"Be prepared. Your toys will be needed should Maxwell fall."

Desirus's words hung in the air like a quiet omen, his gaze never wavering from the distant clash. The wind carried faint echoes of steel and thunder, but his focus remained absolute.

"Never knew a time would come when you would have such little faith in him. You always speak so highly of him."

"You have to always expect the worst to happen," Desirus replied, his voice low and steady, eyes still locked on the battle between General Maxwell and Aaron.

He watched every movement with the intensity of a hawk tracking prey, noting the subtle shifts in posture, the flicker of power in each strike.

"Then I shall prepare accordingly." Qin Luo nodded her head with deep respect, the gesture crisp and formal.

She turned on her heel, her robes whispering against the stone floor as she departed, footsteps fading into the shadows.

---

Aaron bent his upper body backward in a fluid arc, his spine curving like a drawn bow as he evaded yet another lethal thrust from General Maxwell.

The air hissed where the blade passed, close enough to stir the fabric of his cloak.

General Maxwell pressed forward relentlessly, his dual swords a blur of deadly intent, every muscle in his body coiled with the singular purpose of snuffing out Aaron's life.

His concentration burned at its absolute peak, sweat beading on his brow beneath the helmet, eyes narrowed to slits of unyielding focus.

With his initial swing dodged by Aaron's impossibly smooth, almost liquid movement, General Maxwell pivoted seamlessly, stabbing his secondary sword downward in a vicious arc aimed straight for Aaron's exposed form.

Aaron blocked the descending blade even in that awkward, contorted position, channeling raw strength into his limbs until they hummed with power.

The clash rang out like a forge hammer on anvil, sparks dancing in the dim light.

Possessing superior force in that moment, Aaron knocked General Maxwell's sword aside with a explosive parry, the weapon spinning from the general's grip and sending him staggering off balance, his armored boots scraping against the cracked earth.

Seizing the opening in a counterattack, the black sphere morphed instantaneously into a long, sleek pole, extending its reach far beyond a standard blade to bridge the growing distance.

Aaron gripped the pole with iron-clad fingers, muscles rippling along his arms as he swung it in a wide, devastating arc at the off-guard General Maxwell.

The pole connected with a resounding crack against the side of General Maxwell's armored torso, the impact reverberating through bone and metal alike, launching him sideways through the air like a discarded puppet.

Crushing the fractured ground beneath the immense weight and momentum of his legs, Aaron surged forward, his boots pulverizing stone into dust as he closed in on the airborne general with predatory speed.

Insanely, against all logic of physics and flight, Aaron caught up to General Maxwell mid-air, his body a streak of shadowed motion.

General Maxwell twisted desperately in the air, spinning his form to regain equilibrium, his twin swords whirling like a pair of deadly fan blades of sharpened fury designed to carve away any approach and keep Aaron at bay.

Boom!

Yet his efforts proved utterly futile in the end. Aaron exploited a fleeting gap in the spinning defense, driving his fist, now encased in knuckle braces formed from the transformed black sphere straight into the general's chin with pinpoint, devastating precision.

"Urgh." General Maxwell grunted as sharp, excruciating pain exploded across his face, stars bursting behind his eyes from the clean, bone-jarring hit.

He crashed into the ground with earth-shaking force, sending plumes of debris and shattered rock flying in all directions, the impact cratering the terrain like a meteor strike.

Boom!

Instinct kicked in; he rolled away across the jagged surface, narrowly escaping a follow-up stomp from Aaron that would have pulverized him. The black sphere, in perfect, symbiotic harmony with its wielder, had already shifted into heavy, reinforced boots, their weight and density promising far more lethal, crushing damage.

The splintered, fractured earth beneath the missed stomp stood as a grim testament to its potential lethality, a deep imprint gouged into the soil where the general's head had been moments before.

General Maxwell executed a swift kick-up, springing back to his feet with practiced agility, his sharp eyes never leaving Aaron as he created a cautious buffer of distance between them, boots sliding over loose gravel.

"Knight battle form. Fifth form. Eclipse." General Maxwell intoned the words with grave authority, invoking the fifth form as power surged through his veins.

He clutched his short blade in a vise-like grip, the darkness element gathering at its razor tip in swirling tendrils before slowly diverging, enveloping the entire blade in an inky shroud that pulsed with malevolent energy.

Raising the blade high upward in a deliberate, ceremonial motion, he swung the sword toward the vast sky above them with explosive force.

From the edge of his sword, a vast blanket of impenetrable darkness erupted skyward, billowing like a living storm cloud.

The entire expanse of sky around them dimmed abruptly, as if light itself had been smothered and blanketed from the area, shadows deepening into an unnatural twilight.

It evoked the eerie spectacle of a solar eclipse, where darkness devoured the sun's radiance, casting the world below into an oppressive gloom.

Yet this darkness felt vividly alive, undulating and writhing as it converged toward Aaron with purposeful malice.

It resembled the dark sky itself collapsing downward onto Aaron, like a vast roof losing its central pillar and crumbling in a catastrophic fall.

"Quite the show. Hate to admit it, but he's talented," Aaron murmured, his lips curling into a genuine smile as he gazed upward at the descending abyss, appreciating the sheer brilliance and artistry of General Maxwell's technique.

"Alright, buddy. Let's show him and his blades who's the better duo." Aaron whispered conspiratorially to the black sphere, his voice laced with playful challenge.

The black sphere had already anticipated his intent, transforming fluidly into a sword that perfectly mimicked a weapon Aaron had wielded in battles long past, Excalibur. It's edge gleaming with latent power.

"Come, let's put up a better show." Aaron raised the sword high, his stance relaxed yet brimming with coiled energy.

Taking a calm, deep breath that steadied his racing pulse, he gripped the black sphere tightly, the ego weapon vibrating in ecstatic harmony, thrumming with eager anticipation against his palm.

Vroom!

Aaron swung the sword toward the plummeting sky with every ounce of his formidable strength, the motion a blur of precision and raw power.

Bursting forth from the black sphere was a radiant holy light aura, a brilliant cascade of pure, incandescent energy that lanced upward to meet the falling darkness.

Aaron's attack collided with the dark sky in a cataclysmic clash, shattering it into countless fragments like a massive stone hurled against a fragile mirror, shards of shadow dissipating into nothingness.

The holy aura persisted relentlessly, surging beyond the confrontation and piercing through the very atmosphere of the planet with unyielding momentum.

It streaked through the starry night sky unimpeded, a luminous spear refusing to halt or diminish.

The aura struck a distant planet in its inexorable path, obliterating it into glittering bits and cosmic dust in an instantaneous explosion of light and debris, continuing onward without pause until it escaped the solar system entirely, leaving a trail of fragmented space and warped reality in its wake.

"Alright. I think I did too much," Aaron muttered under his breath, a flush of mild embarrassment creeping across his features as he realized he'd failed to rein in his strength amid the thrill of excitement.

[You think?]

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