Helios spun his spear, the radiant weapon carving streaks of silver light through the air. Each rotation shattered the barrage of ice shards Aqua had fired at him, the broken pieces scattering into mist before they could touch him.
His spear left luminous afterimages in its wake, making it seem as if multiple copies of him were moving at once.
Aqua, placed her hand on the ground a platform of ice rose from the ground underneath her. Her sight no longer blinded by the mist Aqua saw Helios.
She raised Glacial Empress's Grace, and in the next second—
She loosed a storm of arrows.
This time—
They glowed blue but had little bits of gray mixed in here and there.
Helios' instincts screamed at him that these arrows were different from the usual ice arrows although he had really only seen them a few times.
The arrows Aqua released —were not just infused with ice, but laced with Slow magic.
Helios dodged, twisting his spear to knock the arrows away, but the moment one of them scraped past his arm—
A pulse of unnatural weight crushed his movements.
His body felt sluggish, his reactions dulled.
Aqua didn't waste time.
She fired another barrage of arrows—Lightning infused with Gravity.
The instant they neared Helios—
The Gravity spell activated, locking him in place mid-air.
Helios' eyes widened.
Then the arrows struck, unleashing a violent and painful surge of electricity that tore through his body.
Helios gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay standing despite the sharp pain coursing throughout his whole body.
This isn't good.
Aqua wasn't just attacking blindly like when she fought Skuld. She had taken his advice to heart and was now controlling the entire battlefield.
Helios tightened his grip on his spear.
If he kept playing defensively, he'd lose at this rate.
He had to change the pace.
With a deep breath, he focused inward, drawing his Light into his spear.
He moved.
Helios disappeared in a flash of light.
He reappeared midair—
Then again, on the opposite side of the battlefield.
Then again.
Aqua's eyes darted around the battlefield.
Where—?
Aqua narrowed her eyes.
This wasn't just teleportation.
This was something else.
Helios was moving like a comet of light, his body flickering between locations in a zig-zag motion.
It was Solar Drive—his Light spear letting him refract through light, making his movements erratic and unreadable.
Aqua adjusted immediately.
The moment she sensed movement—
Helios reappeared above her, mid-spin, his spear coated in blazing white energy.
He hurled it down.
Aqua barely dodged, jumping to the side as the spear pierced the ice planform she had been standing on.
BOOM
But then—
The spear erupted into a dome of Light, its impact sending out a shockwave that forced Aqua to fall back as she was in mid-air.
Repositioning herself Aqua landed and came skidded to a halt, gritting her teeth.
Helios flashed forward, grabbing the spear from the ground and immediately twisting into another attack.
Aqua raised a water shield, but—
Helios pierced straight through it, his spear cutting like a blade of light energy.
Wasting no time she froze the water shield turning it to ice. The split second allowed her to dodge, but she was still close enough to feel the raw power of Helios' light scorch on her skin.
Aqua leapt back, already pulling another barrage of arrows—this one laced with Magnet and Fire.
She loosed it.
Helios dodged—but too late.
The moment it reached him, the Magnet spell activated.
Instead of a wide explosion, all the concussive force of the Fire arrows were condensed into single points—
Directly against his ribs. The impact launched him back, pain bursting through his side as he slammed against the barrier wall hard bouncing off with a sickening crunch.
Helios rolled across the stone smoke rising from his form, coughing up blood.
Aqua stood tall, bow still drawn.
Her expression was calm, calculating.
Helios forced himself up, gripping his spear.
Then, he smiled blood dripping from the side of his lips.
He raised his spear and let the light of the spear surge outward surrounding him.
His body glowed faintly, and as he moved—
He left behind a flickering afterimage.
Then another.
Then another.
Aqua's eyes sharpened.
They weren't just illusions.
For a split second, each afterimage held energy, making it impossible to tell which one was real.
Aqua reacted instantly.
She fired a triple-arrow spread—one at each copy.
The arrows passed through the first two.
But the third afterimage blurred—
Then in an instant, the real one reappeared behind her.
She barely turned in time—Helios' spear shot forward.
Aqua encased her arms with a thick layer of ice as she crossed them, blocking the spear with her ice-coated arms.
The force sent her skidding back.
Aqua flipped backward onto an ice platform she created in midair.
She had one second before Helios followed her.
She drew back her bow.
Helios teleported to the air beside her.
She loosed her arrow at point-blank range.
Helios parried midair, spinning his spear in an arc to deflect the projectile.
Helios then threw the spear destroying the ice platform, forcing Aqua to jump down.
She landed, breathing heavily. Aqua took a deep breath calming herself.
Helios wasted no time and threw his spear at her but this time Aqua dodged with her eyes closed to avoid the flash of light. When she opened her eyes she saw Helios above her holding his spear that glowed with a brilliant silver light as he brought it down to attack.
Due to her crouching to dodge the previous throw Aqua was not in a position to move well. She then used the planform spell she had been modifying.
It was mixed with a Haste spell that allowed rapid movement with it. She had originally thought this would speed up her arrows after reflecting them off the platform but it only altered their trajectory. This meant whatever this new spell touched would be forced to move in a random direction against will.
The spell pushed Aqua to the left allowing her to narrowly dodge the strike that left a crater where she once stood.
She had to end this now.
She drew her bow back, channeling everything—Fire, Wind, Lightning, Ice—
Helios grinned, spinning his spear as the light trails it created transformed into golden lances in the air above him. This attack drew inspiration from something within his old memory named the Gate of Babylon.
They both attacked.
Aqua loosed her multi-element barrage.
Helios released a storm of light lances.
The attacks collided mid-air, erupting into a massive explosion of raw power.
The shockwave ripped through the battlefield. The force shattered the pavement beneath them, sending debris flying as shockwaves tore through the air. The entire district shook from the force.
For a moment, all was light and an elemental storm.
Then—
Silence.
As the dust settled, Aqua stood—her breathing heavy.
Helios knelt on one knee, his spear planted in the ground, supporting his weight.
Smoke rose from both of them.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then—
Helios chuckled.
Aqua raised an eyebrow. "Something funny?"
Helios exhaled, looking at his spear. "No, just tired."
Aqua wiped the sweat from her forehead, exhaling. "…So?" she asked. "Was that enough? Are you done?"
Helios chuckled. "Looks like… this'll be enough. It works well enough."
Aqua raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Helios didn't answer.
But in his mind he realized something.
This spear… it allowed him to fight at 80% of his former strength when he had access to Darkness.
But he could only sustain it for two minutes due to the strength of his light.
For now, that was enough.