The Skytrack carriage was no longer a train; it was a battlefield carved from steel, smoke, and neon light. Rain poured through the jagged opening Arthur's slash had left in the wall, soaking the seats and the people, sparks crackling as wires hissed.
Arthur and Harlekin clashed again at the center aisle.
Harlekin pushed himself up, kicking Arthur in his face, breaking Arthur's glasses.
Arthur fell back, his face started to bleed, while Harlekin disappeared into his illusions.
Harlekin (echoes): "Can't see without glasses? Don't worry, Arthur boy, your knightly mindset blinded you from the beginning."
But Arthur didn't listen to him. He held Excalibur even tighter now.
Arthur: "Face me, Harlekin!"
Harlekin: "If you already politely ask."
Harlekin jumped out of a kid's toy who sat behind Arthur, stabbing him in his back.
Arthur screamed in pain; he quickly turned around, striking Harlekin, but it was just another illusion.
Then the carriage started to shake, and the people inside screamed in fear. Harlekin tricked Arthur into cutting the supporting structure.
The carriage was bound to fall.
Arthur (shouting): "Everybody be quiet and stop moving!"
For a moment, everything was quiet; only the rain hitting the roof was the only noise hearable until—like a distant echo—Harlekin's laugh appeared again.
The carriage started to shake even more; Arthur held his Excalibur tightly, slamming its tip into the carriage.
The carriage fell, and everyone screamed loudly, except for Arthur; the aura around his body shined brightly, his hair started to levitate upwards, and his eyes started to shine brightly.
Arthur: "I shall not end in this carriage, and neither shall anybody who is inside it with me. Let everyone witness the power of my Excalibur: Divine Transfer!!"
Out of Excalibur came a light so bright it illuminated the whole carriage, and for a brief moment it seemed like it had been day.
And when the light disappeared, so did the carriage.
When the people opened their eyes, they saw that the carriage they were inside had somehow landed on the ground.
Arthur stood in the middle of the carriage. He was breathing heavily, leaning on Excalibur, but then Harlekin's laugh echoed again, but this time Arthur was ready.
He quickly turned around, cutting through a woman. Everyone screamed but stopped once the woman disappeared into nothing and Harlekin suddenly stood where the woman lay.
Arthur's blade bit into Harlekin's side, slicing through his jester outfit. Blood sprayed.
Arthur: "Yield, Harlekin. This ends now."
Harlekin staggered, then laughed. The sound was wild, cracked, yet charged with a horrible delight.
Harlekin: "You made me bleed, Morningstar. Do you know what that means?"
He slashed back with feral speed. His dagger elongated into a smoky scythe, curved and jagged. It raked across Arthur's clothes, blood splashing out of Arthur's shoulder; the edge had cut a deep groove into his shoulder.
Harlekin: "That we really are somewhat connected." Harlekin's laugh echoed loudly; the children in the carriage started crying. Seeing this, Harlekin could only laugh louder.
Arthur grimaced, forcing himself to ignore the searing pain. The golden aura around Excalibur blazed, its light pushing back the cursed haze pressing in from every direction.
Arthur: "Your madness will stop today, Harlekin! You are just a sadistic psychopath."
Harlekin leaned close, mask inches from Arthur's face, their blades locked.
Harlekin (mockingly): "Oh, but Arthur… don't you hear it? The city is laughing with me."
The floor erupted. Smoke geysers spewed from every crack, filling the air with screaming faces, clawing hands, and eyes blinking in impossible places. Arthur slashed through them, his strikes precise, each swing cleaving illusions from reality.
But Harlekin was everywhere at once, his cursed energy bending space around him, letting him flicker from seat to ceiling to wall. His laughter overlapped itself, echoing wrong, like dozens of voices laughing from different directions.
Arthur's eyes hardened. He raised Excalibur in both hands, its aura swelling.
Arthur: "Radiant Burst!"
He slammed the blade down. Light exploded outward as if a sun were igniting inside the carriage. Passengers screamed and shielded their eyes as cursed smoke burned away, leaving only Harlekin, staggering and bleeding.
Harlekin's hat burned a little, revealing one wild eye beneath. His chest heaved, blood dripping from his side.
Harlekin: "Beautiful… radiant, righteous, boring."
He coughed blood and spit it onto the floor, painting a red smear across the cracked tiles.
Harlekin: "You want to be the hero, Arthur? Then let me show you the stage, a stage where heroes are fed to the crowd."
Arthur steadied his breath. His shoulder bled freely, his armor scorched. But his grip on Excalibur never faltered.
Arthur: "If you have a final trick, clown, play it. I'll cut it down."
Harlekin: "Ohhh, Arthur boy, you will love my trick; every clown has one last trick up their sleeve."
Harlekin's laughter rose—higher, sharper, and frenzied. His cursed energy thickened, pressing against the walls, the ceiling, and even against Arthur's lungs. The carriage groaned as if about to collapse under the pressure.
Harlekin: "SOUL DOMAIN: CIRCUS OF FEAR."
From the rain-soaked gap in the train, lightning flashed, illuminating Harlekin's spreading grin as cursed runes spun around him like a carousel.
Harlekin spread his arms wide.
Harlekin: "Welcome to my Soul Domain—"
The world snapped.
Light inverted. Sound bent. The passengers vanished like smoke.
Arthur blinked—and found himself standing not in a train, but on the sawdust floor of an abandoned circus.
Torn tents sagged in the distance, striped in black and gray. Rusted rides groaned in a wind that smelled of rot and candy. Mirrors lined a cracked funhouse wall, each one reflecting Arthur's face, but twisted, scarred, and eyeless.
Above, a tattered banner creaked: "Circus of Fear."
From the shadows of the broken big top, laughter swelled. Dozens of clown masks floated in the dark, teeth grinning, eyes glowing faintly red. The spotlight flicked on, illuminating Harlekin at the center ring. His outfit had unraveled into black smoke, his cracked hat glowing with cursed runes. His wounds dripped blood onto the sawdust, but he stood tall, scythe vibrating with unnatural power.
Harlekin: "This is my Soul Domain. A circus where every joke ends in screams."
The floating clown masks laughed in unison, a chorus of hysteria echoing through the big top.
Arthur raised Excalibur, its light flickering against the oppressive domain.
Arthur: "Your circus is empty. You've caged yourself with madness."
Harlekin tilted his head, his wild eye gleaming.
Harlekin: "Oh, Arthur boy… The punchline is that in here, the clown always gets the last laugh."
The masks surged forward, shrieking. The rides creaked into motion—the Ferris wheel spinning with skeletons trapped in its seats, the carousel horses snapping with razor teeth. The floorboards groaned, cracking open into black pits where laughter rose like steam.
Arthur's jaw tightened, his wounds burning, his light dimmed by the oppressive weight of Harlekin's cursed stage. He steadied Excalibur in both hands.
Arthur: "Then I'll carve through the curtain and end your performance."
The spotlight burned brighter, Harlekin's laughter shaking the circus rafters.
Harlekin: "Ladies and gentlemen… the final act begins!"
The world quaked, the circus closing in around Arthur as Harlekin lunged with all the chaos of his Soul Domain unleashed.