Zelraka's eyes peered around momentarily. He tried to say something, but there were no words. Of course, his laughter that followed was completely inaudible as well. His chest deepened slightly as he tried to exhale completely, ignoring the burning that started in his chest. Then he dropped down beneath the blades that headed for him and turned around entirely, and then he faded from detection, reaching speeds similar to Zelriane in the past. Zelraka appeared behind Gideon, and released a short ranged shock wave from behind. With his speed, he escaped the compact vacuum around his head, and attempted to take the new fusion by surprise. With his speed, trying to cut off his supply of oxygen would be difficult. But the beckoned the question, did he even need to breath normally?

The blade wielder watched as the fused ‘God’ laughed off the suffocation technique. To be fair, he did not exactly expect anything to come easily, but at the very least it could guarantee he'd eventually have to move with a quick enough to velocity to escape or otherwise voluntarily endure the pain of burning lungs. If he were even vulnerable to such a thing.

Then Zelraka vanished.

’That’s one question answered.’

“Oh so you kept Zelriane's speed after all.” The fusion smirked as the blades from before dissipated into thin air. The fused Sage used the wind to predict where his opponent would appear. His prior knowledge of Zelriane and Rajaka’s battle habits and personalities damn near made it obvious.

He glanced back to see the shock-wave coming and swiftly advanced forward. His light frame and mastery over the air let him clear longer distances, and the earth he manipulated let him form new platforms until he’d cleared the blast radius.

The sage fusion then followed through his advancing motion with a jab of his armored elbow, forming another blade. A flying, slashing wave burst forth, faster than those prior, and angled just around the shock wave aiming to pierce the fused giants side.

Once outside the immediate danger the shockwave presented, Gideon spun around to face his foe and dispelled the blade from his elbow. He stirred the wind anew and dissolved the platforms he’d used, the particles whipping through the air on the wind.

”Good. Gods forbid this fight be over too quickly.”

Banter, it seemed, was a habit Gideon shared with the parts that made his sum.

Zelraka's shock wave faded just as quickly as it had formed. An instant motion with extremely short range and no end lag. As Gideon's blade circled around the danger zone though, it met a similar fate to all previous attacks against the newly fused monster. It rested in Zelraka's side, or at least, partially embedded in the lime green defensive aura that protected him. A moment afterwards though, the aura sealed itself and shattered the weapon before disappearing again. Zelraka turned back over and looked at Gideon with a little smile. "My thoughts exactly. I hope you don't end up disappointing me." Zelraka smiled. "How are you detecting me, I wonder? It has to be something more complex than sensing my energy. I should almost be able to outspeed Yzeira's eyes right now. So what is it?" He rose a hand to his chin and tilted his head to the side. "Trying to cut off my oxygen supply, disappearing into the arcane energy of the air itself, manipulating the wind- Ah! Atmosphere!" Zelraka smiled and snapped his fingers. "Could it be that? It's the air itself, isn't it? No matter how fast I move, you can feel me coming in advance!" He lowered his hands and clapped a few times for Gideon's efforts. "Bravo! That's almost on par with Adarine and Yzeira! Look at you go!" Zelraka rolled his eyes. "Should I destroy the atmosphere? I'm almost 100% certain I can hold my breath longer than you, but you'll probably just create more air... But maybe..." Zelraka threw a punch out of nowhere, aimed at the space between him and Gideon. Nothing happened at visually, but the air between them was pushed away in an instant, leaving a gap where neither Gideon or Zelraka could breath for the briefest of moments. In the same motion, Zelraka charged Gideon head-first. But unlike Zelriane's previous dashes, Zelraka didn't reappear before moving to strike. Without the air to detect him, how would Gideon see Zelraka's fist coming straight for his abdomen?

Zelraka was confident of one thing.

He couldn't.

Gideon wore a calm little smile. Zelraka would clearly be more than a fight about limits or who's attack was stronger like Rajaka or Nexus.

