The shock created by Elliott''s punch lifted Layla''s entire body in the air, while pushing Vanitas deeper into her chest.


    "Gu-Ha!"


    Being inside the mortal flesh of a human, and being subjected to a soul breaking power, a stream of blood gushed out of Layla''s mouth as she flopped down to the ground.


    Miasma grabbed a tuff of grass between his hands, and glared at Elliott while trying to stand up.


    "What a pitiful sight, don''t you think?"


    With his fist glowing brightly, Elliott walked around the slumped Layla.


    He watched his father struggle to stand up, with the sword firmly wedged into him. Blood continuously flowed from the wound, even though Miasma was healing it with his corrupt energy.


    "..."


    Standing on his legs, Miasma wobbled ungraciously and spat blood on the ground before wiping the corner of his mouth, spreading blood on Layla''s cheek.


    "You were holding back... just to set up a sneak attack?"


    "I wouldn''t have used such underhanded tactics in the past, as mother told me to avoid turning into a coward."


    Before walking out of sight of Miasma, Elliott stopped and looked at the great rift connecting Horizon to Triazils.


    "Yet, against you, it doesn''t feel underhanded in the slightest. Do you know why?"


    "..."


    The glare sent by Miasma wasn''t able to faze him in the slightest, as Elliott glanced at him with a daring smile.


    "Because everything you''ve done, every little plans you''ve made, every creation you''ve brought to life."


    "Those meaningless things were all devious and evasive tricks."


    The truth coming out of his son''s mouth seemed to form a deep cut inside his ego, as he sunk his nails into his thighs, trying to support himself.


    "It was difficult to recover Cepha?d. The weakened state you''ve left me in made it close to impossible to, but I managed."


    Hiding the fact that he wasn''t alone, he waited for his father''s reaction.


    "I know..."


    "Are you telling me you weren''t frustrated, feeling your most perfect creations die by my hand? Surely, you jest?"


    Lifting his shoulders provocatively, he looked deep into Miasma''s red eyes.


    Seeing the clear anger inside of them, he understood that his assumptions were right.


    "Why are you telling me this?"


    Releasing a long sigh of disappointment, Elliott looked at his hand, before he approached him again.


    "It is simple, in all honesty. You see, I''ve learned a few crucial details after being freed from your control."


    Miasma looked intently as Elliott walked past him, only to stop at his side. Without looking at his father, Elliott lifted his hand, and placed his hand on Vanitas'' hilt.


    "Not only have you tortured countless beings for a vengeance you will never have, but you''ve driven out any kind of hope for the future. Slowly creeping into the humans, so much as to mutate their roots to play into your dirty hands."


    He clenched the sword with so much anger that Miasma felt the vibration through his wound, causing him to suddenly sweat, fearing the pain.


    "You''ve forsaken Frey, your wife''s words, trampled her will, and betrayed her last wish!"


    "And for that, I will not forgive you!"


    A violent blast of energy erupted from Vanitas, as he pulled it out of Layla''s chest.


    The red eyes of Miasma disappeared, leaving only the white of his eyes behind, as not even a scream escaped his mouth.


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    Unconscious, Miasma continued to walk forward, releasing a copious amount of corrupt energy to heal his wound out of his body.


    ''Even dying, his power automatically tries to protect him. I need to stand on guard.''


    Even though Vanitas was a deadly weapon, Elliott wasn''t fool enough to believe his father would perish from it.


    This was Miasma, the Corrupted Remnant. The man who previously bore the name of Blanc.


    And as expected, he was right.


    "You are foolish, Elliott."


    Miasma''s back straightened in an unarticulated puppet-like movement, as the entire opening in his chest closed without leaving a scar.


    As he turned around, he looked at the ripped clothes that showed the top of Layla''s cleavage, before caressing that spot from bottom to top.


    Similar to a magic trick, the cloths were repaired after his hand moved over them.


    With a dark smile, he continued, glaring at his son.


    "Frey''s words have no meaning anymore."


    Elliott opened his eyes wide as he noticed the sadness in his eyes. The fair face of Layla returned to normal, as if the real Layla had regained control over her actions.


    The most genuine feeling of grief ravaged her face, as Miasma looked at his hands.


    "A world where her life was robbed, where nothing was done to avoid such an outcome, has no need to continue."


    "The work she''s put into protecting everyone. The efforts she''s given to the sword. The love she gave to you and me."


    "Are you telling me to accept that? Asking me to let go of this vengeance?"


