OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Judas staggered forward as the spears' impact came through, but he held himself straight, his muscles tightening.

"...Is that all you've got, trash?"

Then, with a swing of his staff, he flicked off the spears embedded in his back.

It pained him, but it didn't seem like he was going down anytime soon.

"Not even close..."

Emir was the same.

Though his internal organs were a mess, he had somehow managed to keep himself up.

"...Ready for round two?"

They looked at each other, and in a blink, both of them disappeared.

Materializing just a few meters in front of Emir's previous location, their weapons went forth.

Judas deflected Emir's blade, moving it across his staff's length, then stomped straight, intending to tear a hole through Emir's stomach with a single kick.

Emir followed his blade's movement and frontflipped upward, evading the attack.

Mid-air, directly above Judas, he summoned a spear to his left, aimed downwards.

And at that exact moment, a blast of air shot through where he just was, exploding the wall next to it, ingraining what seemed to be a footstep in the concrete.

Using the same leg as his two previous attacks, Judas kicked upwards, attacking Emir while destroying the spear at the same time.

But Emir wasn't hit.

He wasn't even there.

A fraction before the kick, a platform had materialized underneath his feet, and he pushed himself off it, Flash Stepping away.

Though, before getting the Hell out of there, he didn't forget to leave behind a present.

In his place, right where the platform was, was another spear.

The platform protected it long enough so that it could move without obstruction.

And move it did, attacking Judas from the side.

"Slow."

His cloak billowed out a flash of slightly dried blood as he ducked under the spear, letting it fly past him.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

In the distance, Aquila's eyes narrowed as he fired another volley of bullets, taking the opportunity he was given.

This time, they were less in quantity but were charged with more Aether, glowing brighter and moving faster.

They homed in on Judas from multiple angles, forcing him to pause.

His eyes flickered, calculating.

Then, in less than a heartbeat, he swung his staff low, smacking one of them to the ground.

It detonated with a deafening crack, sending up a plume of smoke and debris.

The others soon followed, exploding as they collided with the ground, walls, and ceiling, showering the area in dust.

Judas used the brief moment of cover to pivot and backstep, narrowly dodging Emir's attack as the curved blade arced again toward his midsection.

Or so he thought.

The first attack was bait, an Aetheric Construct that moved a fraction before the blade.

Emir's real attack came after it-a stab that shot through the dust.

Judas stepped back in the last fraction but was too late.

He felt the heat of the blade graze his side, a faint line of blood appearing on his cloak.

It wasn't a deep cut, but it was a mark of Emir's growing pressure.

A sign that this duel was no longer just a game.

"This won't be fun for long."

Emir pressed harder, spear constructs materializing in the air around him.

Several of them orbited him like a halo of death, and with a single gesture, he sent them flying toward his enemy, their tips aimed to pierce him from all sides.

Judas bent backward, letting three blades pass over him, then spun his staff to parry another, deflecting it into the ground with a harsh clang!

WHIIINNNEEEEE!

That sound, similar to an anomaly's formation, was a sign of Aquila's readiness to attack.

It was unlike anything he had done earlier.

His Celestia's Revolver combined all six bullets in its chamber into one.

A single bullet that was unlike any other, an Aether so dense that his hurting arms struggled to lift it.

The barrel stopped spinning, and with most of the Aether he had left, he pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The revolver roared, sending a luminous bullet hurtling toward Judas's heart.

He was mid-twist. The shot was timed to perfection.

There was simply no way he could dodge this bullet like he did the others.

And Judas realized that, his eyes widening.

Even he was surprised.

The timing was too tight, if he didn't dodge, death could be an option.

With no time to think, he planted his staff into the ground and vaulted himself into the air.

Not even a fraction later, the bullet passed inches below him, grazing his cloak and tearing a hole through his staff, ruining it.

He survived. Only sacrificing his staff in the process.

But as he leaped, and the bullet dug into the wall, exploding and collapsing an entire section

of the room, Emir appeared above him.

"Die."

