The moment Zan-Xi's beam was cleaved away, sparks scattering like fireflies, the abandoned schoolyard erupted into tension.
A gust of wind howled between them.
Shoto's trembling had stopped.
His breathing slowed.
His posture straightened.
Black scales crept along his cheek like war paint, and his right arm pulsed with a faint crimson glow as the Zamorak Sword manifested fully — obsidian black with veins of molten red pulsing like a living heart.
Zan-Xi grinned wide, letting his white blade fully morph into a sleek, futuristic rifle — barrel glowing like condensed sunlight.
"Now that's more like it, Kazami!" he laughed, already pulling the trigger.
BA-BA-BA-BA-BAAM!!
Rapid-fire beams of holy light shot toward Shoto like comets, turning the ground into sparkling craters.
But this time — Shoto didn't flinch.
He vanished.
Z-zing!
Appearing in mid-air above Zan-Xi, sword drawn back over his shoulder in a perfect arc.
Zan-Xi's pupils widened in delight. "Good!"
His rifle shifted back to sword form in a blink and — CLAAAANG!!!
Two blades met.
The impact sent a shockwave that shattered the abandoned school's windows.
Heat and light spiraled, red and white colliding in a tornado of raw force.
Hikaru's glasses almost flew off.
Ryuji grabbed Hina by the shoulders.
Hina blinked softly.
"…Wow."
Zan-Xi pivoted, twisting his blade and firing another point-blank light bullet from the hilt.
Shoto bent backward mid-air — the beam missing his face by a hair — rolling across the dirt before launching forward again with a diagonal slash.
Sparks scattered like fireworks.
Zan-Xi deflected lazily with one hand. "That calm expression suits you more than the timid one."
Shoto said nothing.
Instead, he exhaled — dark steam rising from his mouth like dragon breath.
Then—
He vanished again.
This time not with speed — with shadow.
His body slipped into Zan-Xi's shadow on the ground and reappeared behind him, blade already descending like a guillotine.
SHIIIIING—!!
Zan-Xi barely blocked, forced to plant both feet.
For the first time, his grin faded just a little.
"…You've been holding back all this time, haven't you?" he muttered.
Shoto's voice came out low. Monotone. Cold.
"Three days… I've thought about nothing else but this fight."
Zan-Xi's grin returned — wider than ever.
"GOOD. SHOW ME MORE."
The ground cracked beneath them as they charged again—
Steel rang across the battlefield once more — CLAAAAANG!!!
Shoto and Zan-Xi locked blades, their feet grinding deep cracks into the concrete beneath them. Sparks erupted between their weapons like meteors clashing mid-air.
Then — Zan-Xi smirked.
Without warning, he shifted his blade back into rifle form and fired downward at his own feet.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion sent him rocketing skyward over 50 feet into the air, trailing white light like an angel launched from a cannon.
Shoto didn't hesitate.
He reached to his side — to the pitch-black sword that had been sheathed at his hip the entire fight. The sword Neko had given him. The one he had never dared to fully awaken.
For a moment, he hesitated — recalling its weight. It's hunger.
Then — he crossed both swords over his chest like an X and whispered:
"Éveiller."
FWOOOOOSH!!!
The dark blade split apart as if alive — liquid metal sliding over his forearms like gauntlets. They solidified around his fists, fingers flexing as black flames erupted, spiraling up his arms like demonic wings.
Shoto aimed both blazing arms downward — and launched.
SKRRRRCHOOOOOOOM!!!
He flew upward like a black comet, cutting through the air toward Zan-Xi with blinding speed.
Sword pulled back—
Ready to strike—
But then—
The Zamorak Sword… glowed.
Not with Shoto's will.
With someone else's.
A deep, ancient red radiance pulsed through it, as though something buried within had just woken up.
"—What?" Shoto's eyes widened mid-air.
Zan-Xi was already aiming.
"TOO SLOW!"
BAAAAAAM!!!
A holy light beam struck Shoto clean in the shoulder. It didn't pierce — but the sheer impact jerked him off course, forcing him to halt mid-air as his dark flames flickered.
Shoto grimaced, clutching his shoulder.
Zan-Xi landed gracefully below, twirling his gun before shifting it back into sword form, his grin spreading ear to ear.
"Took you long enough to notice, cousin."
Shoto looked from Zan-Xi to the Zamorak Sword — still glowing ominously — and back again.
Zan-Xi extended his blade upward, pointing it directly at Shoto.
"These aren't just swords. They're relics."
"God Swords."
Shoto's expression remained calm — unreadable.
Zan-Xi chuckled darkly.
"The Saradomin Sword chose me. Because I was destined to ascend. Because I'm potential incarnate."
He flipped his blade back into rifle form in a single motion.
"And yours—"
He pointed the gun directly at Shoto.
"That Zamorak Sword chose you… because you're the reincarnation of a fucking KING!"
BEEEEEEAM!!!
The next shot was faster — far faster.
Shoto barely had time to react before it slammed him in the chest, sending him crashing backward through the sky.
Shoto slammed into the broken courtyard tiles below, cracks spiderwebbing beneath him. Dust burst into the air as he rolled across the ground, barely catching himself with a shaky hand.
"What the hell.." He coughed—pain flaring across his chest where Zan-Xi's beam had struck him. With no time to think. Zan-Xi was already there. Shoto's eyes widened.
Zan-Xi's blade—now in sword form again—was already descending from above like divine judgment. Shoto used his gauntlets to block the sword. The impact shook the ground. The sheer force pushed Shoto a full meter into the floor, his feet sinking into broken stone. "Come on Shoto! Don't slack on me now!" Shoto pushed back, trying to force Zan-Xi off, but he was already gone. Shoto quickly grabbed the Zamrok sword that's on the ground, but it was too late, Zan-Xi slash tore across his back before he even completed the turn. He stumbled forward only for Zan-Xi to appear in front of him again, punching him square in the gut, then drives his arm up to make Shoto fly up. Shoto instantly flew up trying to catch his breath Zan-Xi teleported above him mid-flight, feet glowing with pale radiance.
"Saradomin Style—"
He spun — divine wind crackling around him like a halo of blades.
"HOLY CYCLONE!"
WHRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!
He descended spinning like a buzzsaw from heaven — colliding with Shoto in a violent spiral.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact obliterated the ground in a burst of blinding white light.
In the dissipating dust cloud—
Zan-Xi stood tall, sword resting casually on his shoulder, exhaling like he'd gone for a walk.
Shoto lay half-buried in rubble, bloodied but breathing.
Zan-Xi tilted his head.
"Give up the swords.. it's over."