Floyd struck first. His crimson wings flared as he launched himself skyward, his scarlet skin and blood-red blades radiating an otherworldly power. He laughed down at Deal, who stood motionless below, his sword emanating a brilliant white aura.
"It's time for you to perish," Floyd snarled, diving with inhuman velocity.
Deal barely dodged and swung his blade in a desperate arc, but Floyd twisted away mid-flight. Opening his jaws impossibly wide, he unleashed what appeared to be a barrage of small crimson projectiles—rapid-fire bullets streaming from his mouth like a demonic machine gun. The projectiles tore through the air, converging on Deal's position with murderous intent.
Deal evaded nearly every shot, though several found their mark, driving him backward with staggering force. Each impact felt like a sledgehammer to his ribs. The sheer power behind even these minor attacks sent tremors through his body, rattling his bones. He could scarcely imagine the devastation Floyd's physical strikes—or worse, his advanced techniques—might inflict.
Floyd's twin blades blazed even brighter, a crimson aura engulfing them completely. He thrust both weapons downward in a vicious strike. Deal caught the blades with his bare hands, but they sliced through his flesh like paper, nearly impaling his palms entirely. Blood poured from the wounds.
*How much power does this monster possess?* Deal's mind reeled. *Floyd... you're inhuman.*
Ordinarily, opponents proved manageable—weaker than him, at least. Even formidable adversaries fell before his abilities, powers that rendered him virtually indestructible. Yet somehow Floyd's crimson energy negated everything Deal understood about his own strength. This wasn't just a fight—this was annihilation.
An invisible force wrenched the swords from Deal's bleeding hands, sending them spinning back to Floyd, who snatched them from the air with a savage laugh that echoed across the desert.
"Pathetic," Floyd spat, his obsidian eyes bleeding to crimson. "Nothing can save you now."
Everything transformed to blood-red—everything except his hair and clothing. Floyd opened his mouth again, charging a concentrated sphere of scarlet energy. The orb swelled, expanding relentlessly, crackling with raw destructive power until finally—
The red beam of energy erupted forth, screaming toward Deal. Deal flew backward, creating enough distance to charge his own attack. He opened his mouth and did the same thing Floyd had, but with a white aura instead of red. The white beam shot out and struck the red one, creating a thunderous clap throughout the entirety of the crimson desert. Thankfully, no one was able to hear it due to how far away from civilization they were.
The sand lifted into the air and soon began to disintegrate from the amount of pressure the two beams exerted as they collided, and from the amount of heat they radiated. Some grains even fused into tiny orbs of glass. The very air seemed to scream.
But eventually, the red beam overwhelmed the white one. Floyd's energy began to consume Deal's attack, swallowing it whole. The crimson torrent blasted Deal backward as it struck him, beginning to scorch his body. His white hair turned partially black in small patches. His skin looked unaffected but heated up dangerously—not burning, but cooking from within.
Deal hit the ground with a massive shockwave that formed a crater around him, sprouting outward like a wound in the earth. The crater was deep, and he fell into it, tumbling down into the darkness. Deal lay at the bottom, his eyes nearly closed.
*How is he so strong?* Deal thought desperately. *I can't... I have to keep fighting.*
Deal stood up. Though his body was weak, he still managed to summon the strength to rise. But then he saw a bird-like figure descend into the crater. Floyd stood, his crimson wings flapping as he floated above, savoring his dominance.
Floyd abandoned his blades and began to create two enormous swords out of red energy. The weapons looked colossal and lethally sharp—if they were to strike Deal, they would decapitate him instantly without Floyd breaking a sweat. Even using his white power probably wouldn't stop them.
*Oh no. I'm dead. There's only one thing I can use now, and I'm pretty sure this will work.*
Deal's entire body began to transform. His hair was already white, but when Deal finished transforming, his entire body had turned luminous white—besides his clothing, which remained its original color. He stood up, seemingly healed from Floyd's initial blast.
"I'm not done with you yet," Deal said, but Floyd just laughed, the sound dripping with contempt.
The massive swords fell toward Deal. Deal found himself paralyzed—either by fear or by the overwhelming pressure the swords exuded. The weight of just those two weapons was astronomical, crushing the air itself.
Deal's body vanished beneath the strike.
"What? You got no last words?" Floyd's voice echoed as Deal's body fell to the ground, his head clearly severed.
Floyd stood as his skin turned back to normal—painless white. His eyes reverted to black as his power left him. He floated up out of the crater and collapsed to the ground, unconscious. He had won the fight. Deal had died, and now there would be nothing to stop him from doing what he wanted. He had total freedom.
A young woman walked along the bottom of the crater. She had dark hair and purple eyes, wore a calm expression on her face, and had a pointed hat atop her head. Her clothing was pitch black. She walked over toward Deal's decapitated body.
"A good one has fallen," the woman said softly. "Well, only one thing to do."
She extended her hand. A purple glow surrounded it as Deal's decapitated body began to knit itself back together. The head reattached itself to Deal's body, and Deal soon stood up.
"Now then," the woman said.
"Deal." Deal looked at her as if he had no soul in him whatsoever. He spoke in a monotone voice.
"Yes, Lord Sabrina."
Sabrina smiled. "I'm going to train you, and we're going to kill your killer," she said with a smile on her face. "We're going to kill Floyd."
Deal nodded.
And now a witch was on the loose.