The moment Rei summoned his sword, the atmosphere changed drastically.
The air grew heavier, almost suffocating.
Threo's cheerful personality from earlier vanished completely. The playful girl was gone—replaced by the face of a warrior ready to fight to the death.
She lifted her greataxe, adjusting her grip as her stance shifted. This time, she held it with both hands, the blade pointed forward, her body lowered and grounded—stable, unshakable.
Rei mirrored the shift.
He adjusted his footing and bent his knees slightly, lowering his center of gravity as he prepared to strike first.
Among all the Eternal members, Threo was the strongest in terms of pure physical power. Rei had no intention of letting her make the first move.
If she attacked first, he might not get another chance.
Behind them, Djeeta quickly ran farther away, putting as much distance between herself and the two as possible. She knew their clash would be devastating—so she needed to be far enough not to get caught in it.
Wind began to swirl between them.
"Are you ready?" Rei asked, glancing briefly toward Djeeta to confirm she was already far enough.
Hearing that, Threo smiled—but it wasn't cheerful this time.
It was fierce.
"I'm the greatest axe wielder in the sky. Threo of the Eternals! Prepare yourself, Rei—I'm going to take my place as the peak of the food chain!" she screamed, her voice echoing across the field.
The ground beneath her feet cracked slightly from the pressure alone.
Both of them stared at each other, silently gauging the other's strength.
Especially Threo.
Her instincts—honed from countless battles and a life closer to a wild beast than a civilized warrior—were screaming at her. The person standing in front of her was nothing like her usual opponents.
Usually, by this point, she would have already charged in first.
But this time, something inside her told her to be cautious.
"If you're not going to move first, then may I?"
Rei's voice interrupted her thoughts.
From a distance, she could see him smiling at her—calm, almost relaxed—as if he was politely asking permission rather than initiating a fight.
"Come!"
The moment the word left her mouth, Rei vanished from her sight.
Threo's instincts exploded into motion, screaming at her to dodge, move, block, do anything to protect herself.
"Vorpal Rage!"
Instead of retreating, she slammed her greataxe—now glowing with violent power—straight into the ground beneath her.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion erupted outward, tearing apart the ground and blasting debris in every direction. The shockwave destroyed everything around her, and thick smoke rapidly swallowed her figure from view.
Slash.
Rei's blade cut cleanly through the smoke—
—but it struck nothing.
The attack sliced the smoke in two, dispersing it momentarily, but Threo was no longer where he aimed.
Using that opening, she swung her Three-Tiger Axe horizontally from right to left toward Rei, who had just finished slicing through the smoke.
Clang!
Rei reacted in time.
The Sword of Repudiation met the greataxe mid-swing, a sharp burst of force tore through the air as their weapons met.
Their weapons locked.
For a brief moment, neither moved.
Their arms began to tremble as they poured more strength into the clash.
Rei's condensed power pressed forward against Threo's overwhelming physical strength. The grinding of their weapons created a harsh shriek as sparks scattered between them.
Their arms trembled as they poured more strength into the clash, neither willing to give ground.
Rei narrowed his eyes. 'I knew it. Threo can't be underestimated at all. She managed to avoid my attack even though she couldn't see my movement. She reacted purely on instinct.'
The moment he disappeared, her body had already responded. It was not something she saw or calculated. Her instincts moved her before his blade could reach her.
Then his thoughts being interrupted as he heard her giggle.
Rei change his attentin toward her and saw that she was smiling. Her heart was beating fast from the adrenaline of the fight, and he could feel her strength rising through their locked weapons. It had probably been a long time since she felt this kind of excitement in battle.
Her smile slowly widened. It was not the smile like before. This one a smile that even showed her teeth, and her eyes were sharp and bright. There was no hesitation in her expression, only pure enjoyment. She looked like a predator that had finally found worthy prey.
Suddenly Rei's eyes widened when he felt the balance shift with their clash.
