Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend

The battlefield blurred past Raegar until his eyes locked onto a sight that stopped his heart and angered him further, as the grip on his weapons tightened as he sliced apart several Devils trying to attack a group of wounded Hunters.

Moments later, he closed in on Valentina, who stood defiant but seriously injured as blood ran down her armor, her blonde hair streaked with blood, her sword blocking a half-hearted attack from a Tier Eleven Devil Lord.

When seeing this creature, he stopped running as fear bubbled within, but he ignored it as the beast, a grotesque colossus of molten scales and blazing eyes, swatted her aside with a clawed fist, her body skidding across the blood-soaked earth.

She struggled to rise, her face etched with pain as the Devil approached the injured Inquisitor, who still couldn't get up to defend herself. A primal roar tore from Raegar's throat, raw and earth-shattering, drowning out the din of battle.

His rage ignited like a supernova, Fusion Overdrive surging to its absolute limit, his aura flaring so brightly it cast shadows across the battlefield, catching the Devil Lords' attention as he was the true threat.

Raegar charged, a streak of fury, his daggers moving so fast they were invisible, mere whispers of death slicing through the air. The Devil Lord turned, its molten maw opening to spew fire, but he was already upon it.

The creature towered over him, eight feet of obsidian muscle, its body etched with glowing infernal runes. Its eyes burned with hatred, and in its clawed hands, it held weapons that pulsed with demonic energy.

He noticed the Devil Lord was a dagger-wielder just like him. For a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent. Soldiers and monsters alike froze in place. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Then, they moved. In a blinding flash, the two figures collided, and the clash of their blades sent shockwaves across the ruined earth. He dropped low, striking for the Devil Lord's knees with blistering speed.

The Devil reacted instantly, parrying with one dagger while slashing toward Raegar's throat with the other. Raegar ducked under the blow, rolled to the side, and sprang up with a counterattack.

His daggers became streaks of black, moving too fast to track. Sparks flew as their weapons met again and again, each impact louder than thunder. The ground cracked beneath their feet with every strike.

They moved like phantoms, each trying to outmatch the other in speed, skill, and sheer ferocity. It was no longer a fight, it was a war of gods. Across the battlefield, the chaos halted. Warriors from both sides, bloodied Hunters, snarling Devils, even commanders, lowered their weapons to watch.

No one dared to interrupt. All eyes were on Raegar and the Devil Lord, locked in a deadly, beautiful dance. The enemy unleashed a furious flurry of slashes, spinning and striking with terrifying skill.

He met every blow, his blades flashing like lightning as he countered, deflected, and struck back. The Devil Lord spun into a savage series of strikes, its daggers tearing through the air like scythes.

Each blow was meant to kill, merciless, and backed by infernal strength. Raegar's arms blurred as he blocked, parried, and dodged, his body a whirlwind of chaos. Their blades clashed with the sound of a hundred thunderclaps.

Craters exploded around them from the sheer force of their movements. Earthquakes rippled outward with every step they took, and still, the duo did not stop as they were matched in power and strength, but he had the upper hand in Aether use.

Raegar roared as something came to him mid-fight, his voice primal and defiant. ''FUSION OVERDRIVE, MAX OUTPUT!''

A burst of energy erupted from his core. His aura surged to impossible levels, flaring gold and white like a star gone supernova. The shockwave vaporized the ground beneath him and hurled debris across the battlefield.

Hunters shielded their faces. Lesser Devils were thrown off and instantly killed. Even the Devil Lord faltered for a heartbeat. And that was all Raegar needed. He vanished again, faster than lightning, faster than thought.

One instant he was standing still, the next, he was behind the powerful enemy, his daggers a storm of slashes. He carved into its back, drawing a roar of rage as black blood sprayed into the air.

The fiend spun, enraged, and its weapons screamed through the air, barely missing Raegar's throat once again as he moved out of its way. The two collided again, their strikes now beyond mortal comprehension.

Their movements shattered time itself, caught between seconds as they battled in a realm of speed and power no one else there could enter. The Devil's rune-covered skin burned brighter, reacting in fury.

