A huge globe of Flame of the Black Phoenix had just appeared just above Pseudonym's head, exactly over the palm he had raised. It was his most powerful technique, the one he had never shown to anyone. He hadn't even used it inside the Colosseum, having never faced an opponent strong enough to testing him like Helial was doing now.

The boy's attack had not yet been set in motion, but it had made Pseudonym tremble with fear.

In addition, the boy's Aura had risen to the Late stage of the Fourth Phase.

If Pseudonym hadn't used an attack strong enough to counter Helial's, he would have suffered a lot of damage.

Everything around them had begun to lose colour. The sky, the grass, the trees, the hills in the distance ... everything was turning grey at a frightening speed. An Aura of death and despair enveloped Helial and Curse of the Demon.

The reddish mist that enveloped Helial's body was growing more and more dense. His eyes were bloodshot and his laboured breathing was broken by painful fits. The boy looked bad, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

But, despite the shivers of pain and fatigue shaking his body, Helial's feet were firmly anchored to the ground. He would not have fallen before launching his attack.

He knew well that his new Secret Skill was far more powerful than his body could endure without collapsing. His heart ached, it seemed on the verge of exploding at any moment and fits stung his sternum annoyingly; but any pain would not have stopped him. Helial felt that reaching her limits was something she had to do for Pseudonym.

If Pseudonym was to become the cornerstone of his life, as he said, then Helial had to first make sure that the black armour was worthy of taking such an important position.

Looking at the huge globe of black flames above his opponent's head, a tired smile stretched Helial's face muscles. The boy could perceive how terrifying Black Sun was despite being at a considerable distance from Pseudonym.

It was a vicious circle: it was vital to respond to a powerful attack with an equally powerful attack.

The new Skill he was using did not yet have a name, but it was an attack belonging to Iblis. What Helial was able to use was nothing more than a vague imitation, and yet it contained the will of the greatest Devil in the universe.

Helial, using this Skill, was able to trigger a very peculiar reaction: it was as if his level had increased dramatically, increasing of two whole Phases. The only disadvantage was that such a power could be used in just one attack. Unfortunately, such a skill could not be used in normal combat, otherwise Helial could have defeated even people who were five Phases higher of him.

Even if it was only for an attack, the increase of his Aura had allowed him to overcome Pseudonym's current level. Not only would his enemy now have to defend himself using all his power, without holding back even a modicum of his strength, but it wasn't even certain that he would be able to do it.

In fact, Helial thought he was quite likely to defeat Pseudonym. Maybe he was underestimating his power again, but he didn't believe anyone could react to a copy of one of Iblis' attacks.

Helial tilted his face slightly: "I'm sorry you have to lose, you know?"

In Helial's words there was the confidence of an uncontested tyrant.

Pseudonym did not answer, but his Aura began to rise steeply, breaking through the roof of the Third Phase! His Aura was rising towards the Late stage of the Fourth Phase!

"Do you think you're the only one able of doing tricks like that?"

The Black Sun that was forming over Pseudonym's head seemed to come to life and all the vegetation within a kilometre was pulverized, leaving behind it an apocalyptic scenario.

But Helial suffered no harm.

His ragged coat, its royal purple a distant memory, billowed following the bursts generated by the two attacks. His crown reflected the rays of black light.

The equipment he owned - Great sword, crown and cloak - was probably unrivalled on the whole planet. Helial suspected that there was no weapon as powerful as Curse of the Demon in the entire universe. In fact, it seemed to become more powerful together with his owner, without any visible limit. He knew that, If he had wanted to, with that Great sword he would have been able to cut the sky in two.

Not far from the clash, Snowflake and Vlad exchanged a terrified look. They had seen the black light of Pseudonym's attack heading towards them and had believed they were to die in that moment. But something had protected them, making the light bounce past where they were standing.

Snowflake sensed that someone much more powerful had to protect them, perhaps bowl-haired boy.

"Do you think you could survive an attack like that?" whispered Vlad, with a strange reverence in his eyes. Although he was very proud and his talent was the most terrifying ever seen in the Guild of Life and Death, Vlad recognized that his skills were nowhere near comparable to those of the two monsters who were fighting in front of him.

"Survive? I think I would be lucky if my corpse didn't get pulverized. Also, there is a strange vibration that I can't explain coming from Pseudonym. It looks like he's still holding something back…” Snowflake's words shocked everyone around him.

Lumia turned her gaze towards Snowflake, but suddenly she felt a presence on her right and turned abruptly, finding a child with a black fringe; he was wearing sunglasses, a straw hat and a flowered shirt and was eating a huge strawberry ice cream, while watching the clash, impassive.

Lumia bent slightly, suggesting that she wanted to ask something. She received a nod of approval from the boy: "Tell me."

"Pseudonym is fighting at his best?" she asked curiously.

Iblis stopped paying attention to the ice cream and made sure that only Lumia could hear his words. He gave the girl a mortally serious look and then said: “Not just Pseudonym. Even your brother hasn't played all his cards. This is not his limit but, if he pushed himself further, he would die or become a cripple. The corrosive power he is wielding right now is far beyond what his body can bear. The simple fact that he has not yet exploded is a miracle. If he goes further, you probably won't have a brother anymore."

Slurp Slurp

The ice cream disappeared at an incredible speed, while Iblis adjusted his straw hat.

Lumia sighed. She shouldn't be surprised at Helial's strength, she just had to trust him, as she always had.

Looking down, the girl noticed that the Devil was wearing black flip-flops, and the lace was decorated with stylized skeletons. She could not help smiling, in that tragicomic moment.

"In any case, one of them is still much stronger than the other. There will always be only one winner, whether they play all their cards or not," said Iblis, yawning.

That clash might have been interesting to the children he had at his side, but for him, undisputed lord of Destruction, it was nothing more than a skirmish.

The black-fringed boy had personally sunk Kirin's body into the core of a planet, causing the planet itself and the entire surrounding galaxy to explode. Should a little burnt grass have surprised him?

Just then, Curse of the Demon finally seemed to have finished accumulating all the energy needed for the attack.

Even Black Sun was now at the peak of its destructive power.

They were now approaching the end of the duel.