In unison, both beings counter each other with a powerful collision of their fists, though the other is clad in metal gauntlets, their impacts blow the air and rock fragments away from them. Both return a sly smile to each other, as if they were enjoying the entire ordeal.

Meanwhile, Gram, had already started amassing enough power to return to the battle. After having been sent flying to the air, he stayed afloat, relieved that Fafnir had come to his senses in time, distracting Kokabiel away from him as he recuperates. Noticing the way in which they fight with each other, he considers this a chance at truly being even with the odds.

Gram channels his power into his sword once more, feeding it the power he has amassed from it, but into a pure consecrated one. The essence of light as his sword would call it.

-I think this would be an opportune time to introduce to you another technique from the past. Are you prepared for it?

-I can't let this chance pass me by. Show me, my friend. I am prepared for any upheaval that might come.

Without any other words, images flashed in Gram's subconscious, presenting him with one more powerful technique that he can put to use. He thinks to himself quite briefly before returning his attention to the present, "This will be quite difficult, but I need to try. This might be pivotal in our battle"

"Do you really think that you can stop the inevitable?"

"You are naive! Do you believe that it is inevitable as you believe it to be?"

The two speak as they exchange attacks, fiercely dealing powerful blows to each other in quick succession. Though one side takes an immense amount of damage, they do not show any signs of weakness. They seem to disregard the scale of damage each person sends to the other, reluctantly taking it all in.

One punch from either one is lethal as it has enough force to make a sound that would cause tremors in the ground, cause vibrations in the air, but not enough to make the other flinch.

"What you are fighting for, what you think will come, It is all fake. I know of your past, I understand you the most out of anyone in the world, currently. You are scared of being alone, so you push yourself to fight for those you care about."

"You are right. And what of it?"

"Deep inside, you have doubts in your actions. Though we are separated. We still shared a bond that will stick to you like a curse. We are bound together, and as you live the remainder of your short life, fighting and dying for nothing, you will realize in the end that you have made a mistake."

"Truly naive. You do not understand what it means to be human. How I pity Gods like you. Those who are drunk in their own omnipotence forget the strength of a human, though mortal. Forgetting that they go through things that shape them into becoming what they are now. Mortals and humans alike grow stronger while Gods remain as they are, staying oblivious to the challenges that might arise to face them."

All of Fafnir's pent up frustrations and feelings of truth spills out as he battles. It does not hinder him from being on par with the God's stregnth though, matching his movements and attacks with his own.

"Ha! Do you truly believe that basis to be true? If so, then you are the naive one here. Nothing can surpass a God!"

Kokabiel snaps his fingers, instantly locking Fafnir's legs in place as the earth moves to his bidding.

"Now, witness how powerless you truly are."

Fafnir, unable to react quickly enough to undo his bounds, is barraged by fists each with increasing power than the last.

But, the barrage is cut short by Gram who intervenes, "Ezekiel's promise!" a pure blinding white light envelops Fafnir, giving him a bodily constitution as strong as the strongest mineral in existence. The enchantment degrades Kokabiel's attacks, making them useless to him as they deal no damage despite the viciousness in Kokabiel's attacks.

Looking up after having retreated a few feet, he looks up to find the pest.

"Come down swift but dastardly, smite thy enemies! The lord's thunder!" in that instant, the sky is covered out with dark clouds, roaring and flashing wildly.

A bolt from the clouds emerge, striking the unwary Gram from behind.

He falls down towards the prepared kokabiel, unable to catch his bearings due to the paralysis induced by the bolt of static that struck him down.

Fafnir breaks his bounds, rushing with a burst of speed towards his fallen ally.

Kokabiel takes to the skies, shooting like an arrow down towards Gram with his fist pointed for a lethal blow.

Within a hair's inch of reaching Gram, Fafnir intercepts the attack with his own, clashing to challenge.

"Still defying me, huh? Useless!" with his final words uttered with power, Fafnir is sent back at breakneck speed by an unseen force.

Kokabiel picks up Gram from his hair, raising him up.

"This is the end for you. Say your farewell," Kokabiel morphs his right gauntlet into a sharp, serrated, short blade. Gram, unable to move, is forced to watch as he struggles helplessly like an insect trapped on a spider's web.

-Gram! Struggle. I will give you more power.

His sword, panicking from inside his mind, desperate in saving his wielder's life to the best of his abilities.

Gram's eyes widen and he grits his teeth, strong enough to feel like you're breaking them. He tries to move his arms, but is unable to. He tries to yell, but his mouth is shut close by the paralysis still running rampant in his nerves.

Just as Fafnir got up, what he sees from a distance fills his body with dread and rage. He engulfs himself in flames and rushes the enemy head on, recklessly without any other intentions.

Kokabiel pulls away his blade. A thud his heard as he steps back, morphing his blade into a gauntlet once again to face the oncoming rival shrouded in flames.

