Meanwhile, the two would be tethered immediately by Leon's strings. Juna's and Koske's bodies began to grow, their form changing, the gears quickly spinning faster and faster for the living clock, and the ice expanding across the Nutcracker's body. One a hulking giant, their mouth broken, yet their build at its prime, the other now spindly like a spider, clock hands stabbing into the ground like stilts, splitting her legs apart as her arms took on a spring-like shape. Her beak broke apart, now sporting two mouths instead of one, whilst her eyes merged into one, the minute and hour hand intersecting at last. A proper clock.
Stolas merely smiled as his energy spiked, the pressure palpable. Koske raised his blade, watching the stars merged across his shadow hand, the flames scorching the shop quelled by a flash freeze, turning such embers into mere flakes.
"Ash.... to ash...!"
"Dust.... to Dust!!"
"Break it all! Give Light to a new world...!!"
"MY STUNNING HEAVEN!!!"
At the same time, Koske would begin his own chant, his blade glowing a bright blue, snowflakes emerging from the steel, the hilt growing outwards. The cold air swarmed around its edge, the sword now a pillar, piercing across the skies, unaffected by the open ozone.
"I give to you.... my Darling."
"For I have missed you. For I am in need..."
"Let us go one last time... Fourth Dance..."
"Jusqu'à ce que nous nous retrouvions...."
Juna, noticing the shop beginning to bend and break before the two's might, was quick on winding her clock eye, a barrier formed around, both to protect, but also to weaken Solomon, cutting him off from any proper connection to the outside world. The barrier would begin to replicate the era's that passed by, soldiers from warring kingdoms storming in, forcing Solomon to create a secondary barrier to block away, as well as delivering a plague of locusts to strike and weaken the soldiers en mass. With the cackle of such a machine, its spindle-like legs trying to stab into his barrier and break it apart with such brute force, a small glimmer would be visible through both sides. A light that Solomon knew well, and hoped that his friend, nay, his brother can endure it.
As all the constellations converge, the shadow being skeletal, the blade began to play its dance. A woman and a man, hugging one another, twirling and spinning to their heart's content. The woman was taken away by the man, however, prompting him to follow after. Spews of snow comes out, as the blade began to lower down, rats out of the cold swarming away, as the man single-handedly fought them, albeit with no avail. His demise came as soon as the Final Gambit was launched out. As Koske sent his, Stolas replied with his own, as the two shouted as much as they can, a war cry that can be heard from outside.
"SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!! MAAAAAAAAAAAAGIIIIIIIIIC!!!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!! MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST!!!!!!!!"
"ICE!!!!! MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGIIIIIIIC!!!"
"SAAAAAAAAAAAN! TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUSE!!!!!!"
FWOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!
A beam. A pillar of snow and light, piercing across the sky, much like the collapse. Brunono can't help but look up, seeing the clash before his many eyes, watching the atmosphere both freeze and melt, a new layer of 02 made, a fresh breath that would give them its protection. Mist and clouds began to form, soft rain coming down. He'd raise his long, thin arm up high, trying to imagine himself grabbing the sky. He'd close his eyes as he'd feel the soft, cold rain. It was comforting, to be refreshed in such a sight. Zazel can't help but watch as the lanky figure before him took in the new layer, watching as his friend would bash against the blade again and again, using Almagest against his Santa Clause to create more of this fresh blanket. "I missed having this." Leon began, parting his fingers wide so that he can feel its cool in-between each one. "The calm days that blow past... the chilled nights that accompany it with. It's been ages since I properly went out of my hollowed shell..."
"What happened then? What stopped you from doing it?" Zazel asked.
"Simple, really. I'm running a business..." The Debt Collector's tone was unnerving, not showing any emotion other than bliss, even as the fight beside him raged on, acting like crackles of light to flash at his eyes. "...I am not allowed luxuries. The ones I could usually get would be picnics on the side of a tall oak tree. Maybe a few songs to sing on the way there or on the way back, but that's all I could do. With my job as the main focus, such amenities must be cut for profit. Can't slack, less I'd lose my funding. My workers. My shop."
"...And in turn, you became this..."
"Sometimes, we have to pay a price. This is but one of many." The man would try to lunge forward, a dart in the wind, carrying the cold atmosphere as a personal layer around himself, forcing Zazel to react with a few stars to act as a blockade, whilst he'd increase the gravity and force him to be on the ground. Even with this set-back, the man was still able to pick himself up, grab ahold of such a star, and drained it dry, allowing the puppet to power up from its heat. Each stomp clashed with each strike behind him. Zazel would simply ball up his fists, approach the figure, and strike back.
Strings ejected to snare around the Devil, emanating the equivalent of harsh rain. The two would dodge each of their blows, as they'd try to make sure either of them lands a direct hit.
Stolas and Koske, on the opposite side, would show just as little mercy as well. Both the Nutcracker and the Debt Collector can see it in the demon's eyes. Both of them were not showing any signs of stopping, any chance of slowing down.
With how much one endures in hell, the pitch black soul rages into an inferno unmatched by any. Their will demands it.