Albion lunged forward, throwing a powerful, lightning-fast punch straight for Amon's face.
He reacted instantly, leaping back a few feet to evade the quick strike. Albion's fist slammed directly into the shallow black water beneath them, sending a violent wave spraying outward.
Not giving him a single second to breathe, he charged again. He threw a wild, heavy right punch. Amon ducked under the swing, but Albion anticipated the movement, snapping a kick aimed at Amon's head while he was low.
Once more, Amon sprang backward, dodging the foot by mere inches. He landed lightly on his feet, setting his body back into a neutral position as the water settled around them.
"So that's it? You're actually going to kill me, huh?" Amon mocked, a twisted grin on his face. "Weren't you the one sprouting off earlier about a 'fourth option'? I guess in the end, I was right. There were only three options... and there was never going to be another one."
Albion completely disregarded Amon's words. He grabbed his own arms, his entire body trembling violently as his breathing grew ragged.
"Gajeel.. your attack has so much more power in them," Albion muttered to himself, his voice shaking with a mix of admiration and rage. "And Juvia... she could control her magic like nothing I could ever do. Everyone I know is so incredible. And you, Reiga... you were, too."
Albion's expression twisted into a brutal grimace as his gaze snapped back to Amon.
"I'll beat you to a pulp!"
Outstretching his right hand, the black water beside him began to churn and rise. At first glance, it looked as though he was attempting to form the heavy iron pipe just like before. But before the dark liquid could take shape, the structure unstably burst outward, dispersing into a harmless shower of water droplets.
Amon let out a low, breathless chuckle at the sight. "At your limit already, Albion? Can't say I relate," he sneered.
He outstretched his hand, the one that was uninjured. Dark purple butterflies began to manifest in his palm, fluttering together as the silhouette of a heavy knife cleaver began to take form. But before the weapon could solidify, it suddenly shattered into pieces, disintegrating into thin air like breaking glass.
Amon's eyes widened in shock. "What...? But how? I don't have a ceiling. I don't have a limit!"
Taking advantage of his distraction, Albion darted forward like a released spring. He drove a strike straight into Amon's jaw, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the floor.
"You think you're without a limit, huh?" Albion spat, his face contorted in wrath. "I may be at my limit, but if I am, then you definitely are! You fought Gajeel and Juvia at the same time while I had time to recover. The one at their limit isn't just me—it's both of us! But I guess you wouldn't realize that. Expected of you... you were never as analytical as I was."
Albion tackled Amon, dropping his weight directly onto his chest. He slammed his hands around Amon's throat, the muscles in his forearms bulging with suffocating pressure.
Pulling one hand back, he pulled his fist into a tight ball and rained down relentless strikes directly into Amon's face—again, and again, and again. The sickening thud of meat hitting bone echoed through the space, but Albion didn't stop shouting.
"I don't want to save you! I'm going to kill you myself!"
His fists continued to rain down without mercy. Blood splattered across the dark floor, coating Albion's knuckles and staining his face, but his glowing eyes burned with an intense light.
Adaptive Evolution. Normally, his innate trait rapidly accelerated his physical growth, breaking his body's limits and altering his physique to endure burdens far beyond his age.
But adaptation never occurs out of nowhere, it requires a severe trigger: a severe injury, psychological horror, defeat, or stress to force an evolution. Fueled by the overwhelming influx of raw emotion flooding his mind, Albion's growth was skyrocketing in an impossibly short period.
But just as Albion grew... so did Amon.
Driven by survival, Amon reached up and grabbed the white cloth tied around Albion's waist. Using his legs and core, he twisted his body with explosive force, throwing Albion off balance and tackling him onto the wet floor beside him. In a flash, the positions were reversed—Amon was now on top of him.
Without missing a beat, he began to pummel Albion with a barrage of wild, frantic punches. Albion managed to bring both arms up, interlocking his arms to shield his face from the worst of the impact.
"Hate me more, Albion!" Amon roared over the sound of his fists crashing against Albion's guard. "This battle—this anger flowing between us—is the ultimate proof of my existence! It is my entire reason for being alive right now! You have to kill me, Albion. Because if you don't, everything goes away! Everything will fall into ruin! Everyone you care about will be no more! You have to accept my hatred for you, Albion, or else my hatred will swallow you whole!"
His face twisted into an unhinged smile as he struck again. "So come on! Give it your all. We can do this together! Together, we can do this!"
"Shut up!"
From beneath Amon's mount, Albion drove a series of sharp, repeated kicks with his heel directly into Amon's ribs, hitting the exact same spot that was already damaged from earlier.
Amon gasped, his body trembling violently from the sharp, agonizing pain tearing through his side. His momentum faltered just enough for Albion to reach up and clamp his hand tightly over Amon's mouth, physically smothering his speech.
"You know what I think? I think you should shut up and stop talking like you know me," Albion growled through gritted teeth, his face inches from Amon's. "Because you're really, really making me want to kill you. I won't let you take anyone from me again. Ever again! I will fight like I always should have!"
With one final, explosive kick to Amon's chest, Albion threw Amon off him, sending him skidding across the dark floor a few feet away.
Albion dragged himself up onto his feet, panting heavily, his chest heaving with every ragged breath. If he was exhausted before, now every fiber of his body screamed at him to collapse. The only thing keeping his legs from buckling was the intense, suffocating wrath filling his veins.
Wiping a streak of blood from his eye, Albion took a slow, heavy step forward.
"I won't stop... Not until you die."