Flames sprung to life on my blades, more fiercely so than they had ever done before.

  I charged towards Righello and Quinn, and the three of us met in the middle.

  I hacked and slashed at the two of them with more anger and vice than I had ever done before. Every time my blades collided with one of theirs, my flames gave a great roar and expanded with power. The surrounding area became resemblant of a wildfire, with towering infernos rising high above the three of us.

  A tremendous roar escaped my mouth as I performed the final and most powerful Fire Breathing Form.

  My movements were rough and yet flowed marvellously into one another, and I struck the pair in front of me with such a powerful elegance that I almost wanted to admire myself.

  Tightening my gut, I created a huge explosion that rattled even my bones, which made the fires around me grow even more so in might and sent my opponents flying.

  But I was not going to wait. I was not above striking a man while he was down.

  I raced forward with tremendous pace, chasing Righello and Quinn as they soared through the air. Righello manipulated the wind to level himself off while leaving Quinn to crash into the ground in a heap.

  Leaping up, I ploughed my sword through the bottom of Righello’s left foot and dragged him back down to the ground. He shakily landed on his feet, and the two of us immediately began trading blows.

  We moved with terrific speed, matching each other strike for strike. My muscles felt as though they were about to tear in about a million places each, but I ignored the pain and focused my mind on my sole task: avenging Ali.

  Neither of us managed to break through the other’s guard, but that did not stop us from pouring everything we had into trying.

  The two of us roared and increased the power with which we struck. Every time our blades collided, the sound reverberated across the giant room, and I noticed that a few people kept glancing at the two of us.

  I’d give them a show.

  Quicker than Righello could react, I used Godspeed to blitz to the right and then forward so that I was behind him. I let loose a wild flurry of kicks into his spine, sending him soaring across the battlefield.

  Quinn dived at me from my right and I leapt out of the way just in time. The two of us exchanged a few blows before I slashed across his chest and kicked him in the stomach, sending him down.

  As I moved my sword to deliver the finishing blow, the earth beneath me rumbled. Sensing what was about to happen, I unfolded my wings and leapt up.

  Sure enough, a new spike of hardened earth shot up where I had just been standing. It continued to grow skyward, chasing me higher and higher.

  Just before I hit the ceiling of the room, Righello swooped in from my left. Small bolts of electricity were running up and down his entire body, and the air around him smelled like rain. I remembered that smell from when Hades had made Zeus angry.

  Lightning crashed down from the heavens and struck me violently. Tremendous pain shot throughout my entire body, but all the lightning really did was heighten my senses.

  Righello swung his sword in an evident attempt to decapitate me, but I blocked the strike and delivered a swift roundhouse kick into his ribs. His eyes widened as the air left his body and he spiralled through the air.

  ‘Wind Breathing, Second Form: Hunter’s Breeze.’

  I flattened my wings against my back to make myself streamlined and shot through the air towards Righello like a bullet. I pointed my blades out in front of me, giving me an arrow-like form.

  When I reached him, my blades effortlessly glided down his side, their power boosted by the slight breeze that was guiding them.

  Blood shot out from his wound and he spun in the air, slicing down through my right eye almost effortlessly.

  ‘Albert…Santrrer!’ he gargled as he straightened in the air above me.

  I shot my wings out and immediately began to flap them up and down so that I did not crash into the ground below.

  ‘I…suppose I should…thank the Gods…that I met you…’

  I glared up at him, ignoring the curiosity that his statement had provoked.

  ‘For…you…Albert Santrrer…have given me a fight…like no other…’ he continued through pants. ‘However…it shall be…your head…that falls here…not mine…’

  He shot down quicker than I could react, kicking me hard in the side of the head. My vision immediately blurred, and I felt myself begin to fall towards the ground.

  Beneath me, I could vaguely make out the shape of Quinn getting larger and larger. He was stood atop an earthen podium, and there were a few strange white structures atop it with him.

  When I crashed onto said podium, I discovered that these white structures were in fact skeletons, and each one was holding a weapon.

  There were three of them, all similar in size to me, and one held a sword, another a hammer, and the other a spear.

  ‘Thank you for being the test subject for my new power, Albert,’ Quinn taunted. ‘You’re used to being a test subject, aren’t you?’

