The battlefield erupted into a storm of color, will, and soul.

Sloth, scarred yet endlessly healing, stood at the center like an immortal scar on the world, his voice dragging through the air like heavy chains:

"How long will this futile fight last?"

But this was no longer a clash of youth against despair. This was a convergence rookies and veterans alike burning their souls into weapons.

Rael lifted his hand, his voice breaking into prayer and decree:

"Judicator Form."

The world answered. Six colossal wings of light ripped into being from his back, feathers stretching like celestial scripture, each rune burning with fractal infinity. His veins glowed white-hot, and his frame became something more than human each line of his body inscribed in judgment's fire. His blade was no longer steel, but verdict, cutting through shadow with divine inevitability.

Kaen's body warped, half-human, half-voidborn. Horns jagged from his brow, veins thrummed with black fire, but his gaze was steady. He was in control. Sixty percent unleashed where once that would've drowned him in whispers, now it was his storm to command. Black flames swirled around crimson fire, a duality of soul and abyss.

Juno clenched his fists, his skin fracturing with crimson lines as his muscles swelled with unnatural density. He roared, veins bulging.

"Taishin Path—Iron Nerve Gate, OPEN!"

His body numbed, freed from pain, his punches breaking shockwaves through the air as though his fists alone could split mountains.

And weaving between them all, Shigeo's web. Threads of light darted through the air, attaching themselves to walls, weapons, even the glimmer of falling embers. Every move, every breath, was predicted, orchestrated. He was the unseen conductor of this war-symphony.

Khael's eyes narrowed as he stood back, watching the formation align. His hand tightened on his blade. (Good. Now Sloth's focus… it's on them. Perfect. Shigeo's Thousand Wave—it's nothing but a decoy. This is my chance. My plan. To end this monster… once and for all.)

Sloth raised his arm, and the shadows twisted. Multiple souls flared from within him, faces of the countless consumed flickering like a broken mirror. They spoke in harmony, a choir of despair.

"We are endless. You burn bright, but flames are brief. We endure."

The clash began.

Rael descended first. His six wings carved the air, hurling lances of living scripture. Sloth blocked, but each feather seared his flesh, leaving judgment's rune etched across his skin.

Kaen followed, his void-flames roaring into twin blades, striking with savage precision. Each blow was a duel between light and abyss, his half-voidborn form cutting through Sloth's regenerating flesh.

Juno smashed through chains, his bare fists deflecting black tendrils of Shinrei. His roar shook the chamber, bone meeting corruption head-on.

Shigeo pulled them like strings. Every strike, every dodge, every counter, it wasn't just reaction. It was foresight. When Sloth struck to Rael's blindside, Kaen was already there. When tendrils lunged for Juno's throat, Rael's wing intercepted. The predictive web turned chaos into inevitability.

But Sloth adapted. From his chest burst three spectral souls, each one wielding a fragment of an Echo Art stolen from the countless he had devoured.

One unleashed storm-fire.

Another hurled crushing stone.

The last warped illusions into blades.

They came from every angle.

Rael roared, wings shielding his allies as he took the brunt. Kaen's black flames countered storm-fire, void consuming lightning. Juno shattered the stone barrage with his fists until his knuckles bled raw. Shigeo's threads flickered, straining to predict the chaos of three souls at once.

And through it all Khael moved in silence. His eyes never leaving the true body of Sloth. His hand trembling, but not from fear. From resolve. (Just a little longer. Focus on them… not me. I'll finish it.)

As The rookies fought like fire in the wind burning bright, straining, but not enough to smother Sloth's abyss. His body writhed with stolen souls, three avatars of ruin clawing outward at once, overwhelming even Shigeo's predictive web.

Then, the ground itself trembled.

Raiden, Zeke, and Sensei Kurosawa moved in unison. Their breathing deepened. The pressure around them thickened like the weight of a collapsing sky.

Raiden's hand lifted. Zeke's magma surged. Kurosawa's eyes sharpened like tempered steel.

And then

"Vein Gate Five — Eclipse Gate… OPEN!"

The battlefield ignited with apocalyptic radiance.

Raiden's Eclipse Form: His Shinrei erupted into stormfire, lightning chains weaving around his frame like celestial armor. His Eclipse Art manifested as a Storm Judgment Field, where every droplet of rain became a blade of thunder. Within that sphere, Sloth's movements slowed, his many souls forced to crawl against Raiden's dominion.

Zeke Kurosawa's Eclipse Form: His magma didn't simply erupt, it became a star. A miniature sun throbbed in his chest, spilling molten rivers across the ground, reshaping the terrain into a hellscape. "Eclipse Art: Magma Eruption!!" His voice cracked the air as waves of molten fire consumed Sloth's avatars, burning even their regenerative essence. The battlefield roared as though the world itself had been hurled into a forge.

Sensei Kurosawa's Eclipse Form: His was the most quiet yet most terrifying. His Shinrei folded inward, then bloomed into a Mirror Domain. In this Eclipse Art, every attack Sloth unleashed reflected back with equal weight. Chains whipped at him only to recoil and lash their master. Soul avatars struck only to be cut by their own blades. Sensei whispered: "Return to sender."

The rookies' eyes widened.

Rael's wings clashed with scripture-bright radiance against the burning sky of Zeke's magma. Kaen's void-flames snarled against Raiden's thunder. Juno, fists cracked, still swung into Sloth's storm of illusions, his body roaring in defiance. Shigeo's web expanded to account for Eclipse-level chaos, his brain burning at the edges of what even he could predict.

But now, with the veterans' Eclipse Forms unleashed, the battlefield was no longer balanced.

It was collapsing under the sheer weight of godhood.

Sloth staggered for the first time. His multiple souls shrieked in discord, their stolen Echo Arts fracturing under the combined onslaught. Still, he grinned, his voice reverberating from every mouth and every shadow:

"Yes… YES! Show me the weight of your eternity! Let me drink the last drops of your soul-fire!"

And at the very back, Khael watched.

His hand shook against his blade, his scales faintly glowing. His thoughts, sharper than the storm

To be continue

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.