Elliott and Kagalkan stared at each other for a minute, before the giant looked at his former flesh near his feet.


    "I''m really... dead."


    Elliott noticed the swaying glow in his eyes, as if the giant had lost something incredibly precious to him.


    "I would have never guessed, that one day, I''ll see my own flesh lying around me."


    Dark blood seeped into the cracks caused by their battle.


    "Well..."


    Kagalkan slowly turned to Elliott, and aimed his palm at him.


    "There''s no other solutions now."


    A volley of fire spears flew toward Elliott, restarting their clash.


    "..."


    Elliott felt slightly disgusted.


    ''To think father would go as far as to corrupt the soul itself. This is sickening.''


    He was no longer pitying the giant. Instead, he lost even more hope for Miasma.


    ''I had hoped father would at least hear me out, but I suppose it is too late for that.''


    The spears exploded around him as he fully ignored them.


    "Gula."


    A bird-like cage appeared above him, which began to suck the remaining incoming spears. The flames dissipated as Gula devoured everything, before returning the content to Elliott in the form of magic.


    Clenching his fist a few times, he made up his mind.


    ''I''ll have to kill him too... Mother, I''m sorry, there''s no other way around it.''


    Elliott bent forward while leaning on his leg. He was prepared to finish this fight once and for all, and liberate the Remnant Kagalkan from his corrupted state.


    He leaped forward and crossed the distance between them instantly.


    But, he hadn''t considered that Kagalkan could have changed while in this form.


    "I feel lighter."


    Kagalkan moved his leg out of the way with extreme reflexes, avoiding losing his foot a second time.


    "..."


    Elliott turned slightly, aimed his body, and continued to attack incessantly.


    Mixing the use of Acedia, Calamitas, and Vanitas, he lightly injured the giant each time, but not enough to cause severe wounds.


    "Hah! Are you rusty now? Is that your best?"


    While swinging around Kagalkan''s back, Elliott found himself face to face with a massive hand.


    Slapped away by the giant''s hand, he slid on the cracked ground, before striking Vanitas into it to slow his recoil.


    "..."


    Confused, Kagalkan tilted his head.


    "What happened to you? Why aren''t you engaging in conversation with me anymore?"


    Slowly, Elliott lifted his head, and stared at the giant.


    His features revealed a combination of rage, disappointment, and resignation.


    They looked at each other for a moment, before Elliott returned to the assault.


    ''I''m betraying her wishes. If only father hadn''t fallen into madness.''


    His vision overlapped with his memories. The moments he lived with his mother rapidly flashed in his mind.


    "Passionate Snare."


    A spiral of magic energy moved from the base of the sword to its tip. Elliott came to a stand behind the right ankle of the giant, leaped in the air to reach his thigh, and used Ira as a platform to jump between his legs.


    Relying on instinct to lead his movements, he slashed the large matter that made Kagalkan, and chopped off his right leg with Vanitas.


    The ability devoured the dark matter, leaving no trace of the leg behind.


    But instantly, the leg regrew as if it hadn''t vanished moments earlier.


    "This is useless, Elliott. You won''t kill me in this form."


    His back turned to the giant, Elliott glanced at him with coldness in his eyes.


    "..."


    Elliott turned around, before pointing his sword at Kagalkan. Magic focused around the blade, before he prepared to launch another attack.


    But as he remained so, a sudden event changed the rhythm of the fight.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    As the sword accumulated energy, a giant earth needle went past Elliott, drafting air behind it.


    He glanced at the magic, which brought him to reality.


    Before any of the two fighters understood the situation, the needle traveled through Kagalkan''s chest, leaving a large gaping hole oozing dark liquid where it went through.


    A few hundred meters later, the needle crashed on the ground before crumbling into rocks.


    Kagalkan touched his wound, which remained opened for a reason he couldn''t understand.


    The next thing he noticed was Elliott appearing in front of his face after launching himself upward.


    "Sorry."


    Elliott grabbed Vanitas'' hilt with both hands, and slashed the giant vertically all the way down.


    "Ha... Hahaha~"


    Kagalkan''s body began to split in two as Elliott dropped to the ground, creating a cloud of dust that shortly settled down.


    "This is how I die?"


    The laugh of the giant Remnant echoed across the land. He sounded delighted, more than anything else.


    "I had a good time fighting you, even if it was in this state."


    He looked at his fingers, which began to disintegrate into magical particles.


    "Dying a warrior isn''t so bad."


    As his vision broke into two, he stared at the sky.


    "Elliott."


    The human walked away from the Remnant, and glanced at him over his shoulder.


    "..."


    "I can understand your feelings. Your thoughts were leaking through your sword."


    His legs and arms vanished, leaving only his torso and head. With little time left in this world, he smiled at the knight.


    "The path you choose isn''t the only one existing. Open your mind, and accept it. Then, you will find the path to forgive yourself."


    "Retribution doesn''t suit you..."


    Elliott turned around and stared at Kagalkan.


    "Even if that leads to more sacrifices?"


    The giant smiled, before his head disappeared completely.


    From the chunks of flesh that were the Remnant Kagalkan, a sigil arose. Inside an orb of light, a sigil representing a stalk of wheat flickered.


    With haste, Elliott lifted his hand toward the orb. Right away, the orb made a straight line into his hand, and disappeared.


    ''Sacrifices are always avoidable.''


