Aric straddled Leone and manifested several iron rods, driving them through his limbs to ensure he couldn't escape. With Leone immobilized, Aric began punching his face.
"This one is for the kids you promised to kill."
Another punch landed, "This is for the mothers you wanted to kill."
THWACK!
"For the mothers you have killed."
THWACK!
"For the fathers you wanted to destroy!"
THWACK!
"For the ones you mocked, humiliated, and left broken!"
THWACK!
"For the men and women who worked themselves to the bone trying to provide for their families, only for you to rip it all away!"
THWACK!
"You think power makes you better than them? You're not a God. You're nothing but a parasite feeding off their pain."
THWACK!
"This is for the lives you destroyed just to fill your pockets."
THWACK!
"Every dream crushed, every hope extinguished. Do you even remember their faces?"
Each punch carried the weight of someone Leone had wronged. Aric's ice punch was brutal and it shattered on impact with Leone's face. Though Leone's regeneration kept pace, the pain was unbearable.
Vayne's essence further fueled Aric's anger.
"And this—"
THWACK!
"—is for my wife. For threatening her."
THWACK!
"For daring to think you could touch her."
THWACK!
"For treating her like she's just an object."
Aric tightened his grip around Leone's throat and started to freeze the demon's neck,
"You will NEVER get close to her. You will NEVER lay a hand on anyone I love again. I'll kill your fucking leader. I'll protect everyone here!"
Aric poured more mana into the freeze to accelerate the process but Leone's fiery body resisted the cold.
"You think you're the only one with a hard life? That's why I said you wouldn't last a day in my world. You hear me? A fucking DAY!"
"I don't give a damn what you went through as a kid. None of it excuses what you've become! No compassion, no empathy, no remorse."
"Your mother should've aborted you."
Leone let out a roar and sacrificed everything including his own life. He didn't care anymore about living, about winning, about anything really. All he wanted now was to kill Aric in the most brutal way possible.
He unleashed a burst of infernal energy and shattered the metal rods pinning him down. The shockwave sent Aric flying backward with burn marks all over his body.
WHAT! EVEN MORE UPGRADE!? THIS DUDE IS FUCKING INSANE.
Leone's body healed itself and is now operating at 100%.
[So...I'm just gonna say this. This is basically Kylien.] Ivy said while frowning in her seat,
[At this point, just shove a grenade into his mouth.]
Oh so now you got a good plan. Aric said while healing himself from the burn marks,
It would've been nice if this came, oh I don't know, 10 MINUTES AGO!
[Hey don't blame me when you were acting cool, I even got it recorded on my phone.]
Aric now stood up and saw the new form of Leone. He looked even bigger now with muscles only possible with an overdose of steroids, a deep red aura and his hair is now white.
"What do I know about pain?" Leone said as his eyes became black,
"Let me tell you something, you pathetic little shit. I GREW UP WITH NOBODY! Do you understand that? Nobody cared if I lived or died. I survived on scraps with rats. Every night, I wondered if tomorrow would come or if someone stronger would finally put me out of my misery."
"And when I finally found power, I used it. I TOOK WHAT I WANTED because the world owed me! It owes me everything! You wouldn't understand because YOU were born into nobility you pampered shit! So excuse me if killing a few children, fathers and families eases my pain you selfish prick."
Aric rolled his eyes, "Boo fucking hoo, you big fucking baby. Everybody's got a sob story, asshole. Mine's probably worse than yours but you don't see me running around acting like some murderous psycho."
"You calling me a selfish prick is ironic. Like the mental gymnastics you have done is impressive really. Killing children, mothers, and fathers because you had nobody? That's your logic?"
"Because if we're doing the math here, you lost two people. Your mother and father but honestly? That's probably a blessing for them, considering their son turned into garbage... but I digress."
"You lost two. But you went on to kill children, mothers, fathers. That's a hell of a lot more than two, isn't it?"
Aric let out humourless scoff, "I mean really, you're being the selfish motherfucker here."
Leone took a step forward, "You don't even know half the shit I went through. Don't you DARE use your mumbo jumbo here! You have no idea what I've been through! No idea how much I've SACRIFICED! I DESERVED EVERYTHING!"
"HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA. Sacrificed?" Aric wiped away a fake tear,
"Oh please. Spare me the pity party. Yeah, life fucked you over but so what? Wanna cry and be a bitch about it? Build me a bridge and cry me a river because guess what? Life fucks everyone over sooner or later. What matters is what you DO with it."
"I've seen men and women dealt worse hands than you and they still chose to be better. But you? You became a monster. All that power... and you used it to crush people weaker than you. Real impressive, champ." Aric gave him a mocking thumbs up.
"Your mom would be so proud of you."
The two stood there and were locked in stare-down. Flames swirled around Leone, while winds whipped violently around Aric.
Leone then declared, "Ahhh, I don't care anymore. I will kill you Vayne. You don't know what hardship is and my pain can never be compared. This world is mine and I will put you in hell."
Aric cracked his neck, "Yeah? Well, I have been to hell so say hello to Lucifer for me would ya?"
Leone dash straight away into him using fire on his feet to propel him to Aric within a second.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" As Leone burly hands aimed for Aric's throat.
But Aric knew that.
Dumbass. I knew you would do that since you're an impatient fuck and I have been reading the way you fight.
