The 33-Degree Dimension shimmered — endless black stone pyramids, a colossal triangle suspended in the void with a single burning eye at its center. The heroes were thrown into the arena by Elito's scarlet teleportation. Maya gasped: "This… this is the Throne of the Ancients." Elito floated above them, cloak of scarlet light unfurling like wings. Walid muttered: "The seat where four Ascendants carved history…" Power here did not choose kings. It consumed them.
Elito raised his Eclipse Blade toward the burning eye. "Only one may claim the Throne. None of you are worthy." The eye reflected tyrants and empires. He smirked: "You call me monster. I call myself heir." Jessica growled through pain: "You'll never be king." The tyrant stood where time itself bent.
Lacolone leapt, katana glowing scarlet-white, slashing through the void. His strike cut through space, fracturing reality like glass. Elito blocked effortlessly, sparks of soul-fire raining. Shockwaves threw Valgor and Eden to the ground. Elito whispered: "Futile." The clash birthed silence heavier than thunder.
Valgor charged, fist blazing with Riftquake and Thunderbrand combined, colliding with Elito's ribs and detonating the air. Walid followed with a blade slash that cleaved Elito's head. Lacolone severed him into fragments with speed too fast to follow. Victory lasted less than a heartbeat.
Elito's body reformed from scarlet smoke, whole again. His laughter echoed like a hymn of knives. "You cannot kill the Vessel. Not here." Maya's shield flickered, despair creeping in. Jessica fired but bullets disintegrated mid-air. Despair became the law of this place.
Maya ran to the triangle's base, searching for answers. She found a buried Sumerian sword glowing with inscriptions. She strained, trying to pull it free. The blade refused her hand, burning her palm. Jessica, bloodied, shouted: "Bring Lacolone! He's the one!" The sword waited for the Chosen of Pillars.
Elito slammed the Eclipse Blade into the ground. Scarlet chains burst upward, binding Valgor and Walid. Eden's barrier cracked under pressure. Elito's eyes glowed like black suns: "Die as examples." Lacolone teleported, severing chains in an instant. Hope still moved faster than despair.
Lacolone dual-wielded katana and pistol, firing soul-charged bullets mid-swing. Bullets ricocheted through dimensions, appearing behind Elito. One grazed his cheek — scarlet blood hissed. Elito snarled, aura expanding violently. Valgor landed another Riftquake punch, shaking the triangle itself. For one instant, the tyrant bled.
Elito retaliated with a blade arc that erased a whole pyramid in the distance. Shockwaves rippled through the team; Maya shielded them barely. Walid slashed again, sparks like dying stars. Elito regenerated, growing sharper, more monstrous. Jessica collapsed, whispering: "Too strong…" They carved him to pieces, and he rose sharper.
Elito halted, clutching his chest. His vessel burned with cracks of scarlet flame. "This shell restrains me… but twenty percent is enough to bury you." The eye above pulsed in agreement. Lacolone stepped forward, defiance in his eyes. The limit was not mercy. It was doom in moderation.
Lacolone and Elito collided again, sword to sword. Bullets burst like stars as Lacolone fired mid-swing. Elito parried with inhuman precision. Sparks blinded the battlefield. Both vanished in teleport flashes, reappearing across the arena. Steel became thunder.
Valgor fell to his knees, fists shattered. Walid's blade broke in half, soul-energy drained. Eden coughed blood, barrier gone. Jessica slumped against rubble, half-conscious. Only Maya remained standing, clutching the sword she could not lift. The storm left only two standing.
The Sumerian sword glowed brighter, sensing Lacolone. Maya whispered: "It's you… only you can claim it." Lacolone glanced toward her mid-fight. Elito noticed, smirking. "A throne for one. And it won't be you," he taunted. The fate of worlds hung on one grip.
Elito hurled Lacolone through three pyramids with one strike. Lacolone teleported back instantly, blade screaming scarlet-white. He fired five bullets at once, each loaded with a Pillar's energy. Elito blocked four but the fifth detonated against his chest. His vessel cracked deeper, scarlet fire spraying. The impossible became possible — he hurt him.
Elito's aura flooded the entire dimension in red light. His laughter warped the air into hallucinations. "One death each — a ticket to the abyss." Maya screamed: "Lacolone! Take the sword!" The Sumerian blade trembled, waiting. Ruin crowned the battlefield.
Lacolone rushed, aura blazing, cutting through illusions. His katana met the Eclipse Blade in a blinding clash. Sparks ignited like miniature suns. Elito's eyes widened at Lacolone's growing strength. The burning eye above began to spin. The Throne of Degrees watched in silence.
Both unleashed their strongest blows at once. Space fractured, pyramids collapsed into void. Maya shielded the others from total annihilation. Elito and Lacolone hovered mid-air, blades locked. The Sumerian sword glowed violently, awaiting its wielder. The clash surpassed imagination.
Splash: Everyone lies fallen across the battlefield — Valgor, Walid, Jessica, Eden unconscious. Maya clings to the glowing Sumerian sword, reaching toward Lacolone. Only Elito and Lacolone remain standing, blades locked, eyes burning. Above them, the eye in the triangle opens fully, bleeding light across the void.
"The thrones had chosen. Now the world would watch two shadows decide its future."