Gerald growled in fury as he charged at Nero once more, his golden wings beating wildly. He drew back his right fist. Radiant light gathered around it. Nero pressed one open hand against the darkness of the night, shaping it into a massive disk of shadow that surged toward Gerald, yet Gerald simply struck through the disk and appeared right in front of him.
With his golden fist, he punched Nero, who was violently knocked away by the blow. Nero was sent flying, but not before he lashed a long whip of darkness at Gerald's leg. The whip coiled around Gerald's ankle and yanked him along with brutal force.
Both of them shot across the sky, Nero leading with Gerald dragged behind him, until Nero suddenly halted his momentum. He seized the excess energy and hurled the whip with Gerald still attached straight over his own head to smash him into the ground, but Gerald caught the whip around his ankle with both golden hands and tore it apart.
Even so, the force hurled him upward. He used the momentum and burst into a streak of golden light. Drawing a long arc through the air, he once again sped toward Nero, who condensed the darkness around himself.
Nero lifted his hands as Gerald's radiance closed in. In two breaths, he gathered the surrounding darkness and folded it together. Layer by layer, he overlapped it like a thick blanket and compressed it until it became a completely solid mass. His hands moved with astonishing speed, and at that moment Gerald reached him. He stepped out of the trail of light, his form stabilising as he swung his golden fist again. The glow around his hand grew so blinding that Nero was forced to spread a veil of transparent shadow over his eyes to avoid losing his sight.
Like a falling star descending on the earth, Gerald's fist came down at Nero, who covered his own fist with the folded darkness. Nero struck his hand against Gerald's. A violent explosion of light and shadow radiated outward as the two opposing forces collided.
Again, Gerald pulled back, again he punched, and again Nero blocked. They flew through the sky, exchanging blows like two drunken men brawling in a tavern rather than two mighty sorcerers.
Yet Gerald was clearly stronger than Nero, who could only keep up because he was older and far more experienced. Fortunately, he had been trained in close combat by Shire, the finest fighter among the Polykenas.
But Nero could already feel how the overwhelming physical force of Gerald was beginning to crush him. He hissed in frustration. He flicked his hand to summon a tentacle meant to pull him away from Gerald, but that small, unnecessary movement created the opening Gerald needed. Before the darkness could even reach Nero, the general struck him square in the chest. This time, Nero was the one sent hurtling toward the ground. Darkness gathered around him to break the fall, but Gerald hurled waves of light at him that forced him to block instead.
He had no time left to cushion his descent, and so he smashed into the ground with tremendous force. The impact drove all the air out of his lungs. Gasping, he tried to rise, but Gerald would never allow him the chance. The golden warrior rushed down toward him again. He extended one hand. As he descended on Nero, a golden sword appeared beside him, materialising in radiant brilliance. It flew straight into his outstretched hand.
Nero struck the earth with his palm. Darkness wrapped around him and pulled him under. Gerald's golden sword pierced the exact spot where Nero had been an instant before, while Nero was carried away swiftly by the shadows.
Gerald roared in anger and chased after him, but Nero had already recovered from the impact. He bared his teeth as he rose into the air. Gerald raised his sword, and radiant light gathered along the blade. As he swung, a crescent of pure gold tore toward Nero, who responded with a wall of darkness. He spun, shadow swirling around him. He pressed his arms tightly against his body. The darkness contracted, and Nero vanished. Gerald cursed. He despised this trick.
Gerald focused and sent his magic flooding through his entire body. Every pore began to shine. He tore both arms outward as a pulse of light burst from him. The radiance struck Nero, who had been concealed within the darkness, revealing him. Immediately, Gerald hurled his sword at him, carried by shimmering golden light.
Nero dodged to the side, but the sword curved and pursued him again. Nero slapped the flat of his palm against it. He guided it around himself, his palm shielded from the burning radiance by a layer of shadow. The sword shot back toward Gerald's hand, which closed around it again. He hurled it once more at Nero. Again and again, he threw the holy weapon, while Nero avoided it with increasing difficulty.
Nero was now in an extremely defensive position, yet Gerald still could not turn his advantage into a decisive victory. Growling, he advanced with each throw of the sword, while Nero instinctively kept widening the distance between them.
Then, a sudden flash of blazing golden light swept across the world, illuminating the entire battlefield. Gerald glanced to the side and saw a massive golden sphere piercing through the cloud cover. When the miniature sun vanished, he saw Saint Luis hurtling down toward a white demon. During his fall, he bombarded the demon with golden attacks, but the demon also seemed to possess the power of light and, even more shockingly, seemed to be able to keep up with Luis!
But that brief moment of distraction was all Nero needed. He vanished at once. Gerald cursed in fury when he realised it. Again, radiance pulsed outward from him, but this time it did not reveal Nero. Over and over, he released bright waves of light, but wherever Nero had gone, he was no longer anywhere near Gerald.
Frantically, Gerald scanned his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Luis transformed into a massive golden dragon. One last time, Gerald searched the area, but he still couldnt find Nero. Then his gaze found the construct, which had begun to glow. With Nero gone, he would simply destroy the unholy structure himself. He shot toward it with golden wings, lifted his sword, and brought it down. A wave of pure light surged at the object, but suddenly the bodies of the people impaled on the spears lining its surface erupted, exploding into a sea of blood that absorbed the wave of light.
"Do not even think about it while I am here," croaked a voice from within the construct. A demon rose into the sky, lifted by two streams of blood.
It was a towering white demon. It was thin, as if made only of skin and bone. It wore a long black robe, which still seemed too short since its taloned feet remained visible. It had no human feet at all but the predatory claws of a bird. Its face was hidden beneath a long black raven mask. Through two small glass lenses glowed yellow eyes with slit pupils like those of a cat.
It was, of course, none other than Ester, another one of Nero's five generals. He had been tasked with defending the construct from enemy attacks. Now that Gerald had struck it, he was forced to reveal himself. A vast river of blood had formed behind him, created from thousands of human corpses.
Gerald watched his new opponent with burning eyes, but he dared not make any careless move. He felt immense magical power radiating from the creature. He inhaled, ready to respond, but then a deafening crack thundered from the construct below. The demon did not even turn to look as a gigantic green comet burst from the interior of the altar, racing toward the glorious city of Gloris. Gerald roared in rage, but there was nothing he could do. Even for him, the meteor was far too fast. The meteor sped past the enormous golden dragon, which also roared, and then struck the colossal wall that had protected the city for centuries.
This time, the ancient barrier gave way beneath the overwhelming force of the massive green meteor. The people on that section were evaporated instantly, dying before they could even feel anything. Debris and dust burst in all directions. Fortunately, Gerald had ordered the army to move back, or the casualties would have been even worse. A furious roar filled with hatred and despair echoed across the battlefield, coming from the throat of the golden dragon who now charged at the white Polykenas.
"Go, Ester," suddenly a cold voice spoke. Gerald whirled around and saw Nero emerging from the darkness. Immense black wings still extended from his back, but now a long dark cloak flowed around them. Upon Nero's head rested a black crown that seemed to sink into his wild, dark hair. In his right hand, he now held a long, slender sword with a black scabbard engraved with countless glowing symbols. He looked at Gerald, his dark eyes swallowing every trace of light.
"Shall we continue our little skirmish?" he asked, his voice cold and devoid of emotion. Gerald tightened his grip on his sword, golden light blazing as he launched himself at Nero.
Nero raised his blade slowly as the first cracks formed across his fingertips.