    Kagalkan''s voice echoed in his mind one last time, before disappearing for good.


    "..."


    Elliott took out a shard of void from one of his pockets, and crushed it hastily.


    "I had a great time too."


    The portal opened, leading to Horizon.


    "Kagalkan, I''ll remember you. I''ll make sure everyone remembers you."


    "It''s the least I can do to honor a brave warrior."


    Without turning back, he disappeared into the portal, before it closed.


    The place of their battle remained silent, as wind swept away the dust.


    Minutes later, the area froze entirely, destroying the remains of the Remnant as they cracked into shards of ice.


    ~


    Plasma beams flew left and right across the fields surrounding Lahro.


    An Apostle who died months ago suddenly returned to haunt the lamia, engaged in a fast-paced battle against the current Queen of the lamias, and the newly appointed Remnant of Strength.


    Kiel, the previous ruler of Lahro, which used the whole faction as his plaything, took advantage of them, and mentally and physically abused them, was but a shell of his former self.


    All reason had left him, as he barely had a mind of his own.


    With the corruption having taken hold of his body, only his desires spoke for him.


    "Lamia! Lamiaaaa!"


    As he avoided the beam of plasma fired at him swiftly, he began salivating profusely, drowning the grass in a gooey texture.


    "Die! Die! Die! Die!"


    Deveralna, overwhelmed by her rage, kept rapid-firing her lightning magic incessantly.


    With her unlimited amount of magic energy, she wasn''t feeling the exhaustion others would have felt in her place.


    Carnage ruled supreme as fire spread across the land. Grass ignited from being grazed by the plasma, while trees evaporated from the intense energy.


    The only place she maintained to protect was the city behind her.


    Her citizens looked at this scene with horror, not only because the man who abused them returned, but also because Deveralna terrified them.


    With a crazed expression of intense wrath and disgust, nothing could stop Deveralna from sinking deeper into those emotions.


    "Fucking die already!"


    Deveralna clapped both hands together, before a miniature disk of condensed lightning took shape.


    She brought her hands apart, creating more and more disk as they moved further from another one.


    Her eyes focused on the corrupted Apostle, who was writhing and twitching in elation and pleasure.


    Without any warning, she released those disks in his direction, instantly ripping him to shreds.


    His arms and legs fell to the burnt ground, before his body followed suit.


    "Ke... Kekeke~"


    Disgusting matter sploshed from his wounds, before slithering toward the cut-off limbs. With ease, the limbs reattached themselves to his body, before Kiel stood up again.


    Kiel was originally a young man around his thirties. He was a blonde man, with pleasant features. The problem was his attitude.


    The corruption only worsened it, until Orion snuffed out his life.


    This husk was now possessed with a new form of corruption, a prototype of the ''True'' corrupted Miasma was working on.


    With no core to break, nor a soul to destroy, he was partially immortal.


    As the fight continued in favor of Deveralna, who incessantly fired everything she could at her enemy, dark clouds formed above them.


    The sun disappeared behind the clouds, while the ground under them darkened. They threatened the area with rain, but not a single drop fell down.


    "..."


    Deveralna was done screaming. Her mind was completely set on removing this man from the face of the planet.


    With her eyes covered in a thick veil of darkness, she lifted her left hand above her head.


    Kiel suddenly vanished, leaving an afterimage of himself behind. In a split second, he crossed the distance between them and tried to bite her neck.


    *Slam*


    Glaring at him with an expression of pure contempt and hatred, she slammed her tail into his chest, and covered it in lightning magic.


    The electricity traveled inside his body, frying anything in its way, before leaving through his face.


    His eyes burned, but he still smiled deliriously


    *Boom*


    Deveralna threw him in the air, before slamming him down to the ground. His body bounced back, before she slapped his face with it again.


    With the use of her lightning magic, the force behind her tail was enough to break a dragon''s neck effortlessly. Yet, Kiel survived all of these.


    Launched away after being slapped in the face, his body rolled on the ground, his bones broken like a doll.


    With the cracking of bones moving back to places, Kiel stumbled up, again, with the same deranged smile.


    Nothing could break this smile, whatever suffering was inflicted upon him.


    That was when Deveralna dropped the hand pointing at the sky. The moment she did, a powerful lightning bolt broke through the clouds, and pulverized Kiel with a deafening roar.


    "..."


    Slowly, Deveralna was gathering her emotions back.


    ''Orion...''


    ''What was I supposed to do?''


    With a quick glance, she looked behind her, and noticed the horrified expressions of her people.


    But, as she prepared to look forward, she heard the lamia gasped, until one of them shouted.


    "Your Highness! Watch out!"


    In high alert, she swiped her tail in front of her. When she focused forward, Kiel was upside-down, his hand placed on her tail.


    "Hiiiiii~"


    A broken greeting left his mouth, as a dribble of saliva fell on her tail. Luckily, it evaporated thanks to her lightning magic covering her body... but.


    "Grr-"


    Rage filled her mind once again.


    "Only Orion is authorized to touch me!"


    Lightning erupted from her body, arching everywhere besides the city wall. Kiel was instantly electrocuted, before falling down while convulsing wildly.


    Each arc focused solely on Kiel, destroying his body with every hit. With the smell of burnt flesh wafting around, many of the lamias gagged in disgust.


    It continued until Deveralna finally snapped, creating terrifying memories for anyone watching this fight.