The Circus of Fear screamed.
The Ferris wheel spun faster than physics should allow, its cabins bursting open with skeletons that rained down like confetti. The carousel of skeletal horses galloped endlessly in circles, snapping at the air with teeth of broken glass. The funhouse mirrors shook, reflecting not Arthur nor Harlekin, but warped fragments of both—a knight with no face and a clown with endless mouths.
And above all of it, the Big Top pulsed like a living heart, its canvas trembling with every strike of blade against scythe.
Arthur's body battered, blood streaking across his clothes. He stood firm with Excalibur raised. Its light wavered but did not break, a steady flame amid the chaos.
Harlekin leapt from the Ferris wheel, landing with an acrobat's grace. His face was decorated with a blood-painted and wicked smile, which grew wider with each drop he spit onto the sawdust. His scythe dripped cursed energy upwards, black trails searing the ground wherever it passed.
Harlekin (gasping, then laughing): "Do you hear them, Arthur boy? The laughter, the applause, the hunger! They don't want a knight's tale of honor—they want the comedy, the tragedy, and the madness! And I give it to them!"
Arthur (breathing heavily, voice steel): "I'll silence them. Even if it means tearing down this circus with my own hands."
Their weapons clashed again, Excalibur's holy light carving arcs through the darkened arena, Harlekin's cursed scythe shrieking with every parry. The ground split beneath them, sawdust peeling back into endless black voids where laughter echoed forever.
Arthur staggered under the force, a gash across his side oozing blood, but he gritted his teeth as if his training, his resolve, and his oath—all bound him to this fight.
Arthur (yelling): "Excalibur—Radiant Judgment!"
The blade flared with blinding brilliance, a sun exploding inside the circus. Rows of clown masks dissolved, mirrors shattered, and skeletal horses disintegrated mid-leap.
But Harlekin only laughed louder, his body crackling with cursed energy.
Harlekin: "YES! Burn it brighter! Show them your light, knight! The brighter it shines, the funnier the fall!"
He slammed his scythe into the ground. The stage split open, and from beneath the boards, colossal clown arms erupted, their fingers tipped in talons. They clawed at Arthur, dragging him down, laughter booming louder and louder.
Arthur cut them apart, Excalibur slicing clean through phantom flesh, but each strike cost him strength. Harlekin darted in, slashing and taunting, his movements erratic yet sharp, forcing Arthur to defend from every direction at once.
Harlekin (mockingly, whispering in Arthur's ear as their weapons locked): "Tell me, Arthur boy… When the world stops clapping, when the audience walks away, who are you? A knight without an audience is just a man in armor."
Arthur roared, shoving him back.
Arthur: "I fight for more than an audience. I fight for my honor and those who cannot! That is my oath—one you'll never understand!"
Harlekin: "Hah! A Reaper fighting for those who can't. Did you forget why the world disowned you?"
Arthur became furious, the anger written all over his face.
Arthur: "SILENCE, CLOWN!"
Excalibur's light flared again, piercing through the circus tent, tearing a rift in the painted sky above. For an instant, Arthur's world was no longer madness but the stars themselves.
Harlekin froze. His laughter stopped. His painted smile cracked.
Then he bent backward, laughter returning even louder, his body trembling with ecstasy.
Harlekin: "Yes… YES! This is the true show! But every show needs its finale, Arthur boy… and mine will end with your soul!"
Arthur: "I will end you; I have had enough of your games.
Harlekin: "But Arthur boy, we haven't even reached the best part."
He raised his scythe, cursed energy flooding the domain. The circus groaned, the rides twisted, and the laughter turned to screams.
Harlekin: "SOUL DOMAIN: Circus of Fear—FINAL ACT!"
The Big Top ripped apart, transforming into an endless circus void. The Ferris wheel spun into the black sky, the carousel became a maelstrom of snapping jaws, and the mirrors formed a dome of endless Arthurs—each one bleeding, broken, and staring at him.
Arthur staggered, blood dripping from his chin. His vision blurred, but his grip on Excalibur never loosened.
Arthur (muttering to himself): "If this is the end… then I'll cut through it all. Even if it kills me."
Harlekin descended from above, scythe raised high, his voice booming with manic triumph.
Harlekin: "The knight's tale ends in laughter!"
Arthur raised Excalibur, light trembling but unbroken.
Arthur (roaring): "And the clown's tale ends in silence!"
Their blades collided.
The Circus screamed as reality itself split under the clash. The ground shattered, the rides collapsed, laughter turned into wails, and both Arthur and Harlekin were swallowed in a storm of light and shadow.
Outside the dome, Sirius and Yuri staggered back as the Soul Domain pulsed violently, threatening to break.
Yuri (eyes wide, licking her lips): "It's tearing itself apart!"
Sirius, silent, tightened his fists. His shadow grew darker.
Inside.
Harlekin stood above Arthur on a tremoring part of the carousel.
His laugh echoed even louder throughout the circus.
Harlekin (laughing): "The final act of my domain has begun; soon you will be a part of my madness, Arthur boy!"
Arthur: "I will strike you down and end this madness tonight!"
Harlekin stretched back before bursting out an even louder laugh.
He jumped down towards Arthur, dark trails following his scythe downwards.
Harlekin: "Cursed strike!"
Arthur raises his Excalibur, blocking the strike.
Cursed energy surged out of the scythe's blade, shooting in every direction.
Harlekin jumps backwards before rushing into Arthur.
His scythe bursts even more with cursed energy, waiting to cut Arthur and all his ideals. But Arthur was ready; his grip tightened as hard as he could. Excalibur's divine energy burst while Arthur went into a fighting stance.
At the same time, both shouted out their final attacks:
Harlekin: "CURSED STRIKE!!!"
Arthur: "DIVINE STRIKE!!!"
The circus illuminated into a mixture of darkness and light.
Slowly, the light faded until one last light flickered one last time, and then—darkness.