The coliseum erupted as if a volcano had came to life directly below them, massive pieces of stone and earth flying through the air as the ground split open around Akuro and Zealous, who were still glaring own another down.
Inari lay on the ground, avoiding the destruction around her, finding a safe spot to stay as she watched. The other Archdemons simply stood where they were, while Onoma and Gozzu joined her where she was.
"What the hell happened, they are just looking at each other!" Inari exclaimed.
"Well, I guess the saying "if looks could kill" isn't too far off." Onoma joked.
"This is results of their auras makings contacts." Gozzu explained.
"Wait, this is just from them sizing each other up?" Inari asked in shock. "They haven't even started fighting yet?!"
"Nope." Gozzu said.
Akuro could tell his opponent was much stronger than Lucifer had been, it was also evident that Zealous was stronger than Lilith. But why was it, he wondered as everything around him shifted, shattered and burst into chaos, why was it that he felt excited? It was as though everything beforehand had been boring, just chores and favors, but now he had found something that intrigued him, he had found someone as strong as him.
It reminded him of the first time he'd met Sedori, or when he had challenged the gods, he was shaking with anticipation and excitement, though an enemy would mistake this as fear.
Zealous's eyes narrowed. "You shiver, but I can sense no fear in you. What is it that makes you quiver, boy?"
Akuro couldn't help but grin. "You want my honest answer?" He asked, "I am just excited to kill you."
*CRACK*
The ground directly below Akuro and Zealous began to crack and split as tension grew.
And then it burst.
As if it were the signal, Akuro and Zealous exploded into motion as the earth below them erupted skyward.
Akuro's black Aura Cloak took shape around him, though it had slightly changed, as now shadowy chains extended from the Aura Cloak while black spikes of aura stuck out from Akuro's shoulders and arms. He leapt up into the air, landing atop a large Boulder that was floating in the air due to the immense density of the aura in the coliseum giving the illusion of zero gravity.
To Akuro's surprise, Zealous had an Aura Cloak much like his own. Black aura swirled around His large frame, but unlike Akuro's Aura Cloak which was large, wild and chaotic, Zealous's was more condensed, almost like thin armor and cloth, thought black spikes protruded from his shoulders while large black wings of aura grew from his back. Two large black horns of aura grew from his head, mimicking his own horns.
Akuro waved his hand diagonally towards Zealous, and as he did everything in line with his motion was split open, as if he'd swung an infinitely long blade from his hand that could cut anything in its path, splitting the rocks in the air and, as Zealous moved out of the attacks way, it split the wall behind him, causing it to collapse in on itself.
Zealous sent out a wave of dark aura shooting towards Akuro, the shadows splitting off into smaller parts that were similar to black daggers flying through the air. Akuro threw up a wall of aura to block the attack, but as he did, the shadow daggers exploded on impact, surprising Akuro. His was wavered, then as the daggers struck it, it too exploded, launching Akuro back through the air, landing on another rock.
'The hell?' He thought, 'why didn't my aura absorb his?'
"Simple really." Came Mato's voice. "He has a similar aura to your own, meaning he also has the ability to absorb external energies. Normally, that dagger attack of his would've depleted the aura of anyone they would make contact with, but since both your auras absorb, when they make contact it's like a tug-of-war. The two auras pull and pull at one another, and eventually it becomes too chaotic that the auras mash together and explode, as you just saw."
'Shit.' Akuro cursed mentally, 'that's not good for me then, seeing as he is more skilled in distance combat from what I can tell.'
Another wave of black daggers flew at Akuro. Instead of raising an aura wall, he jumped high above them as they dissipated when making contact with the rock he'd been on. Then he kicked off of another rock, launching himself towards Zealous, but as he did so, Zealous pulled out a sword that had its blade broken in half. Extending from the broken sword was a long blade of shadow that extended towards Akuro, making contact with his aura cloak before puncturing his shoulder, then a split second later exploding, ripping a hole in his left side and sending him falling back to one of the lower rocks.
His wound healed itself over, the pain not even bothering Akuro after what he'd been through. As his flesh closed itself around the metal spike deep in his bone, more daggers careened towards him.
Akuro jumped up, over the attack and atop another rock, but as he did, the black daggers then changed course, turning to follow him like heat sinking missiles. Akuro hastily raised a wall of aura, backing away from it as fast as he could as it exploded when the daggers made contact, but then a wave of shadow crashed into him before exploding, sending him soaring downwards slamming into rock after rock until he regained composure and stood atop a large boulder.
"I see now why you are considered the true demon king!" Akuro called up to Zealous.
"Yes, and can see that you are not fit to be the Demon King." Zealous responded, "You are weak, your aura is chaotic and untamed."
Akuro's looked at his aura. "Actually, this is pretty tame. I mean, I could show you what it's actually like, but I don't think that's a good idea."
"And why is that? Are you scared of your own power?"
"No, it's just that I won't be able to promise that you are the only casualty."
"You naive brat! Do you honestly believe you could kill Archdemons on accident?"
"Actually yeah, I really can."