After completing the contract, Lucifer returned to his world. His hand sign was still ringing bells inside Mercy's mind. But there was a battle for him to enjoy first.
A small sword of flame appeared above the heads of Mercy and Alone, showing they were being granted boons for the payment they made.
Mercy had taken no boons, so he focused on Alone's state.
Alone was wearing a mask of cold expressions to hide his guilt, but his eyes showed the truth otherwise.
"I give you 20 seconds, Mercy. Surrender your life and accept loss before I receive my boon. You and I don't need to fight this battle." Alone offered as his body began shining in gold. The white garb of before turned into a deep red tunic with the symbol of a book on his arms.
Alone wanted to bargain one last time.
"Your pride made you sacrifice your loved one, not me. Look at yourself wearing that armour, enjoying the power. I won't back off before feeding you off the bugs." Mercy jested at his pain while they waited for the battle to begin.
After the swords of boons, the chain of hell came from the ground and wrapped around their arms, applying the restriction taken on them.
"Tell me the number of orbs you consumed before this fight began."
"10."
"This is going to be the best day of my new life... until now," Mercy whispered to himself.
Then the time ticked. 3...2...1.
"Fight." Lucifer's voice boomed in the sky, and the battle began.
Mercy jolted left, fast and sharp as lightning. He aimed to strike first.
"I see you now." In a tase, Alone was coming, metres away from Mercy.
Alone's spectre was glowing blue, ready to cast divine retaliation at any moment.
He was smiling madly. The power surge was visible in the energy around him.
"Take this." Alone charged a golden ball of raw energy and compressed it to the shape of a ball in a second.
"I will." Mercy stopped at his position and raised his hands in the air. His green steel blade appeared in his hands, and he took an overhead stance like an executioner.
*blast
The ball exploded into a splendid blue explosion, covering a radius of over 50 meters. Sending the land and trees shaking.
"A good start." Alone smiled after he was far enough away to safely look at the explosion from afar.
The explosion and shock wave came next, and snow blew off with the wind. The trees near Alone blew off leaves and snow.
"I can win this." Alone was hopeful.
"Spear of the angels!" Away from Alone's ears, a heavenly weapon was called back.
Lightning burst through the explosion's epicentre. Like water in a fountain, streams of green lightning surrounded the smoke.
"?!!"
A voice came with Mercy bursting right out of the smoke, taking a jump so high it seemed as if he were flying. His body was flowing with green lightning coming out of it, and his hand held a spear, which was as thin as a needle.
Lightning covered his eyes and body. Mercy held the spear, ready to throw it, like a fisherman throwing a harpoon at a fish. The spear flashed through his hands.
Alone was now faster than ever; he cast the divine retaliation to return the spear before Mercy threw it.
「Divine Retaliation」 Alone cast his spell, but Mercy released it anyway. The spear came flying fast and soundly towards Alone.
"My divine retaliation lasts for 0.25 seconds; the spear will reach him much faster. I will defeat him with this." Alone smiled as the spear came closer and closer.
"??!" The spear came near Alone's sphere of magic, but it stopped right before it could enter the barrier, remaining still in the air.
Then the 0.25-second barrier was over in a blink of an eye. Alone panicked for an instant when the spear was still frozen in its place. "Where is Mercy?"
"Catch the enemy."
The spear vanished into thin air as Mercy appeared in front of Alone. The barrier was gone, and the realm was the thing protecting Alone.
"Take this, Old Fart."
Mercy raised his hands in the air, joining them together. He aimed for Alone's head, and his hands came smashing down like hammers.
Smash!
Without taking any damage, Alone's body got pushed down to the ground.
A hole shaped like a circle was dug, and Alone was sent way down below the ground.
The land beside the hole shattered, and the shockwave sent trees flying away from the ground. The dust and debris were still in the air.
Mercy stood on the crumbled ground and wondered, "I can't even see him; that will be nearly 1 or 2 thousand feet below. I wonder who made many sacrifices for his survival."
