The air boiled between them, sparks still crackling off Sofie's spear as she stood firm.
Ryouma's blood ran hot down his chest, but his grin was still sharp and still mocking.
"You think all this fire will kill me?" he spat, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Child… flames die out. Embers fade. Eventually, your will… will surrender to me."
Sofie's grip tightened on the Deathless Flame. Her body trembled, not from fear, but from the roaring soul within her.
And then two voices, as one.Her lips moved, as the Phoenix spoke with her.
"One of the five major elements which make up this world. The spark that ignited Genesis. The light which nurtures life, and the illumination of judgment which vanquishes all evil. While at times a gentle blessing given to men by gods…"
The flames surged around her, rising high, licking the sky.
"…it is also a terrible curse which annihilates everything. Its name "
Sofie's eyes blazed molten gold.
" is fire."
Ryouma laughed. A deep ragged, manic laugh that echoed through the scorched battlefield. His shoulders shook, blood dripping from his chin, but still he smiled like a madman.
"Eventually… even fire runs out of things to burn. Even your will will bend and break beneath me."
Sofie raised the spear, flames trailing from its point like a comet. Her voice and the Phoenix's rang together, shaking the earth.
"Fire never surrenders. If it cannot burn through, it burns around. Block its path and it sends sparks through the air, to begin the blaze anew somewhere else."
Her eyes narrowed, her entire being burning like a sun.
"Fire always finds a way."
For a brief moment, Ryouma stared at her as if she were a fool who had just told a bad joke. His lips twitched then curled into a savage grin.
"Enough games."
He stabbed his sword into the earth.
"DOMAIN SCARLET GRAVEYARD."
The world shattered.
The battlefield around Sofie twisted, breaking like glass.
In an instant, the burning mountain was gone.
She stood instead in a vast, endless wasteland under a crimson sky.
The ground was slick with black-red liquid, stretching into the horizon like a sea of blood.
Jagged black spires jutted upward in every direction, each one a grave marker shaped like a sword.
Above, the heavens split with a single glowing cross of scarlet light.
Ryouma stood in the center of it, his sword drinking in the blood-red glow of his realm.
His aura swelled, drowning everything in murderous intent.
"In here, girl…" his voice echoed, deeper and more monstrous, "…my blade never misses. My strikes carve reality itself. One wrong move, and you'll cease to exist."
Inside her, the Phoenix stirred. Its voice was sharper now and urgent."Be wary, child. His domain is absolute every strike here carries death.One mistake will end you."
Sofie swallowed hard, her body tense.
She raised the Deathless Flame and steadied her breath.
Fear pressed against her heart, but the fire within burned stronger.
She wasn't going to bend. Not now.
Ryouma moved.
He came at her like a storm his sword splitting the blood-soaked air with a series of deadly arcs.
Each strike carried layers of destruction: his sword arts entwined with the oppressive power of his Domain, infused with his savage Ryōki.
Sofie met him head-on.
Sparks ignited as spear and blade clashed, flames roaring each time they connected.
She deflected his first blow, but the second nearly tore through her guard.
The third forced her back, the fourth split the ground under her feet.
The crimson wasteland shook with every impact, each clash like thunder.
Blood splattered from shallow cuts across her arms and cheek, the Phoenix's armor hissing as it absorbed the worst of the strikes.
But still she stood.
The Deathless Flame whirled in her hands, fire and steel blending as one.
Every time Ryouma struck, she responded with a furious counter, spear cutting arcs of molten light across the crimson world.
Her body blurred, her strikes faster, sharper her spirit and the Phoenix's burning as one.
She looked like judgment incarnate fire-born divine her hair ablaze like molten silk, her eyes burning gold.
And still, Ryouma came.
With a snarl, he unleashed a storm of attacks, a barrage of killing strikes that could tear a hundred men apart in a heartbeat.
Each one faster than the last, each one heavier, sharper aimed to erase Sofie from existence.
And she met it.
Her body blurred flame and steel entwined—her spear spinning, thrusting, slashing in heart-pounding rhythm.
Each movement was a gamble between life and death, each clash shaking the crimson graveyard with shockwaves of fire and blood.
The clash raged, fire against blood-red steel, sparks bursting with every collision.
But for every strike Sofie landed, Ryouma answered with three more. His Domain pressed against her lungs, against her very soul, like drowning in crimson suffocation.
The Phoenix's voice rang sharp in her head, urgent."Child your body cannot withstand much more. You are forcing flame beyond mortal flesh. Any further, and you will burn yourself to ash."
Sofie staggered back, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping down her face.
Her body screamed with every movement, yet her grip on the Deathless Flame never faltered.
Times running out, she thought grimly. One of us will die here.
Her golden eyes flicked to Klaus's body lying lifeless at the edge of the scorched ground.
Her chest clenched, her rage coiling with grief.
A thought struck her dangerous and insane.
But the only path forward.
"Phoenix," she whispered under her breath, even as her spear blocked another vicious strike from Ryouma.
"You have healing properties, don't you? I've read about them in the old texts."
The Phoenix's essence pulsed inside her, its tone grave."I do… but why ask this now?"
Sofie's eyes burned as she stared at Klaus.
"Then heal him."
The Phoenix reeled."…What? That one is dead, child."
"No." Her voice cracked, fierce with desperation.
"I gave him the Dragon Tears. His body still carries their spark. He will rise again. But he needs you, he needs to be restored at his peak."
The Phoenix's voice sharpened.
"Impossible! I am bound to you. My fire cannot heal another. My pact is with you alone."
Sofie's spear clashed hard against Ryouma's blade, sparks scattering across the crimson wasteland.
She shoved him back a step, turned her head slightly, and snarled aloud at the Phoenix within her soul.
"Then break your damn rules! Do it. Go to him. HEAL HIM!"
The Phoenix hesitated which made Sofie's fury boiled over.
"If you truly are flame, then listen: Fire does not belong to one it burns where it's needed most. Now burn for him!"
The Phoenix's silence stretched then the flames within Sofie roared.
Her essence split, half of its blazing soul streaking away from her and wrapping
Klaus's broken body in molten light.
Ryouma saw it instantly. His grin widened into a manic snarl."Oh no, no, no you're not bringing him back."
He thrusted his sword into the crimson sea.
The black spires trembled, ripping free from the ground, turning into spears of obsidian steel.
They shrieked through the blood-red air, all aimed at Klaus's body.
Sofie's eyes flashed, and she spun the
Deathless Flame in a blazing arc.
One strike.
Her spear roared like a comet, cutting through the crimson storm.
Fire exploded outward, incinerating the incoming barrage in a single sweep.
The shockwave rippled across the graveyard, tearing dozens of spires to molten slag.
Ash rained down.
Her golden eyes locked on Ryouma with a chilling calmness.
Her voice was low and cold, edged with the Phoenix's wrath.
"Try it again… and I'll turn this pretty little graveyard of yours into your coffin."