It was as if he was waiting for him, his curved sword already descending like a guillotine.

Judas reacted on instinct, twisting his body and raising his staff to block the incoming strike.

CLANG!

Metal met metal with a resounding clash, the force of the impact sending a shockwave that rattled the ground.

The sheer strength behind Emir's attack forced Judas back down, his feet skidding along the ground as his body absorbed the blow.

And before he could fully recover, Aquila's next volley of bullets was already on its way, using his HA415 Assault Rifle.

They were much weaker this time around, as his Aether reserves ran at an all-time low, but

still dangerous as they were God's Ammunition.

The bullets came in a torrent, a barrage of Aether-charged ammunition that lit up the place in flashes of blue and silver, starkly different from anything Kiera had made.

Judas had no choice but to retreat further, his body a blur as he jumped back.

He moved with a speed they could barely perceive, but they kept up, unfaltering. Judas was unarguably dominating so far, but it was growing harder for him. Emir's spears weren't slowing down; in fact, they were speeding up, coming at him from

every conceivable angle.

Perhaps it was because he was nearing the end of his buffed-up state, but that didn't matter.

Judas didn't have the time to think about that, too busy dodging Emir's curved blade that

pushed him into increasingly tighter positions.

He ducked under another horizontal slash, then leaped backward just in time to avoid a spear

that shot up from the ground in a surprise attack.

Nothing was hitting him, but it was all part of an unspoken plan.

Every attack until now was for this next moment.

They both knew that survival was only possible when Judas's speed no longer mattered.

A situation where no matter how fast he could go, the result would be the same... end in the

same way.

Now, their efforts had bore fruit.

Judas had been lured into the perfect position-boxed in a corner, with nowhere left to go but

straight.

It might've not been obvious to most, which was on purpose, but to them, it was seen as clear

as day. They forced him the best they could to move in one direction throughout the entire fight, and

only now did they succeed.

This was their chance... perhaps their only one.

Raising his arm high, Emir summoned another set of Aetheric Constructs, many times more

numerous.

Spears of all kinds materialized above, shimmering like stars, intent to inflict havoc.

"Fall."

In one fluid motion, he lowered his arm, launching them, their trajectories obvious, prioritizing speed rather than trickery.

That was when Judas realized his predicament.

His escape was sealed off.

The spears came at him from all sides and he couldn't dodge them all.

One option remained: deflection.

Judas swung his staff in a wide arc, swatting away as many as he could, but, as fast as he was,

he wasn't fast enough.

One spear caught him in the side, piercing through his cloak and embedding itself deep into

his flesh.

He blocked many more, but another struck his leg, staggering him.

Judas gritted his teeth, blood trickling from his wounds.

His eyes burned with fury, but still...

He refused to use any abilities.

Emir slowly approached, breathing heavily, obviously exhausted, but his smile remained.

Rather, it widened even further as he watched Judas falter.

This was the moment he had been waiting for.

Seeing Judas struggle felt exhilarating.

And it was about to get worse for him.

When an entire second had passed since the start of the attack, Aquila's bullets had finally

joined the fray.

And then it happened-Judas finally misread a shot.

A Quantum Bullet zipped toward him, but instead of warping randomly, it followed a direct,

predictable path. Too predictable. freewёbnoνel.com

Judas evaded it easily, but as he dodged, another bullet appeared, flickering in from the

opposite direction.

This one was perfectly aligned with the last of Emir's spears, which came from the same direction as the bullet he just dodged.

The timing was precise-there was nowhere for Judas to move. Caught between the two attacks, it seemed inevitable that he would be struck.

The spear and the bullet closed in, one aimed at his heart, another at his head, inches from

connecting.

At that fraction of a moment, he had two choices.

Either dodge one and get struck by the other, or use an ability.

Nothing else was possible; not even he could make it out of this without deciding one of the

two.

'Game over.'

Emir inwardly announced, knowing what his decision would be.

A humanly uncountable period of time passed, and Judas...

His lips curled into a faint smirk. That was when everything changed.