The Star

[The Star has requested to join the duel!]

Staring at the panel, Joshua's scowl instead turned into a disappointed frown.

"Really, Star? You're trying this nonsense again? You know you can't save him from Fate, right?"

Vulcan shrugged in response.

"That's up to me to decide."

Joshua laughed mockingly,

"Whatever, I'll just refuse and—"

Right before he had the chance to confirm his decision. Vulcan uttered something that instantly caught his attention, a sense of displeasure spread across his face. Contorting his expression into something grotesque.

"Repeat that for me?"

Vulcan's grin lowered, as if dismissing his aggression. 

"I just said if you're scared of losing to a woman, you can just say so."

"I am not!"

Without thinking, Joshua pressed something on the panel. Instantly, Vulcan's impish expression became several times more sinister. Snapping her fingers, she glanced at Sebastian. Even without words, he seemed to understand what she was expressing.

'This guy is so sad it's actually funny.'

[ The Star has entered the fray! Continue! ]

A mere instant prior to the duo's reactions, Joshua moved. Compared to Vulcan, the difference in physicality wasn't nearly as massive but was no less apparent. He was able to cross the distance between himself and Sebastian in a single movement.

Maneuvering behind the erected barrier, he shot forth. Plunging his fist directly into the center of Sebastian's ribcage. His fist plummeted so deeply, Sebastian feared it nearly reached his heart.

The impact of the blow was enough to send him flying backward through the holes made from their battle. Causing him to collide with piles upon piles of debris as he fell from the third to the second floor.

Sucking her teeth, Vulcan rushed into action. The ground beneath her rumbled loudly as it shifted and churned. The scene was inexplicably eerie, as if she were being surrounded and stalked by a massive snake.

Thankfully, the earth was under Vulcan's control, and thus the only people who needed to worry were those she was fighting.

The living earth surged forward, ripping through space like a vicious predator. What was previously no more than a tendril of liquified earth began to take on a more complex form — shaping a literal serpentine beast of rock and metal.

"You and your tricks, should I be surprised?"

Joshua irritatedly turned away from Sebastian and walked directly into Vulcan's trajectory.

When performed by him, a seemingly foolish action turned into something truly disconcerting. Nevertheless, Vulcan did not dismiss the rock snake.

This was her first mistake.

Without warning, the snake began to tremble. Its head suddenly coated in a strange, golden dust. 

With a snap of his finger, Joshua's lips formed into a prideful smile once more.

"It seems I just can't help but to win! Woe is me!"

The pup beside him grimaced, as if disappointed in its supposed master. Joshua, of course, paid the poor canine no mind.

Neither Sebastian—who'd been thrown into the lower floor—nor Vulcan could've predicted what happened next. As the rock serpent twitched and contorted itself, the strange stones began to…whittle?

Yes, second by second the snake was rapidly being torn apart. As if it were being devoured by millions of imperceivable termites. But how? Why?

Vulcan wasn't given the chance to ponder, as the disjointed stones began to fall upon her. Their massive size reducing any chance of evasion she may have had.

Her heartbeat quickened, blood rushing through her veins as her mind went into overdrive—searching for an action that'd save her from impending doom. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the genius scientist to configure a solution.

Raising her hand, Vulcan's impish smile turned devilish. Even Joshua felt as if he could feel her concealed eyes piercing through him, prompting his own grin to lower.

"I admit, you had me stunned for a moment. Was that another effect of The Fool? Typical."

The falling stones instantly halted, pausing directly over her frame. With a mere flick of her finger, the rocks began to abide by her command. Positioning themselves in an orderly manner on the surface.

A plaguing sense of doubt began to crawl up Joshua's spine, forcing his smile to become a rictus of both fear and hesitation.

"Y-You think you can just undo my moves? How dare you!"

Sebastian—still sprawled among a pile of debris—grimaced at Joshua's idiocy. Just how self-absorbed can a person be to say such a thing?

His own time was running thin, however. There wasn't enough time to critique his opponent, after all the injuries he'd sustained would take him out eventually. It was just a matter of how much he'd do before that'd happen.

Yet…he felt drained. Or more specifically, it was as if he couldn't move at all.

It wasn't long before he realized he was hesitating. But why? 

"He's a douchebag! I'm allowed to knock some sense into him!"

'But are you worthy of being the one to do it?'

His own thoughts criticized his behavior. Their reprimands felt like chains binding his limbs together, forcing him to question his own actions.

The floodgate opened, forcing doubt upon doubt to enter. Halting him from doing anything.

'He's worth so much more than you, why are you even trying?'

'It'd be better if you just died for his sake. He could do better for this world than you ever would.'

'Let Vulcan handle it, at the very least let someone who knows what they're doing take the achievement.'

Sebastian's throat tightened and his chest felt heavy. Slow, yet lamentful breaths escaped his trembling lips as his eyes moistened..

Maybe…maybe his doubts were right. Perhaps he should just die here and let the others succeed.

That's all a coward like him was good for, anyways.

