Kael's body slipped between the floating crimson cubes, his footsteps leaving thin streaks that sliced through the empty air.
The metallic thunder reached him before his eyes did—two of Noxis's razor-sharp sword arms lunged at once, thrusting straight ahead with a speed that barely left room to breathe.
They met, and—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Astra's blade collided with their pointed tips, brief sparks blooming in the white air before fading without ever falling.
Kael deflected one thrust, two slashes, three stabs—then even a fourth rapid combination. His body dipped, slid, tilted, twisted, and then he struck back with a powerful diagonal cut aimed at one of them.
But—
Noxis's other arm rose instantly, knocking it aside with a rigid flash of steel.
Clang!
Without even a scratch, Kael pressed into the deflection and attacked again.
Clang! Clang!
Once more, Noxis's remaining arm blocked him.
For a heartbeat, the clash stalled as the two pushed against each other. Then Noxis abruptly broke Kael's guard, withdrew his blades, and both sword arms surged forward again—slashing and thrusting in unison, like twin siblings dancing to the rhythm of slaughter.
The exchange became a war drum's cadence—thrust, slash, block, swing, draw back. Over and over, faster and tighter each time.
Noxis's twin blades aimed for Kael's neck, arms, and legs, yet Kael slipped past them with agile precision, answering each attempt with instinctive countercuts. Every movement Kael made was etched-in reflex; every strike from Noxis's chained hands was hatred frozen into form.
And not long after Kael managed to pry apart the two sword arms attacking him in midair—
Suddenly, the assault paused.
From the right came the roar of spinning machinery, piercing to the ears. A saw-arm surged down from above, rotating like a wheel of death poised to split Kael from head to chest.
Sringgg, sringgg, sringgg!
By reflex, Kael snapped his gaze toward the sound and raised Astra overhead. Both hands gripped the sword with everything he had—one on the hilt, the other clamped near the blade's tip.
And—
KA-RAAANG!
The impact exploded in the air, slamming into his ears until they rang. Kael's knees buckled as his footing was dragged backward across the white surface.
The friction between saw and blade ignited small sparks, shrieking in a long, merciless grind that refused to end.
Kael growled, veins standing out along his neck, his body forced back as if no footing in existence could withstand that pressure.
As if the creature understood, the saw's contact suddenly shifted—sliding from the center of the blade toward the right, creeping closer to the tip. As though it were aiming for Kael's arm… or simply trying to intimidate him.
Realizing this, Kael quickly adjusted his sword, shifting sideways as if to evade. But the saw-arm gave him no breath—it lunged again at once, carving a wild diagonal arc.
Calm despite being pressed to the limit, Kael evaded every swing, until he finally caught it again with Astra.
Strain was written clearly on his face. His jaw clenched, cold sweat dripping down. Under the crushing pressure, he let out a fragment of frustration.
"Damn it… this won't—"
Noxis allowed no pause. From the other side, an arm with four massive fingers folded in, then shot out from the gap behind the saw. A moment later, the saw-arm retracted upward, clearing the way. The four-fingered fist launched forward like a chained spear fired from a cannon.
In an instant, the blow reached Kael. Still, he managed to raise Astra, shielding his body with the blade that remained unbroken.
And...
DOOOM!
His body was flung like a doll, tearing through empty air before crashing into one of the massive cubes behind him.
But the force did not end there—Kael was still driven onward, smashing into a second cube, then a third, then a fourth, until he finally stopped after slamming into a towering cubic pillar that stood upright, piercing the white sky.
The collision shook the entire space. Successive tremors made the surrounding cubes shift with a heavy hum, while fine gray dust scattered from the cracks along their surfaces.
Only then—amid the pain spreading through his body, seeping into his muscles and bones, and with his breath still ragged, not yet fully under control—did Kael finally understand.
Those arms were not random mutations.
The one with the brutal, gaping maw that had struck him head-on, smashing through his guard without hesitation or mercy, bore a clear intent of pure destruction. Mauler Maw.
The pair of curved blades that moved in perfect coordination, dancing wildly through the air as they slashed and pierced in relentless succession, their motion resembling a ritualized rhythm of slaughter—Serpent Blades.
And the one that roared with merciless, spinning teeth, its violent rotation screaming like a living engine of execution, the very force that had nearly shattered his defense moments ago…
Gnashing Saw.
Seeing this, Noxis looked satisfied. He remained standing tall, his two normal arms folded across his chest, as though his own body did not need to be dirtied. The four chain-arms shortened again, drawing back toward him. His heavy voice echoed as he took a few steps forward.
"Good grief… you have no idea just how vast, how distant, the difference between us truly is, Kael."
In midair, Kael fell—but he did not collapse. He twisted his body and landed back on the surface with perfect form, stabilizing himself despite his ragged breath. Pain flared across his back, yet his grip on Astra never loosened. His gaze dropped, and a low murmur slipped from his lips—as if this were only the beginning.
"Not bad. But…" He lifted his head, eyes blazing, refusing to be extinguished by a single blow. "This is still nothing!"
"Such a classic thing to say." Noxis snorted.
Then—
Kael burst toward Noxis once more, faster than before, as though he were slowly uncovering something within himself—an instinctive adaptation awakening in sync with the pulse of his body.
The instant he reached Noxis, Kael launched a straight thrust. But in a blink, both of Noxis's pointed sword arms knocked the attack aside.
The impact sent Kael skidding, his body flung slightly to the side. He landed swiftly, twisted his torso, then retreated with measured, controlled steps.
He didn't stop there.
