The Fated Battle Between Rivals, Part 2

"Should we kick this fight up a notch, demon?" Mikey asks with a surprising smirk.

"Yeah," I answer as I smirk back at Mikey. "I've been taking it easy on you, all the time."

A rush of dark-blue Cursed Power bursts from my body, as a rush of flame-red Cursed Power explodes out of Mikey's body as well.

My entire head of hair turns snow-white, as the vines across my entire body begins to glow bright blue. My hands and wrists morph into scaly, black claws, as my feet and ankles morph into matching scaly, black talons. The whites of my eyes turn black, as my pupils turn white. And finally; my eyes deepen into a darker shade of blue, as a white ring outlines both of my eyes. I wrap my wind around my ankles, forming my Sky God's Anklets, before wrapping a tornado around the blade of my katana and condensing it into my Sky God's Katana, while extending the blade of my katana to match it.

As for Mikey, his flame-red Cursed Power begins to mold itself to Mikey's body and solidify, taking the form of dark-red, magma-plated armor covering Mikey's body and clothes, from his fists to right below his shoulders, and from his foot to his thigh, and finally, around Mikey's eyes from ear to ear, with crimson horns jutting out of the side of Mikey's head. Mikey's hair turns into fire itself. A steady stream of black smoke spews from Mikey's lips with each breath.

"BLUE DEMON!"

"CRIMSON COAT!"

Our battle resumes upon Mikey entering his Crimson Coat mode and me entering my Blue Demon mode.

Mikey and I charge one another, exchanging thousands of melee blows, my katana against Mikey's dual pistols, my wind against Mikey's fire, fist to fist, elbow per elbow, kick per kick. Mikey and I are able to dodge and counter every last one of each other's techniques. No matter what attack I pull out, Mikey has an answer for it. And no matter what attack Mikey uses, I have a counter for it. Even with my Air Control, Mikey is able to keep up with me. And even my Air Control isn't enough to allow me to parry all of Mikey's attacks.

With each attack, I can feel Mikey's bloodlust, his desire to kill me, as if Mikey is attacking me with his will-imposed Cursed Power Burst, which makes his attacks even more powerful.

So this is what Nick meant when he said that strong fighters can communicate with one another just with their fists alone, all those years ago…

Mikey goes for a punch, but I sidestep and catch his arm.

I land a punch upon Mikey's chin before reaching behind his head and bringing Mikey's gut down into a triple knee-kick.

I then pivot, and hook my leg behind Mikey's and sweep him off of his feet, causing Mikey to land on the ground on his rear.

I then crouch down and shoot another fist towards Mikey, but Mikey counters with a hook block and catches my arm.

Mikey then hooks the back of my knee, pulling me in, before snap-kicking me in the chest, sending me tumbling over.

Mikey then crouches down and aims a swift punch towards my face, but I manage to roll over and dodge Mikey's attack before it can connect.

Mikey's fist then slams into the ground where my face once was, forming a huge crater in the floor.

Yikes. Good thing I dodged…

"So how about that, Mikey. It seems like we're about even, aren't we?" I ask with a smirk as I push myself off of the ground and back up to my feet.

Mikey snorts in response as he pulls his fist out of the crater and turns to face me. "This is what happens when you try to kill someone a couple dozen times," Mikey replies with a smirk. "You're able to tell what they're thinkin' at a certain point."

After our quick taunts, Mikey and I continue our fight.

Mikey aims the barrels of his dual pistols at me.

In return, I stick both hands out to my sides and construct a dozen long, pointed needles made out of wind.

Mikey then squeezes the triggers of his dual pistols, firing off a volley of flaming bullets towards me, while I swipe my hands forwards Mikey in response, sending my array of wind needles flying towards him.

But as our two attacks fly towards one another…the unexpected happens.

Rather than colliding, my wind needles and Mikey's flaming bullets manage to maneuver out of the way and evade one another, before continuing on towards Mikey and I.

Before I can react, I feel a wave of pain course through my entire body, starting from the center of my chest. My eyes widen as I slowly strain them down, peering down at the dozens of scorching, gaping holes in the center of my chest, oozing with blood thanks to Mikey's bullets. I then slowly strain my eyes over to Mikey as well, seeing that he's in no better of a state than eye, as Mikey has an equally as large bloody hole standing in the center of his chest, pierced by my array of wind needles.

