"Time for round two..."
The words echoed through the entire place before their speaker appeared...
It was Lord Aldous!!!
He stood on his feet despite the burns and wounds covering his body,
and yet that smile never once left his face. He straightened his stance,
looked at Valerius's body — or what remained of it — and said, as though thinking aloud:
"Let this be a debt repaid..."
Aldous's fists ignited, as did his eyes, which never once left his opponent.
In a moment too fast to register, he vanished from where he stood entirely,
and a thunderous crash rang out, sending a shockwave through the air — a clash between two men, neither of whom knew when to stop.
Yet Aldous was the one giving ground, as though Valerius held the clear advantage...
Valerius looked at him with mock surprise, and said with sarcasm:
"Heheh — seems your new look has brought you all the way back. I like it even more than before."
Aldous kept fighting on with visible effort, retreating step by step, until a voice rose from behind him, offering support:
"You're not alone."
And from the other side: "Don't go playing the hero, you greedy thing..."
Aldous smiled as he watched Daniel and Round fall in beside him, his lips moving despite himself:
"You two... why won't you let me shine???"
He looked into Daniel's eyes and said:
"Hey — where's your precious girl???"
Daniel shot him an irritated look, and replied:
"You're an infuriating man... she went to gather everyone. It's time to move — I'd bet the deputy commander's already noticed we're missing."
Aldous smiled at them both. "Heh, fine — but the finishing blow is mine."
Round and Daniel traded a glance; neither needed to say a word.
Valerius fought back with everything he had, but once the three of them combined their strength,
the advantage tipped decisively in their favor, and with a coordinated strike, they sent his body flying backward...
Aldous said, catching his breath: "Hmf... how exactly am I supposed to avoid killing him, then???"
Round answered: "Just avoid the head..."
Aldous groaned in mock despair, shaking his head with theatrical sorrow:
"Ohh, damn it — smashing faces was always my favorite hobby..."
Suddenly, a crushing pressure swallowed the entire place,
threatening to grind their bodies to nothing,
as Valerius advanced, bracing for a killing blow.
The instant he drew close, a massive stone pillar erupted from the ground and struck him hard,
and the pressure vanished at once. Aldous felt a flicker of displeasure but said nothing, and instead shouted:
"Now!!!"
Daniel and Round appeared from behind, and with a coordinated double strike, hurled his body away to crash to the ground...
"It's over!!!"
Then Agnyr's voice cut in suddenly: "Not yet!!!"
Flames erupted without warning, taking the shape of a crowned dragon bearing down on them,
and they all leapt clear.
Valerius appeared before Daniel in an instant. Daniel threw a lightning-charged punch, but before it could land,
Valerius caught it as though it were nothing, and raised his own arm,
wreathed entirely in fire, and with that single blow — augmented by the crushing pull of gravity — Daniel dropped to the ground, motionless.
Round appeared behind him next, his body armored in stone, and charged in with a driving attack.
Valerius barely managed to fend it off, pinning him with his left hand while a tremendous pressure gathered around his right fist,
saturated further with gravitational force until it too was sheathed in rock. The sound of that blow thundered through the whole place, and Round's body dropped just as still...
Aldous glanced around, his throat suddenly dry:
"Damn it. There's no one left but me..."
A flicker of nerves crossed him — but then he heard Daniel and Round's voices, faint but clear: "He's yours. Don't worry about us..."
Aldous exhaled, rolling his shoulders to shake off the weight of exhaustion:
"Heh — you two stubborn fools... Now, let's show our friend what the First Battalion's commander is truly capable of. That title didn't come from nothing."
Valerius lunged toward Aldous with his whole body.
Aldous barely caught the movement in time, dodging it at the last possible instant.
Valerius raised his arm, letting gravity redirect its course,
and the blow crashed into Aldous with brutal force. He staggered back from the impact,
somehow remaining upright — barely — before the pull of Valerius's gravity dragged him down to the ground.
The crushing weight bore down on him relentlessly while he lay helpless to move, and he thought to himself in a burst of pure fury:
"Damn this... as if this is the only trick he knows..."
Then Aldous remembered something Valerius had once told him: "If you had a few more skills — or a third element — you might actually beat me..."
Aldous smiled to himself, resigned:
"Heh. I'm still not sure if that was even meant as a compliment..."
Valerius closed the distance, the pressure crushing down on him harder still, as a concentrated ball of fire formed between his hands. Aldous said, shutting his eyes for a moment:
"Damn it. Not again..."
His eyes snapped open — a sudden memory of Raym flashing through him — and he began fighting against the gravity dragging him down.
Before Valerius's attack could reach him, another stone pillar rose from the ground. Valerius dodged it as if he'd expected it all along, but Aldous said, smiling:
"Take a breather."
Molten lava erupted from behind him and engulfed Valerius entirely.
He fought his way out with great effort, and the moment his head broke free,
the lava began to harden, locking his movements in place...
Aldous stood before him, his features drawn heavy toward the ground,
standing only through sheer, grinding effort. He raised his arm, winding up for a punch,
and remembered Valerius's words once more — his fist filled entirely with molten rock,
then wrapped further in liquid stone, layer upon layer,until it had swollen to an absurd, monstrous size.
Without a single moment's hesitation, Aldous roared, his voice thundering:
"Fist of the Transcendent King!!!"
A deafening explosion tore through the entire place, and Valerius's body was hurled far away, crashing to the ground, motionless...
Aldous let out a relieved breath — before collapsing himself. He looked down at his own ruined arm, wrecked by the force of his own attack, and said with quiet pride:
"I don't need any skills at all... this fist is more than enough..."