Threo's strength began increasing little by little. The pressure from the greataxe grew heavier, forcing his sword closer to him.
"This is bad!"
"Raaahhhhrrrr!"
Threo roared as she poured even more power into her arms. The ground beneath her feet cracked under the force. With one final push, she overpowered him and slammed her greataxe forward, sending Rei flying backward at high speed.
Rei was thrown into the air but kept his eyes on her figure growing smaller in the distance. "Damn. She's way stronger than I thought."
He did not have time to think any further.
Threo had already jumped.
She launched herself into the air toward him with terrifying speed, raising her greataxe high above her head. The blade began glowing again as she forced even more power into it, the air around it distorting from the pressure.
"What the hell, she's like intending to kill me."
She closed the distance in an instant.
"Astro Divergence!"
"Tessera!"
Both of them shouted at the same time.
Threo brought the greataxe down with overwhelming force as the attack struck the island below.
A massive shockwave erupted outward as if a meteor had fallen from the sky. The entire floating island shook violently. Stone shattered and debris scattered everywhere. A gigantic crater formed at the point of impact, smoke and dust rising high into the sky.
Threo stood in the middle of the crater and quickly realized her attack had not hit anything. There was no resistance. No impact against a body. Only shattered stone beneath her feet.
She clicked her tongue and looked around, trying to find him.
"That's really dangerous. You're really something else, huh, Threo? Are all Eternal members like this?"
The voice came from above.
She immediately turned and looked up.
At the edge of the crater, Rei was standing calmly, looking down at her.
The crater she created was deep from a single strike, forcing her to tilt her head upward to meet his gaze. Dust still drifted through the air between them.
A grin slowly spread across her face.
"So you can run from that? Good. I'd be disappointed if you couldn't."
She tightened her grip on the Three-Tiger Axe and bent her knees slightly.
"Don't slow down now."
"Of course. You don't need to worry."
Rei adjusted his stance. His right hand moved across to his left side, the sword angled backward behind him, his body slightly lowered.
Then he jumped forward.
This time Threo reacted immediately. She did not rely on an explosion and distraction. She stepped forward to meet him head-on.
KRRAANG
Their weapons clashed again, but neither stayed locked like before. The moment their blades collided, they separated and swung again.
Rei attacked first. Threo blocked with the greataxe, the impact releasing a violent shockwave. She immediately countered, bringing the axe down with crushing force. Rei deflected instead of meeting it directly. Trading strength against her was a bad idea.
Clash.
Separate.
Swing.
Deflect.
Counter.
Each collision created a thunderous boom that echoed across the island. The air distorted from the pressure of their strikes, and the crater widened with every impact.
People across the island began to look toward the disturbance, wondering what kind of battle could cause such shaking.
Even Djeeta could not get close to the bottom of the crater. The wind pressure from every clash pushed against her, forcing her to brace herself just to stay standing.
Rei and Threo continued exchanging blows with lethal intent.
For Threo, that was normal. Whenever she fought, she always intended to kill her opponent.
For Rei, he could not afford to hold back. If he hesitated for even a second, her greataxe would crush him. His focus sharpened completely on survival and precision.
BAM!
After several minutes of nonstop exchanges, Rei saw an opening. He slipped inside her guard and drove his left fist upward into her face.
The uppercut landed clean.
Blood spilled from Threo's mouth as her head snapped back and her body staggered slightly.
But instead of falling back, she gritted her teeth and suddenly threw her head forward during the stagger.
"!?"
THACK!
Rei did not expect it.
Her forehead smashed into his. The impact was brutal. He stumbled back as well, blood forming on his own forehead from the force of the headbutt.
From the impact, Rei staggered backward. Fresh blood flowed from his forehead.
Since becoming one with Lucilius, he had never been hit hard enough to bleed. This was the first time someone had managed to draw blood from him.
"Eternals are really impressive," Rei muttered with a small laugh as he wiped the blood from his forehead with his left hand.
