum, using his strength to smash his elbow into Godrick's jaw.
Godrick staggered, tasting iron, but planted his feet and came back with a backhand swing that would have split a lesser man in two. Alter ducked low, the blade whistling just over his head, and responded with a brutal upward slash meant to gut his other self.
The strike connected with Godrick's left elbow, the blow ringing out like a war drum. The sheer force of it drove his arm upwards, allowing Alter to throw his right fist into the Juggernaut's stomach, driving the air from his lungs and sending him sliding back in the dirt, boots carving deep furrows into the earth.
Alter didn't let up. He surged forward, every blow heavier than the last, his muscles flexing with each swing. His eyes burned with the suffocating heat of hatred. Every strike was meant to kill.
Godrick met him head-on. His arms ached, his shoulders throbbed, and his palms were raw from the constant shock of impact, but his stance held. He took hits that would have felled anyone else, his frame absorbing the punishment like the immovable wall he was.
They moved in a blur, two shadows darting through the swirling dust.
Steel rang out over and over, the sound sharp and relentless. Sparks erupted from every meeting of their blades, scattering in the wind like fleeting stars.
Alter forced Godrick back toward a jagged mound of broken earth. He brought his blade down in a crushing overhead chop. Godrick caught it, but the impact bent his knees and sent pain lancing up his spine. Alter's teeth were bared in a feral grin as he leaned into the lock, muscles bulging, forcing Godrick to one knee.
"You're breaking," Alter growled, pressing harder.
Godrick's jaw clenched, sweat streaking the dust on his face.
With a sudden burst, Godrick twisted his swords to the side, letting Alter's strength carry him forward, and in the same motion, slammed the hilt of Excalibur into Alter's ribs. The sickening crack of bone echoed between them.
Alter grunted in pain but didn't back off. He kicked Godrick square in the chest, sending him tumbling back several paces. Before Godrick could recover, Alter was on him again, swinging with wild, punishing ferocity.
Godrick ducked one blow, then another, parrying the third and fourth, but the fifth slipped past his guard. Alter's blade tore across his shoulder, the heat of the cut blooming instantly. Godrick answered with a roar, spinning into a wide slash that sent Alter staggering.
There was no finesse anymore. No elegant technique. They hacked, slammed, and hammered at each other, their weapons biting into armor and flesh alike. Blood mingled with dust in the air, the taste metallic and heavy on their tongues.
A brutal exchange ended with Alter catching Godrick's blade on his crossguard, shoving it aside, and slamming his forehead into Godrick's. The crack of skull against skull stunned them both, but Alter recovered first, landing a deep slash across Godrick's thigh.
Godrick dropped to one knee for half a second, just long enough for Alter to swing for his neck.
Godrick barely brought Caliburn up in time. Steel screamed against steel, sparks bursting into the air as the blackened edge scraped against the silver blade.
Alter didn't stop as he continued to hack at Godrick again and again and again.
Each strike was heavier than the last, each blow pounding down like a warhammer rather than a sword. The sheer force drove Godrick back, his boots gouging deep trenches in the dirt.
But the difference was becoming clear. Alter's attacks were faster, heavier… merciless.
Godrick's defense, though steady, was being whittled away by brute force.
Then it happened.
Alter stepped in, feinted low, and brought his blade around in a high, savage cleave.
Godrick met it head-on, but the moment their swords connected, a sickening CRACK tore through the air.
Caliburn broken.
In an instant, the blade gave way completely, shards of silver scattering like dying embers.
Before the shock could even fade, Alter's foot slammed into Godrick's chest.
The kick was like being hit by a battering ram. Godrick's body was lifted clean off the ground, his armor groaning under the force before he was sent hurtling backward.
He slammed into the base of the castle wall with a thunderous BOOM.
Godrick fell forward onto his hands, coughing, his breath ragged. His vision swam, but his right hand instinctively reached for Excalibur that had fallen from his hand. He found the hilt and gripped it tightly, forcing himself up to one knee.
But Alter was already there, walking forward at a slow, deliberate pace.
His breathing was calm, but his eyes burned with that inhuman, corrupted hatred.