  My blood began to boil, but I could not dive for Quinn, as he willed his skeletons to lunge for me before that thought had even materialised in my mind.

  I desperately waved my sword in an arc over my body, and I caught each of the bony bastards in their ribs in turn.

  As it turned out, their bones were harder than I had anticipated. The skeletons must have been taking all Quinn had.

  I rose to my feet as quickly as I could, but that still wasn’t exactly fast, and readied my stance.

  ‘Light Breathing, Fourth Form,’ I murmured as the sunlight pouring into the room began to warp around my blade. ‘Scattered Rays.’

  My blades shone marvellously and I carved down each skeleton’s middle in turn, before landing a final fourth strike on Quinn’s stomach.

  Quinn immediately fired back with an attack of his own, striking my right eye, clearly not realising that Righello had already taken it out.

  Righello dived down towards me from the sky, and I swung my left sword up in an arc in an attempt to catch him. I only partially succeeded.

  My blade made contact with his, but he was coming down with a lot more power than I had anticipated. His body was also coated with electricity once more, and the energy was sent through every capillary in my body.

  I was flung backwards by the force of the attack and I spiralled through the air. The world was spinning and I could feel my consciousness fading.

  ‘Now, Albert Santrrer!’ Righello roared as he soared towards me with rapid pace, carving through the air like a knife. ‘Now, I shall finish you! This war shall end along with your life!’

  I saw his body twist in such a way that allowed me to know that kicks were coming. I raised my swords across my body in an attempt to protect myself, but this proved to be useless.

  He let loose a frantic barrage of kicks into every inch of my body that he could reach, and each one was loaded with electricity. Every time his foot connected with me, it sent pain shooting across my body.

  He completed the barrage with a final roundhouse kick more powerful than its predecessors, which sent me flying through the air and into the wall behind me.

  I was certain that I had broken some bones and that such bones were piercing my organs. I could hardly remember a time during which I had been in more pain.

  ‘I’m rather enjoying this, Albert Santrrer!’ Righello bellowed as he streaked through the air towards me, a look of manic glee coating his face. ‘But this fight is over! I have won! With this final attack, I’ll send you to the deepest pit of Tartarus!’

  I felt powerless. My body could not move. My vision was blurring rapidly. My wounds were so severe that I simply was not healing in time. I was still blinded in my right eye. Maybe this really was the end.

  For a moment, I remembered the fight in Paris. I remembered Ali. His blood stained forever across the ground. I remembered just who had done that. It hit me harder in that moment than ever before that I was staring Ali’s killer in the eyes. I couldn’t let this chance go to waste. I had promised Ali that I would kill Righello.

  My body began to tremble, but I wasn’t sure whether it was from anger or pain. Perhaps it was both.

  For a brief moment, just before Righello reached me, I prayed that Ali would forgive me if I failed to avenge him.

  Grunting, I poured every last bit of strength that I had into one final message: it would not be my death that ended the fight.

  I manipulated the air around me, creating a sort of shield out of condensed wind. Righello’s swords slammed into it, and by the expression on his face I could tell that the impact had sent shockwaves of pain across his entire body.

  Righello pushed with all of his might against the wall, but he was getting nowhere.

  I allowed myself to drop. I slid down the wall rapidly, waiting for just the right moment. As I had predicted, Righello immediately dived down to follow me.

  Kicking my feet out behind me, I shot myself off of the wall just before Righello reached me. His swords collided with the hard wall, and I heard him grunt with pain.

  I flew through the air like a bullet, but I could not use my wings as I could feel that they had been broken, much to my distaste. As a result, I crash-landed a few seconds later, right back in front of Quinn.

  I hurriedly got to my feet and glowered at Quinn, who stared at me in a mixture of horror and amazement.

  Righello darted at me from the right, and I brought my sword up to block his attack. I pushed him away, causing him to land next to Quinn.

  I stared at the two of them, hatred flowing through my body.

  I felt like I was about to collapse. I had to make sure that my next attack would kill at least one of them. Then, I could have peace of mind.

  ‘Why, Albert?’ Quinn murmured. ‘Why do you keep on fighting? Why don’t you just give up?’

