Heroes of the Holy War

Akira jumps up and strikes the ground, sending a wave of mana towards Azel. Azel smiling, shields himself with an earth wall, but it doesn't hold up. Azel's defense breaks, but he takes no damage. When Akira circles around his back, Azel sets himself on fire. The flames push Akira back, and Gamble sweeps Azel's legs, causing him to fall. As he falls, he says the word

"Amen" and the ground beneath them cracks and seems like it's about to explode, but then returns to its normal state. A surprised Gamble takes a hard hit from Azel that yells,

"What the hell! You were supposed to kill me! Try harder!" Gamble wipes the blood from his mouth and says,

"Let your desires... die with your soul. Dark of Souls!" Azel then sinks into the ground, into darkness. Confused, he tries to understand the situation he's in while Gamble thinks,

"Just a little longer and I won't have any new cards." He then runs to Akira, transforming his shield into a

"Meteor Shield" made of cosmic stone. This shield is mainly defensive and has only one spell.

"Kids, you need to get back somewhere safe," says Akira, brushing off his pants. Kaen wants to protest, but Kazoto stops him so Kaen, Kazoto, and Kaido run to the place where Elarina is hiding.

"So... no holding back?" asks Gamble, tearing off the burnt part of his coat. Adjusting his scarf Akira says,

"Do I have green hair?"

A moment later, Azel leaps out from the shadow of a tree. When he spots Akira and Gamble, he immediately pushes off the tree and attacks Gamble, who blocks with his shield at the last second. A fierce exchange of blows ensues between Akira, Gamble, and Azel. The boys have perfectly coordinated attacks and even used a spell together after the combo of hands they used

"Double flame thrower!", but Azel has a fascinating defense, which Akira takes advantage of an exposed chest and stabs it with a stone knife. Azel immediately pushes Akira away and jumps back to heal the wound.

"Damn... Krra might have been right about those," Azel thinks to himself before he's attacked from behind by a lightning shuriken thrown by Kazoto. A moment of distraction and Akira has already plunged his sword into Azel's stomach. Azel spits blood and strikes the sword to make it retract. When he pushes Akira away, the sword sinks into the ground to regenerate. Akira jumps high, gathering mana in his right hand, and forms a sphere, striking the ground and creating a crater that reveals Azel, who holds an infinite void in his hand. He then jumps, intending to strike Akira with it. Gamble throws his shield, which absorbs the impact but also hits Akira, sending them both flying into the forest. Gamble suddenly loses strength.

"It's that same feeling again. What's going on?" Azel notices the weakened Gamble and slowly approaches, saying,

"You know... for a moment I was scared for my life. You should be proud of yourselves Dirty monkeys!" he shouts, spreading his arms, but a moment later the entire forest around them catches fire. Unfazed, Azel creates a black sphere in his hand, aiming it at Gamble.

"Congratulations—" he barely finishes before Azel's fingers are sliced off by some blades. Azel raises his hand and says,

"Well... I didn't expect that," then says, slightly surprised to Gamble,

"They said you make strange moves," before thinking to himself,

"I guess it's time to end this game." However, he realizes his fingers aren't regenerating. Thinking about this for a moment, Azel senses something and turns around, startled, thinking,

"Are they already here!? How?!" only to spot Akira levitating. His hoodie shimmers and looks like it doesn't have enough fuel for transformation and self-ignition like before, and his hair is half light and half dark.

"No. It's just this monkey," he thinks to himself, noticing that Akira is smiling.

"It's just you!" Azel shouts to Akira, spreading his arms.

"You scared me a little monkey, or more like Akira Izumi." Akira begins to use some spell.

"Space…

Hell Fire…

Imagination…

Reality Breakdown."

After these words, darkness starts to emerge from behind Akira, enveloping both him and Azel. Azel, frightened, says to himself,

"This must be some kind of joke," and the ground turns to water while the sky becomes red. Reminiscent of the void, a sanctuary appears under Akira. Akira lands and spreads his arms with a terrifying smile and glowing eyes, saying, "Welcome to hell!" Moments later, flames start to ignite all around. Azel, scared, looks at the reflection in the water where he sees himself as a child. In a fit of rage, he releases a massive amount of mana to blur the water and avoid seeing his reflection. Seeing Azel's fear, Akira snaps his fingers, and the mana Azel was releasing disappears. Surprised, Azel thinks to himself,

"Did he block my mana? No... He blocked the release. I can't release pure mana, but my spells should still work." Calming himself, Azel hurls a lightning bolt at Akira, who takes it to the face. Azel looks around at the surroundings, which have taken on a hellish landscape and at the same time, nothingness. Azel turns and sees a woman who says,

"Why didn't you help me?" Azel, terrified, takes a step back, and the woman vanishes. Akira takes advantage of the distraction and punches Azel in the stomach. Azel, disoriented, tries to gather his thoughts, but Akira attacks him relentlessly. When Azel finally breaks free from Akira's attacks, he sees the woman again, who repeats, "Why didn't you help me?"

After a moment, Azel notices the sky cracking. He dodges an attack from Akira and strikes the crack, shattering Akira's reality, causing him to fall to the ground. Azel spots Gamble, who is healing his hand. When Gamble barely avoids Azel's attack, he rolls his shield and strikes it against the ground, creating a small barrier. Azel jumps back and, looking at his severed fingers, thinks,

"Why the hell aren't they regenerating?" His thoughts are interrupted by Aki, who performs the Second technique of new flames—a single circle of the sun—creating a circle around herself with a simple horizontal slash. Azel dodges the attack and leaps near Akira, who slowly gets up and, in a voice mixed between Akira's and an unknown woman's, says,

"You've come far, Azel..." Akira grabs Azel by the hair and pulls him back, saying,

"But you've exceeded your limits." Azel breaks free from Akira, and Akira, tearing off the upper part of his clothes, says,

"Know your place, wretched pest."