Godrick's muscles screamed as he rose further, but before he could properly take a stance, Alter's sword lashed out in a brutal horizontal swipe.
Excalibur was ripped from Godrick's grip, spinning through the air before embedding itself blade-first into the ground several meters away.
Godrick looked back just in time for the killing blow.
Alter's blackened blade punched forward, driving straight through his chest plate and into his flesh.
Time seemed to freeze.
Godrick's eyes widened for only a second. Then his left hand shot up and gripped the blade that was impaled through him.
Blood poured from the wound, dripping down the black steel… but instead of pushing the weapon away, Godrick pulled it farther in.
Alter's eyes narrowed. "What are you—?"
The Juggernaut didn't answer.
His right fist shot forward like a cannon, slamming directly into Alter's face. The black knight's head snapped to the side, a spray of spittle and blood flying from his mouth as the force of the blow made the air ripple.
He staggered back one step, then two, before steadying himself.
Alter's expression twisted into pure rage.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" he bellowed. His voice cracked with something beyond anger, a desperate, almost frantic need to end Godrick.
Godrick remained silent, still kneeling, his breathing heavy but his eyes locked on Alter's. Defiant. Unbroken. His right fist cocked back, ready to swing again.
Alter's lips curled back in disgust. "…Fine. Then I'll erase you completely."
The black knight's armor began to change.
At first, the edges hissed and steamed, then molten cracks split along the plates, glowing with an eerie amethyst light. The armor began to melt away in sheets, falling to the ground with a hiss of vapor. Beneath it, his torso and back were bare, but the flesh wasn't entirely human anymore, it was marked, scarred, and burning with unnatural energy.
And there, across his back… was the same brand as Godrick.
The sigil of the Dragon of Camelot, seared into the flesh, glowing now with unholy light.
"I've had enough of this," Alter growled. "I don't care about the crown. I don't care about the kingdom. I don't care about anything…" His voice deepened, becoming almost inhuman. "…other than killing you."
The air grew heavier, the temperature spiking around them. Alter tilted his head back slightly, and his throat began to glow from within, amethyst fire searing up from his core.
And then, with a voice that shook the very ground, he shouted:
"XIPHOS!"
The word tore from his lungs like a war cry from hell itself.
A shockwave of power erupted outward, scattering the dust and ash in a roaring wind. Then, with a sound like a volcano erupting, amethyst flames exploded from Alter's mouth. They surged forward in a tidal wave, swallowing Godrick completely.
The fire was not like normal flame. It didn't just burn, it devoured, tearing through stone, earth, and air itself. The sheer force of it blasted chunks of the castle wall away, the ground blackening and splintering under the heat.
Through the inferno, Godrick's silhouette was barely visible, hunched, battered, but unmoving.
The air itself screamed as Alter's cursed fire raged, the ground splitting into molten cracks, the cavern walls warping under its unnatural heat. Godrick's armor blistered, his skin cracked and blackened beneath it, every muscle straining to keep his body upright. His shield arm was trembling, useless against flame that could not be blocked. His legs threatened to buckle, but still he glared through the wall of destruction, teeth clenched so hard blood trickled down his chin.
"Die!" Alter roared.
Godrick's vision blurred. For the first time, his knees bent toward the ground. The fire was eating him alive. His jaw slackened in disbelief that perhaps even he had reached his limit.
Then—
A hand, warm and steady, pressing itself firmly against his scorched back.
The voice that followed was calm and unwavering, filled with a conviction that cut through the chaos like a church bell.
"Stand, Godrick. I'm here."
His wide eyes flicked sideways. Jeanne, clad in her tattered but radiant armor, her banner glowing with the flame of sanctity. Her eyes shone like molten suns as her Noble Phantasm awakened.
"La Pucelle," she whispered, her palm pressing harder against him.
The divine conflagration surged outward, not snuffing out Alter's fire but twisting it, transfiguring it. The violet flames bled into a brilliant gold, the holy and the damned intermingling into a storm of molten light that clung to Godrick's form instead of devouring it. His body convulsed, his veins burning like molten rivers beneath the skin, but instead of crumbling, he rose.
Godrick straightened to his full height, the flames now coiling around him like armor. His expression hardened, his lips curling into a snarl.
