King staggered backward uncontrollably, each step heavy and unsteady.
His right arm hung limp, as if all its bones had been removed.
Blood gushed from the broken armor, pooling into a small, crimson puddle on the ground, filling the air with the thick scent of blood.
Vista showed no mercy, nor did he give King any chance to catch his breath.
The twin blades in his hands gleamed with a cold, sharp light under the sun, like two vipers poised to strike.
With a flourish, he spun the blades into dazzling arcs, beautiful yet deadly, like blooming flowers concealing lethal intent.
As he moved, the Tremor-Tremor force field gathered once more, compressing the surrounding air and producing a low, resonant hum.
"Next strike, I'll take your head!" Vista's voice was low and resolute, echoing through the tense atmosphere.
Stripped of his mask and armor, King's face was now exposed for all to see.
The features once hidden beneath the mask were now clearly visible in the open air.
It was a weathered, tanned face, but at this moment, it was contorted with shock.
His pupils contracted sharply, as if confronted with the most terrifying of sights, a flicker of fear evident in his eyes.
Instinctively, he raised a hand to touch his exposed face, the sensation of his own skin beneath his fingertips making his pupils shrink further!
"Anyone who has seen this face..." King's voice echoed like a whisper from the depths of hell, low and sinister, each syllable carrying an endless chill that sent shivers down the spine.
"...must die!"
Vista crossed his twin blades before his chest, the edges reflecting his mocking smile—a smile filled with disdain and scorn.
In his eyes, King was nothing but a clown struggling in his final moments.
With a fierce swing, he cleaved through the oncoming wave of scorching heat, which surged like a wall of flames but tore apart as easily as paper before him.
"Enough talk! Whether I've seen your ugly mug or not, I'm carving you up like a roasted chicken today!" Vista's words brimmed with boldness and dominance, his eyes blazing with unwavering determination.
"Then let's see you try!" King's joints cracked under immense pressure, his bones threatening to shatter at any moment.
Slowly, he extended his long blade toward the eternally burning Fire behind him—the flames resembling a slumbering behemoth radiating scorching heat.
The moment the blade tip plunged into the fire, the entire sky was dyed crimson, like flowing blood, shrouding the heavens in an eerie atmosphere.
The trajectory of his swing carved a molten fissure through the air, resembling a gaping wound in the earth, continuously emitting blistering heat.
The flames coiling around the blade abruptly morphed into a ferocious Eastern dragon's head, so lifelike it seemed to possess a soul.
"Flame Dragon Emperor!"
With that roar that seemed capable of piercing the clouds and shattering the constraints of heaven and earth, the fiery dragon unleashed from the blade opened its magma-formed maw—a chasm of despair.
Its whiskers were dancing tongues of fire, its scales flowing lava.
The air warped and twisted in its wake, space itself beginning to melt under the extreme heat.
The ends of Vista's mustache began to curl and blacken, the searing temperature stinging his skin, yet his grip on the blades remained steady as bedrock.
His eyes reflected the approaching inferno of death, devoid of fear, filled only with unwavering resolve.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened—two piercing glints of cold light penetrating through the fiery dragon to lock onto King.
Instantly, his muscles tensed like drawn bowstrings.
The twin blades in his hands seemed to come alive, spinning fluidly in a half-arc as a faint metallic hum accompanied their lightning-fast cross-slash!
The motion flowed seamlessly, without the slightest hesitation—perfected technique honed through countless battles blooming into its most brilliant form.
"Rose·Cross Shock Slash!"
In that instant, two dazzling crescent-shaped blade auras tore through the raging crimson firestorm like silver lightning.
The once-roaring, ferocious dragon appeared fragile before these razor-sharp energies.
The blade auras struck the dragon with pinpoint accuracy, brutally cleaving its massive form down the middle!
The blazing dragon head exploded into a shower of brilliant sparks—a magnificent yet perilous firework display concealing world-incinerating power.
Vista's advance never faltered, his twin blades maintaining their momentum.
Each firm step left shallow imprints on the scorched earth, etching marks of victory across the wasteland.
While dismembering the fiery dragon, his figure surged forward like a phantom—a scythe of death mercilessly closing in on King's chest.
"Schlik—!"
The energy-charged blade auras slammed into King's torso, sending black feathers and blood spraying simultaneously.
Feathers drifted through the air like dark snowflakes while blood gushed forth with tragic finality.
King grunted, stumbling backward several steps involuntarily.
His eyes widened with disbelief—the once-arrogant, domineering gaze now replaced by shock and confusion.
He never imagined that his prideful defense could be so easily torn apart by Vista.
Blood gushed from his chest like a stream, staining the already charred ground beneath his feet.
Yet, Vista gave him no chance to catch his breath.
In a flash, he closed in on King, his twin blades transforming into a dizzying blur of afterimages.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Blade lights poured down like a torrential storm, each flash gleaming with an icy chill that seemed to freeze the very air.
King hastily raised his sword to block, but grievously wounded, his movements had become unbearably sluggish.
His once swift and powerful parries now seemed feeble, barely holding against Vista's relentless, storm-like assault.
A blade light sliced across his shoulder, splitting skin and flesh, sending blood splattering. Another cut across his waist, the bone-deep pain making King furrow his brow tightly, yet he endured without a cry.
Blood continuously sprayed from the wounds all over his body, like a blood-red flower blooming in the darkness, tragically beautiful and poignant.