  ‘Don’t ask him trivial questions, Quinn,’ Righello spat. ‘Our job now is to kill him. We don’t need him to talk.’

  My body still ached from the kick barrage. There was no denying that Righello had got me good. Very good.

  Electricity flared to life on Righello’s blades.

  ‘Now, then, Albert Santrrer,’ he snarled. ‘Let’s get this over with, shall we? You don’t have a lot of life left in you anyway.’

  I was out of options. Nobody was coming to save me this time. There was no Midnight to hoist me away and take me to safety. Only the Gods knew where the rest of my friends were. It was just me, Righello, and Quinn. And my crippling desire to tear the two of them to shreds.

  Tightening my gut, I produced a powerful gale that sent Righello multiple steps back. Then, with the strength I could muster, I traded blows with Quinn, but it was evident that I was much weaker than usual.

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  Righello charged at me again, and I spun on the spot, waving my swords around like a maniac. He blocked my strikes and fired back with his own. I slowly leant back at the waist to dodge them.

  I tried to steady my breathing. I could feel my strength slowly coming back. All I had to do was hold out for a little longer.

  I kicked Righello in the knees, sending him crashing to the ground below, before lunging at Quinn. He blocked my strikes and attempted to kick me in the stomach, but I leapt out of the way just in time.

  Leaping over Righello’s body to get a better angle at Quinn, I continued my attack. I let loose a flurry of jabs, but most of them were blocked. The few that got through made what were essentially scratches on Quinn’s face.

  I kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back. Closing the gap in an instant, I readied my swords to finish him off once and for all. I swung down powerfully towards Quinn’s chest, praying to the Gods that I could finish the job this time.

  ‘Albert!’ Ethan’s voice roared from somewhere behind me, cancelling my prayers.

  I spun on the spot to find Righello diving down from the skies toward me, swords poised perfectly to stab me through the skull, and it was immediately clear that I could not move fast enough to block them.

  But I didn’t need to block them. Ethan came out of nowhere and tackled Righello out of the air. The two of them crashed into the ground a few feet away, but they hastily got to their feet and began to exchange strikes.

  My original plan had been to kill Quinn first. However, this seemed to no longer matter. As I watched Ethan and Righello match each other strike for strike, I became absorbed in what can only be described as a selfish desire to kill Righello myself.

  Ethan’s duel quickly began to move away from me. The pair were viciously swinging their swords and jumping around to avoid attacks from the other. If I didn’t act quick, they would move too far away. I wouldn’t be able to kill Righello and avenge Ali.

  I darted towards the pair of them, hoping that Ethan would keep Righello distracted enough for me to swoop in and kill him. But Quinn stopped me. Throughout the entire battle, it had been Righello saving Quinn’s life, who had now apparently decided to get serious.

  He roared and swung his sword around towards my head. I jumped out of the way and pushed him back before continuing my advance towards Ethan and Righello.

  ‘Oi! This is our fight!’ Quinn yelled at me, stepping in front of me.

  Trying not to let my annoyance show on my face, I entertained Quinn’s idea by readying my stance. Now that Righello could not save him, I was certain that I could kill Quinn quickly enough so that I would still have time to kill Righello.

  I thought back to Midnight’s corpse. Quinn’s doing. I thought back to Quinn’s betrayal. I thought back to him saving Maltor in Paris. Whether his actions were big or small, Quinn had consistently been a thorn in my side since the beginning of the war. And that was something that he would now pay for.

  ‘Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Striking Tide.’

  I lunged forward, jabbing through Quinn’s left side. He yelped in pain and slammed the hilt of his sword into my spine.

  I yanked my sword out and swung at him again. He dodged by simply jumping out of the way, and proved his skill by stabbing me in the stomach.

  Through my exhaustion, I found that I could not stop the onslaught that followed. Quinn slashed at my body with his blade, creating deep, painful gashes that made me want to scream.

  I managed to glance over my shoulder at Ethan and Righello. Their fight appeared to be reaching a sort of climax. If I did not hurry, I wouldn’t make it in time. Ethan would kill Righello before I had the chance. Or, maybe, Righello would kill Ethan. Either way, I had to intervene.

  I had to kill Righello.

