The moment the barrier sealed, Samael knew something was wrong. Gold and Scalet met together, forming beautiful, chaotic structures inspired by Heaven.

  A weight settled into the air—subtle, invisible. His instincts screamed a fraction too late. He noticed he couldn’t use any fighting style Adamas hadn’t adapted to.

  A restriction born from a Sacred Vow buried inside the Territory the instant it formed.

  Samael’s jaw tightened.

  This must be the adaptation he gained before our Territories clashed…This shouldn’t be possible. Territory cast times are instantaneous; adding a rule last minute was unheard of.

  Across from him, Adamas smiled.

  Their win conditions couldn’t have been more different. Samael needed to force Adamas to go all out so he could kill him. Adamas just needed one more clean Chaos Flash or complete control of the barrier.

  Samael knew if he lost the tug-of-war, he’d die.

  A fact not lost on Adamas.

  For the first time in this fight, Samael didn’t radiate certainty. And Adamas drank in that doubt like wine.

  “This shall be your grave,” Adamas murmured.

  Samael scoffed, masking the fear with a grin.

  “I’m not going to lose to a weakling like you.”

  He lunged.

  A storm of flicker jabs. Precise. Ruthless.

  None landed.

  Adamas flowed through them effortlessly, slipping beneath the last punch and driving his fist into Samael’s ribs. Pain detonated through his side. His breath ripped out of him.

  Adamas was already on him again.

  Samael snapped chaos bursts into existence to create distance—but Adamas devoured what he could, swatted aside the rest with Chaos Repel, closing the gap instantly.

  His fist cracked into Samael’s face.

  Blood burst across the air. The world lurched sideways.

  Adamas blinked in genuine surprise.

  That…should have taken his head off.

  His fingers trembled.

  What? How did his durability increase so much?

  Samael wiped his nose. His heart pounding violently, terror and exhilaration fusing into something dangerous. That almost killed me. And yet—

  Something inside of him shifted. Not mana, something deeper, his soul. It vibrated, becoming denser—stronger.

  I feel so alive. A grin slipped out before he realised.

  Adamas saw it and felt unease coil in his gut.

  Samael surged forward again, launching a jab. As Adamas slipped past it, Samael pivoted, dodging the counter overhand and smashing his knee into Adamas’s face with bone-shaking impact.

  Adamas reeled, dazed.

  He didn’t bleed? I need to hit harder. Samael planned.

  Adamas gritted his teeth.

  Impossible. I’ve already adapted.

  He didn’t have time to dwell. He slapped Samael’s cross downward, only for Chaos Lightning to snap up his hind leg, staggering his balance.

  Samael pivoted smoothly, spinning back with a Chaos Flame-infused elbow. It crushed into Adamas’s jaw and hurled him across the fused Territories. When he stabilised, his jaw hung broken.

  Adamas roared and charged.

  Samael moved like water.

  He let Adamas’s fury devour his logic. He slipped strikes. Read openings. Then, after dodging a Chaos Flash, he landed a clean switch kick to Adamas’s neck.

  Gold flashed.

  Adamas skidded across the battlefield, crashing through buildings. He dragged himself upright, laughing coldly even as he favoured his neck.

  “So, another Heavenly Pact...” His voice rasped, then steadied. “Running out of tricks?”

  Samael didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Confidence radiated from him like heat.

  Good. Keep thinking I’m relying on only that.

  Adamas rushed again.

  This time, he won the exchange. He landed a perfect counter. His fist slammed into Samael’s skull.

  Samael’s eyes widened as blood streamed from his nose. He reacted instantly, grabbing Adamas’s right hand, wrenching it into a shoulder lock and snapping it.

  Unfortunately, as it broke, the arm bent unnaturally and backhanded Samael’s jaw.

  He staggered back.

  First, my movement was halted mid-counter. Now he’s landing an attack from an impossible angle? He must have countered my Pact with a Sacred Vow.

  Adamas’s hand cracked back into place as he smirked, and the battlefield shifted. His Territory surged, overpowering Samael’s.