"Nothing held back, eh? Very well."

The two clash in an instant. One attacks with prejudice with the other defends skillfully, then the order is shifted, vice versa. The battle becomes an amazing display of balance between the two, no one side giving the up.

Fafnir boils with rage while his enemy fights with a wide grin on his face.

Fafnir gets through, latching onto his enemy. Unleashing his flames, Fafnir lets loose a raging explosion centered around him, engulfing his enemy in the blast as he radiates with heat.

"Ha ha ha, never wavering, huh? You truly are something to behold. Still, not enough. If you think this'll be enough to defeat us, then you might as well give up now. Against Uriel, you'll last a minute at best."

Kokabiel bashes Fafnir down with his two clasped hands, forcing him to let go. He looks towards from his position on the ground, barely even making his image out.

He still lies there, unmoving. The power does not die down inside Fafnir, but instead it keeps on getting stronger, wearing down the God, who still seems to be slacking off at best.

-Gram, awaken yourself. You're losing life as we speak. You can't let this end so easily.

Nothing... It is silent. His breathing is slowly coming to a close. He struggles for air, but the struggle isn't apparent from him. It feels like he's been petrified from the inside out after being struck. The pain's getting cold, the purple and dark sky begins to look like a blur to him. That voice he's so familiar with inside his head speaks of gibberish. He can't understand anymore.

He knows what's at stake, yet he can't do anything about it. He does not give up, but the grasp of the man in the dark cloak is strong. His offer starts to look tempting for a while, but leaving would mean...

He held on, barely. It was enough to get the voice through his head, and that was enough it seems.

-Do you intend to let it all end here? I am doing all I can on keeping you alive with my power. You must help yourself, you can still hold on to life. There is nothing pulling you away from it. You are a wielder of the light after all.

Gram rests his trembling palm on the coarse ground, lifting himself up a few inches. He looks to Fafnir, who is clashing with Kokabiel, alone, holding his own, but barely.

He flops back down on the ground once he is reminded of the wound he had been dealt.

-He cannot defeat him alone. Just by looking, I know that he is holding much of his energy for the rest of the battle. He is waiting for you.

-It... Feels cold. Please, once more, my friend. Give me power, all of it. I will not lie down like this. Give me everything!

-Very well! You will be birthed anew. The very son of light. The essence of what it means to be radiant. It will take some time, but be patient...

-I can feel the power coursing through. Thank you, my friend.

-Thank me if you defeat him. But, I believe that with this power, you will surely defeat him.

Exhausted, Fafnir backs away. Tired from the constant duels, he is beginning to wear himself down. The thought lingers that, if he goes all out, then he will risk his chances of fighting Uriel as he will not have enough to hold back a God's strength, much more if it's a daemon lord's.

but from behind him, he feels a warm presence taking over his shadow.

"My name is Siegfried, the light's judge! Bow down those who revel in the dark for I have descended anew," the voice echoes from behind him. The voice is rallying, the voice is heartrending, the voice compels him.

Turning around, Fafnir looks upon a grandiose form of Gram. Clad in a golden shade of armor, wearing a blue cape that flutters in the air. A helmetless knight that wields his blade with one hand and the light with his other.

In that instant, he turns into a blur, reappearing in front of the God, eviscerating him with a barrage of attacks, faster than the speed of light itself. He pushes him back as he receives every cut.

"You will now be judged. Prepare yourself. Emerge, court of redemption!" Kokabiel in bound with chains made of strong mithril. Gram impales the ground with his sword, and at the same time, a loud bell resonates from the sky.

*Clang* *Clang* "I will judge this soul," Kokabiel is surrounded by pillars made of stone and light. A book appears from thin air, placing itself on the hands of its master.

"You are guilty of having threatened the very place where light and darkness lives in harmony. You have deceived the people and the very Gods that reside within the heavens, you have taken the lives of many without a sound judgement. The sins you have committed can offer no safe haven for you. I condemn thee to an eternal prison. The light and all those souls that reside from within it, judge my decisions and overrule it if you deem it necessary, or forever hold your peace."

Silence. A powerful wave of light has been summoned to the God's domain, looking upon the two who serve trials.

"Then I shall judge thee, guilty! Of all his crimes. I hereby sentence you to be imprisoned by those whose lives you have taken. A place where no darkness shines, and a place where the light runs rampant. There you will live for eternity. Begone!"

With eyes filled with surprise, Kokabiel's smile has diminished, replaced with a perplexed expression and a degree of desperation.

But then, his mouth grins from ear to ear, "Do you really think that you can imprison me like that so easily?" with a malicious and cunning smile, he speaks, ignoring his bindings as nothing seems to happen even after the trial.

"What's this? Why are you still here? You should have been sent to the otherworld by the light now."