  ***

  Suddenly, Albert turned his back to Quinn and tried to run away, towards Righello and Ethan.

  Why was he so desperate? Why did he need to reach Righello and Ethan?

  Quinn was by no means the best fighter, he knew that, and so he was practically gleeful to have Albert up against the ropes as he did at that moment. And yet, he was being denied the pleasure of killing the boy, as he seemed to be focused on joining in on his friend’s fight.

  Quinn tightened his gut and created a wall of earth in front of Albert, causing him to stop in his tracks.

  Albert did not scare Quinn. Although he knew it was likely that he would die in a true fight between the two, Quinn strangely did not fear the RoCitian Prime Minister. Perhaps it was his hatred that was clouding his fear.

  Albert charged towards him, swords raised. Quinn blocked his attacks and fired back with a few of his own, but they did not hit, for Albert blocked them.

  Quinn noticed the steam pouring thickly from Albert’s wounds. He knew that that meant he was healing, although he wasn’t sure how quickly that was happening. It didn’t matter. All Quinn needed to do was land a deep enough strike on Albert’s head, chest, or neck, and the war would be won.

  Albert launched a quick roundhouse kick at Quinn’s head, but he ducked to avoid it. Quinn swung his sword out, trying to cut Albert’s leg cleanly in half, but this failed, as his arm was just about not long enough.

  Albert kicked Quinn’s chest, sending him to the ground before leaping up into the air and unfolding his wings, flying up and away from Quinn.

  Why? Why was he so desperate to get to Righello?

  ***

  ‘Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Navy Pins!’ Ethan roared, letting loose a ferocious barrage of jabs towards Righello, who blocked each and every one.

  Of course, Ethan knew how formidable a foe Righello Notte was. But now that the two were actually fighting, Ethan realised just why Albert struggled against him so much.

  Ethan could not recall a harder fight. He was forced to pour every ounce of his willpower into merely staying alive.

  He couldn’t even fathom how that was possible. How was it that he, Ethan Brown, who had trained alongside Albert Santrrer in the Swiss Alps, and was a son of Titan, was struggling against Righello, a mere son of Zeus?

  ‘Ethan…’ Righello said tauntingly, jabbing Ethan lightly in the left shoulder. ‘I admire your courage…but I shall kill you and then do the same to Albert…’

  ‘In your dreams…’ Ethan snarled. ‘Fifth Form: Striking Tide!’

  Ethan shot forward, stabbing Righello straight through the stomach.

  He quickly pulled his sword out and leapt backwards to avoid being decapitated by a violent swing from Righello. The two of them traded blows for a couple of seconds before Righello broke the harmonious flow by trying to kick Ethan in the chest.

  His foot caught Ethan square on, winding the boy and sending him a few steps back.

  ‘Fire Breathing, Second Form: Blazing Red!’ Ethan roared.

  He tried his best to perform the Form despite the fact that his breathing was not yet steady. As a result, his movement was sluggish and inaccurate, which allowed Righello to block the flaming blades and fire back with words that made Ethan’s body go cold.

  ‘Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Thunder Wheel.’

  Electricity ran violently up and down the body of Righello’s blade and he swung it in a wide arc in front of him. It caught Ethan in the stomach, creating a deep gash that provoked a wince.

  Not giving himself time to think, Ethan fired back with another barrage of jabs and wild swings, but Righello evaded by leaping backwards.

  Righello dived forward and tried to stab Ethan in the head, but Ethan merely tilted his head to the side with minimal effort to avoid it.

  ‘Well done, Righello,’ Ethan spat, grabbing Righello’s arm firmly with his left hand. ‘You’ve managed to hold your own against both me and Albert today.’

  Righello’s upper lip curled into a sort of sickening smirk. ‘I don’t need your congr-’

  ‘It’s just a shame your skills will be lost.’

  Ethan, pouring his strength into his left arm, picked Righello up and threw him over his shoulder, sending Righello crashing into the ground behind him.

  Ethan turned to deliver a finishing blow, but Righello used Godspeed to quickly get to his feet and to safety.

  From behind, Righello kicked Ethan in the spine, sending the son of Titan forward a few feet. Instinctively recognising that something else would follow the initial attack, Ethan spun on the spot and readied his sword in a defensive position.