Alter's blazing eyes widened. "What… what are you!?"
Godrick slammed his fist into his chest, the sound like a drum of war. "I am the Juggernaut!" His voice thundered through the sky.
With Jeanne at his back, they charged.
Alter's sword descended in a sweeping arc, the sheer weight of it cratering the ground in a quake. Godrick stepped forward, the divine flames wreathing his left arm. The impact detonated in a shockwave that sent shards of stone screaming outward, but this time, Godrick held firm, shoving the blade aside with raw force.
Jeanne moved instantly, darting around Godrick's bulk, her banner sweeping forward in a golden trail. She spun with impossible grace, the standard's tip crashing against Alter's chest. Fire blossomed across his armor, divine fire battling corrupted flame, forcing him back half a step.
Alter roared and retaliated with an upward cleave, forcing Jeanne to leap away, yet in that heartbeat of distraction, Godrick lunged in, slamming his armored fist into Alter's jaw. The crunch of bone echoed, and blood spattered the flames.
Alter staggered sideways, but his fury only deepened. With a bestial snarl he lashed out, his sword spinning in a cyclone of destruction. The very air split under his swings, every strike fast enough to blur. Godrick bore the brunt, the ground splintering under his heels as he held his ground.
But Jeanne was there. Always there. Her voice rose in prayer. With each chant, her banner glowed brighter, her strikes carrying the light of sanctity. She swept in at Alter's flanks, thrusting and cleaving with golden arcs of fire that forced him to twist and guard.
"Enough!" Alter bellowed, his amethyst flames flaring. He stomped once, and violet fire erupted in a dome, forcing both of them back. His chest heaved, his eyes bloodshot with hatred. "I am the Sword Absolute!"
Godrick spat blood into the fire and raised his arm.
He surged forward again, divine-gold fire blasting outward with his every step. Alter met him head-on, blade screaming through the air, sparks and embers spraying as shield and sword collided.
Jeanne wove between them, her banner and sword slashing arcs of golden fire that clashed against Alter's corrupted blaze. The land filled with an unholy storm of colors, purple, gold, and scarlet.
Each exchange was earth-shaking:
Godrick slammed his shoulder into Alter, forcing him off balance long enough for Jeanne to carve a streak across his armor.
Alter retaliated with a spinning strike that caught Jeanne across the ribs, sending her skidding back with blood in her teeth. Godrick intercepted the killing blow that followed, his arm nearly shattering under the force but refusing to give way.
Jeanne returned in an instant, planting her palm against Godrick's back again, her flames searing brighter, lending him the will to rise every time Alter tried to grind him down.
It became a rhythm. A dance of survival and wrath. Alter's strength was monstrous, his hatred bottomless, yet every time he tried to crush one, the other was there to intercept. The Juggernaut and the saint, trading places, trading blows, united in defiance.
With a bellow he slammed his shield arm into Alter's chest, the divine-gold flames exploding outward. Alter staggered, and Jeanne's banner came down like the wrath of heaven itself, golden fire bursting across the land in a blinding flash.
Alter lunged forward, ignoring the strike and taking it on his shoulder, his corrupted Excalibur cleaved through the air like a star falling from the sky, striking with enough force to tear the ground apart. Godrick met him head-on, their blades colliding with a thunderous boom that rippled across the ruined landscape. Jeanne swept around behind him, her burning sword leaving trails of divine fire through the air as she struck at Alter's side.
Every blow felt like it could split the world.
Alter fought like a Demon all hate and despair. His movements were monstrous, savage, yet laced with a twisted elegance that mirrored Godrick's own. Godrick met him with pure force. Jeanne wove between them like a comet, her strikes laced with light that burned away corruption wherever it touched.
Then, at last, Godrick found his opening.
With a roar, he caught Alter's sword on his left arm and drove his fist into the doppelgänger's jaw. The impact cracked the very air, sending shockwaves tearing through the ground. Alter reeled, his vision swimming, just long enough for Jeanne to appear before him, eyes blazing.
"For all the lives you've taken…" she said, her voice trembling with wrath and sorrow, "this ends now!"
Her sword ignited like a newborn sun. Flames of destruction burst from the blade, engulfing her completely in radiant white and gold. She drove the weapon forward, straight through Alter's chest.