Yet the fused Sage wasn't patient either, and so made a play even a second before Zelraka had finished postulating on his abilities. He flickered an inch forward on the platform he stood on, slashed it and flickered backward again, letting the half behind him gravitate and be pushed back on its own by the chaos all around.

Gideon solidified an exact replica of his body out of sand a quarter of an inch in front of him. He fell backward into the space between the bisected platform, leaving the material clone behind and swooping back up over the rising battlefield, navigating around the space without air.

"Five thousand blades"

The granules that made up the clone sharpened into razors, ready to shred and tear their way into Zelraka's barrier, flesh and bones upon contact. Gideon produced a single foothold's worth of an air-based platform and kicked off back down to another section of what was once the tower. He pivoted on the ball of his foot once he landed, gauntlet forged blade already out again.

Did he know for certain how Zelraka had approached to strike? No.

Was it a pretty damn good guess that he'd been direct?

'Does Rajaka have a complex about his muscles?'

Zelraka's fist crashed into Gideon's double before he could stop the sheer force of his strike. It was a little less refined than when he'd appeared behind Gideon with Zelrian's signature habit, and it ended up biting him in the end. Although the clone was blown away into dust, fragments of stone were stuck along Zelraka's entire arm. Small trails of blood ran down from the impact points, but were quickly stopped by an influx of the fusion's healing factor. The shards that impaled him were either completely destroyed by the radiation of his aura, or simply pushed away by his mending flesh. He seemed a little confused for a split second, and immediately began to search for Gideon after his mistake, floating towards the center of the room.

"I knew my little monologue was probably a bad idea."

”Maybe a little.” Gideon's voice rode the wind and echoed throughout the atmosphere, leaving his location less than obvious.

The sand shards that Zelraka blasted away flew into the wind Gideon had been brewing. The sandstorm grew in mass, ever more violent with each passing moment. The razor-edged granules circled around and aimed to swallow the large brute. Hardly random, the tens of thousands of minuscule blades whipped such that they aimed with precision for Zelraka’s physical weak points- eyes, joints, ligaments.

It did leave the question- how did Gideon find the material for such an endeavor? Could he not only manipulate Earth, but like Jeff with wind, create it? Or something else?

’Let’s see how much that barrier of yours can take.’

Gideon flickered again, sweeping beneath the platform Zelraka floated over. He thrust his blade in a hard slashing motion to bisect it again from below while aiming to slice the titan's legs. Gideon then flickered to another platform that had titled sideways for cover from the fusion’s line of sight with a foothold he forged out of clay beneath him.

A flurry of shards proved to be no match for Zelraka's active barrier. His entire body was encompassed in energy that served to pulverize the energy and matter that assailed him, while he continued to search his surroundings. Gideon's blade struck its mark easily during the onslaught, but was only able to force its way part-way through the lime hued barrier, just deep enough to cut half an inch into the wielder's right calf. But almost as if it were alive, the energy clung to Gideon's sword and held it in place. It may as well have been a butter knife stuck half a foot deep into solid stone at that point. Zelraka's head darted downwards in search of Gideon, and the blade cracked as his aura tightened around his leg. Not long after, it shattered, even though Zelraka didn't have sight of Gideon yet.

"If I were a rat, where would I hide?" Zelraka whispered to himself, "Wait a moment... It doesn't matter." He spun around 360 degrees, glaring at the never ending ordinance that surrounded them in a cascade of greenish explosions. Afterwards, he rose his right hand gleefully and splayed his fingers outwards.

"As fun as it's been, I can't really spend much time here, son. I'm going to have to squish you." He clasped his fist shut after an extensive stretch, and the spinning ordinance around them began to close in, narrowing the battlefield slowly. "It won't matter how fast you are if you can't move."

Gideon briefly reflected on the nature of Zelraka's barrier. Reminiscent of Rajaka's 'anti-Ki' ability, the primary difference was that it seemed more or less equally effective against magic and Ki. Rajaka's resistance had, to Gideon's memory, been largely a result of his massive Ki taking physical form and repelling foreign Ki.