    Elliott and Miasma exchanged a glance. For a moment, he saw his father before seeing the monstrosity that he had become.


    "Elliott, I am sorry, but I''ve gone too far to turn back."


    Suddenly, an explosive wave of dark energy exploded out of his body.


    "Is it what you thought I''d say?!"


    He disappeared from his spot, only to reappear behind Elliott, ready to decapitate him.


    *Clang*


    Without looking backward, Elliott donned his full armor, and blocked Miasma''s hand covered in dark energy with his sword.


    "Sentimentality was lost the moment you''ve possessed me."


    With a deadly glare, he glanced over his shoulder.


    Both energy shook each other relentlessly, creating a large crater under them. The ground cracked from the pressure exerted by the two, only to get amplified as time passed.


    Seeing that this was getting nowhere, Miasma tried a different approach.


    He broke away from Elliott by placing his feet on the back of the armor, and jumped away. When his feet touched the ground, a dark purple haze wafted out from his mouth, covering the surrounding ground in a ten-meter radius.


    "Corruption? Do you think it will work on me anymore?"


    "It can at least hinder your movements?"


    Snapping his fingers, Elliott called Luxuria, a dark void spiraling above his head. It immediately absorbed the corruption released by Miasma.


    The mist that was released was sucked inside it without leaving a single trace of it behind, before the spiraling void closed up entirely, leaving a baffled Miasma confused.


    "Mother''s teachings."


    Taking aim at Miasma with his sword, Elliott forced him to focus back on him.


    ''I had no idea Frey taught such skills to him...''


    ''Why did she not use a single one of them at that time?''


    Looking at the armor around Elliott, he tried to find in his memories a moment where Frey used that ability.


    ''None... She never did.''


    Anger deformed Layla''s face, as Miasma realized something.


    "She hid those abilities. Frey!"


    Shooting her name as if he were expecting an answer, Miasma released even more dark energy. His entire body was covered in dark purple energy.


    "It''s not like that."


    Elliott matched the amount of energy released by Miasma, and prepared a massive strike against him. But before doing so, he cleared his misunderstanding.


    "Mother was a Valkyrie, the only skills she could use were sword abilities. What I use are teachings she could never master."


    With Vanitas, he traced a circle in front of him, leaving behind a thin trail of light.


    Miasma also focused all his energy into his hand, gathering it into a sphere that oozed a lethal amount of corruption around him.


    "Elliott!"


    Releasing the accumulated corrupted power toward Elliott into a large helical beam, larger in front of him, but narrowing down a meter away into a deadly column of corrupted energy.


    "..."


    Without reciprocating his father''s rage, Elliott let go of his energy too. He placed his left foot behind him, crouched while holding Vanitas vertically in front of him.


    As the beam approached him rapidly, he placed his other hand on the hilt, and pierced the ground with incredible force, as the circle glowed even brighter.


    Lines emerged from the edges of the circle, converging to the center.


    "Dawn."


    After breathing this single word, a beam of white energy flew toward Miasma''s attack, colliding viciously.


    The two attacks, made of purely opposite forces, clashed continuously, releasing earth breaking shockwaves.


    If this weren''t terrifying enough for bystanders, the forces released by the two attacks meeting pulled everything in the vicinity into the center point, disintegrating it instantaneously.


    After a minute, arcs of energy sparked from the center, scorching the ground and gouging large pieces of dirt out of the ground.


    Explosions happened as the energies pushed against each other, with no appearing one coming out on top.


    They both stood their ground, ready for their next action.


    Then, after two minutes, both beams subsided, leaving Elliott and Miasma to stare at each other, waiting for the other to move.


    Looking at each other for a minute, Elliott moved first, but in an unexpected way.


    "Blood Moon!"


    A curved blade of energy traversed the plane, barely avoided by Miasma. Seeing the strands of hair flying away next to him, he was glad his reaction time was great.


    ''If I hadn''t seen his hands clearly, I would''ve been unable to dodge this!''


    Elliott, in a matter of milliseconds, pulled out Vanitas from the ground, and attacked Miasma.


    Without letting him rest, he used Acedia to close the large distance between them.


    Still in shock, Miasma took a step back and bent his back backward to avoid the horizontal slash at his head.


    ''He''s really coming for my life this time!''


    Finally realizing that Elliott had stopped pulling his punches, it could only mean one thing.


    Miasma had to become serious, or he would die at the hands of Elliott.