  As predicted, Righello charged towards him and swung his swords violently, but Ethan blocked the attacks without so much as breaking a sweat.

  The pair once again traded blows, grunting and snarling at one another while maintaining vengeful eye contact. Ethan hoped that Albert would forgive him if he killed Righello, as he suddenly found that he wanted nothing more.

  ‘Ice Breathing, First Form: Glacial Lance,’ Ethan breathed.

  He shot his sword out, extending his arm fully, and his blade glanced across Righello’s side.

  Righello snarled down at him. Ethan was absolutely certain that he could see small bolts of electricity hiding somewhere in his pupils.

  ‘Fire Breathing, Seventh Form!’ Ethan roared quickly. ‘Rising Sunshine!’

  Flames appeared along his blade and he brought it up powerfully, catching Righello off guard. Righello grunted and leapt up into the air, carrying himself on the wind.

  Ethan watched as he glided higher and higher, and knew that he had one simple task.

  Without hesitation, Ethan leapt up after him, streaking up through the air like a bullet. His heart was pounding. Something about this felt strange. Something told him that maybe, just maybe, this was going to be it.

  Righello, seeing Ethan jump up, began to dive down to meet him in the middle. A cunning smirk rested comfortably on his face. Something told Ethan that no matter what happened when the two clashed, one of them was going to get very badly injured.

  The fire on Ethan’s blade grew in power, and lightning sprung to life on the bodies of Righello’s swords in response.

  As the two soared to meet each other, the air changed. It felt menacing. The flames on Ethan’s sword were roaring with power, and he could hear Righello’s lightning crackling even though the two weren’t even close yet.

  It was time. Ethan swung his sword around, perfectly positioning it to take Righello’s head. Righello, too, swung his swords around, and they were poised perfectly to block Ethan’s strike.

  Before the two collided, Righello’s head was separated from his neck.

  ***

  Cecilia was panting desperately. There was blood pouring from places that she had never bled from before.

  She had been struggling against Righello’s bolts of lightning for far too long. She wasn’t strong enough. She was just a feeble young girl. There was nothing she could do against the wrath of a son of Zeus.

  And so, she had somehow managed to find herself in the most difficult position of her life. She sat with her back against the dirty white wall, as a web of lightning bolts slowly moved towards her.

  It was like they were sentient and purposely tormenting her. She was surrounded on all sides by sheets of lightning. There were gaps between the bolts, but they were far too small for even her to fit through. Cecilia felt as though this truly was the end for her.

  For a moment, she thought of Albert. She wondered what he would think, what he would feel, if he stumbled across her corpse amongst the wreckage of the battle. This thought made her want to cry. She didn’t want Albert to have to lose somebody else. She had to think of something.

  Except, there was nothing that she could do. Even as the lightning advanced slow enough to give her chance to think, she could not come up with anything.

  Cecilia began to close her eyes and pray to the Gods that Albert would find peace after her death.

  Then the lightning disappeared suddenly.

  The nets surrounding her simply disappeared. No warning was given, and no sound was created. They were simply just gone. It was so bizarre that Cecilia wasn’t sure she wanted to move, just in case they had become invisible.

  Hesitantly, she gently threw one of her sickles forward toward where the lightning had been mere seconds before. Nothing happened. No invisible lightning.

  Still bewildered, Cecilia slowly got to her feet. No invisible lightning hit her head.

  She was…safe?

  Cecilia walked over and picked her sickle up from the ground, not entirely believing what was happening. She began to scan her surroundings to see what had happened, as there were also no erratic bolts of lightning flying around anymore, either.

  Was it…over?

  ***

  ‘Fuck!’ Harvey roared as a bolt of lightning carved through the top half of his right shoulder, creating a deep gash.

  He had tried to go over to Albert’s fight, but, as he had done so, the erratic bolts of lightning seemed to suddenly decide to attempt to carve Joseph’s body. And, even though he was already dead, Harvey didn’t think it would be right of him to simply let that happen.

