The baleful aura that surrounded Peter thickened as he focused on Laurence. In return, Laurence’s aura of absolute power seemed to rush about and batter back the deathly miasma. Their strengths of will were equivalent, both being peak existences in the Saint rank. Both children, born merely six months apart, were stronger than a hundred normal men, and their auras represented that.

The black miasma that surrounded Peter began making the area around him decay. The plants that were sprouting out of the dirt and cobble in the alleyway began wilting, browning, and soon just turning to dust in the presence of the boy. He had a truly unsettling sense of death around him. In contrast, Laurence had the scarlet aura of a wild animal poised to murder. It was not as insidious as Peter's, but held more danger behind it. If Peter's aura was akin to a morgue, then Laurence’s was like a pack of hungry wolves.

The two of them stood in the alley, facing each other and waiting to see who the first to act would be, who the first to show weakness would be. Laurence blinked and noticed a slight deviation in Peter's aura. It was like Peter was inviting him in. He knew it was likely done sorry of trap, but he had to spring it. They would stand in that alley staying at each other for days otherwise.

He leapt in, hammer held level in his palms, and began to spin the head like a drill. Thrusting forwards, the spinning spearhead dove towards Peter, but Peter simply sent out two of the skulls to meet it. Metal hit bone and there was a screeching crunch, but Laurence could move no further forwards. In response to Peter's two skulls blockading Laurence, he used the still spinning hammerhead as a pivot and rode the momentum of his own weapon. Flipping over with the spin of the hammer, Laurence landed less than a metre away from Peter and continued using his momentum to throw a punch towards the boy.

Over the last year Laurence had spent all his time learning and mastering various martial arts with three goals in mind. The first was to become stronger, the second was to craft his own martial style, and the third was for him to be able to use his entire body and surroundings as a weapon. As the punch swung towards Peter, the third skull appeared in Laurence’s way and blocked his fist. There was a burning sensation against his skin, but he ignored it in order to pivot once more and kick out at Peter. A flash of shock passed over Peter's face as Laurence’s leg collided with his ribs, but it was quickly replaced by a calculated calmness. He obviously refused to show Laurence how much damage he had actually done with that strike.

They both retreated a few steps before facing each other again. Laurence could have continued to attack, but he wanted to continue sizing up his opponent before he committed to a series of strikes that might leave himself too open. Peter, on the other hand was beginning to realise he may have underestimated the boy in front of him. They were obviously well matched, but Peter was was less committed to fighting, which meant he would be less likely to commit to double edged attacks. Laurence had a vendetta, and he would not rest until he had fixed the problem that was Peter Mephisto.

Laurence saw that Peter was beginning to retreat and decided it was a perfect chance to test out his Inferno Flowers in real combat. He pulled a flower out of his bag that was always by his side and threw it into the ground behind Peter. Peter saw something flash by, but as there was no immediate reaction behind him, he did not look, as looking would leave himself open. The second time a flower flashed past him, one of the skulls tried to intercept, but the artifacts were to small and they slipped by. The third flower thrown hit the ground at Peter's feet, something he was not expecting, and so he could not block it. Laurence smirked as Peter frowned at the gem flowers that had been embedded into the ground. He could see the cogs whirring in Peter's head as to what they were, but it was impossible for Peter to know without using them. He could see and understand the arrays on the flowers, but could not see how a simple array synchronising the flowers and one increasing the power of fire in the area would help.

He did not have to wait long for his answer. The air began to ripple around a second after all three had been stuck in the ground and mere moments later the entire area within the triangle Laurence had created immolated. Flames sprung high into the sky, and yet Laurence could not help but frown. Yes, there were flames but they were in no way as hot as he was expecting. For the inferno flowers to be a real wall against Peter they needed to be hundreds of times hotter than the soft red triangle that he had created.

The cloak that Peter wore ignited as the flames around the boy burned, but he looked confused at Laurence. To Peter it looked like whatever his opponent was trying to do had failed, so he laughed and walked towards the older boy. As he walked out of the fire, the only things that were left undamaged were the leather armour on his body and the rings on his fingers.

“I liked that cowl,” Peter growled, “I think I’ll replace it with your skin”. Two tubes of fluid appeared in his hands and he threw them at Laurence as quickly as they appeared. The vials shattered as Peter pulled his hands together and a wave of fluid spread towards Laurence. Laurence spun his hammer, and whipped it out of the way, but a few specks landed on his forearm and he felt the flesh sizzle. The skin that had only been slightly touched by the fluid immediately began necrotizing and spreading. Without a second thought Laurence let go of the hammer and it spiralled towards Peter. He pulled his hand up and immediately cut the quickly blackening skin on his left arm with a blade of mana. As the skin flicked off his arm it almost immediately decayed into dust and a slightly putrid smell. He growled as Peter moved out of the way of his hammer and threw out a fourth flower.

The fourth flower flew through the air and slid into place around fifty metres above both boys. Immediately the fire turned from the soft red glow that it had been into a thick bar of white light. The heat of the fire warped the very air, morphing and warping the light around it. Peter shouted out in shock as the heat behind him scalded his back. The sudden heat had shifted his attention, and covered Laurence’s opening, giving him an opportunity of his own. He activated Inklight and sent a spiral whip round Peter’s ankle, upending Peter on the ground. Resummoning his hammer, he cleft down towards Peter’s legs, aiming for the boy's abdomen. Peter rolled out of the way and a small pouch appeared in his hands. He immediately tossed out the bag and clapped his hands together once more. Like the vials it split and dust scattered towards Laurence. This time he had no chance to avoid the substance that was being thrown at him, so instead he ignited his hammer to the highest temperature it would go, and burned up everything between the two boys. The ground cracked and dirt crumbled as the heat intensified, the powder ashed and did not even have a chance to connect with Laurence’s body.

Rolling away once more, Peter smashed a third vial into the ground. The cracked and burnt soil began bubbling and melting around Laurence’s feet. He copied Peter’s action and stepped back away from the decomposing ground. He raised his blade and drove it towards Peter once more. The blade sprung forwards and slammed straight into Peter’s throat. Immediately Laurence pulled his blade out and stepped back. The corpse that used to be Peter writhed on the ground for a moment then stopped. Normally after a person died, they would shake as they died, and then stop, but Peter did not stop. The faces of screaming souls tried to pull themselves out of his body as he shook, a few faces Laurence even recognised. Eventually the shaking stopped and Peter stood up. He smiled, wiped the blood off his neck, and pulled out two more vials of fluid.