It twisted its body unnaturally, launching itself into the air, bringing both daggers down with hellish force. When Raegar saw this, he quickly crossed his blades and blocked, but the impact cratered the battlefield beneath them, sending shockwaves through the ranks.

Raegar grunted, skidding back, causing his boots to tear trenches into the earth. He let out a second, deafening roar, and Fusion Overdrive pulsed again, overclocking past safe limits as Aether rushed through him.

Energy exploded around him in arcs of raw power, burning white-hot. His eyes glowed like twin suns, his white hair whipping wildly in the storm he had become, and this scene even worried the enemy.

Its clawed hand pointed at him as a menacing voice echoed out, trying to sow discord. ''You're the Devil Killer, the humans should be careful with you, there's more to you than your appearance lets on.''

He ignored the fiends' words as he charged forward, the battlefield blurred around him as he struck with fury, slashes to the ribs, stabs to the shoulders, feints and spins, strikes that bent the air around them.

The Devil Lord blocked, countered, and retaliated with equal savagery, its dark power crackling with rage. Raegar staggered slightly as he moved in close, blood dripping from a gash above his eye.

His armor was torn and scorched, and each breath burned in his lungs. His hands gripped his daggers tightly, but the enemy was waiting. With a sudden, brutal twist, the demon knocked the weapons from his grip, sending them skidding across the ground.

He barely had time to react before its hand slammed into his ribs, launching him backward. Bones cracked as he hit the ground hard, coughing blood. The Devil Lord sneered, towering over him, its twin daggers glowing before vanishing into its hellish flesh.

One claw rose, gathering a seething orb of black and crimson energy. The infernal runes on its body blazed like firebrands. A Devil Beam, pure annihilation, concentrated into a single blast.

Raegar lifted his head, barely conscious. Blood ran from his mouth. His legs trembled beneath him. He was unarmed, wounded, and staring death in the face. The Devil Lord raised its hand and aimed.

''Perish,'' it hissed.

The beam roared to life, a colossal wave of destruction barreling toward him. But he didn't retreat. Instead, with a pained snarl, he forced himself to his feet, shoulders hunched, every muscle screaming in agony.

With a thunderous cry, Raegar channeled all the remaining Aether in his body into his fists. His aura exploded once more, not in brilliance, but in raw, burning intensity, and his skin cracked with the force of it, blood dripping from wounds.

As the Devil Beam collided with him, he charged straight through it. The blast burned his flesh, seared his skin. His vision blurred, and the heat threatened to tear him apart. But he kept going, screaming with pain and fury, forging forward with fire in his soul.

And then, in one final burst of will, he let out a roar of defiance before striking. ''You're done!''

His Aether-empowered fist rocketed upward, catching the Devil Lord beneath the jaw in a devastating uppercut. There was a moment of stillness that covered the battlefield, shocking everyone watching.

Then, detonation, the Devil Lord's head exploded in a torrent of black fire and shattered bone, launched into the sky before vaporizing completely. Its body collapsed to the ground with a deafening thud, unmoving.

Once the battle was over, he stood there tired, but he sensed even more Devils appearing as the Red Gate started to shut when the remaining Hunters started chanting some unknown spell.

Moments later, Raegar saw the portal begin to close, enabling him to dispatch the remaining fiends. A sudden Dark Blast struck the nearest creature as the girls charged into the fray, with Selene swiftly advancing, her blade carving through the enemies with precision.

They collapsed dead as he was surprised, but soon enough, Earth Blasts protected him from the charging Devils, thanks to Dominique. Just then, the blonde Fairy appeared in front of his face with an annoyed expression.

Drusilla pointed at him. ''Raegar Blackwood! You mustn't do stupid stuff like this. We're a team, we fight together and fall together,'' she scolded him.

Raegar chuckled, but the pain caused him to drop to one knee, prompting the Fairy to start healing as Zahara joined to help. The brown-skinned beauty smiled. ''Thanks for letting us rest, the crash took too much out of us.''