The King of Thieves smiled: "Let's fight; if you aren't strong, you will die. This is the condition of the battle. Use whatever you can to win; there is no honor in this fight."
Erold remained silent, looking at the King of Thieves. Then the King of Thieves said: "I am not waiting for your approval; I'm just telling you this: get ready."
Then the King of Thieves shouted: "Here I come!"
The King of Thieves launched forward like a storm of shadows, his long sword gleaming with a faint, barely visible light. His steps were silent, but every movement carried a terrible weight, as if the earth trembled beneath his feet.
As for Erold, he steadied his feet and gathered his breath, determined not to collapse. He drew his sword, his heart beating fast—not from fear, but from anger and bewilderment… he was fighting a man he considered a brother, or even more.
The two swords clashed, and a faint spark flew in the darkness. The King of Thieves shouted: "Show me your strength, you who seeks the truth… do you deserve it?"
Erold said with a hesitant voice: "I won't let you die this way!"
Thorn laughed mockingly, then attacked again—strikes that were fast, precise, as if they were a deadly incantation. Erold could barely block them, and each blow felt heavier than the one before it.
But inside Erold, something ignited… something that wasn't sleeping, but waiting. He heard Arthur's whisper in his depths: "Release me… let me take control. This fight won't be settled by the heart alone."
But Erold shouted within himself: "No… not yet."
He dodged a fatal strike from Thorn, then spun his body and tapped the King of Thieves' shoulder lightly—a strike that wasn't lethal, but was enough to catch his attention.
"You've improved…" Thorn said, then whirled the sword with one hand and launched an attack like a hurricane.
Erold recoiled backward, his sword vibrating from the power of the blows. He sustained superficial wounds on his arm and shoulder, and knelt for a moment. Thorn approached, raised his sword, and whispered: "I will end this now, not because I want to, but because I must…"
But in that moment, dust rose around Erold, and his eyes blazed with a strange color… the flame that had appeared in his heart the day he lost everything was fueling again. "No, it is not my time to die… and I won't let you die this way, Thorn!"
Erold stood up, raised his sword with two hands, and then exploded with a sudden attack! His sword moved with unprecedented smoothness, as if all his experience and suffering had transformed into real power. Now the fight was even.
Blows, screams, and the flash of dancing swords. Even Thorn began to retreat step by step… he smiled, then said: "Finally… I will use it."
Erold returned to his body and said: "What's wrong, King of Thieves?"
Thorn shouted: "It's time."
The King of Thieves stood, raising his head, and said: "I haven't used you in a long time; I didn't expect anyone to be worthy of seeing you."
Thorn closed his eyes, saying in a calm and clear voice: " Spirit World… The Trial of the Thief."
Suddenly, Erold was pulled into a place forming before him like a wooden pyre, and beneath it many gold pieces, as if it were an ancient courtroom inside a cave full of gold. He turned to his side to find Arthur manifested beside him.
The King of Thieves was shocked and said: "Is this your soul? Impossible! If you are this strong… Hahaha, you have mastered Soul Separation. This will be amusing."
Arthur stepped toward an old wooden platform and said: "Does the accused stand here, Erold?"
Erold answered him: "I don't know… let's take the matter seriously; this old man is powerful."
Arthur replied: "What should we do?"
Erold said: "We must defeat him within the rules of the Spirit World; either we apply the specific condition… or we kill him."
The King of Thieves shouted: "It's time!"
The gold on the ground began to melt, taking human forms. The King of Thieves said in a deep voice: "These are all those who served me. Look there, you will find yourself, boy, when you were small."
They stepped forward like soulless corpses and attacked. Erold attacked them with his sword until he found his young version holding daggers; he killed it and took the daggers from it. While Arthur was running—since he lacked a weapon—Erold shouted: "Arthur!"
He threw him his sword; Arthur jumped and caught it, and in the blink of an eye, he killed everyone around him, saying: "This is… fun! I don't feel guilty!"
Erold used his old style with daggers, attacking the King of Thieves, leaving Arthur to handle the corpses. The King of Thieves parried the attacks and said with admiration: "This is wonderful… truly wonderful!"
Then the King of Thieves shouted: "Fire Matrix, ignite, my sword!"
His sword ignited and clashed with Erold, who felt the heat and said: "Damn this… we must stop him!"
The King of Thieves smiled: "Impossible! You're looking at a dead man, little one!"
He continued the attack and performed the Whirlwind strike… but this time it was different, merged with fire, turning into a flaming tornado!
Erold dodged it and said: "That was very close…"
With lightning speed, the King of Thieves pounced with a powerful kick that struck Erold's chest; the latter flew through the air, writhing under the weight of the blow. But before he landed, he found the King of Thieves had preceded him to the sky, his flaming sword in his grip, the fire hovering around his body as if feeding on his rage.
He held his sword in a strange, reversed style, and his laughter exploded in the sky as he cried: "Here I come, you brat!"