  Samael could feel it losing ground, but he couldn’t stop it; he could only stall. Eventually, he would lose, unless he broke Adamas’s Territory.

  He grinned. Time to play my second card.

  He shifted the frequency of his soul—the same instinctive change that had saved him from decapitation earlier. This time, it was done deliberately. His soul hummed, low and ominous. The fused Territories groaned.

  Even Adamas paused.

  Samael stepped in with renewed certainty, launching a flicker jab.

  Adamas sneered. “That wouldn’t—”

  His fist shattered Adamas’s nose.

  Another came, and Adamas raised his guard, but it was a feint.

  The cross crashed into his chest and folded him around Samael’s fist.

  A knee hammered his skull, and a roundhouse kick lanced into his ribs, Chaos Lightning roaring through him.

  Adamas crashed into another building, dumbfounded.

  Is this...his counter...? Already?!

  He healed, wiping blood from his mouth.

  Then Samael’s soul radiated deep, bone-splitting vibrations, cracking the barrier like glass.

  Adamas lunged desperately to stop him, but Samael met him.

  His fist tore through the air, aiming for Adamas’s face. Adamas guarded, but it didn’t matter.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Samael’s punch blew through his defence and slammed into his skull, scarlet light erupting. Adamas’s head exploded. His soul streaked across the battlefield.

  Scarlet sparks hissed from Samael’s right hand, the hum of his soul intensifying. Cracks raced across the Territory.

  Adamas regenerated, barely halting his tumble.

  A... Chaos Flash?! Since when—?!

  The fused barrier trembled. It was going to break.

  Shit, I can’t let it fall. Adamas attacked recklessly.

  Terror poisoned his thoughts, and he stopped generating unpredictable futures. Now Samael saw every strike before it landed.

  He flowed through them waiting, then he saw the opening. After slipping a roundhouse, he dove an uppercut into Adamas’s spine, shattering it.

  The fusion of Divine Flash X Chaos Flames screamed together, ripping a hole in Adamas’s midsection. Paralysed, he hardened his chest with mana and swung his wing.

  But it was pointless. Samael’s cross landed with a mix of Chaos Flash X Light of Chaos, devouring Adamas’s heart and blowing a hole in his chest.

  He tucked his head behind his hand as his punch landed, blocking the wing strike.

  Adamas gagged on blood.

  With his hands still buried in Adamas’s soul, Samael tore outwards, splitting him in half.

  Adamas’s soul went limp. The barrier fell, and the Territory collapsed.

  The angels stared, stunned. Then, cheering thundered—their hope resurrected.

  Among the fallen angels, horror rooted them still, except Azazel, whose trembling fists remembered a younger Samael and a very similar grin.

  “That smile,” he whispered. “It’s the same as that day.”

  Memory flashed:

  Samael is standing over him. Fist drenched in blood. Smiling.

  He clenched his fist, snapping out of the memory, and he focused on the fight, hoping for Adamas’s victory.

  “You have two choices,” Samael said coldly as he approached the dying warrior. “Power up and suffer...or do nothing and die.”

  Adamas didn’t choose; the Adaptation Stone chose for him.

  His eyes snapped open, crimson—fragments of the shattered barrier stitched back together like reversed time. The barrier reformed, trapping Samael inside.

  What?! Uriel screamed internally. Master, please pull another miracle and win.

  Adamas seized control instantly. The barrier warped under his dominance, scarlet swallowing seventy per cent in a heartbeat.

  Samael countered with Ultimate Domain, but he was already crushed beneath the imbalance.

  Outside, the archangels watched in grim silence as the barrier’s outer shell bled crimson.

  Ariel swallowed. “Why didn’t he contest control? Why let Adamas overpower his Territory?”

  “It’s his spirit,” Uriel answered, voice tight. “Master has less than ten per cent left. Adamas has over forty. He can maintain the strain Master can’t.”

  Jophiel scoffed, forcing a grin. “He’s Samael. He’ll find a way to win.”

  The archangels nodded, watching with bated breath.

  Inside the Territory, Adamas floated above him, smiling cruelly as his lower half finished rebuilding.

  He echoed Samael’s words from earlier.