"What a mere mortal can do against a God is very few and less than that. I will not let you."

Kokabiel pulls on the chains with his own body, forcing the bindings to emit a slight crackling sound.

-Gram, you'll have to put your all in this. It will be troublesome if he escapes.

-But, he's just too persistent. I need to weaken him some more.

As Gram thinks that, a war cry can be heard from above him. To his surprise, he sees Fafnir descending with a ball of fire, swirling on his palm.

But Kokabiel breaks the chains entirely, partly removing the mirage that is the court of radiance, but not all of it.

Just as the prisoner escapes, Fafnir slams down fiercely, a gigantic explosion follows in the aftermath, desecrating the barren surroundings.

Gram, unaffected, takes this opportunity to rebuild the court, initiating the process of the trial once again, repeating every word he had uttered before.

The chains take hold of the weakened Kokabiel, who is being held down from his neck by Fafnir.

"Fools. You are both in the wrong. You might defeat me here, but know that hell's and my intentions are the same. The destruction of heaven. But that's not all of it. We have a purpose. I had my own reasons for attacking the heavens and being banished. You fools on this soil have been deceived to believe that the Gods are all benevolent. You are all wrong. They are more corrupt than hell. Heaven is--"

Kokabiel's word are cut off as he is pulled by the chains to an open portal leading to the world of light. He did not struggle. It didn't even feel like he took them both seriously, but at that moment, that last moment, he was sincere and serious.

But what he said. Heaven being more corrupt than hell. Can you really believe what a daemon or a fallen angel says? Even more so if that one had deceived you already.

Exhaustion soon takes hold of them both. Gram, having used a new and unfathomable power, falls to his knees, then flopping down on his front.

Fafnir, barely even standing, breathes profusely. Trying to catch his breath with all effort.

They can't even think about whether the process was complete, and that if the God had already been banished succesfully, or if it had failed. All they wanted was a rest. But, they had one more coming to them.

The space around them warps back. The place that Kokabiel had called his had now disappeared. It had returned to the image of the place they were before. It was quite the same, but much more empty as the purple swirling void still surrounds a floating slab of stone where a ritual is supposed to be held. This is where they stood now as well.

"Played around until the end. This is why I had doubts with allying with you. You're resolve isn't as strong as I thought it to be. Pity that you had to go, Kokabiel."

A low pitch voice resembling a monster well taught verbally speaks out. Not at all amused with the results, he steps forward, parallel with the spire shrouded in blue flames.

The staggering duo pushes their own limits, standing up from the impending exhaustion and fatigue beginning to take its toll on them, that includes the previously omnipotent Gram, who is still lying on the ground, facing the enemy with a shift of his head, but not his body.

"Is this it? Will this be how you two end? I could snap my fingers and you two would have died then and there, so why don't I? I want to test your strength. There's no use for me in explaining my motifs in this grand plan I've envisioned, so you will have to defeat me instead. Simple, right?"

Fafnir stands, wobbling slightly, but catching his bearings as he tells himself to, "Wake up or you're dead."

"Good. it seems that you still have some fire in you," as his voice trails off, a faint rumbling turns to the extreme, shaking even this plane of existence.

Uriel extends his hand, emitting an alluring purple ball of light from it.

"Gaze at this ball. Once the light flashes out from it, the great purge shall begin, and there will be nothing that you can do to stop it. You have until that long to end me."

Without any further delay, Uriel barrels himself towards Fafnir, grabbing him by the neck after getting within striking distance of him. After having successfully done that, he raises him up high, then slams him down on the polished stone floor.

The ground cracks, shaking the foundations of the ritual grounds.

Not finished, Uriel scoops Fafnir from the ground, throwing him high in the air. He then brings out his palm, forming a ball of pure dark color the size of a pebble.

In the blink of an eye, his arm is extended upwards, turning the small pebble into a giant ball the size of a large boulder. With a slight movement of his arms, he sends it off, blasting forth in a beautiful aura of purple, the same as their background, but much purer and captivating.

Fafnir flops to the ground with a loud thud, dust implodes from his position.

"Why don't you fight? Isn't this what you have yearned for all this time, the sole intent of defeating me and ending my plans for the future?"

In an attempt to light the fire from inside his enemies, he takes an approach commonly known as intimidation. Thinking that it would work, he lets out profane tactics and various threats, but to no avail did his enemy respond in any way.

"Pathetic. I wouldn't have bothered if I had only known that it would turn out like this."

Fafnir pushes with his arms, lifting himself from the ground, looking at Uriel with a ragged breath. He punches the ground, igniting his fist with flames.

In a loud roar of frustration, Fafnir rampages, dashing recklessly towards his enemy.

His eyes are blank, his emotion is only that of blind rage, nothing to control or hold himself back.

But ultimately, Uriel dodges every attack that Fafnir throws at him, returning a fierce blow that is strong enough to make the air around them vibrate in terror.

