"Attack him! Do not allow him to gain a single ground," someone shouted as they gripped a broken sword. The flames around him muffled their voice. The skyscrapers that once housed many families and businesses were all on fire. Around him were destroyed cars, soldiers wearing metal armor, bleeding out, and even the bodies of civilians who had died. How they died was quite evident.
Before this person stood a figure wrapped in gray bandages from age and clad in metallic armor, he wore a blank mask except for giant gaping holes where his eyes were. Inside these eyes was an ominous blue glow that showed no signs of mercy or even hesitation. In this man's right hand was a double-edged sword that was rusty and old. But the most significant part of this blade was its design. Its metal blade had images of hands engraved on its surface; these hands all reached from the blade's tip to the blade's guard. The blade's guard was also abnormal, instead of having a usual flat guard. This one had a giant hollow circle acting as its guard; it was so big that you could stick your hand in it and still have space to move it in a circle.
The man stood there, looking at the person before him. Their gaze matched the person's, never wavering and never backing off. The man's blue eyes suddenly flickered to his right as he quickly raised his blade in a diagonal cut. His arm was moving as if it were an old rusty robot. Rising, pausing, then a clicking noise followed by the arm rising again. In a sense, it moved in segments.
His blade clashed with a giant axe that aimed for his head. Their blades clashed against one another, sparks flying, and the dust beneath them flew. The man turned his head in the familiar segmental movement as he stared at his attacker. It was a man with a skinny body and blood dripping from a cut above his head. He had brown hair and red eyes and wore a complete white outfit, including a white jacket, shirt, pants, and shoes. He looked like he would struggle to pick up a small box filled with apples, yet he swung his blade at the blue-eyed man.
"I'll kill you, Caedues!!!" The man shouted, his red eyes glowing bright as he shoved his palm before the blue-eyed man. The man's blue eyes widened as he snapped his left arm out in a straight, stiff manner and a clock motion, moving his arm from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock.
Suddenly, a bright red flame erupted from the man's palm as it engulfed the space of the blue-eyed man in a giant bubble-like form. Burning everything inside to ash, the head of his axe included. After a second or two of burning, the flames disappeared and revealed only the melted head of his axe.
"Gah!" Before the red-eyed man could even look further, a blade stabbed him from behind and pierced his stomach. The man turned his head backward, staring at two deep blue glowing eyes. The man's red eyes widened in shock, confused how this person escaped his flames.
"Too slow, Arnold," the man said, his voice rusty and strained, as he ripped his blade out of the man's back. Blood splattered onto the concrete street below. Arnold collapsed onto the street, a pool of blood pouring out.
"How dare you!" a loud, feminine voice shouted as the sky above Caedues turned bright. Caedues turned his head to the sky, and above him, he could see a giant golden jaw opening up as it connected to a serpent dragon that looked like it had just come down from the heavens.
"Lucy… you've gotten stronger," Caedues said as the giant golden dragon roared at him and then charged towards him. The skyscrapers, in their way, disintegrated into golden orbs as they got absorbed into the dragon's body.
Caedues raised the tip of his blade towards the dragon's body as a bright red light shone. Then, with his left hand, he straightened three fingers, starting from his index finger and moving to his ring finger. The red light shone brightly, and after a few seconds, it shot towards the dragon—a red light streaks across the sky like a red shooting star.
The red beam clashed with the dragon, halting its movement. The two forces clashed with one another, each stopping the other. But this stagnation disappeared as the dragon slowly oppressed the red beam, its massive form pushing against the red shooting star.
"Sigh.* You're making me use this, aren't you?" Caedues said casually, his left pinky and thumb straightened and stiffened. The red beam suddenly increased in size as it slowly began to push back against the dragon before it completely pierced its giant body. Skewering the dragon from head to tail.
The dragon let out a loud wail as its body disintegrated into golden orbs. These golden orbs fell from the sky like golden snow. Dissappearing as they made contact with the solid ground below.
Caedues momentarily looked at the golden snow before suddenly snapping his head towards a building and aiming his blade's tip. Another red streak shot out towards the building, followed by an explosion. Caedues didn't pay attention to the chaos or the sight of a woman with gold hair falling out of the collapsing building, her chest having a giant hole in it.
His focus was on the very same person he had been looking at before. His glowing blue eyes stared at the person's horror-filled eyes.
"Why… Why are you doing this, Caedues?" That was all the person could muster. His grip on his broken sword tightened as he glared at Caedues.
Caedues did not say a thing as he sauntered to the person. His steps were heavy as his right hand held his blade tightly.
"You helped me when I was nothing but a boy in a small town. You helped me when the academy almost expelled me. You helped me when those monsters attacked the city. You were like a brother to me. So why? Why are you attacking us?!"
Caedues stopped walking as he looked at the person. His eyes flickered for a moment before going back to normal.
Caedues spoke, his rusty and old voice saying, "Because I needed a body that was fit for God, such as I. A body chosen by the Echo to hold my infinite power in it without collapsing under strain. A body that would allow me to live a second life I was meant to live."
He strolled towards the person again. His steps were heavier, and his bandages flew in the air, freeing what hid underneath them. His fingers were metal, his arms a horror mix between flesh and metal, wires ran through his flesh, and a giant blue glowing device rested where his heart was.
"I slaughtered kingdoms, burned down clans who dared get in my way, cut down those I saw as family, and even crippled the girl I loved. And I did it all for you," Cedues said as he stopped before the person, his blade's tip aimed at the person's neck.
"So surrender so no more slaughter may exist, so an era of peace can exist, and so I may be allowed to enjoy life without pain or suffering from this man-made body of mine."
The two stared at each other. One's eyes held determination, while the other had nothing but an ocean of exhaustion.