  “So? What will you do?” His voice dripped with venom. “Attack me and die fast…or wait and die slowly?”

  Samael clicked his tongue and scanned possibilities—every escape, every loophole, every approach, but he found nothing. Doubt began to sink its claws into him.

  What do I do? What choices are? Can I still win? Am I going to die?

  His hand trembled.

  Adamas watched, disappointed. “So…slow death then.”

  The Territory shifted—scarlet deepening, cresting to seventy-one per cent. Now the threshold of Samael’s Ultimate Domain was surpassed, Adamas’s Territory overpowered it, and Adamas’s sure hit was activated.

  Pain slammed into Samael like a hammer. His soul convulsed under Zeref’s Miracle, tearing at the seams.

  Outside, the archangels stiffened, praying for Samael’s victory.

  Inside, Adamas laughed.

  “Pathetic. You were terrifying a moment ago. Now look at you.”

  Then…a voice cut through his skull.

  << What are you doing? Stop letting him think. Kill him. >>

  Adamas blinked. You can talk here?

  << Yes, but that’s all for now. I’m adapting to his absurd Heavenly Pact. Soon, I’ll fully function inside Territories. Stop wasting time and kill him now that you have the chance. >>

  Adamas rolled his eyes. Fine.

  He lunged.

  Samael fought through the pain and inhaled sharply. This is what twenty per cent of his sure hits can do? I wouldn’t want to see a hundred.

  Then he screamed.

  Sound ruptured reality, and the Territory trembled.

  Adamas only flinched. “Loud and annoying. Shut the fuck up.”

  He launched a Chaos Flash.

  Samael blocked—barely.

  The impact split bones. Blood poured down his arms.

  Adamas’s grin widened. “So…you can absorb chaos, too. Good. You can take punishment.”

  Adamas resumed the assault, merciless, relentless.

  Samael parried, arms shaking, nerves screaming. Do I try another frequency? No. He has already adapted to it. I need something new. Something he won’t expect.

  Another Chaos Flash slammed into him.

  Samael’s eyes widened—not from pain, but realisation.

  His power was rising.

  A grin slowly spread across his face.

  He lunged, striking back. Adamas blocked, then immediately countered, smashing Samael away. Samael steadied mid-air. His hand was still vibrating from the impact.

  Again, Adamas charged.

  Again, Samael met him, launching flicker jabs.

  Adamas dodged and launched a counter hook, but Samael’s elbow dropped down to block.

  Pain tore through Samael’s arms, but he refused to stop. He kept throwing combinations while Adamas dodged effortlessly.

  The Adaptation Stone grew uneasy.

  << Why is he attacking like this? He’s not gaining anything. >>

  Adamas’s jaw tightened. Desperation?

  He deflected Samael’s punch and threw a cross. Samael parried the blow with his shoulder while throwing a leg kick.

  This was the opening Adamas was waiting for. He spun with the deflection, unleashing a jumping spinning back kick wreathed in Chaos Flash, aiming to end Samael then and there.

  Samael leaned back, arms crossing to absorb the blow.

  Bones crunched, and his arms went numb, yet he smiled.

  Adamas’s grin evaporated.

  Why is he smiling?

  The instincts of the Adaptation Stone warned, and Adamas’s soul felt the fear the stone was feeling and began to tremble.

  << Something’s wrong. Kill him—NOW! >>

  Unfazed, Samael clasped his hands slowly.

  Adamas’s eyes widened. No, that’s...impossible.

  << Don’t you stand there, STOP HIM! >>

  Adamas lunged, but it was too late.

  A Divine Territory bloomed outside the barrier.

  Samael’s sure-hit tore into the scarlet construct. Cracks webbed across Adamas’s barrier, splintering like broken glass.

  Adamas frantically tried to stabilise the barrier, pouring his mana into it, but the damage was irreparable. The best he could do was stall the destruction of his Territory.

  “Master...you genius,” Uriel whispered.

  The other archangels stared, stunned.

  In Duadel, Azazel surged to his feet, clutching his hair.

  “HOW!? How does he KEEP DOING THIS?! What is he?!”