  As a result, he had spent the last few minutes desperately slicing through bolts of electricity that were diving towards Joseph’s corpse. It hurt. Badly. His muscles were screaming at him to stop and give it a rest, but he couldn’t. Albert would be crushed at Joseph’s death as it was, so Harvey dreaded to think how his cousin would react to Joseph’s body being minced.

  A quick bolt of lightning caught Harvey off guard. He stopped it from reaching Joseph’s body, but his feet weren’t planted firmly enough on the ground, so he slipped.

  He crashed down onto the ground in a daze. Helplessly looking up at the ceiling, Harvey felt powerless as no less than six lightning bolts closed in on him from all sides.

  There was no way out. He was way too tired to even lift a finger, let alone miraculously defend himself against half a dozen bolts of lightning.

  This was where he died. And Joseph’s body would be carved into pieces along with his. Harvey knew it. He just hoped that Albert would have the strength to continue after losing one of the few family members he had left.

  Then, without any warning, the bolts of lightning shooting down towards Harvey disappeared without a trace in what can only be described as a miracle.

  At first, Harvey thought that he was seeing things. Then, he wondered if he had died and would soon see the scene around him shift into the Gates of Olympus. However, no such event occurred. It was real.

  Too tired to move or even think too hard, Harvey smiled. If he weren’t so exhausted, he would have been giddy with glee at the thought that the battle was over.

  ***

  I beat my wings powerfully, gliding up away from Quinn. Once at a high enough altitude, I scanned the area below me in search of Righello. When I found him, my blood ran cold. He and Ethan were diving towards one another, and it was clear that one of them would end up dead from the clash.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, I dived towards the pair of them faster than I had ever dived before. I wrapped my hands tightly around my swords, anger filling every one of my cells.

  I thought back to Ali. How violent and simply unjust his death had been. Righello. Righello had done that.

  In that moment, I wanted to kill Righello more than I wanted to kill Maltor. As I swooped towards him, I felt nothing other than sheer hatred for the son of Zeus.

  When I reached him, I swung my swords out in an arc and cleanly took Righello’s head from atop his shoulders.

  I landed cleanly on the ground below, a few feet in front of Quinn, who was staring at me in horror.

  Righello’s head fell through the air in front of me, and my anger made it seem as though time was slowing. Before his head even reached the ground, I hacked and slashed through it rapidly, so quickly that my arms were blurs, and reduced his head to small chunks of flesh, blood, and bone.

  ‘Ali Rodriguez…’ I murmured as I watched the remains of Righello’s head fall to the ground, ‘you have been avenged.’

  ‘You bastard!’ Quinn roared, lunging for me once again.

  Ethan dived down from the sky and blocked the strike.

  ‘Quinn, be careful now,’ he warned, eyeing Quinn as though he were nothing more than vermin. ‘Albert just killed the most powerful soldier you have. Are you sure you want to step up to him? Or, should I say, both of us?’

  True terror seemed to flash in Quinn’s eyes.

  ‘Albert, go,’ Ethan said to me. ‘Head outside and you’ll find General Woodward. Simply tell him the mission is complete and he’ll start preparing everybody for the march home.’

  I felt strange. Such a weird feeling had encompassed my entire body. It felt similar to how I had felt after killing Amy, however this time it was not mixed with the grief of losing my grandfather. It felt like what can only be described as a sense of completion.

  As much as I wanted to kill Quinn, my exhaustion unfortunately got the better of me. I simply nodded and turned towards the hole in the wall and began to walk in that direction. I heard Ethan say something else to Quinn before following me.

  ‘Don’t worry about us being attacked,’ Ethan assured me. ‘I’ll protect you from here to the General.’

  I nodded again.

  I had done it. I had killed Righello. I had avenged Ali. I had kept my promise. After one of the bloodiest and hardest battles of my life, I had done it.

  I suddenly became concerned with the wellbeing of everybody else. Cecilia, Harvey, Charlotte, and everybody else. Gods, me and Ethan could step outside and find no General to turn to.

  Part of me felt as though it didn’t matter. Righello was dead. He had been Maltor’s strongest soldier, and now we never had to worry about him again.

  I sighed. My mind felt so torn between worry for my friends and jubilation at having finally killed Righello Notte.

  Smiling gently to myself, I just hoped that Ali was watching. And I hoped that he was proud.