The sound of shattered stone and scattering pebbles echoed through the eastern Jungles of Vita. As dust began to settle, Sihil slowly pushed himself up, his hammer fused to his right hand as if it were part of his flesh.

  He glanced up with a wide grin, thrill for battle dripping from his gaze. "Manipulation of light magic with dream magic… Such a fascinating power! And yet you refuse to fight me in your true form!"

  "Sihil… you aren't showing him your true form either," Lightning Dragon remarked, choking back a laugh as he leaned against his white-purple spear, arms crossed. Darkness Dragon watched with hands clasped behind his back.

  "Brother, handle the situation. I have other work to attend to."

  "Don't bring Lightless Moonlight's fury down on us with whatever you're planning. I won't negotiate for your life again."

  Without another word, Darkness Dragon melted into the shadows. Sihil and Alucard watched him go, eyebrows slightly raised.

  "Well… guess I'll tell Moonlight he abandoned the mission," Sihil smirked, locking eyes once more with Alucard.

  "Third Eye, open!"

  His chest tore apart. A malignant olive eye with an abyssal violet pupil crawled from within, encased in bone and webbed with white veins. Blood spilled from his mouth as he grinned widely.

  "Bones of the world beyond!"

  The ground began to quake as if seized by a colossal earthquake. A monumental skull with three eye holes and two grand horns erupted from the earth, soil raining from its gaping jaw.

  An environmental Third Eye… the weakest variation… This shouldn't be—

  Alucard's body was suddenly dragged downward by immense force. Gravity magic!? But that's— His eyes darted toward countless claw-like bones sprouting everywhere—some even growing from within the trees themselves. That skull… grants control over gravity around him as well? No… It has more hidden layers. I'm sure of it.

  Lightning Dragon now stood balanced on his own spear, hovering in the air as he observed the scene. He whistled softly. "Didn't know you could summon a monument. Now, could you please wrap this up? We've spent enough time here."

  "Oh come on... I'm the one who decides that." Sihil let his hammer drop. It hit the ground with a soft thud before being swallowed by the shifting bones. "Bare-handed." He pointed a finger at Alucard. "I'll fight you… bare-handed."

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  His voice turned colder. His stance shifted—no longer a warrior's, but that of a hungry beast eyeing its prey. One hand pressed to the ground, the other flexing with coiled power.

  "I have no other choice… Third Eye, open." Alucard whispered, his voice layered with countless echoes. "The Unbound Dream in Light. "

  "Well, now it's going to get tough," Lightning Dragon murmured, glancing up as the air around them seemed to reshape itself, drowning in a purple-golden bubble and vanishing from reality.

  Alucard stood before Sihil, arms open. "Welcome to the world of dreams and light… Here, I shall deliver your end. Peacefully."

  His form had transformed—a magnificent convergence of dark-golden light and twilight essence woven through his ribbons. His hair now longer, white at the ends, resting upon his shoulders. His eyes, once golden blazing suns, now reflected the same twilight hue as his ribbons. Elegant. Deadly.

  "Dream magic." Alucard raised his left hand, opening his palm as faint purple dust fell from it. "Chains of Corrupted Light."

  Dark chains erupted from the purple-golden ground, lunging toward Sihil. His body vanished, reappearing beneath Alucard as he shattered the ground and launched himself at the angel.

  "Oh!? Now that's a speed I didn't expect!" Lightning Dragon smirked, his eyes locked on Sihil's unrecognizable movement. Hmph… Then it was my mistake. It wasn't speed at all. We're technically in Sihil's domain too—so the control still applies. Not just bone… Area control over the skeleton of anything. You'll have a rough time Alucard.

  Alucard struck without hesitation, meeting every blow of Sihil's fist.

  "Why not use your left arm, Sihil?"

  "One."

  A single punch from his left arm. The sound of impact filled the space as its shockwave shattered the bubble around them. Alucard slid several meters across the ground before stopping.

  "You've just sentenced yourself to death..." Alucard whispered. His voice a pained gasp for air as he gripped his chest in pain from the punch.

  The air around Sihil seemed to still. Golden sparkles appeared around his body.

  Oh no, no! That wasn't part of the plan! Who said an exiled angel could cast Absolute Execution!? Lightning Dragon's eyes widened. He leaped from his spear and gripped it in both hands.

  Several golden spears impaled Sihil's body. Blood erupted from every wound. Two spears pinned his arms open in a cross. One pierced his chest, holding him upright. A final, giant corrupted spear materialized in the air, aimed directly to tear him in half.

  "ENOUGH!"

  Lightning Dragon placed himself between Sihil and Alucard. The spears shattered into countless sparkling fragments, falling slowly to the ground.

  Sihil coughed blood. A sad smile appeared on his face as his chest slowly swallowed his Third Eye. "Who said… you can… inter… fere…?" The monumental skull sank into the earth alongside the receding eye.

  "You were about to die. I cannot afford to lose someone like you. Especially when Darkness's Right Hand spoke of it."

  Alucard, breathing heavily, held himself upright only by the force of his own spear. A faint smirk spread across his lips. I would have died if the battle continued… Sihil… How can you be the Eighth General with such devastating power?

  His grip tightened over his chest where Sihil had struck him. With a pained groan, he lifted up his body.

  "I accept."

  Two words. Spoken with a comrade's trust, in a deathly scenario.

  Lightning Dragon glanced at Alucard, then at Sihil. His hands slowly hovered over the wounds on Sihil's body, mending them with lightning essence.

  "You did it… you crazy bone magician."

  "Told... You..." his body gave out to the pain. His breathing now evening out in deep, satiated sleep.