Using the one-second gap, Aric manifested a graphene shield and blocked the grab. The impact shattered every glass in the vicinity, creating huge spiderweb cracks and destroying the inner city foundation.
He swung again but this time aiming at Aric's side. Aric twisted his shield just in time to avoid the brunt of the attack. Still, the impact was so much that Aric could feel his bone rattling from it.
What the fuck is this strength!Fucking hell!
When another punch came that aimed for his face, Aric blocked it and endured the force long enough that a small opening was made. He manipulated his CZ75 into a gun that shot ice bullets.
He condensed his mana into each bullet so much so that when the bullet does hit, it would freeze upon impact. Aric fired two shots onto Leone's side.
The bullets struck true as it froze patches of flesh instantly. Steam hissed as Leone's fiery aura fought against the subzero temperatures.
"You think a little frost can stop me?" Leone snarled, "I'll burn you alive!"
He retaliated with a flaming jab that caught Aric square in the chest. The heat seared through his clothes and left second-degree burns across his torso.
"FFFFFFFFFFUCK! AGHHHHHH!"
But Aric pushed through it and used healing magic immediately.
Leone lunged again for Aric's throat but Aric sidestepped just in time. Aric kept dodging to create distance and allowing the magic to heal his second degree burn.
When there was just enough gap, Aric channeled his mana into creating an ice sword. He enchanted the sword and gave it 20% of the total mana he had so that when it stabbed Leone, it would freeze the bastard's body.
"That sword is cute Vayne. How's the burn Vayne? Does it hurt? Because it's about to get a whole lot worse."
Aric then took a stance, "Man shut your bitch ass up. You ain't hot shit to be monologuing like some villain."
Aric sidestepped one fiery haymaker after another. Despite the searing pain still lingering in his chest, he couldn't help himself but trash talk to his enemies,
"You're slow, meathead. All that power but no control. What are you even fighting for? A temper tantrum? You fighting for mommy?"
"SHUT UP!" as Leone throw another punch that missed by inches.
Aric deliberately slowed his dodges after 5 minutes of constant dodging. He let Leone think he had the upper hand and he was 'running out of energy.'
Leone thought exactly what Aric wanted him to think and attempted to grab Aric by the waist to crush him. Aric allowed himself to be caught but not in the way Leone would've hope.
As soon as Leone's arms wrapped around him, Aric use his free palm to burst out wind to throw Leone momentarily off-balance.
"UGH!"
Now that Leone was wide open, Aric drove the ice sword straight into Leone's chest.
BLERGH!
Leone spat out blood as Aric gave the sword more mana to freeze his body. Steam erupted as Leone's fire fought back, but Aric didn't let go. He fought back by giving it even more mana.
"DIE YOU FUCKING DEMON!"
"AHHHHHHH" Leone screamed as he continued to thrashed violently.
"You gave up your humanity for what!? Power? You're a pathetic excuse of a man who threw away everything and still got nothing in return! You sacrificed your life, your soul, your fucking dignity, and for what!?"
"You lost to a human like me. Someone who didn't spend his entire life obsessing over power. Do you know how sad that is!? All those lives you destroyed and telling yourself you're better than all of them, that you deserved everything in this world just to lose to me!"
"YOU'RE FUCKING PATHETIC!"
Leone's light slowly faded away as he said his final words,
"I'll...be back....I'll ki..."
The sword froze his entire torso. Aric now swung his fist high up and smashed the entire torso that broke everything including his heart. The surrounding area had floating ice everywhere as Aric now laid down in exhaustion.
"HAH....HAH....God...I'm too old for this shit."
Ivy's now spoke with her tone being relieved and dressed up as a sexy cheerleader,
[Well… that was something. Congratulations. You just took down a literal walking apocalypse fueled by fire and mommy issues. Oh, and let's not forget that you did it while being basically an amateur wizard. Like, seriously, if this were a video game, you'd be level 5 fighting a level 99 boss. How does that even work?]
"Gee, thanks for reminding me, Ivy. I feel great about myself now."
[Hey, you won, didn't you? Against all odds. That's like…] There was a pause, followed by the sound of typing. [Hold on, let me calculate how impossible this actually is. Okay, according to my numbers, your chances of surviving that fight were approximately 10%.]
"I'm flattered." Aric said as his chest is now fully healed from the burn. "Next time, maybe give me better odds than 'you're probably gonna die horribly.' Just a suggestion."
[Oh please. Where's the fun in that?] Ivy pouted while shaking her pom pom.
Aric sighed, "Yeah, sure. Nothing screams 'fun' like getting burned alive while also being told that he wanted to fuck my wife over my dead body and kill children. Totally my jam."
[See? This is why you're my favourite. You survived impossible odds, beat a guy who literally sold his soul for power and managed to trash-talk him into oblivion. Honestly, I think you deserve a medal. Or at least some kind of parade. Maybe fireworks. Fireworks would be cool.]
"Fireworks sound good." Aric said while now standing up, "Also where even are we. Seraphina's barrier is nowhere to be seen."
The surrounding area was covered in flames and ice at the same time. It was evidence of the hard fought battle that happened here.
[By my guess...you're around the south-east area.]
Aric now put his hand on his forehead, "Yeah...that's really far. I'm basically a kilometre away from Seraphina. Let's go."