The air exploded with pressure even before the first strike. The forest, already scarred by ruin, groaned as if about to shatter completely. Ancient roots twisted in the soil, the highest branches shattered like glass, and the earth shook as if a colossal creature had awakened from the depths.
Sapphire advanced first.
The flas enveloping her were too intense to distinguish from her body, transforming her into a red cot. Each step she took split the ground, leaving behind a fiery trail that would not be extinguished.
Naberius greeted her with a maddened smile, the flaming sword spinning in his hand with impossible speed. The first impact was so brutal that the world seed to lose its color for an instant.
BOOOOOOM!
The clash of Naberius’s blade against Sapphire’s glowing fist generated a shockwave that swept across the entire clearing. Entire trees were uprooted like twigs; Zuri rolled away, instinctively transforming into a serpent to avoid being crushed. Roxanne grabbed Katharina and pulled her back, her feet dragging along the ground until they created furrows.
Vergil stabbed his katana into the ground, using it as an anchor to keep from being thrown against the rocks.
Rize and Vanny simply fell to their knees, the weight of their combined aura crushing their fragile bodies. Titania was nearly swept away, only to escape flight because Sepphirothy expanded her own aura, creating a barrier that kept them alive.
"ENOUGH!" Sepphirothy’s voice roared like thunder, but no one heard.
The spectacle of the two overwheld her.
Sapphire spun around, punching the ground. The ground exploded in columns of flaming magma that rose around Naberius. But the creature rely cackled and whirled with its sword, unleashing a circular blast of fiery energy that split the columns in half, dissipating the magma like smoke.
It then advanced, disappearing and appearing above Sapphire in the blink of an eye, its sword raised to split the redhead’s skull.
Sapphire raised her arm, covering it in flas and blocking the blow. Still, she was thrown back dozens of ters, leaving a flaming trail on the ground before finally coming to a stop, her eyes burning with rage.
"You’re still the sa insolent bitch..." Sapphire snarled, spitting a spark.
"And you’re still the sa sentintal idiot!" Naberius countered, descending like lightning, striking again.
Another impact. Another explosion. Another wave of destruction that further devastated the forest.
Vergil watched with wide eyes, but instead of fear, a crooked smile spread across his lips.
"Now this is entertainnt..." he muttered, spitting on the ground.
Katharina looked at him as if he were crazy.
"This will kill us!" he shouted.
Vergil shrugged, his eyes never leaving the battle.
"If I die watching a spectacle like this... it was worth it."
anwhile, Stella stood rigid, her eyes fixed on Roxanne and Sapphire.
"This can’t go on," she said dryly.
Roxanne gritted her teeth.
"You want to stop two forces that have been sealed for ages? Good luck."
On the battlefield, Sapphire raised both arms, unleashing a sea of fire that engulfed half the clearing. The temperature rose so high that the air beca heavy, suffocating, distorting vision.
Naberius, instead of retreating, dove straight into the flas, like a mad dancer. Her flaming sword absorbed so of the fire, becoming even brighter, and she descended with a vertical slash.
The blade split the inferno Sapphire had created in two. The impact created a corridor of destruction that tore through the forest as far as the eye could see.
The impact was so colossal that even the sky seed to tremble. Clouds were ripped apart by the heat and pressure.
Sapphire growled, gasping, but stood her ground, lunging for a punch straight to Naberius’s stomach. Her fist caught fire, transforming into a crimson teorite.
Naberius took the blow head-on, her body slamd into a stone wall that shattered into a thousand pieces. But before the dust had settled, she was back, laughing, her eyes glowing like embers.
"THAT’S LIFE!" she roared, descending in a flaming arc toward her enemy.
Sapphire responded with another roar, the flas around her growing like a raging sun.
The next shock was even more devastating. The ground simply split in two, forming a gigantic crater that swallowed half the clearing. The cracked earth spewed magma from the depths, fueling the flas.
Vergil held onto the edge of the crevice and laughed in disbelief.
"You two are fucking walking earthquakes!"
Roxanne and Katharina nearly fell into the crater, but Sepphirothy raised a wall of ice in seconds, keeping them both safe.
Like this... Sepphirothy knew that if she didn’t do sothing, the entire Forest would be reduced to ash.
"Naberius! Sapphire!" her voice bood, reverberating across the field. "If you don’t stop, I’ll put an end to this myself!"
Neither of them heard.
Sapphire struck with fla-wreathed punches, each one capable of toppling mountains. Naberius responded with violent slashes of his sword, opening fissures of incandescent energy in the air.
It was a spectacle of fury and power, a battle that should never have taken place in such an unstable place.
The sky darkened. The air grew heavy. And every breath was an effort.
Vany collapsed, unconscious. Rize held her as best she could, her eyes welling up. Titania, trembling, stared at the chaos, unable to move a muscle.
Zuri just curled up, her tail thrashing the ground in irritation.
"Too much noise..." she muttered indifferently.
The battle continued.
Sapphire unleashed a flaming kick, sending Naberius flying into the air. The creature spun, laughing, and unleashed a blast of black fire that sliced through the sky. The attack pierced the clouds, ripping open the sky, revealing stars in the middle of the afternoon.
Stella’s eyes widened in shock.
"They’ll destroy the entire balance..."
Vergil spun the katana and rested it on his shoulder, laughing mockingly.
"Welco to the show."
Sepphirothy finally stepped forward, her aura colliding with the two in midair.
The impact of her presence created an instant calm, like the eye of a hurricane.
Naberius looked at her and smiled, still panting.
"You always ruin my fun, Snow White..."
Sapphire, panting, still on fire, glared at her furiously.
"Get that bitch out of my sight, or I’ll rip her head off myself!"
Sepphirothy stepped between the two, her aura crushing them both at once, and for the first ti since the confrontation began, silence fell over the clearing.
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