The word echoed like a thunderclap.
In that instant, the world exploded into motion.
Zane launched forward, his wings slicing the air with a deafening boom, shadows spiraling around him like tendrils of a storm. His Endblade gleamed, infused with Void energy, pulsing with the fury of vengeance.
Across the arena, Xander reacted in a blur. Light flared beneath his feet as he vanished, reappearing mid-air. A radiant blade, forged of condensed sunlight, shimmered in his grasp. The moment he clashed blades with Zane, the collision birthed a shockwave that cracked the barrier surrounding the arena.
Steel rang. Light burned. Shadow screamed.
They danced through the air — no, they warred. Zane struck low, twisting into a spinning arc, forcing Xander to deflect and counter from above. Xander retaliated with a beam of light, but Zane folded into his shadow and slipped past, slashing upward.
Their movements blurred into impossibility — flashes of dark and white streaking across the battlefield, clashing like titans from myth. Every strike lit the arena in contrast: radiant gleam versus consuming abyss.
"Shadow Step!" Zane vanished mid-swing and appeared behind Xander, his blade aimed at his side.
"Solar Parry!" Light exploded from Xander's body, forcing Zane to recoil.
The clash drove them into the air — they flew higher, above the arena, above the crowd, into the sky itself.
The storm clouds seemed to answer the battle's fury. Lightning streaked in the distance.
Xander created a construct of radiant wings and propelled forward, his form glowing like a shooting star. Zane, with wings of Void, spiraled upward to meet him.
Below, the crowd watched with breathless awe, their faces lit by flashes of light and streaks of shadow.
Xander raised a hand. "You're strong, but you're burning out. That armor... it's unstable."
"I don't need stable," Zane spat, dark energy surging through his veins. "I just need to bring you down."
He activated Void Drive — and the streaks of blue across his armor flared into white-hot gray, his body engulfed in a twisted vortex of shadow and storm.
Zane launched downward, blade first — and Xander followed with a blazing charge of light.
They collided mid-air, an explosion so vast it turned day into dusk for a moment.
Both were flung in opposite directions, crashing into opposite ends of the arena. The dust settled.
Blood dripped. Armor cracked.
Zane pushed himself to his feet, breath ragged, wings torn.
Xander emerged as well, limping, one eye shut from a wound.
This battle... wasn't over.