Chi. Chi. Chi.

Three wounds outside of his cheek bloomed on Sylas' body. He kept trying to dodge, but he was always just barely slower every time.

He reached out a finger, tapping at the air to rip her formation apart again. But this time, Four's sword barely vibrated.

The afterimages continued to bloom in the air, each one arcing with the same beauty. Lines of carving silver followed the current of the winds. From above, it almost looked like Four was outlining the petals of a blooming lotus.

They should have just been illusions, they weren't real. And yet, as though Sylas was a groom anticipating the unveiling of his bride, wandering about the potential futures they could have, he stepped into each one as though they were his reality, as though he was being forced to play out every potential there was.

The world was peeled back and laid bare. The fundamental essence of potential itself bloomed forth in the most beautiful of ways.

A blade dug itself into Sylas' gut and this time it was his own blood that bloomed, coating his white shirt in reds that marred the funeral procession he had come to experience with a hope for his own.

The white veil of the bride became the black veil of the widow and the world shifted around him again. It became darker and more sinister as Four yanked her blade out of him.

With a flick of her wrists, his blood painted her dance and her Aether darkened in lines of black and crimson.

In that moment, Sylas realized that Four was the most phenomenal swordsman he had ever laid eyes on, and certainly the best that he had ever fought.

It seemed that this was the true power of a Cryst Emperor. Truly fascinating.

Sylas raked his claws across his own wound, ripping his shirt open as Runes bloomed around him.

The Lust Seed bloomed.

Four's sword hesitated in the air, a flicker of confusion appearing in her eyes. She couldn't feel the next flow of her attack as easily as she usually did for some reason.

Sylas dodged her strike truly for the first time. The world around them exploded into glass crystals and emerald, sparking light forming.

Four snapped out of her shock and reacted quickly, drawing a circle through the air.

Reality bent into a fabric once more and the bolts of lightning that struck at her were diverted, twisting around her until they landed in the far off distance.

Sylas stomped a foot to the ground, causing a large crystal of glass to manifest. His body spun and he kicked at its body, sending it flying toward Four so fast the world curved around it instead.

She raised her blade and released a delicate roar, thrusting forward.

But then the crystal vanished. In its stead, Sylas appeared.

The Lust Seed had only done one thing for Sylas in the past: increase the impact of Charisma. In this battle, that would be useful, but that wouldn't be able to end it all. It was only a piece of the puzzle.

At its current level, especially when pulled along by the Pride Seed, the Lust Seed was capable of something else.

Illusion. But not an illusion in the normal sense, an illusion that was very much like the Mesmeryx, one that bent reality exactly the way Sylas wanted it to be.

It wasn't powerful, and Sylas' control over it was extremely limited, but it was enough to disrupt Four just the slightest bit. However, that was only the tip of his own iceberg.

How had Sylas manifested his Lust Seed? Wasn't it by experiencing the push of evolution so many times that he had naturally come to comprehend the true intent of Lust?

Her Aether was so delicate, so innocent. It embodied a woman at her happiest and at her saddest.

The Lust Seed ripped off its facade. It didn't care for the innocence of a woman on her wedding day. It ripped her veil off, pulled her dress up, and bent her over a bed.

And in the quagmire of Sylas' Lust Seed, Four's ability to sense the Will of her Aether plummeted to near zero.

Sylas' fist landed on her body again, flattening her nose before she could raise her blade to block.

He followed up with another to her gut, a leg sweeping out at her ankle and spinning her into the air.

Four slashed out wildly in a vain attempt to gain some distance, her Aether surging and wrapping around her in protection.

Sylas slashed down at her, lightning streaks of black, emerald, and violet following the arc of his hand through the air.

Chi.

He ripped through her defenses and she screamed as she hit the ground, one of her arms flying into the air.

Four tumbled and Sylas' body flashed forward. The icy chill in his eyes had only a single intent within them: kill.

The power of these Cryst Emperors was somewhat beyond his expectations. He didn't expect to be so heavily injured by Four alone. However… that only made him more curious to see just how powerful Three, Two, and One were.

It also made him even more curious to understand what sort of methods the other Heavens had… and made him reflect on what sort of power he was missing out on with his own Aether.

Four's thoughts were very different from Sylas' own. As she tumbled to the ground, the pain of a lost arm only being marred by the horror of such a terrible loss, she found herself thinking about One.

Didn't he always say that he would protect her? That he would always be there? That no one could touch a hair on her head?

Where was he, then?

The contradictory feelings, the thoughts of hatred she had for both One and Sylas blooming forth all the more as she blamed Sylas for making her even think something so pathetic in the first place.

But none of it mattered at all.

She was as good as dead.

Sylas' claws descended from above and in that moment, Four's beauty became more radiant than the sun, time slowing to a near crawl.