Slowly, I strain my eyes up to meet Mikey's as he stares back at me in fear and agony.

"Sh…it…" I weakly manage to croak out before falling to the ground, forced out of my Blue Demon mode. Mikey drops to the floor as well, too exhausted to remain in his Crimson Coat mode, as well. And as we do, my katana slips out of my hands and falls to the ground…

And shatters into thousands of pieces.

There Mikey and I remain, the two of us laying deathly still on the floor, wallowing in a pool of our own blood.

"I thought…only one of us was supposed to die…?" I weakly ask Mikey.

"Sorry…" Mikey as weakly apologizes. "I guess I'm just too strong…"

And then…everything goes black.

***

When Pestilence opens his eyes again, he sees that he's been chopped in half, with the served Conquest half writhing on the ground beside him. "Thank you…Ella Calia…" Pestilence weakly says as his eye flickers up to meet Ella's.

"Oh…you're still alive…" Ella gags. "This must hurt a lot."

"I can survive being chopped in half-" Pestilence begins to say, before coughing up a glob of blood. "-Just for not for long."

"But I can heal you!" Ella cries as she takes a step closer to Pestilence. "I can heal you and you'll be al-"

"No," Pestilence orders, causing Ella to pause as tears begin welling up at the edges of her eyes. "Even you won't be able to heal me now. And besides -even if you could- despite having cut the Conquest half off of me, he'll come back. And then there'll be no stopping his wrath. I must die now, to protect everyone. It's alright"

"NO, IT'S NOT ALRIGHT!" Ella cries, causing Pestlence's eyes to widen. "You need to live, Mr Tramontana! For your family, for Luis!"

"Don't worry, I've lived long enough," Pestilence replies with a warm smile. "I promised my first wife and son that I'd come back for them, and I've kept them waiting for too long now. I just hope…that they'll forgive me. And that they'll get along well with Abigail, Luis, and Gabby in a few more decades."

"But Luis needs you, your his family!" Ella cries.

"My son doesn't need me any more," Pestilence replies with a sad smile as he motions to Ella, as well as Grover, Jamie, and Austin behind him. "He has a new family, now. Luis…you should have heard that way he spoke of Nicholas Boras…you would think that he was his real father! Not that I blame him…" Pestilence continues with an awkward chuckle. "But he needs you. Ella, ven if you manage to defeat the remaining three members of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the portal to Hell will remain open," Pestilence explains. "If the Portal to Hellisn't closed…then nothing won't change. More powerful demons will arise, and threaten Earth, just as the Four Horsemen did. But there's a way to close the Portal to Hell."

"H-how?" Ella hiccups.

"Take that katana and bring it to Luis," Pestilence orders as Ella peers down at the sword in her hands. "That katana belonged to the Demon God, Luis' older brother. If he can tap into the Cursed Ability of his older brother, with your Demon Seal eye, you two can close the portal to Hell for good, and save the world!"

"How…do we close the portal to Hell…?" Ella asks.

"Don't worry. When Luis takes a hold of that katana…he'll know everything that you need to know," Pestilence answers. "Luis has already developed the Cursed Ability that he needs to close the portal to Hell; Air Control. And although he may not realIze it …Air Control is a precursor to a much, much stronger Cursed Ability."

Ella's eyes widen with realization. "So Luis uses this upgraded Air Control Cursed Ability of his…and I use my Demon Seal to close the portal to Hell?" Ella asks.

"Yes, Pestilence nods. "Ella…I've already asked so much of you, but may I please ask you one more favor?"

"Anything, Mr Tramomntana!" Ella wails, tears streaming down her face. "Anything for you!"

"Tell my family…that I love them…"

"Yes…sir…" Ella sobs with a confident scowl. "I will!"

"Thank you…" Pestilence replies as his body limply flops to the ground. "-my future daughter in law."

And then…Petilence's eyes flutter closed.

Pestilence, no…Luis Tramonatan Sr…has died.

And Conquest of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has died with him.