Uriel sends Fafnir back with his strongest punch yet, launching him several meters, slamming his back onto the ritual spire.

Opening his arms to both sides, Uriel summons a massive circular portal that exceeds his wingspan. Filled with foreign symbols and possessing the same color as the void around them, purple.

From that very portal emerges monstrosities in the form of shadows, bursting forth from the portal, homing onto Fafnir, furthering his torment.

Slowly, Uriel approaches the downed Fafnir.

As the smoke dies down, Fafnir emerges from it, delivering what was supposed to be a great return, but Uriel had anticipated it and had easily caught the attack.

He then grabs Fafnir's neck, smashing him down on the ground once again, helplessly.

"Stay down. There will only be one ending to this story, and it will be I who will emerge victorious. The heavens need to be defeated for their ideals are worse that hell's. There are a lot of things you mortals are oblivious about. There are some things that are not needed to be known by humans, but you... You're not like that, aren't you?"

He shouts onto Fafnir's face as he tightens his hand's grip.

Fafnir, holds on to Uriel's arms, burning them with his weakening flame. Slowly but surely he starts losing the ability to breathe due to the grip his enemy has on him.

"Crescent Candescence!" a voice from behind launches blades of light towards Uriel's back, impacting, but breaking like shards of glass as they collide with the daemon lord's body.

Gram follows up with a powerful cleave that he had built up energy on, leaping to the air, descending towards Uriel.

The air around him fluctuates, distorting. He whispers into the air as he snaps his fingers, "Paradox's riddle."

In an instant, Uriel reappears behind Gram after warping through the air.

He pauses time still, building immense energy that will damage both Gram and Fafnir.

"Marked, bargain for power, the price is a mortal soul," Uriel finishes, resuming time once more, but not before putting his palm on Gram's back, placing the mark on him.

Once time resumes, Gram comes cleaves the air, his opponent missing.

But, from behind him the mark placed begins to glow, exploding fiercely.

"Will you still continue defying me?"

The smoke clears, and there remains Fafnir and Gram barely standing, but standing nonetheless.

"It seems that I had managed to protect us both just in time, huh?"

"Thank you, Gram. But we're not done."

Uriel's eyes narrow as they emerge unscathed from his attack. Nothing builds up from his body, not even rage. All he feels is the desire to fulfill his mission. To see it through no matter what the cost.

The daemon lord takes to the skies, levitating in front of the idle fighters.

"If you survive this, then you are worthy to see the very end. I will acknowledge you, but it will not be to your benefit."

From the tip of his finger comes a sphere of pure darkness. He lifts his arm to the air, empowering the sphere to grow larger.

As this world seemingly has no limits, the sphere grows to become as large as the moon within a few seconds, looking to be as immense Uriel holds it up in the air, still continuing to grow.

This time, the two do no quake in fear, rather they stand firmly planted in place.

"Gram, do you have a plan for this?"

"I'm afraid I don't. I am currently building up power, but slowly. I still am weak from having used that enchantment to protect us."

"I see... Then, maybe it is time that I stepped up. I won't be able to come back, Gram. I will have a chance at stopping this, but I'm afraid that this is where I will vanish. The risk is too great, but the rewards are as I see fit."

Gram looks from behind Fafnir with a puzzled look. I won't be able to come back? What does Fafnir mean by that? What risk does he speak of? Those are just one of many questions that Gram asks himself inside his head.

-Gram, I'm afraid that even amassing more power for Siegfried the judge won't be enough. It will destroy your body if we keep raising our limits. This is as far as you go, unfortunately.

His sword tells him of the hope left for them, which is quickly diminishing. Although having returned to fighting condition, it won't be enough to combat this kind of power in his current state.

-What can we do then? I won't stand by here idly and wait for that thing to come raining down on us. There has to be something.

-Forgive me, there is nothing I can do. Using every ounce of my power just for your own destruction to happen is absurd to say the least.

-Then, are we going to have to give up here and die?

-I can protect you, but at the cost of my own life. I will shatter and be lost forever, but it will keep you safe, from this attack at least. I cannot do anything else after that. Remember, he said that he will emerge at his peak if you survive this trial.

-Damn this! After all I've been through, I thought I could support Fafnir and hopefully end this, but is this truly it?

"I've been keeping this as a last resort. I can surpass this power in front of me. My truth, my embodiment. Gram, listen clearly to what I will say."

Fafnir faces Gram, sternly looking at him.

"This will be my final battle. If you believe yourself to be my brother, then it is all the more wise to use my full potential to keep you safe. I only have one request for you."

Without answering back, Gram merely looks at him in confusion, but still doing his best to understand. Fafnir's eyes open with a renewed gleam in them, brighter than they have ever been before.

"Do not hesitate when I tell you to end me..."