BOOM. BOOM. BOOM! BOOM!

  Shockwaves ripped through the battlefield as Kaelus and Satsujin cshed at blinding speeds, their strikes sending out concussive bsts that shattered the already broken city around them.

  Kaelus lunged first. His psma-coated fist tore through the air, aimed straight for Satsujin's skull.

  Satsujin vanished.

  Kaelus' punch missed by an inch, obliterating the remains of a colpsed building behind him.

  Satsujin reappeared at his side—bde fshing, cutting through the smoke. Kaelus barely twisted in time, red psma exploding from his arms to shield himself. The bde sliced deep into his forearm instead of his chest, but Kaelus grinned through the pain.

  "Too slow!"

  He swung.

  His elbow collided with Satsujin's ribs, sending the demon rocketing backward.

  BOOM!

  Satsujin crashed through a steel beam, bending it like it was paper.

  But he didn't stay down.

  His feet skidded against the ground, stopping himself mid-air with pure force before disappearing again.

  Kaelus didn't need to see him. He felt the shift in energy, the air pressure shifting as Satsujin closed in from behind.

  Kaelus pivoted.

  Just in time.

  Satsujin's sword smmed down, aiming to carve him in half. Kaelus caught it with both hands, the psma around his fingers burning through the steel.

  The ground beneath them split open, deep fissures ripping outward as their power cshed.

  Satsujin pressed down. His strength was inhuman, his sword crackling with dark energy.

  Kaelus held firm, gritting his teeth.

  "Not bad," Satsujin muttered. "But you can't hold me forever."

  Kaelus grinned. "I don't have to."

  He let go.

  The sudden release made Satsujin stumble forward just enough—

  Kaelus spun, his knee driving into Satsujin's gut with the force of a missile.

  BOOOOM!!!

  Satsujin flew, crashing through the wreckage of a skyscraper, sending debris erupting into the air.

  Kaelus rolled his shoulders, red psma pouring from his body like a living storm.

  "Come on," he called out. "That can't be all you've got."

  From the rubble, Satsujin ughed.

  And then—he charged back in.

  Satsujin dodged easily, flipping midair to kill his momentum before his feet even touched the ground. He barely seemed fazed—his cold, predatory eyes locked onto Kaelus, watching, waiting.

  Then—he saw it.

  An opening.

  SLASH!

  His bde tore clean through Kaelus' side, the force behind it cracking his psma-coated armor. A jagged red glow splintered across Kaelus' torso, flickering like a fractured shell barely holding together.

  Kaelus gritted his teeth, stumbling a step back.

  "Damn."

  Satsujin didn't smile. He didn't gloat. He just stepped forward, sword still humming with raw, dark energy.

  "You're strong," he admitted, voice low, almost bored. "But I'm not some grunt you can swat away."

  Kaelus exhaled, rolling his shoulders even as pain burned through his ribs.

  "Yeah," he muttered, flexing his fingers as psma surged through his veins, patching the crack. "Figured that much."

  Satsujin's aura spiked, the weight of his presence growing heavier, darker, more suffocating.

  Satsujin's bde blurred as he struck again, forcing Kaelus to sidestep, red psma trailing from his armor like burning embers. Their fight didn't stop—not for a second—yet their voices still cut through the chaos.

  "One thing I don't get," Satsujin said, his tone smooth, unhurried, even as he unched another deadly ssh. "You're the king. Why sacrifice yourself? You could have just let them go."

  Kaelus ughed—a deep, genuine sound, even as he parried. "You think I don't know that?" His hands crackled with energy, raw psma swirling around his arms before solidifying into two massive swords. Their edges shimmered, unstable, pulsing like they could barely contain his power.

  He grinned, gripping them tightly.

  "Listen. I know they'll do far more than I ever could." He swung—one sword colliding with Satsujin's bde, the other sshing forward, forcing him back.

  Kaelus' stance lowered, his voice steady. "I put my people first. They don't need me."