"Hehe, you're awesome too. My heart's pounding so hard I don't even know if I'll survive this, but it's been fun!" Threo replied.
This time her smile was different. It was not the aggressive grin from before. It was pure excitement.
She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. She could taste more inside, so she spat it to the side.
"But you're still holding back, right? I know from Tweyen that you have wings you use to increase your power."
"Tweyen told you that?"
"Not really. When she talked about you, she looked like she was hiding something. So I kept pressuring her for a month until she finally gave up."
Rei let out a quiet breath. Threo's stubbornness was truly something else. At least Tweyen had not told Seofon.
Seofon likely knew about the primarchs. Rei did not want to reveal everything too early.
"Then are you not going to use your wings?" Threo asked as she slammed her greataxe to her side and pointed it at him.
The problem was that Tweyen had only seen him when he had four wings.
Now he had twelve.
And he was far stronger than before.
The current Threo could not stand against him at that level. She would need to reach her ascended state first.
Rei glanced at her weapon. "Aren't you doing the same thing? You're holding back too. That greataxe can change form, right?"
"You know? I thought I was hiding it properly." Threo looked genuinely impressed. The transformation was supposed to be her surprise card.
"Then let's get serious!"
She raised the greataxe high with one arm.
"Form Change!"
The weapon began to shift. The twin blades on each side separated and slid backward along the shaft. From the center, a new blade extended forward. The side blades locked into position behind it.
The shape of the weapon changed completely.
"Sword form!"
The Three-Tiger Axe transformed into a massive greatsword.
The massive greatsword settled in her hand,
the feeling around her changed too.
When she used the greataxe, every movement was loud and overwhelming. Her presence pressed forward like a storm. It was raw strength without hesitation.
Now she adjusted her grip.
Her shoulders relaxed. The sword was not raised high like before. Instead, she held it steady at her side, the tip angled slightly downward. Her footing shifted into something more balanced.
The wild pressure from earlier faded, in its place was something sharper.
Calmer.
More controlled.
Even her breathing slowed.
She was still smiling, but it was no longer the reckless grin from before. It was focused.
Rei watched quietly, he noticed how different she was from before.
This was not the same Threo who tried to crush him head-on.
This feels like a warrior who understood her weapon.
"Now come. It's your turn!" Threo said, full of excitement.
"Haha…" Rei could only laugh. He really did not want to use all twelve wings against her.
In the end, he decided to hold back.
Instead of twelve, he would use four. Just like when Tweyen saw him before.
"Alright then."
The Sword of Repudiation in his hand dissolved into light.
Swoosh.
In a split second, four dark wings unfolded from his back.
Thunder cracked through the crater, the same sound that accompanied his blade before. But this time, instead of forming a longsword, the energy condensed into a different shape.
A katana.
The Katana of Repudiation formed in his grasp, its blade humming faintly.
The moment the wings appeared, Threo felt the difference.
The pressure around Rei rose dramatically. It was not just stronger. It was heavier. Sharper. Her instincts reacted immediately, warning her of danger. Every sense told her that the person in front of her now stood at the top of the food chain.
Yet instead of fear, curiosity burned brighter inside her.
She noticed the change in his weapon.
"Katana? Why the sudden change?"
Rei smiled. He raised the katana above his head with both hands, the blade angled slightly to the side in a disciplined stance.
"This time, instead of fighting like before, I'm going to properly challenge you."
He lowered the blade and pointed it toward her.
"I, Rei, disciple of the Fluttering Swordswoman, intermediate level of Butterfly Dance, challenge you, Threo the Eternal, to a duel."
His voice echoed across the crater as power leaked from his body, distorting the air around him.
Threo began giggling.
Then she burst into laughter.
"Hehehahaha!"
With pure excitement, she lifted her greatsword and pointed it at him.
"I, Threo the Eternal, accept your duel! Let the best warrior win!"
The ground beneath both of them shattered as they stepped forward at the same time.