Kael suddenly broke into a sideways run—no longer charging head-on, but veering to the right, circling Noxis at high speed. His footsteps blurred, tracing a widening arc like a predator enclosing its prey within a confined arena.
Faster. And faster still...
Until the air around them began to roar.
Yet Noxis did not move. His body remained cold and still, the hollow red lenses fixed on Kael without emotion.
Kael's afterimages multiplied, flickering like illusions torn loose by sheer speed. Within that spiraling wind, dozens of gazes—each one Kael's—watched Noxis from every direction, poised to unleash the next strike.
The vortex of Kael's shadows tightened around Noxis's figure. Every step carved the air; every breath mixed with the rapid flow, sending tremors through the floating cubes around them. The white expanse itself seemed to pulse, struggling to contain motion it could not see.
And yet, at the center of it all, Noxis stood unmoved.
His long-beaked mask tilted slightly toward Kael, as if those glowing red lenses could pierce through thousands of dancing afterimages.
"So fast," Noxis's voice echoed—low, piercing, as though it rose from a hollow cavity in his chest. "And yet all I see is a child still running in circles of his own making."
Kael's shadows halted at once, converging into a single point directly before Noxis. His true form emerged, breathing hard, Astra clenched tight, its blade flashing cold light. His eyes burned with a stubbornness that knew no fear.
"And you're just hiding behind that mask," he shot back, his voice hoarse but resolute. "If you really stand above me… why are you still not moving?"
The red lenses gleamed, as if sneering without a mouth. "Because I do not need to move to crush your efforts."
Kael ground his teeth. In the next instant, his body vanished again—replaced by a storm of lightning-fast strikes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A thrust from the left—followed by a slash from the right. A draw from behind—answered by a diagonal swing from the front. The barrage came without pause, so dense and violent that the air itself trembled, streaks of flashing steel encircling Noxis's body.
And though Astra's blade carved thin lines through Noxis's black garments—tearing fabric, even leaving faint scratches across the surface of his mask—Noxis did not retreat. He allowed Kael's shadows to cut across him, unmoving.
Kael twisted once more, pouring every ounce of strength into a final thrust—straight, swift, aimed directly at Noxis's head.
That was when Noxis finally moved.
Slowly. Almost lazily.
From the silence, his left hand rose, and two fingers—the index and middle—extended forward.
Clink.
With a single, simple motion, Astra's tip was caught—pinned cleanly between those two fingers, unable to advance even an inch. Kael's momentum slammed into an invisible wall, his power dissolving as if it had never existed.
"What—?!" Kael gasped, shock freezing his breath.
Noxis lowered his head slightly, the red lenses blazing inches from Kael's face. From behind the mask came a short sentence—cold, dismissive.
"Too easy."
The sword's tip remained trapped between Noxis's fingers. Kael let out a low groan, jaw clenched, cold sweat trickling from his temple. And yet, though his strength had been stopped so effortlessly, the fire in his eyes did not fade.
He drew in a long breath, then smiled faintly—barely there. "Then… I'll just have to force it harder."
With a sharp pull, Kael yanked his blade back, tearing free from the grip. He leapt backward, trying to open distance. But the moment his foot touched the surface...
From directly beneath him, a massive arm with four enormous fingers burst forth.
GRAAAK!
The fingers coiled around his ankle, crushing tight as if intent on shattering bone.
"Agh—!"
Kael was yanked up brutally, then hurled into the air like a rag doll. His body tore through empty space, sent flying straight toward a distant cluster of floating gray cubes.
As he spun, Kael briefly shut his eyes. But when he opened them again, he realized—
Noxis was gone.
"…!" His instincts screamed.
Reflexively, Kael twisted his head back. Just before his body crashed into the massive cube, its surface split open like a fresh wound. A blood-red portal blossomed wide, and from within it, Noxis's black hands reached out, grasping for him—as though space itself bent to his will.
Kael acted instantly.
Astra flew from his hand, hurled toward the upper side of another nearby floating cube. The blade sank deep into the gray surface.
And in the very next moment—
WHOOSH!
Kael's body vanished, drawn into the thin light streaming from the sword—then reappeared instantly beside the slanted face of the cube where Astra was embedded.
With one swift motion, he grabbed the hilt and stood firm on the angled surface. Gravity seemed meaningless; his body remained upright against the wall, hair still trembling from the residual rush of displacement.
Below him, the blood-red portal split wider, and Noxis emerged slowly. The long-beaked mask tilted upward, twin red lenses burning as they locked onto Kael above.
"Oh…" Noxis's voice rumbled, cold and heavy, merging with the hum of the space itself. "So now you can relocate yourself, hm? A bit of progress."
Kael looked down at him, eyes cold, shoulders rising and falling with each breath. "That's not progress," he replied, his voice calm, though still vibrating with leftover adrenaline. "My body moved on its own. Instinct… or maybe muscle memory from a past long gone."
He raised Astra to the side, its tip angled downward. "When something threatens my life… this body remembers the path by itself. All I have to do is follow."
Noxis fell silent for a moment. Then he let out a quiet laugh—a dry sound devoid of warmth, nothing but an echo of emptiness.
"Inherited instinct. Memories no longer belonging to your conscious mind… intriguing."
He stepped forward, fully emerging from the portal, all four arms extending slowly like the shadows of a nightmare. "But will that be enough? Or is it merely another flicker of hope—destined to break like all the others?"
Kael tilted his head slightly, lips tightening. "You'll see the answer for yourself."
Noxis paused, then released a long breath from behind his beaked mask.
"Very well. Then it's my turn to attack you. Naughty dog."
***