  His psma fred, the ground beneath him cracking from the sheer heat.

  "But right now—you're the one who needs to learn when to quit."

  In the blink of an eye, Satsujin moved.

  His bde fshed—a streak of pure death slicing clean through the air.

  SLASH!

  Kaelus barely registered the strike before pain ripped across his chest. His psma armor split apart, the red glow flickering as his own energy sputtered against the wound. Blood sprayed from the deep cut, sizzling as it met the sheer heat radiating from his body.

  But Kaelus didn't hesitate.

  Didn't falter.

  Didn't stop.

  With a roar, he lunged.

  His psma swords fred, one twisting into a spear as he thrust it forward.

  Satsujin dodged—almost.

  Kaelus' bde clipped his side, carving through his bck armor in a sudden burst of red-hot fury.

  And then Kaelus swung his second bde.

  A brutal, explosive ssh meant to cut Satsujin in two.

  Satsujin barely had time to twist away, the raw force of the attack sending him skidding backward. The ground beneath them split apart, the earth itself giving way under the sheer magnitude of their csh.

  Kaelus staggered, gripping his chest. The pain was spreading.

  His vision blurred for a second.

  His psma flickered—unstable, weakening.

  But he gritted his teeth, pushing forward, his voice still steady.

  "I'm not done yet."

  Satsujin was enjoying this.

  The thrill of battle. The heat of the fight. The sheer defiance in Kaelus' eyes, refusing to fall.

  But then—

  "KILL HIM. NOW."

  Lionel's voice ripped through his mind, sharp and commanding.

  "You are wasting time."

  Satsujin's smirk vanished.

  His grip on his sword tightened.

  The fun was over.

  His aura spiked, bck energy swirling violently around him. His stance shifted, no longer toying, no longer testing—only ending.

  Kaelus saw the change.

  And for the first time—he knew.

  He wasn't walking away from this fight.

  BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

  Kaelus was getting dogged.

  Every ssh, every strike from Satsujin connected—his psma armor barely holding together, cracks spreading like shattered gss. Blood mixed with the red energy dripping from his body, staining the broken battlefield beneath him.

  His movements slowed. His vision blurred.

  His swords—once burning bright—were flickering, their form struggling to hold. His breathing was ragged, his body screaming at him to stop.

  But he kept fighting.

  Even as his knees buckled.

  Even as Satsujin's next strike buried deep into his shoulder, nearly cleaving through muscle and bone.

  He staggered, coughing up blood.

  Then—he thought to himself.

  "Did I do good?"

  Another blow to his ribs. His body jerked back, barely staying upright.

  "I did my best… as a leader."

  Satsujin's foot smmed into his gut, sending him skidding back, gasping for air.

  "I'm gd… I was able to get them out."

  The cold started creeping in.

  Kaelus exhaled, his breath coming out visible.

  Mars' oxygen was running thin.

  The battlefield was growing quiet—the heat of war fading as the temperature dropped. The pnet's thin atmosphere was failing, its warmth slipping away. The air burned his lungs, each breath sharper, weaker.

  Stars stretched across the sky above him, unforgiving, endless.

  His time was up.

  But even as his body failed—he smiled.

  "I was never meant to make it out of this anyway."

  GUSSSHH!!

  Kaelus froze.

  Satsujin's bde had run him through, piercing straight through his gut. Blood spilled, gushing down his armor, sizzling against the st flickers of psma barely holding him together. His body trembled, vision fading—

  But his grip tightened.

  His teeth clenched.

  At least… I can take him down.

  His eyes fred—burning, raging, refusing to die just yet.

  With his st breath, he roared.

  "HEART MUTATION!!!!!!!!!"

  Red psma erupted from his body in a violent surge, the sheer force bsting Satsujin back.

  Satsujin's feet skidded against the cracked ground, his head snapping up in arm.

  "Damn it!! HE'S REALLY DOING THAT?!"

