Jessica and Maria stepped into a crimson-lit arena, one of the Seven Gates. The floor was made of hexagonal runes, walls dripping with holographic blood. Maria drew her twin guns, Epitaph and Dirge, spinning them like batons. Jessica cracked her knuckles, Veilward shimmer forming around her fists. Both activated Driftform; the arena blurred. Bullets clashed against soul-shields overhead. Two warriors, two philosophies — one dance of annihilation.
Maria fired a fan of spirit-bullets, trailing blue-white Thunderbrand arcs. Jessica deflected with Veilward shields, shards of light scattering. Bullets curved mid-air, guided by Whispercall. Jessica Riftquaked the floor, rippling shockwaves canceling incoming shots. Maria grinned. The dance's first step drew blood from the air itself.
Maria vanished, reappearing upside-down on a rune pillar, firing slow-motion arcs. Jessica blinked through Driftform bursts, dodging like an after-image. Guns blazed — muzzle flashes shaped like wings. Jessica channeled Thunderbrand into her fists, punching bullets apart mid-flight. Sparks rained like meteor showers. Gravity lost its hold as their souls wrote the choreography.
Maria fired into Riftquake fractures she created; bullets scattered unpredictably. Dozens of glowing rounds rebounded off invisible walls, curving behind Jessica. Whispercall revealed trajectories like a spiderweb. She created a spinning Veilward sphere around herself. Bullets slammed from all directions, cracking it. No straight lines existed — only the chaos of ricochet.
Jessica burst out of the sphere, Riftquake pulses sending bullets back. Maria pirouetted mid-air, riding her own shockwave via Driftform. Jessica's Thunderbrand punch grazed Maria's coat. Maria spun, guns cross-firing, forcing Jessica back. Holograms of Elito flickered above. Even gods admired the slaughter.
"You fight for parasites who poison the earth!" Maria shouted. "And you kill to worship a tyrant!" Jessica countered. Maria's eyes glowed: "Humanity had its chance." Jessica snarled, Veilward flaring like a red aurora. Bullets spiraled in infinity symbols. Words were bullets of another caliber.
Other Gates flickered — Valgor trading diamond-shattering blows with Thano, Lacolone vs. Basim, Maya dodging Alister's chains. Eden watched the sealed Seventh Door, trembling. Ghali Salah scanned runes. Maria and Jessica circled each other, arena trembling with cross-dimensional energy. Seven Gates, seven duels, one hidden truth.
Jessica used Whispercall to anticipate Maria's Driftform. She planted a Riftquake mine; Maria materialized into the trap, explosion of soul energy. Thrown back, coat torn, blood on her lip. She smirked: "Finally drew first blood." Patterns break — that's when real combat begins.
Maria reloaded with glowing crimson cartridges. Guns grew spectral wings, Thunderbrand fused with Driftform. "No more mercy," she whispered. Bullets left red-black trails, tearing through space. Jessica braced, Veilward trembling. Her soul became an arsenal.
Jessica closed her eyes; all five Pillars aligned. Her aura shifted to white-gold fusion. Veilward turned translucent, Whispercall threads merging into Driftform. She caught bullets mid-air, shattering them. Maria's smirk faded. Balance met chaos in perfect symmetry.
Both charged — guns blazing versus fists crackling. Bullets curved, fists flashed — a lattice of death. Riftquake waves cut bullet paths in half. Maria teleported behind Jessica; Jessica Driftformed behind Maria. Both struck simultaneously, soul-quake exploding. Two comets colliding in a single orbit.
Mid-impact, visions appeared: dead oceans, scorched skies, Elito's voice booming. Maria saw herself as a starving child. Jessica saw lost comrades. Both hesitated. Holographic Elito: "Only through cleansing can the world be reborn." Philosophy slipped between their blows like a knife.
Jessica grabbed Maria's gun barrel, crushing it with Thunderbrand. Maria headbutted her; blood sprayed. Guns split into two short soul-metal blades. She spun them like daggers. Jessica's aura crackled, Riftquake ready. Their duel shed its skin again.
Jessica channeled Driftform through her fists, super-speed pummels. Maria parried with dual blades, sparks cascading. Lacolone glanced over mid-fight. Maria leapt high, firing downward mid-spin. Jessica Veilwarded upward, knocking bullets aside. Each move carved another stanza in their poem of violence.
Maya, fighting elsewhere, felt Jessica's power spike. Ghali Salah deciphered runes; the Seventh Door glowed faintly. Eden clutched his head, visions of the Gate beyond. Maria and Jessica locked eyes, mutual respect in fury. Both activated Soul Fusion. The Pillars sang together for the first time.
Jessica became a radiant phantom with wings of light. Maria's twin weapons transformed into serpents of living energy. The arena fractured under pressure. Spectral chains of Alister and blasts from other fights cut across panels. Lacolone shouted for Jessica to finish it. The Gate itself trembled.
Jessica bent space with Driftform and Riftquake, appearing behind Maria. Thunderbrand uppercut shattered Maria's soul-blades. Maria gasped, Veilward flickering. Jessica pinned her with a glowing fist. Maria whispered: "Maybe… you're right…" Even angels of slaughter can fall.
Jessica knelt over Maria, guns shattered, arena collapsing. Above them, the sealed Seventh Door burst with a thin line of light. Eden stood in front, hands shaking. Elito's gigantic hologram began descending through the crack.
One duel ended, but the true Gate had begun to open. And beyond it waited the Lord of Thirty-Three.