It also was most prevalent when he lost his temper. Whether or not that information would prove useful, he didn't know, and may not have time to discover.

Gideon didn't even glance at the slowly shrinking ring of ordinance.

"We've all got places to be." He said, voice still riding the wind and confusing detection.

Gideon sliced his cover in two and sent one section spinning furiously toward Zelraka. He thickened the sandstorm around his fused opponent

The stone struck Zelraka's back, but split once again into rubble. He turned around slowly with a small orb of energy gathering in his hand. The ordinance around them continued to shrink, completely destroying the tower's sections beneath them and pulverizing the outer platforms. Then he rose one hand, and the orb popped, sending a shock-wave outwards to disperse the sandstorm around him, even if only for a few moments.

'No time.'

Gideon flickered from behind cover, circling Zelraka's back while his fused opponent turned.

'No tests. No practice.'

The discharge he emitted to dispel the sandstorm wasn't powerful enough to cause lasting damage. If anything, Gideon turned it to his advantage.

He could still make 'leaps' between earthen material, after all.

He crossed the first stretch between a foothold and the mass of sand that flew outward.

'Just give everything,'

Gideon created a vacuum between the remaining distance to Zelraka's back. He skirted around it. Air shot out from his feet and was sucked into the vacuum he'd created, propelling him forward faster, all but flying toward his target.

'And reservenothing.'

Gideon's gauntlet blade erupted out from the device, and he stabbed that for Zelraka's back. He intended to give the fused 'God's barrier some stress. A long stave shot out from his knuckles on his other hand. He drove that higher, attacking where the giant's neck met his shoulder blades.

Gideon only needed one to penetrate the giant's barrier for him to leave a gaping wound behind with his next motion.

Zelraka didn't react quickly enough to the first blade. He couldn't hear or feel its approach through the vacuum. But could it penetrate his barrier despite that?

The blade pierced deep into the lime green aura, going straight through Zelraka's abdomen and just barely erupting from the opposite side. The stave on the other hand, was stopped short by the monstrous barrier around him. Zelraka didn't let him escape after that though. With his left hand, he grappled Gideon's wrist, holding it tightly in place as the blade pierced through one of his hearts and knicked his stomach. Zelraka coughed up a fair amount of blood, coating his chin and the top of his chest.

"Man that stings," He groaned, "Didn't think you'd be able to break through, let alone hurt me." Zelraka's grip tightened around Gideon's hand. "But this doesn't change a whole lot." With his right hand, the man clasped his fist tightly and forced the ordinance around them to shrink faster, until it was no wider than a few yards around them. "Would you like ta' know why you could never possibly win?"

'Would you like ta know why you could never possibly win?'

Gideon smirked.

"Funny you should ask."

With that, a vacuum formed on the inside of the fused titan simultaneously pulling all the air out that was being used inside the being's body while allowing the fusion to get a feel for to location of the man's vitals specifically the many beating hearts the titan would have from being part Rajaka.

"50 Blade… Butcher.” he said as the giant blade that was still piercing the titan split and cut through the vacuum to eviscerate Zelraka from inside out.

While this was happening, Gideon’s hand changed to stone, particles of sand shifting around under Zelraka’s grip to loosen the titan’s hold and free himself.

"Like you were saying, it's been fun.”

[color=007236][/color] Zelraka blinked at first. It was instant, too quick for him to react immediately to whatever the hell had just happened to him. By the time his blood and flesh had finished cascading in every direction, the ordinance around the battlefield dispersed into nothingness. He coughed up some semblance of blood, and looked down at his own body as Gideon escaped him. There were gaps between broken bones and torn flesh, going through his body from one side to the other. He scoffed, unable to speak without his lungs intact.

