"Finally. You decided to ask what was happening." Morgan wiped the last traces of blood from the corner of his mouth before looking back at Sigil with a faint smile. "With your arrogance, I thought you would never ask."
Sigil kept his eyes fixed on him.
Something about the battlefield had changed.
And Morgan was the man behind it all.
Morgan slowly exhaled before raising a finger.
"Actually, you are the one responsible for the calamity befalling your clan." His smile widened slightly. "All I did was increase the momentum."
Sigil frowned.
His mind moved rapidly through the past.
Was it his old battles or betrayals. What did he do to bring such chaos?
But no matter how he thought about it, he could not understand what Morgan meant.
Morgan remained silent and allowed him to think.
To him, watching Sigil slowly lose control over the situation was far more satisfying than any direct attack.
After several seconds, Sigil stopped thinking altogether.
Trying to understand Morgan in the middle of battle was pointless.
If Morgan had become the source of the problem, then destroying him was the fastest solution.
Sigil took a deep breath.
"Emperor's Armor."
The moment the words left his mouth, blinding light erupted around him.
A massive cocoon of flames swallowed his body whole as waves of heat exploded outward. The surrounding battlefield distorted under the temperature alone, forcing nearby soldiers to retreat in panic.
Morgan's expression changed instantly.
For the first time since the battle began, genuine tension appeared in his eyes.
Then, slowly, he smiled.
"So you finally decided to take me seriously."
How many years had passed since Sigil last used this form against him?
Even during their previous battles, Sigil rarely relied on it.
That alone was enough to tell Morgan how dangerous the current situation had become.
Still, he made no attempt to interrupt the transformation.
Disturbing a technique of that level midway through activation was suicidal unless one possessed overwhelming superiority. A failed interruption could easily trigger a backlash strong enough to destroy both fighters.
The cocoon continued burning.
Ten seconds later, cracks spread across its surface.
Boom.
The shell exploded apart.
A figure stepped out.
Fiery red armor covered Sigil's body completely, each piece releasing waves of terrifying heat into the surroundings. Dark flames burned across the edges of the armor while a heavy helmet concealed most of his face.
In his hands rested two swords.
One burned with black flames. The other released a blinding mixture of white and crimson fire.
The moment Sigil fully revealed himself, the pressure on the battlefield changed.
Several soldiers below instinctively retreated over a kilometer away.
Even Morgan quietly strengthened the defensive shield around his body before the heat could reach him.
Sigil slowly opened his eyes.
Scarlet pupils stared back at Morgan.
But despite the overwhelming power surrounding him, Sigil immediately noticed the problem.
Something was wrong.
The transformation felt incomplete.
Normally, this form granted him strength capable of matching Sovereign Manifest experts directly.
Now, the power inside his body felt unstable.
Weaker to be precise.
The suppression had followed him even here.
Sigil concealed the disturbance carefully. Allowing Morgan to realize the extent of the suppression would only encourage him further.
'What a treacherous snake.'
Morgan suddenly felt danger explode through his instincts.
'Not good.'
He immediately retreated.
A beam of scarlet light crossed the battlefield almost instantly.
Boom.
Morgan's shield shattered apart as the attack slammed into him and sent his body flying thousands of meters through the air.
The shockwave tore apart clouds overhead.
Morgan stabilized himself with difficulty before raising his head again.
His chest rose heavily.
"Is the suppression not enough?" he muttered internally.
His fingers tightened slightly.
'Do I activate it now?'
A dangerous thought surfaced briefly before he suppressed it.
'No. It's still too early.'
Sigil stepped forward slowly.
"Where is that confidence now, Morgan?" His voice carried clearly despite the distance between them. "You forced me to use this form, yet you are still as weak as you were thirty years ago."
Scarlet light gathered inside Sigil's eyes.
The next moment, two blazing rays shot toward Morgan.
"Damn it."
Morgan waved his hand.
Layer after layer of shields materialized before him.
The divine beams tore through them one after another, releasing violent sizzling sounds across the sky.
Although the shields slowed the attacks, several still exploded apart before Morgan finally redirected the remaining force away.
He immediately rose higher into the air.
Below him, Sigil watched with a mocking grin.
Morgan's expression darkened.
Something was wrong.
The suppression should have weakened Sigil far more than this.
"Hail Piercer."
The temperature around the battlefield suddenly dropped.
Massive glaciers formed from thin air, each one covered in sharp edges capable of piercing through defensive barriers.
With a wave of Morgan's hand, the glaciers rushed downward like a frozen torrent.
Sigil did not retreat.
He charged forward directly.
His twin swords moved continuously.
Boom.
The first glacier exploded apart.
Another melted instantly after being touched by the crimson-white blade.
Black flames spread across the shattered remains of several others before consuming them entirely.
Sigil cut through the attack storm without slowing down.
Morgan continued sending more glaciers toward him.
One after another.
Dozens filled the sky.
Still, Sigil kept advancing.
The battlefield trembled under the clash between ice and flame.
"Stop wasting time and face me directly!" Sigil roared as another glacier shattered apart before him.
Morgan's eyes narrowed.
"You think you've already won?"
A cold smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Why do you always underestimate me, old friend?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Sigil's instincts screamed.
Something was wrong.
Morgan raised his hand.
Snap.
The surrounding area darkened instantly.
Dense white fog swallowed the battlefield in every direction.
Sigil's expression hardened.
Without hesitation, he released several powerful slashes into the fog.
Fiery arcs exploded outward and tore through large sections of the mist.
But the fog restored itself almost immediately.
Then the chains appeared.
Several white chains shot toward Sigil from different directions.
Clang.
His swords blocked them instantly.
More chains emerged.
Then even more.
The fog itself seemed alive now.
Every direction contained another attack.
Sigil moved rapidly through the assault, cutting chain after chain apart while flames exploded around him continuously.
But the attacks never stopped.
The battlefield slowly became more chaotic.
One chain wrapped around his sword briefly before being burned away.
Another nearly reached his shoulder.
Sigil's eyes narrowed.
"Aaargh!"
"Fiery Torrent!"
Scorching flames erupted around him violently.
A massive wave of fire swept through the fog and consumed everything in its path.
The chains melted instantly.
The fog itself began disappearing rapidly.
Several seconds later, the battlefield became visible again.
Sigil raised his sword slowly.
"Let's see where you will—"
His sentence stopped midway.
Pain exploded through his side.
Sigil's eyes widened.
A deep cut had appeared across his armor.
Blood slowly dripped downward.
His armor had been pierced.
"Impossible," he muttered.
Far away, Morgan stood quietly with one arm lowered.
A thin white chain covered in blood slowly disappeared back into the fog behind him. The faint smile on Morgan's face returned once more.