Without waiting, he slammed his foot into the ground with a loud crack. The earth beneath shattered as he burst forward like a cannonball. His sword glowed with a fiery red aura, brighter than before. With all his fury poured into the strike, he swung at Kael. Their swords clashed, sending out a massive shockwave that tore the air apart. The force pushed back the ground around them, creating a sudden burst of air that blasted through the trees. Thunder roared in every direction, and the sky above seemed to rumble in response. James’s teeth were gritted, his eyes bloodshot. Every muscle in his body screamed with effort, but he didn’t stop. "You don’t know a damn thing!" he shouted, his voice cracking from the strain. "I was a genius! I was the strongest of my generation! I should’ve had everything—honor, glory, power!" His sword raged with each swing, and Kael had to meet each blow with equal force. Every clash sent out a shockwave. Trees snapped. Rocks exploded. The land beneath them cracked with every impact, creating craters across the battlefield. James’s face twisted more with every strike. His expression was a mix of rage, madness, and pain. His eyes twitched, lips curled, and veins bulged on his forehead. There was nothing calm left in him. "I should’ve gotten it all!" he screamed. He pulled back his sword and slammed it down again, shaking the earth. "From honor to grace to women... Everything should’ve been mine! But that bastard took it away!" Kael met his sword again, pushing back, but James wasn’t slowing down. His words spilled out like venom. "After he beat me, everything changed. My blessing vanished. The power I got from the God of War... it disappeared! Like it was ripped from me!" Kael narrowed his eyes as James kept attacking, his feet dragging over shattered stone and broken soil. The air around them had turned into a whirlwind from the sheer power of their duel. Each parry from Kael sent out a small tempest that blew away trees and uprooted the grass beneath them. "My power regressed!" James yelled, spitting out the words. "It’s all because of that son of a bitch!" He swung again and again, every strike more unhinged than the last. Kael remained composed, blocking each one, though the force was immense. Around them, the land looked like it was hit by a bomb. Craters formed with every crash. The sky above grew darker from the swirling clouds of dust and smoke rising from their fight. James’s mouth trembled. His eyes were wide and wild, completely lost in hatred. "Your eyes..." he growled. "They look just like him. Always looking down on people like they’re insects." He snarled like a rabid animal. His grip tightened on his sword so hard that his knuckles turned white. "I’ll gouge those fucking eyes out!" He screamed, throwing himself at Kael again with a terrifying surge of power. His aura burned bright, red like wildfire, and for a moment it seemed like the world went silent as he poured everything into one final strike. Kael met the blade head-on. The impact was deafening. The shockwave split the ground into a massive crater. Dirt and debris exploded into the air like a volcano erupting. Kael slid back, feet digging into the ground, leaving a trail of destroyed land behind him. James stood still for a second, chest heaving, sword trembling in his hand. He looked broken, like a man possessed by a ghost from his past. His body was bruised and blood ran from his mouth, but he didn’t care. His eyes were still fixed on Kael, burning with hatred. "You think you’re better than me?" he whispered, barely able to speak through the shaking. Kael didn’t respond. His eyes remained calm, but cold. It wasn’t arrogance. It was resolved. And maybe that’s what drove James even crazier. "I’ll kill you..." James muttered, almost to himself. "I’ll kill everything you are..." Another clash erupted between them. Sword against sword, each swing louder than thunder. The storm of destruction continued. Whole parts of the forest were gone now, the land carved and cratered, the air full of dust and smoke. James had lost control. His strikes had no rhythm now, no form—just raw power and fury. His breathing was erratic. His movements are wild. He was no longer fighting to win. He was fighting to destroy it. Kael, though silent, kept moving with grace and precision. He blocked, parried, and dodged, but he didn’t underestimate James. Each strike from James, even wild, had the force of a falling mountain. "You took it from me..." James cried again. "My pride. My future. My everything!" Another explosion. Another crater. James dropped to one knee for a second, panting hard. Blood dripped from his forehead, staining his eyes red. But he pushed up again, body trembling, dragging himself forward. "Even if it kills me... I’ll