The explosion was cataclysmic.
Flames erupted outward in a spiraling torrent, devouring stone and air alike. Alter screamed in pain and sheer fury, his corrupted aura pushing back against the divine blaze. He staggered, blood and light spilling from his wounds, but refused to fall.
With a bellow, he stretched out his arms, and the air shattered with the resonance of countless voices.
Noble Phantasms began to manifest around him, dozens, then hundreds, spectral weapons from every Heroic Spirit he had ever faced. Blades, spears, axes, bows, staves, magics, an entire arsenal of legend whirling around him like a storm of death. Each glowed with the memories of heroes, their powers twisted and corrupted into mockeries of their former glory.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME?" Alter roared, his voice shaking the world. "I AM EVERYTHING YOU ARE, AND EVERYTHING YOU FEAR TO BE!"
He raised his sword to strike—
—and another blade pierced through his side.
Alter froze.
The blade burned black and violet, her blade. Jeanne Alter stood behind him, her pale hair whipping in the wind, her expression torn between hatred and heartbreak.
"...Jeanne…" Alter rasped, blood dribbling from his mouth. "You…?"
She looked at him, not with rage, but with unbearable sadness.
"I can't let you do this anymore." she whispered.
Then she raised her face to the heavens, her voice echoing with the fury of a damned saint.
"La Pucelle!"
The ground split open as fire poured from her body, violet and gold entwined, her soul burning away to give shape to her final miracle. The flames roared up her sword, devouring everything in their path. Alter screamed again, lashing out wildly as the two flames, holy and cursed, tore through the battlefield.
Godrick raised his halberd, the runes along its haft beginning to glow like dying stars. A sphere of golden light enveloped him, the same radiant power that had once torn through the armies of gods.
"For those I love… for those I swore to protect…"
The halberd flared, light blinding and pure.
"Aegis Dilectae!"
He drove the halberd through Alter's chest, straight through the burning cross of Jeanne Alter's blade. The impact unleashed a blinding burst of golden light that consumed the entire world in silence.
Alter's body arched against the blow, his corrupted armor cracking and breaking apart, shards of black steel scattering into the wind. The veins of amethyst light that had burned through his body began to fade, replaced by dim, flickering motes.
Alter's mouth opened, and a strained, choked breath escaped him. His hand reached up weakly, grasping the haft of the halberd, fingers trembling.
His knees gave way, and he sank slowly to the ground. The once-fearsome warrior who had leveled mountains now looked… small.
Alter coughed, blood and light spilling from his mouth as his hair whipped wildly in the chaos, faint trickles of blood tracing faint lines down his chin. He looked down at his chest, watching the golden light slowly eating away at the darkness inside him.
"So this… is this it then?" he muttered, a faint, almost bewildered smile creeping onto his lips. "I expected… more."
His eyes flicked to Jeanne Alter, the woman who had once stood beside him, in another life, in another dream. She met his gaze with a hollow expression, tears catching in the dying light.
"Damn you."
The ground trembled faintly beneath them as the powers of each Noble Phantasm began to fade, their purposes fulfilled. Godrick finally released the weapon, stepping back. The halberd dissolved into motes of light, leaving only its wound behind, a clean, perfect hole through Alter's heart.
He swayed once, then steadied himself. Somehow, he remained upright.
"Damn you all."
Then Alter's strength finally gave out. His head bowed. For a heartbeat, the air was utterly still.
A quiet sigh escaped his lips as though, after all the centuries of rage and hatred, he was finally allowed to rest.
The mark of the Dragon upon his back flickered once, and went dark.
His body began to disintegrate into tiny fragments of violet and gold, drifting upward like the ashes of a pyre. All that remained was his blackened heart.
Jeanne lowered her sword. Jeanne Alter turned away, unable to look. Godrick stood motionless, staring at the place where his other self had stood.
Slowly, he reached out, and the last ember of Alter's light settled into his palm, a single spark, pulsing faintly before fading out.
Jeanne stepped closer, her voice soft and reverent. "It's over."
Godrick's eyes stayed on the heart. "No," he said quietly. "Not yet."