Yahageshii's flames burned ever brighter, distorting the air around him with an intense heat. His breaths were labored and heavy, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked, his face a storm of uncontainable rage and grief.
Behind him, Harutemi clung tightly to his back, her sobs heartbreaking and unrelenting. Her tears seemed as though they could douse his flames, but instead, they only fueled the inferno of his anger. Yahageshii gently pushed her behind him, his voice low and trembling with suppressed fury.
"Stay back. Leave this to me."
Watcher 20 stood unmoved, separated by the raging fire. His eyes, cold and dismissive, bore a cruel smirk. "Oh? Anger already? A weakling is still a weakling. Even if you're mad, you're nothing more than a fluttering ember."
Yahageshii's gaze sharpened, his voice a cold steel edge. "You're not walking away from here today."
With those words, he slammed his fist into the ground. Flames erupted from beneath, spreading rapidly into a towering ring of fire, sealing both of them inside. The fiery barrier roared upward, a blazing dome that turned the battlefield into a furnace. Even from a distance, Harutemi stumbled back from the blistering heat.
Watcher 20 frowned slightly as the black energy around him began to swirl, thick and oppressive. He sneered. "Interesting. I suppose I'll have to take this a little more seriously." His dark blade rose, gathering an even more potent aura of shadow, contrasting sharply against Yahageshii's flames.
Yahageshii didn't waste time with words. With a thunderous roar, he leapt into the air, his fists ablaze like meteors crashing toward Watcher 20. "AAAAHHHHHH!"
Their clash sent shockwaves rippling outward as fire and darkness collided in a deafening explosion. Sparks and ash filled the air as their powers battled for supremacy.
Watcher 20 deftly dodged the brunt of Yahageshii's onslaught, circling to the side and slashing out with his blade. A crescent of black energy raced toward Yahageshii, who slammed his foot into the ground, propelling himself sideways just in time. Closing the distance, Yahageshii delivered a fiery punch to Watcher 20's gut.
"Boom!" The strike landed with explosive force, sending Watcher 20 crashing into the wall of fire.
"Urgh!" He coughed up blood but quickly regained his footing, wiping his mouth with a derisive grin. "Not bad. You've got some bite. But if you think this is enough to kill me, you're deluding yourself."
The shadows around him thickened, his voice reverberating with a sinister echo. Cracks formed on the ground as tendrils of black energy erupted forth, snaking toward Yahageshii with terrifying speed.
Yahageshii's fists glowed with an even more intense light. The fire that consumed them had transformed, shifting from a vivid orange to a dazzling gold. He charged toward the dark tendrils, his fists smashing them apart one by one with unrelenting fury. Each blow sent waves of searing heat rippling through the air.
"Watcher 20!" Yahageshii roared, his voice shaking the heavens. "You're going to pay for what you did to Elder Kasamaki! I'll make sure you understand his pain, even if it costs me my life!"
Watcher 20's expression darkened slightly, his earlier smugness replaced with a wary calculation. "Tch. It seems I underestimated the potential of this weakling. But the stronger the flame, the more satisfying it is to snuff it out."
The two charged at each other once more, fire and shadow clashing violently. The battlefield within the flaming dome became a whirlwind of destruction, with shockwaves and explosions ripping apart the ground beneath them.
Yahageshii's golden flames illuminated the battlefield, casting everything in a radiant glow. His attacks were relentless, each strike pushing Watcher 20 closer to the edge. Despite his taunts, Watcher 20 began to feel the strain of fending off the sheer intensity of Yahageshii's assault.
Sweat dripped from Watcher 20's brow as he summoned a massive blade of shadow. With a contemptuous smirk, he swung it down with all his might, the attack carving a path of destruction as it raced toward Yahageshii.
Yahageshii raised his arms, crossing them to shield himself as flames surged upward to meet the incoming attack. The clash forced him back several steps, his feet carving deep grooves into the ground as he resisted the overwhelming force.
"Damn it!" Yahageshii growled through gritted teeth, his body trembling as he absorbed the impact. The fire around him intensified further, roaring with an almost primal ferocity.
Watcher 20's mocking voice echoed through the flames. "What's wrong? Is this all the power you have? Your anger is nothing but a flickering candle in the wind."
But Yahageshii didn't falter. Instead, his flames surged higher, burning away the shadows that surrounded him. His voice boomed with defiance, filled with an unyielding determination.
"Shut up!" he bellowed, launching himself forward once again. "I'll burn your darkness to ashes!"
His fist, now a brilliant orb of golden fire, rocketed toward Watcher 20's chest with unrelenting power. The world seemed to hold its breath as their final clash loomed, the air between them charged with the promise of cataclysm.