end you!" He screamed again, charging with everything he had. Their swords met in another violent clash, and this time, the land cracked open further. A deep crevice formed beneath them, splitting apart the battlefield. The sky rumbled as if echoing the pain, rage, and despair of the man who had lost everything. James... was no longer a warrior. He was a storm. A madman chasing the ghost of his past with fire in his veins and hate in his heart. With a violent roar, James began to burn away his own lifespan. He gritted his teeth and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. His aura flared up wildly, releasing powerful ripples that cracked the ground beneath him. Lightning flickered and danced in the air around his body, surging with the desperation of a man pushed beyond reason. Just as he was about to draw his sword in full force, he froze. A terrifying, cold feeling crept up his spine. His instincts screamed at him, but it was too late. "First form... Rekkai Zan." Kael’s whisper reached James like a gust of wind—calm, but deadly. Blood sprayed across James’s face before he could even react. His eyes widened in shock, bulging from their sockets. A second later, they exploded from the sudden surge of pain and pressure. Slowly, he turned his head to the left, eyes trembling as they locked onto the sight of his own hand—still gripping the sword—sliding off his shoulder in a clean, precise cut. His mind took a moment to register the damage. Then it hit. A scream tore from James’s throat, raw and filled with pain. It was not just a cry of agony, but of complete heartbreak and fear. The kind of scream that reached into your chest and made your soul twist. The land around them fell into silence, stunned by the sound. It was the cry of a man shattered. The Black Knights, who had been standing still, felt their bodies freeze. Their eyes darted to Kael, who hadn’t moved a single step. He stood calmly, almost too calmly. The fear started to sink in. Countless questions ran through their minds. What did they just witness? How did he do that? Kael simply stood there, unmoved, watching James stumble. He then let out a small laugh and walked forward, slowly. "Kekeke... Yeah, that’s it," Kael murmured to himself, his tone low and satisfied. "That sweet scream of pain and agony..." "That scream of despair..." "I like it... it pleases me..." Kael’s laugh grew louder. It echoed in the still air, chilling everyone to the bone. James, still clutching his shoulder, looked at Kael with wide, horrified eyes. He no longer saw a warrior. He saw something worse. Something insane. "Nahaha... I can’t let this go," James muttered with twisted breath, coughing up blood. "I’m going to take you with me." He pulled out a crystalline object and swallowed it without hesitation. Almost instantly, his body began to change. His muscles swelled. His skin darkened. His bones twisted. He screamed again, but this time it wasn’t out of pain. It was rage. Power surged out of him as he transformed into a monster, a demonic creature pulsing with corrupted energy. "Kkkee... I didn’t want to use this," James growled in a distorted voice, "but you forced me." Kael’s face twisted in disgust. He clicked his tongue and cursed under his breath. "Fuck you. You think I’ll just stand here and let you turn into that thing?" he said coldly. Kael shifted into his stance, and the air around him began to change. Without hesitation, Kael launched another strike. But something was off. His sword met resistance. The attack didn’t go through. "You can’t attack me anymore," James said with a crazed smirk. His monstrous body pulsed with energy as countless magical symbols glowed across his skin. Layers of glowing shields rotated and locked around him like armor. "This shield is impenetrable. You can’t kill me," he declared with pride. Kael’s eyes narrowed. Then, he moved again. Taking a step forward, he gripped his sword with both hands and shifted his stance. "I see..But that doesn’t meanI am out of options." "Second form... Void Rend." This time, the air didn’t scream. It felt quiet. The blade flickered strangely—light bending around it as if it existed in another plane for a moment. The sword moved forward, slow yet absolute, like a force of nature. It passed through the air and cut straight through James’s defenses. The barrier didn’t even react. A thin, faint line appeared across James’s chest. He stood frozen. Then, a second later, the mark deepened. His eyes widened in horror as his body slowly began to split. His mouth moved, forming words, but nothing came out. His scream caught in his throat. He could only watch in silence as his upper half slid away from the lower half. Blood sprayed like a fountain as both pieces hit the ground with a loud thud.