Erold quickly reached for a fallen sword on the ground and raised it to block the coming attack. The two swords clashed, and sparks of flame and iron exploded, but the power of the King of Thieves clearly dominated. Erold's sword broke under the pressure, and he recoiled, groaning from the intensity of the recoil.
Erold, panting: "This… and you're an old man?!"
The King of Thieves laughed from his heart, then answered him: "Do not fear, I haven't lost a shred of my strength. My age does not affect me… get ready, boy!"
But suddenly, the King of Thieves was behind him, striking him downward, trying to cut off his head. Arthur intervened, attacking the King of Thieves and saying mockingly: "What is your problem with heads, man?"
The King of Thieves laughed as he parried the strikes, saying: "After the head is cut, no one will feel anything… no pain, no regret… only darkness."
Arthur replied with a slanted smile: "Wonderful, why don't we stop? I've taken a liking to you, man!"
The King of Thieves laughed: "That is impossible, O spirit!"
His speed suddenly increased until Arthur began to retreat, shouting: "Erold! I need you, help me!"
Erold responded immediately, retreating beside Arthur, and said: "We have one chance… attack with me at the same time!"
The two began coordinating their attacks with amazing precision, Arthur pouncing from the front and Erold circling from the back. They threw consecutive strikes as if they were born to fight together. They moved in harmony, as if time slowed down around them.
Arthur cheered: "Now, Erold! From the right!" and Erold replied: "From below!"
They struck together with a double blow that surprised the King of Thieves, pushing him back as he groaned for the first time. He looked at them in amazement and whispered: "I haven't felt that in a long time… true harmony…"
Erold bowed his head for a moment, then ran toward Arthur, saying in a firm voice: "Let's switch weapons, don't leave my back. I will attack from the right, and you from above."
Arthur nodded quickly, and the two positioned themselves opposite each other. Their steps were precise, and their strikes were in sync. Erold's sword ignited with a deep black color, as if darkness itself had been poured into it, while Arthur's dagger was flooded with a light resembling his form, pure and terrifying at once.
The King of Thieves shouted, his fire sword blazing in his hand, excitement taking hold of him: "You want to kill a legend? Go ahead!"
He lunged toward Erold like a storm, but the latter swerved skillfully, and in the moment the King of Thieves' defense was exposed, Arthur jumped over him and drove his dagger into his shoulder. But the King of Thieves released a massive wave of fire from his body, knocking Arthur away like a feather in a hurricane.
Erold stood, face pale, gaze steady. He whispered in a voice full of resolve: "It is time to end it…"
A circle formed beneath his feet, half light and half shadow, where the rest of his light and shadow merged. He threw his sword toward the sky, while Arthur shouted from afar: "Now!"
Arthur pounced from the air, striking with his dagger from above, and at the same moment, Erold picked up a sword from the ground to pierce the King from below. The King of Thieves was struck from above and below; his body froze for a moment, then cracks began to appear on his skin as if the fires within him began to flee from him.
He laughed in a faint, cracked voice: "What a… wonderful performance… I haven't felt this excitement in a long time…"
Erold approached him and stood before him in silence. In that moment, the King was not an opponent, but an exhausted soul worn out by the past.
He whispered while looking at him: "I wasn't just a monster… I was a slave to desires that weren't healed. I truly regret everything I did in my past… except for what happened in the Kingdom of Egypt at that time… those were my best days."
Then he looked at the ceiling, his eyes shining with sad regret, and said: "I'm sorry, Lisa… I should have left long ago… I only realized that too late."
As his body began to crack from the inside, he imagined his mother's face and cried out in a trembling voice: "Mother… will you forgive me for what I have done?"
Then he saw her face… she was smiling at him and gesturing toward him, calling him to come. His eyes widened in amazement, then he finally smiled, as if he had found his peace.
The flames began to fade from his sword, and his body began to crumble into golden ash. He said with his final, fragmented breaths: "Erold… beware… there is an entity… seeking you… so please… be vigilant…"
Then he smiled gently: "I have seen you as a son since your youth… and when I felt that your path held light… I let you go with Erold…"
Erold said nothing, but he could not stop the tears from falling. The King continued, his voice fading with the wind: "You were the only thing… I took pride in… throughout my life, my Little Tiger… take care of yourself… you truly deserve this name…"
He closed his eyes, and his body began to disintegrate into glowing sand. At the last moment, a tear fell from his eye, and he whispered with a smile: "I am coming… Mother…"
Then the sand scattered around Erold and disappeared, carrying with it the memory of a man who lived as a tragedy and died pure of the burdens of his past.
Arthur placed his dagger on his shoulder and said with respect: "He lived as a criminal, and died as a hero… I respect this man."
Tears were still streaming down Erold's cheeks, but his face was set. The two fell silent, looking at the void left by the King, before the world around them began to fade, and everything turned into a dim light.
They returned to the cave, total silence enveloping them. Erold held the King of Thieves' sword and looked at it for a long time: "I won't forget you," then he took it.
He whispered afterward to himself: "He truly lived a wretched life…"
He wiped his tears, then said: "Let's go to the village, Arthur."