  His generals clenched their jaws in bitter silence. Only Dagon spoke.

  “He isn’t dead yet, my Lord. Adamas can still win.”

  Azazel exhaled and forced himself down. “Right. Right...”

  Inside, Adamas faced the inevitable choice.

  Lose his sure-hit…

  or lose the Sacred Vow, restricting Samael’s adaptation.

  There was no hesitation.

  If I lose the Vow, he overwhelms me instantly. My sure-hit must go.

  He sacrificed it.

  Samael immediately forced a Heavenly Pact.

  The Pact swapped Adamas’s choice in exchange for an extra twenty per cent of the barrier.

  Adamas now held ninety-one per cent control.

  A suicidal gambit that would result in death if he failed, but he didn’t care. Samael was all-in. All he had to do was destroy Adamas’s heart before Adamas got a hundred per cent of the barrier.

  Adamas laughed darkly. “You idiot. You just handed me victory.”

  Samael scoffed. “Still stupid, huh? I thought the stone would help you think more logically, but I was wrong.”

  Before Adamas could retort, Samael blurred forward and unleashed a Chaos Flash. Adamas barely blocked, arms rattling violently.

  How is he so fast?! With this much control, he should be crawling!

  << Look carefully. >> the stone urged. << The cracks. His sure hit is leaking in. Stop attacking. Defend. Stall. Please wait for the chaos blades to destroy the barrier of his Territory. >>

  Adamas grit his teeth, raising his guard. That’s easier said than done.

  Outside, scarlet blades hammered Samael’s barrier—barely scratching the shell.

  “Please hurry,” Uriel whispered.

  Inside, Samael lunged with fresh ferocity. Adamas dodged and defended, refusing openings.

  Tsk. If this drags on, I’ll lose… Fine. Legs, then.

  Samael’s grin sharpened. His strikes accelerated, amplified with Infinity and Chaos Wave, damaging Adamas’s hands so badly that he is forced to retreat.

  Then, Samael feinted a roundhouse kick, drawing Adamas’s guard up.

  He pivoted and landed a low kick, devastating the mana node in Adamas’s lower half.

  Adamas staggered.

  << Don’t let him capitalise! Attack! >>

  Adamas spun and threw a high kick.

  “Predictable,” Samael muttered.

  His right hook slammed into the fibula node.

  It exploded, and Adamas screamed.

  Samael didn’t stop. He soared, launching a knee aimed for Adamas’s solar plexus.

  In desperation, Adamas blocked with his wing.

  Samael’s knee struck both the mana node in the wing and the one in the solar plexus.

  The impact detonated both of them. Adamas’s soul convulsed as he spiralled violently away. Legs crippled, midsection ruptured, wing blown off.

  Retreat became impossible.

  He clutched his torso, struggling to heal.

  Adamas desperately tried to repair the barrier, but Samael was already there, fists crashing in.

  Adamas blocked wildly, trying to counter with his other wing.

  Samael dodged the wing thrust, grabbed Adamas’s wrist, pulled it forward and landed an uppercut behind the upper arm.

  The node exploded, and Adamas’s right arm went dead.

  He barely saw the next punch coming. Managing to fortify his soul at the last instant with Zeref’s Miracle, attacking with his wing.

  Samael deflected the wing strike, and his superman punch landed flush.

  Due to the fortification, it did little damage. Adamas used the force from the punch to throw a spinning back fist.

  Samael ducked, grabbing his fist, charging power so dense the air screamed.

  Adamas’s brows jerked up.

  The last punch did nothing. But this one… this one will kill me.

  The Adaptation Stone screamed for him to block, and he mustered every defence he could. His chaos, gravity, his wing and his other hand all to protect his heart.

  “Thank you for pushing me this far.” Aura blazed from Samael’s eyes. “If not for you, I would have never unlocked this punch.”

  He struck.

  The right cross obliterated Adamas’s defences, pierced through his chest, and ripped out the other side. His wings and arms were vaporised by the force.

  Blood burst as Adamas hurtled backwards, barely conscious.

  Silence followed.

  Only the echo of Samael’s punch remained.