But just as quickly as he'd been torn to bits, his body began to reform itself. The regeneration that took place was absolutely unheard of. From a fleshy skeleton, the massive man's body began to come together, until it was fully recovered, in a manner of seconds. He looked down and smiled.

"It's because I'm INVINCI-"

Pop

"-ble?" "-ble?"

Zelraka had unfused while recovering from his injury. The two men landed on a nearby platform next to each other. Rajaka looked down at his hands and cringed. "God damn-it! We shouldn't have let them hurt us at all." He looked over to Zelriane, and his expression changed to one of shock.

"I had... Under... Estimated..."

"Zel, you're..."

Zelriane fell forward, several holes still piercing through his body, even after the earlier regeneration. Rajaka's healing factor didn't seem to carry over.

With one last breath, Zelriane left the world, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

"I would have liked to see it," Yzeira shouted, "See what you could have become. I'm sure it would have brought an end to all of this, in a far less ugly fashion."

Jenso took deep breaths and grit his teeth, glaring down at the red tyrant while still floating in the air. "I would rather die than serve you." He stated. Our universe will not end here." His body felt heavy, but he refused to go down. Everyone counted on him, and he was going to keep fighting until the very end.

Jenso began to build up blue energy within his body, and zoomed down towards the two Yzeira's. But rather than go directly towards them, he circled around them, building up a great deal of heat in the area.

"Stubborn as usual"

The two clones placed their hands together and joined into one being. As the heat started to rise, his rejoined body began to push it away by expanding his outer shield.

"You could have been part of the cure to this disease."

"The Order is the disease." Jenso replied, zooming around Yzeira. He launched an omega dragon punch at him, wielding the power he built up, aiming to break through his shield.

"Precisely"

Yzeira's shield took the brunt of the force at first, but began to crack slightly. Despite his efforts though, Jenso wasn't able to get through the defensive barrier. The Order's leader rose a hand towards Jenso and conjured red energy around his fingertips for a moment, before firing a spear of crimson towards the hero's heart.

Jenso glared at Yzeira as the attack headed for him. He shifted his body sideways and took a step back to avoid the incoming spear. His hand coated in blue energies as he swiped at the spear's side with a rocket punch, aiming to disperse it entirely. "If you think the Order's a disease, do you truly believe destroying universes will cure that? No. Finding a way to get rid of Void, or fix it's damage, that'd be a real cure." He stated.

"You say these things like you understand anything at all," Yzeira sighed, "You're no different from the idiotic children of the multiverse that preach peace and love without a single shred of understanding of the bigger picture. Do you even know the origins of my energy? My Research? Are you so stubborn, indescribably stupid, that you would claim to know a solution to the issues that taint the world? Things you know nothing about? Do you even know what the void is, you insufferable simpleton?" He held one hand towards Jenso as he did earlier, aiming to cancel out his connection with Ki once again. But this time, it wasn't enough to simply shut off his abilities. He narrowed his eyes.

"Dangerous are those gifted with insurmountable power, knowing nothing of the strength they command. It is like giving a child a knife. How many times have you cut yourself, already? How many more must you hurt in your belligerent quest for righteousness? Where does it end?" Yzeira lowered his hand and began to amass a few more spheres of energy, bringing his total count to ten.

"I move with purpose, I am the only one capable of universal balance. The chaos that I bring is a necessity, one that cannot be disregarded or suppressed. To do so is to invite destruction of not only your universe, but reality as we know it. It is the perpetual motion of your crusade against reason, it is you with whom the blame falls." He stopped and slowly rose his hand to scratch the side of his head. "I find myself at an impasse, reaching out to you even now, despite the fact that you've demonstrated the intellectual capabilities no sharper than an animal's. Do you even understand what I'm saying? Or will you parrot the same ignorant phrase that you, and your miserable kin resort to when understanding is beyond your grasp?" His eyes changed.

"Go ahead. Say it. Tell me that I'm insane. Try once again to punch me. Use your fists, rather than your brain. Show me just how pointless my musings are."