Mercy overdid himself in the heat of excitement. He had analysed the timing for divine retaliations' shield time earlier with a feint snowfall.
"I shouldn't have used the spear, too. It is too powerful to use, goddammit. I wanted to have a good match." Mercy's mood was ruined by his unhinged actions in fighting.
"I won't go down that easily." Suddenly, from below the ground, a scream came echoing from the hole. Mercy looked down, and he saw something white rising up.
He jumped back a considerable distance, and the pillar of snow burst from the hole like a volcano. Throwing heaps of ice everywhere like a meteor rain. The ground that was destroyed was covered in snow once again.
Mercy surrounded himself in green lightning, preventing any snow from touching him. If the snow was imbued with some magic, it could be dangerous.
"You blasphemous fool! You dare defy loyalty to multiple gods and then use their spells and insult them. And you dare make a god's worshipper give a harsh sacrifice. I will punish you for all you did."
「Power: Spirit of the Forest.」 Alone spoke with anger and retribution on his mind.
He was standing on top of the pillar, firing ice heaps everywhere.
「Spell: Rain of Ice.」
Alone cast the spell with his spectre, and ice crystals began forming.
The snow in the insects started rising once again, but this time their eyes and backs were crystal blue and empty enough to fill with the blood of their victims. His ability had extended; roots escaped from the underground like tentacles, ready to attack.
The swarm of flies, bugs, the sharp ice crystals, and the tsunami all collected behind Alone, and he was staring down at Mercy.
"Die!"
With his spectre ahead, Alone let go of all forces and attacked at once. The wave of ice crystals flew first, followed by the insects riding on the wave of snow, and the snowballs came prematurely.
"Do you really think any of this can pass through my lightning? I cannot care what you send." Mercy's mood was ruined by the fact that he could win so easily.
The ice crystals came fast, killing all the bugs that were in their way and splashing their blood on them and the ground. But the ice crystals turned to vapour as soon as they touched the lightning.
Mercy looked up at Alone's frustrated face. The poor guy was trying everything he could to even hurt him, but it didn't matter; Mercy was done with him.
「Dragon spell: Roar」 Mercy said inside his mind, seeing all the bugs and ice trying to reach him but couldn't.
"A dragon spell?! Where are all these spells coming from?!!" Alone saw in dismay that a dragon's head replaced Mercy's, and then he screamed.
"eeee!!! eeeeeeee!!" Alone's head rang with the scream; it was sharp and eardrum-tearing. Saliva came out of his mouth, and his pillar of ice stopped spitting heaps of ice. Some liquid fell on top of his head.
"What, now?" He touched his hair and checked, "Blood?" Then another drop came down, and when Alone turned his face upwards, it was raining blood everywhere.
The rain on him coloured everything red—his face, armour, spectre, even the snow pillar he stood on. He looked, and in front of him, a 17-year-old boy stood alone with the proper shape and attire.
His surroundings were different. It was red everywhere—dark and black red blood—and filled with blue crystals of thousands of insects that turned into broken crystals. The tsunami and roots were no longer there; there was no one, just Mercy standing.
Mercy came towards Alone's pillar, walking fast, covering distances fast. His hands were in his pockets, and lightning was around him, vaporising anything in his way.
"Give up, already. It is taking too long for this fight. I have a niece to take care of and a warlord to tend to; give it up already. There is nothing you can do." Mercy told him.
Alone heard the word clear: there was nothing we could do, nothing he could do unless...
"Lucifer Morningstar! I give you everything—the power of my orbs, my soul, and all my riches. In return, grant me the strength to burn him away, even for just a minute!!!" Alone screamed at the sky while collapsing on the floor.
"You bastard!!! You think Lucifer grants wishes like they are pieces of candy." Mercy summoned his spear into his hands and threw it at Alone. Lucifer could never give so much power for so little value.
The spear went through the sky at piercing speed, aiming for Alone's eye, but it stopped before hitting him.
"Your wish will be granted." Lucifer's voice became alive in the sky.
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