"Absolute Will: Judgment Flame."

A flame seemed to ignite within his heart, a warmth spreading rapidly through his body. Atticus felt the heat rise. Scalding. His veins, flesh, bones, organs... everything turned to ash.

Flames engulfed him. In that infinitesimal moment, the choking haze surrounding him vanished. Atticus had changed.

His flesh was gone.

His body seemed woven from countless interlocking threads of flame, his eyes glowing like ruby stars. Thick plumes of reddish smoke bled from him as the air itself continued to burn.

His body was fire.

The Spirit King’s manifestation touched Atticus. For a moment, there was silence. Then fire erupted across it, the manifestation recoiling back.

"Arghh!"

The Spirit King’s face twisted in agony. Atticus’ will was ravaging his, burning through it. He stared at Atticus, utter shock filling his eyes.

"H-how?"

Atticus’ fist crossed the distance.

Boom!

The Spirit King folded around the blow as it drove into his midsection. A violent explosion ripped through him. Blood and gore erupted into the skies, raining down in an endless cascade.

Atticus’ knee flew upward.

Boom!

It connected with the Spirit King’s chin. A violent tremor rippled through his skull before his body was launched skyward.

It crashed into Atticus’ descending fist above.

Boom!

The Spirit King’s body shot upward, limbs flailing, before streaking into the heart of a distant city. He tore deep into the earth, the impact unleashing a wave that flattened and swallowed the kingdom and its bustling population whole.

Their screams barely echoed. Billions dead in an instant.

The Spirit King was in a pitiful state.

His clothes and Devourer Armor had been reduced to ash. The blazing purple radiance surrounding him had dimmed considerably. His body smoldered with blackened burns. A gaping hole yawned through his stomach, his face battered beyond recognition.

Yet his eyes... his eyes remained fierce.

Atticus appeared above him. His withdrawn fist seemed to swell within the heavens, manifesting as a blazing giant hanging over the world.

It fell.

The Spirit King watched it descend, gritting his teeth. He could not fail.

Not with so much at stake.

"Release."

Blinding light erupted from him. A pillar of radiance slammed into Atticus’ fist before continuing upward, tearing through the heavens.

The Spirit King slowly rose into the sky as though he were a god ascending to his throne. Endless energy poured from him, flooding across the world.

His wounds healed. Below, an endless spirit army blazed into existence. Hollow-eyed and deathly pale, they looked like soldiers dragged back from the grave. They numbered in the trillions.

The people the Spirit King had killed since his birth.

Devourer Released.

Everything he had ever devoured. Every power. Every soul. Especially Solvath’s fragments.

He had been able to keep himself in check because he had devoured Solvath’s fragments. However, with Devourer fully released, Solvath’s will immediately hammered against his soul, threatening to consume him in turn.

The pressure was immense. Yet the Spirit King merely clenched his jaw and fixed his gaze upon Atticus.

"No matter what... I will not fail."

His Life Weapon blazed as it descended. The trillions surged toward Atticus like an endless tide.

The Spirit King vanished in the same instant.

The world seemed to tremble as the tide neared Atticus. Yet his expression remained indifferent as he exhaled.

"Judgment Flame."

Fire erupted from him. The inferno swept across the battlefield and engulfed the army whole. The trillions were reduced to ash in an instant.

"World Piece."

A streak of purple tore through the world and appeared before Atticus’ head.

The Spirit King.

Atticus didn’t flinch. He didn’t retreat. His katana rose and met the incoming staff in a burst of blinding light. A violent explosion surged upward and downward, cracking the earth and swallowing the sky.

A streak of red was hurled backward. Yet Atticus regained his footing almost instantly, only to find the Spirit King already upon him.

The Spirit King’s staff blurred forward in a torrent of thrusts. Atticus’ blade met each one in deafening booms. They tore across the world. Appearing above seas and leaving them evaporated. Above civilizations and reducing them to ruin.

Billions dead. Trillions.

The Spirit King cycled rapidly through multiple wills, combining them, layering them, shifting between them without pause.

Yet it all became Atticus’. His Absolute Will devoured everything.

As the battle raged on, the more frenzied the Spirit King became, the more Solvath’s fragments Atticus absorbed. His mind was almost gone. And so was his power.

The Spirit King had known it for a while now, but he had simply refused to accept it.

He was losing.

After everything. Every sacrifice. Every plan. He was losing...

To this child.

His teeth ground together as his attacks grew increasingly violent. But the overwhelming anger only aligned him further with Solvath.

The Spirit King’s vision swam for a moment as he witnessed the Big Bang. He snapped out of it to find Atticus gone.

"Wher—"

Pain exploded through him. He glanced downward. Atticus’ katana had pierced straight through his chest.

"No..."

He lifted his gaze and met Atticus’ eyes.

They were hollow, not a single emotion stirred within them.

"...I can’t lose."

The Spirit King’s purple radiance suddenly flared. But before it could fully erupt, Atticus withdrew his blade.

Then it exploded forward in torrents, piercing the Spirit King. Each one absorbed more and more fragments, siphoning the Spirit King until barely a trace of light remained around him.

The Spirit King plummeted from the sky and crashed into the earth.

Countless holes riddled his body. His heart, liver... every organ had been pierced. Purple blood seeped from his wounds as he forced himself upright, his expression dazed, one trembling arm stretched toward the horizon as though reaching for a distant power.

"I-I will not lose... I-I will not lose..."

Atticus’ descent was silent. Every step he took fused the earth beneath him into glass. He reached the Spirit King and his katana flashed. The Spirit King collapsed as his legs were severed.

"No... no..."

Still, his arm remained outstretched toward the horizon, toward the streak of light rapidly approaching their location. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Moments later, it arrived, revealing Ozeroth, the Pride Queen, Ozerra, and the barely conscious Whisker.

"I-I will not fail..."

The Pride Queen’s eyes were filled with sorrow, yet she made no move to intervene. Ozerra remained silent, tears slowly gathering in her eyes.

Ozeroth... Ozeroth’s fists tightened. Seeing one’s father reduced to such a state, whether hated or not, stirred something deep within him.

"Bond..."

He tried to call out, but Atticus wasn’t listening. He grabbed the Spirit King by the shoulder, rolled him onto his back, and pressed his foot against his face.

His flesh sizzled.

"Bond..." Ozeroth called out again.

Atticus didn’t respond, his foot slowly pressing downward.

The Spirit King didn’t scream in pain, nor was there any fear in his eyes. There was only remorse. He had earned the hate of his family... and yet he still failed.

He met Atticus’ eyes, his voice trembling.

"...don’t become like me..."

"Bond!"

Atticus’ foot came down.