The small world created by Ramiris shimmered with a strange ethereal glow. The landscape was a surreal mix of floating islands and crystalline mountains, as though the very laws of nature bent to the will of its creator. Zeyron and Guy Crimson stood facing each other, their auras flaring like titanic forces preparing for a cataclysmic clash.
Guy's crimson eyes gleamed with excitement, while Zeyron's golden and silver armor hummed with raw power, though he could feel the oppressive weight of Guy's overwhelming presence bearing down on him.
For a brief moment, both stood still, the air around them vibrating from the sheer power emanating from their bodies. Then, with a thunderous boom, they launched themselves at each other, the ground beneath them cracking and splitting from the impact.
Zeyron's spear of elemental energy flashed toward Guy, but Guy parried it effortlessly with a swipe of his hand, sending a pulse of demonic energy in return. Zeyron barely dodged, the energy grazing his side and leaving a deep cut in his Starheart armor. Pain shot through his body, but he gritted his teeth and pushed forward. Guy moved with terrifying speed, launching a barrage of attacks—each one faster and deadlier than the last. Zeyron struggled to keep up, blocking and deflecting blows, but it was clear he was being overwhelmed.
The battle quickly turned into a one-sided beatdown. Guy's mastery of combat was unparalleled; his every move was precise, his attacks relentless. Zeyron felt like he was drowning under the onslaught, each hit shaking his very core.
"You're just a puppet dancing to my tune," Guy taunted, a smirk curling his lips. He conjured a massive surge of dark energy and slammed it into Zeyron, sending him crashing to the ground below. Zeyron gasped for breath, his body aching, and his armor cracking. The chasm between their power levels was undeniable.
As Zeyron struggled to rise, blood dripping from his lips, he whispered, "Nova, can you do it?"
[Nova: The artificial world has been analyzed. It is possible to use the ultimate skill Lord of Marionettes to forcefully take control of the small world.]
"Then why aren't we doing that?" Zeyron asked as he expertly copied Guy's moves, managing to hold his ground for the time being.
[Nova: There is a 70% chance Guy can copy your ultimate skill. Furthermore, this small world you're fighting in isn't just any construct—it is part of the Queen of Spirits Ramiris' essence itself.]
[There's a high chance she will stop the skill, and Guy might gain some of its power for free.]
"Wait, is it really that easy to copy ultimate skills? Wouldn't that make Guy the strongest in Tensura if he can copy skills that fast?" Zeyron asked, his eyes wide with shock.
[Nova: Guy's current power level is already greater than it was at the end of the anime.]
"What?" Zeyron exclaimed.
[Nova: I told you just a few hours ago that the characters in this world are growing stronger while the world itself isn't keeping up.]
[This is a question we need to ask Veldanava, but you chose to forget that and came straight to fight Guy.]
Zeyron fell silent. Without another word, he activated Lord of Marionettes. He didn't have any choice because, without it, he couldn't win against Guy at all.
Suddenly, Zeyron felt it—the threads of power woven into the very fabric of this world. He could interact with them, manipulate them if he desired. A small smile crept across his face.
Ramiris had created this world, yet Zeyron had found a way to influence it through his skill.
Watching from the sidelines, Ramiris felt the shift and her eyes widened in surprise. She stared at Zeyron, her breath catching in her throat. Could he really…? The thought that someone could manipulate her world like that, without her permission, was unthinkable. If she wanted, she could take control back instantly. But as she watched Zeyron struggle, something flickered in her eyes. Fascination. Her lips curled into a small smile, and her eyes shone with excitement, like a child captivated by a new toy. She chose not to interfere, allowing the battle to continue, her gaze fixed on Zeyron's puppet-like movements.
Guy's hand ignited with black flames as he prepared to deliver the final blow. "It's over, Zeyron."
At that moment, Nova activated another unique skill, Chrono Shatter. Time around Zeyron twisted and cracked, the very fabric of reality bending to his will.
[Temporal Fracture.]
Zeyron's vision split into shards, each fragment showing a different version of the battle, each playing out in slow motion. He focused, shattering time in the area around him. Guy's movements slowed to a crawl, his incoming attack creeping forward as Zeyron manipulated the speed of events. Weaving through the frozen moment, Zeyron's mind worked faster than ever, analyzing every detail, every weakness.
But Guy, always a step ahead, noticed the shift. "Playing with time, are we?" His voice echoed through the fractured space. With a flick of his wrist, he attempted to copy the technique using Lucifer, Lord of Pride, but something went wrong. Unlike other skills he could easily mimic, Zeyron's manipulation of time resisted full takeover. Guy's frown deepened. He could mimic the concept, but the intricate nuances of Chrono Shatter eluded him.
Zeyron grinned despite his exhaustion. "You can't copy what's broken," he muttered, knowing that Chrono Shatter fractured time in ways that couldn't be perfectly replicated.
In that frozen moment, Zeyron unleashed the next part of his plan.
[Time Reversal.]
He rewound time in the localized area, erasing the damage to his body, the cracks in his armor mending themselves. Guy's attacks were undone as if they had never happened. For a brief second, Zeyron stood whole again, his energy replenished, and his determination burning brighter than ever.
Guy's crimson eyes widened for a moment, surprised by the sudden shift. But he quickly adapted, a dark grin spreading across his face. "Interesting. You've learned a few new tricks."
Zeyron didn't respond, his mind focused entirely on the next move. He activated his final sub-skill, Shattered Future. The timeline fractured again, this time into multiple futures. Each one showed him a different outcome of the battle. In one, Guy won, decimating Zeyron in the next few moments. In another, Zeyron barely managed to survive, but defeat still awaited him. However, one timeline stood out—a future where Zeyron not only survived but gained the upper hand.
Zeyron locked onto that future, syncing his actions with it. Time snapped back into place, and Zeyron surged forward, his movements now perfectly timed. Guy responded with an attack, but Zeyron was already prepared. He sidestepped with perfect precision, predicting Guy's every move, countering each strike before it even happened.
The tide of the battle shifted. Zeyron's attacks connected with Guy, one after the other, forcing the Lord of Darkness back. Guy's expression changed from arrogance to frustration, realizing that Zeyron had manipulated the flow of events to ensure his victory. But still, he believed he could win.
"Impressive," Guy growled, wiping blood from his lip. "But it won't be enough."
Guy summoned a massive vortex of dark energy, Death Spiral, intending to finish the fight. But Zeyron's eyes glinted with certainty—he had already foreseen this. With a roar, he summoned the full power of his ultimate skill, manipulating the leyline energy beneath the world and using its power as his own. He was using the power of the Elemental Queen herself at this point.
As the energy surged between them, the world around them trembled, cracks forming in the very fabric of space-time in the small world.
Ramiris, watching from her vantage point, gasped. She could sense the danger—if this continued, the entire world would collapse. Yet, despite the impending disaster, she couldn't help but watch in awe, her eyes glowing with fascination as the battle reached its climax.
Thankfully, there was also someone who wanted to see the outcome of this fight.
Velzard, the second strongest True Dragon, started to use her skill [ Deceleration ] to freeze the world and stop it from breaking.