  Kaelus' power overflowed—stronger, wilder than ever before. The cracks in his armor sealed, his body pulsing with uncontainable energy. The sheer weight of his presence crushed the air around them.

  Heart Mutation…

  The final form of a mutant.

  Only four in recorded history have ever reached this peak. A state where the body unlocks its maximum potential—drawing on every ounce of strength, speed, and power hidden within.

  But the price is absolute.

  It doesn't st more than five minutes.

  And once that time runs out…

  The user dies.

  Then he moved.

  BOOM!

  His fist drove into Satsujin's ribs, bending the demon's body inward from the force.

  CRACK!

  Another strike—this time to the jaw, sending Satsujin spiraling backward. Kaelus didn't let up.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  A barrage of devastating blows smmed into Satsujin's body. Gut. Chest. Face. Spine. Every hit sent shockwaves ripping through the battlefield, craters forming with each impact.

  Satsujin flew back, smashing through ruins, metal beams snapping like twigs beneath the onsught.

  Kaelus grabbed him by the throat—

  SLAMMED him into the ground—

  Then tossed him into the air like a broken ragdoll.

  But then—

  Something snapped.

  Satsujin's aura fred, dark and ominous, a void swallowing all light around him.

  His eyes glowed, rage twisting through his features.

  "You worm."

  His hand raised—and suddenly, the battlefield itself bent to his will.

  GRAVITY. CHAINS. SHADOWS.

  Dark tendrils ripped from the ground, wrapping tight around Kaelus, binding him midair. The air grew thick, pressing down with the force of a dying star. Kaelus' body strained under the sheer weight crushing his bones.

  Then—

  Satsujin lifted his hand—

  And an entire skyscraper ripped from the ground.

  Steel groaned. Gss shattered. The structure tilted, hovering ominously over Kaelus, its massive shadow swallowing him whole.

  Satsujin's hand dropped.

  The skyscraper fell.

  BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

  The force of impact shook the entire battlefield, sending up a colossal explosion of smoke, fire, and debris. The shockwave rippled outward, shattering what little was left standing.

  For a moment—only silence.

  Then—

  A BLINDING RED LIGHT.

  KAELUS BURST THROUGH.

  "I'M NOT DONE YET!!!!"

  The sheer explosion of psma shattered the falling debris as Kaelus ripped through the skyscraper like it was nothing.

  His fist—burning hotter than a star—was already swinging straight for Satsujin's face.

  As Kaelus' fist was about to make contact—

  SHHK!

  Satsujin's bde pierced straight through his heart.

  Kaelus' body jerked, all momentum vanishing in an instant. His eyes widened, breath caught in his throat. The burning psma around him flickered

  His own hand twitched, fingers curling just inches from Satsujin's face… but the strength was gone.

  He gripped the sword impaling him.

  "Damn..."

  His voice was weak, but his smirk remained.

  "You're strong... for a human."

  Satsujin pulled his bde free with a sharp twist, and Kaelus fell.

  His body plummeted, crashing hard into the red soil of Mars, a deep crater forming where he nded.

  Blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the dust.

  His vision blurred. His limbs felt heavy.

  "Damn... I let my guard down..."

  The cold seeped in.

  "I'm dying..."

  His eyes stared up at the sky—where the evac ships had broken free of the atmosphere, safe.

  He smiled.

  "It's up to you now..."

  "Arnik..."

  His breath slowed.

  And then—Kaelus Redspire, the Sovereign King, was no more.

  Satsujin dusted himself off, rolling his shoulders like he had just finished sparring instead of killing a king.

  "That was fun," he muttered.

  With a zy flick of his wrist, he pressed a button on his forearm communicator.

  Above him, a sleek fighter ship roared down from orbit, nding smoothly on the battlefield. The cockpit hissed open as he stepped inside, settling into the pilot's seat.

  His lips curled into a smirk as his fingers danced over the controls.

  "Time to kill."