"Dost thou truly believe thou art strong enough to stand against the True Gods?! When the barrier falls, they will come for you all!!" The Remnant spat, his flaming purple eyes blazed with tangible hatred and fury.

Haden sighed, disappointment escaping his lips. He looked at The Remnant with a gaze too calm for the destruction he just caused and spoke in a bitter voice, "Stand against them? I am of Dhaevrak (Crimson Army), and Dhaevrak is cursed by them."

The Remnant tilted his horrifying head in confusion and scoffed, "Cursed?"

Purple flames blazed around his curved horns.

A deep chuckle that seemed to come from the very bottom of his very self resounded everywhere. "Dost thou truly believe such miscreants could lay a curse upon thee all?"

"What?" Haden's expression hardened, the memory of him fighting against one of them passed through his head, and he mumbled in confusion, "They can't...? Then why...?"

Seeing his expression, the Remnant understood that Haden at some point in his life had faced the True Gods, or at least one of them, but the outcome of that battle left him with questions that he had no answers to and answers that were forged upon lies.

The Remnant could make use of that to manipulate him and win, but that would mean he was willing to join the beings he hated the most. The Remnant would rather accept defeat than win in such a disgusting manner.

He jumped into the crater, dashed forward and shouted, "Thou art truly naïve, War. To seek to curse the Crimson Army is no different than sending a serpent to slay a spider!"

Haden stepped using the instant step and appeared before him. The Remnant swung his blazing katana, air trembling from the heat.

A clang echoed as his katana met Haden's dark spear. The Remnant let go of the katana and began to throw punches at Haden.

Haden, whose body was no different from a mythical lion, moved unexpectedly fluidly to dodge his strikes. The Remnant fell in awe at Haden's control over his body, but he was wrong about one thing.

There was no control. After listening to The Remnant's words, Haden's mind had started to replay the battle he had with one of the True Gods and at the moment, his body was moving purely on its own. Nothing but instincts were forcing it to move.

The Remnant, though an ancient being, couldn't use his true strength for multiple reasons, the most prominent of them being his body, which was falling apart and that he was no longer connected to Celestia.

Connection to Celestia was very important for him; it was what fuelled most of his strength, and at the moment, it was impossible to form a new connection.

The Remnant continued to throw punches for a few more moments until he came to the revelation that trying to defeat Haden, a Half-God, while holding back was simply impossible, but he couldn't use destructive attacks like before either. He could control the Corrupted Abysmal Flame, but his control was no more than the control an ant has on a rolling pebble.

So, instead of being destructive, he could only win by precision.

He ducked down, dodged Haden's spear thrust, twisted. Swung his open hand at him, and purple flames burst out and took the form of a burning mace.

Haden, who was deep in his thoughts, couldn't react to it. The mace crashed into his side.

His flesh turned black from the radiating heat, a few of his ribs gave way, and he was sent flying.

A groan escaped him as he zipped through the air. The Remnant, who had finally managed to create an opening, followed. A dark katana appeared in his hand.

Haden crashed into the uneven ground, and his body rolled a few times before it came to a stop. He looked up at the ominous eye in the sky and coughed out the dirt.

The Remnant appeared right beside him and lifted his katana high. Haden shifted his eyes at him and asked weakly, "Why... why couldn't I kill him?"

The Remnant's eyes gleamed with understanding. "Kill?" He scoffed. "There are but two things that can kill a god — other gods, and devils."

Realisation dawned on Haden. He finally understood why he couldn't kill that person, why he couldn't keep his people safe, why he couldn't fulfil his promise... he let out a defeated chuckle at the unfairness of the world he lived in and said, "The Dark Phantom Gauntlets... they are a devil just like you, no?"

The Remnant nodded. "He is one of my siblings — The Phantom — though I do not believe any other will rise from their slumber."

Haden's gaze shifted at the cracks spreading across The Remnant's body. He pointed at them and muttered, "Because of that flame?"

The Remnant didn't answer — he had already finished enhancing the dark katana with as much Abysmal Flame and demonic energy as he could.

He swung it down. The air tore apart, the sky shuddered, and the group quaked violently just from the power stored within his sword.

But...

Just as it neared Haden, a wave of red viscous aura surged out of him, and he mumbled, "I am glad that you finally answered me."

The Remnant felt a bad premonition, and suddenly, the red aura solidified into small needles and plunged into him.

The Remnant felt his body shiver.

The katana that held enough power to cleave the mountains into two stopped just a few inches away from Haden's neck, and the Remnant stared at the needles with disbelief.

Haden pushed his katana to the side and said, while standing up slowly, "My eyes are a bit special..." he closed the distance between them and whispered in his ear, "I can see the souls, and I can naturally affect them..."

He jabbed a finger to The Remnant's chest and said, "Though I can't do the same with this flame..." His eyes turned cold, and he spat, "But you? You are too weak."

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