He clenched his fist.
The petals twisted into razor-sharp vines and shot toward Imperial.
SWISH! SLASH! CRACK!
Hundreds of cursed tendrils lashed forward, each one imbued with rot, weight, and chaos.
Imperial didn't move for the first wave. He raised Raiktsu—
"Lightning Magic: Spark Veil."
A glowing field formed around him—a barrier of high-frequency volts.
The cursed tendrils slammed into the shield—only to disintegrate on contact.
Electric arcs exploded outward, frying the edges of the Curse Guardian's domain.
But the Guardian was already moving.
He vanished into the sky—then reappeared behind Imperial mid-air, summoning a hammer made of cursed crystal.
"Curse Construct: Executioner's Wrath!"
He brought it down like divine punishment.
BOOOOOM!
The ground shattered like glass as the hammer hit.
A crater formed instantly.
But—nothing.
The hammer struck empty air.
"Too slow," Imperial said—already hovering in the sky.
Lightning burst from his body.
In a blink, he zipped downward.
CLANG!
He appeared beneath the Guardian and slammed upward with Kurotsuki, dark energy trailing behind the slash like an afterimage.
The Curse Guardian gasped—he barely blocked the strike, but the force knocked him upward, flipping uncontrollably midair.
ZAP!
Imperial vanished again.
"Lightning Magic: Eightfold Blitz!"
He appeared—above, left, right, behind—striking from every direction like a living storm.
Each hit dented the Guardian's barrier.
Cracks formed across his cursed armor.
His body was fast… but not fast enough.
Imperial slashed forward with Raiktsu, sending a lightning arc so intense it split the clouds above the shrine.
The blast hit.
The Curse Guardian crashed into the ground, rolling through stone and dirt, leaving a blackened trench in his wake.
But he didn't stop moving.
The Curse Guardian stood, coughing blood—but laughing.
"Yes… YES. This is what I expected. A true user of Raiktsu…."
His grin twisted.
"Then let me show you why this Zone is called Endless."
He raised both hands.
"Curse Magic: Sin Grave."
Thirteen massive black monoliths erupted from the earth around the battlefield, forming a perfect circle. Chains of curse energy connected them.
Then—
They began chanting.
Not in a human voice. But in the language of death.
"…Orrorin navath ek druun… zatariel vath runes…"
The Sin Grave activated.
Imperial's body jolted.
His magic… flickered.
The Zone was now not just suppressing his magic—it was actively draining it.
His aura shrank slightly. His vision blurred for a second.
But—
He reversed grip on Kurotsuki, stabbing it into the ground.
"Dark Magic: Moonfang Surge."
The sword pulsed—then from beneath the monoliths, dark crescents erupted upward, slicing clean through four of them.
The Curse Guardian dashed forward, dual scythes now formed in his hands, built from compressed sin magic. They bled crimson mist as they swung.
SWISH! SWOOSH!
Kaien parried, ducked, reversed.
He stabbed with Raiktsu, slashed with Kurotsuki, lightning and shadow dancing in unison.
The sky above them broke open in thunder.
"Curse Magic: Bloom of Madness!"
A giant flower of teeth and spikes opened from the Guardian's chest and launched toward Imperial's face.
"Tch—"
Imperial spun, parried the blooming head away, and then followed with a kick that sent the Curse Guardian skidding backwards—into his own flower construct.
BOOM!
Petals exploded. The air was filled with blood-colored mist.
The Curse Guardian stood again—cut, scorched, but alive.
He gritted his teeth.
He channeled energy into his arms—
"Curse Drive: Black Halo Form."
Thorns extended across his shoulders. A crown of sin burned around his head.
His aura doubled.
But so did Imperial's.
He took a stance—Kurotsuki extended behind, Raiktsu raised forward.
His eyes shimmered—one glowing blue, one deep purple.
They dashed at each other—one wreathed in sin, the other in stormlight and darkness.
Each strike cracked the earth.
Each swing shattered magic.
The battlefield was no longer a shrine—but a war zone.
The Curse Guardian summoned a tidal wave of cursed blood.
Imperial answered with a rising wall of lightning spears.
Clash after clash—
Neither backing down.
Then the wind stilled.
They both stepped back, breathing heavy.
A pause.
Silence.
Then—
Both spoke at once.
The Curse Guardian raised his hands high.
Darkness surrounded him. His arms split into shadow limbs, extending with clawed fingers that each bore a curse rune.
Above him, a sphere of cursed energy began to form. Not large—but dense. A singularity of pain, rot, gravity, and despair.
"Curse Magic: Final Art – Sinner's Core."
The sky twisted above it. Space folded. The ground cracked further, unable to hold its weight.
The sphere floated down slowly—toward Imperial.
Meanwhile, Imperial inhaled.
He crossed both blades.
Lightning surged into Raiktsu.
Darkness poured into Kurotsuki.
A spiral formed around him—one side pure light, the other, pitch black.
"Lightning & Dark Magic: Judgment Breaker."
He raised both blades high.
Then stabbed them into the ground—
The spiral turned into a rising column, stretching into the sky, forming a divine cannon of two opposite forces spinning as one.
The Curse Guardian roared:
"NOW!"
The Sinner's Core shot down, accelerating.
Imperial growled:
"Go."
The Judgment Breaker fired up like a dragon's breath, spiraling into the sky—meeting the Sinner's Core halfway.
The world went white.
A thunderclap exploded outward, and the entire sky twisted as if time itself were being torn.
Imperial (calmly, almost mocking):
"You really think you have even a one percent chance of defeating me?"
The Curse Guardian growled, his aura flaring.
"Do you even know who you're speaking to? I am the Curse Guardian—one of Lord Sruken's Five Commanders. He is the ruler of this world… of the Three Realms. And you think stealing his blade makes you stronger than him?"
"Who do you think you are?"
Imperial smiled.
Tilted his neck. Just slightly.
A crack echoed from his joints.
His voice dropped, cold and absolute:
"A god."
In a flash—he was gone.
VSHHHT!
He reappeared at the Guardian's right side.
A single slash.
Raiktsu whispered through the air.
A thin red line appeared across the Curse Guardian's neck.
His head slowly slid off his shoulders.
Imperial didn't even look back.
He walked forward, blades humming with residual power.
Silent. Unbothered. Divine.
Imperil sheathe his blade. The curse guardian fall.
It's almost sun rise time
Soren and Caleb also witness this moment and are just shaking to see the true power of imperial.