"No!"

In a sudden burst of power, Sebastian forced himself onto his feet. His muscles—strained and sore—exerted as much force as possible to keep him moving. To keep him conscious.

He couldn't die now, he couldn't lose. Because it wasn't simply his life on the line.

It was Baba's, it was her granddaughter's, it was Elizabeth's.

They relied on him to survive. Sure, they'd be able to scrape by for a little while, but in the Lower District there was simply no way for an elderly woman to succeed for long without external support. Elizabeth would be no different as someone without any living family.

He had to support them. He had to keep them alive.

He had to live.

Hurriedly retrieving the rebar he'd used to attack Joshua before, Sebastian observed his surroundings. Though most of the lower floor had been reduced to dust and rubble, there were still some portions that were less affected by the chaos.

Thankfully, one of those areas happened to be the ladder leading up into the floor above. Where both Vulcan and Joshua could be heard furiously battling.

His eyes glistened with newfound determination as he rushed forward. Leaping over the small portion of the ladder which had crumbled beneath a large piece of debris and grabbing onto its rail as he pulled himself up.

'Hang on just a moment longer, Vulcan!'

With that final thought, he swiftly began his climb.

***

'Urgh! What is with him?!'

Vulcan—who'd used a pillar of rock to raise herself onto Joshua's floor—was struggling to keep up with Joshua's onslaught of evasions and counterattacks.

There wasn't even the slightest opening in any of his movements, even despite his clearly apparent frustration toward The Star. It wasn't simply like she was outskilled, but rather it was as if each of Joshua's attacks were conveniently placed in such a manner they couldn't be countered.

Every kick was just close enough to his body to keep it from being grabbed, every punch was thrown at just the right movement to keep Vulcan from reacting, every movement had just enough momentum to be stopped if it put him at risk.

When his attacks hit, they hit at just the right spot to make them hurt like hell. And far more landed than missed.

Rather than a matter of skill, it was like his fighting style was purely reliant on 'luck'.

In a lot of ways, that was even more terrifying than an expert who'd practiced their style for decades. Because while an expert was formulaic, there was absolutely no pattern to any of Joshua's movements.

"What's wrong, Star? Is my magnificence blinding you?"

A brisk kick was thrown toward Vulcan's side, only to be barely blocked by a thin wall of concrete.

"Ugh! Shut up!"

Vulcan immediately transformed the wall into a set of arrows, which were shot in Joshua's direction. Alas, she wasn't exactly hopeful of the result considering she'd tried to do so before.

As expected, each arrow completely missed him. Either somehow managing to bash against one another and thus being knocked out from their trajectory, or simply missing their target.

'This is getting on my nerves! How am I meant to hit someone who just lucks their way out of every attack?'

Narrowly avoiding another strike, Vulcan backed away. Hoping to spend some time planning her course of action. Had Sebastian been here, her options would've been significantly broader. But now she was on her own.

'Worst case scenario I just implode this whole building. But knowing him the bastard would probably live through that as well!'

"Tell you what, Star. You give up right now and I'll let you live. I only need 5 victories anyway, and I guarantee you I can handle the others."

Vulcan scowled at Joshua's suggestion, keeping her guard up in case he tried anything.

"Are you kidding? As if I'd trust whatever messed up fate you're gonna bring on the world!"

Joshua chuckled, as if he were speaking to a bratty child.

"The Fool symbolizes new beginnings, change, risk! You think the wheel symbolizes the end of a cycle? It's the cycle itself, fool!"

Vulcan shook her head.

"You've learned Reversal, though, haven't you? Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to destroy that snake earlier. For all I know you could mean the end of the star system as we know it."

Joshua's face darkened, a slight hint of guilt present in his eyes. Nevertheless, his prideful demeanor hadn't subsided at all.

"If that's how you'll be, fine! It'll be far easier to just get rid of you here than deal with you later, anyways."

With that, Joshua shot forward once more. But unsurprisingly the ground beneath him crumbled, prompting him to dart backward to avoid falling.

Vulcan's back was up against the wall—literally and figuratively—she couldn't beat Joshua on her own. Not with his abilities and strength. There was something missing from her plan of action. Something vital.

Just one more variable! If she could find that single factor for victory, the whole equation would come together.

"Vulcan! Hey! Over here!"

Hiding below the floor whilst hanging onto the ladder, Sebastian whispered for Vulcan's attention. Trying his best to remain unseen by Joshua.

Vulcan snapped her fingers.

"Go away! I'm thinking…"

She paused.

"Sebastian?! How are you—no it doesn't matter. It's a good thing you're here, I was on the ropes!"

Sebastian shrugged to the best of his ability, considering he still had to hang onto the ladder or risk falling into the pit of debris below.

With her final variable in play, Vulcan immediately erected a massive barrier constructed of the concrete around them. Walls were liquified, windows treated the same, the only thing left untouched was the floor itself.

Obviously, Joshua wasn't amused by this at all. He rushed toward the barrier and began pummeling it with an endless onslaught of strikes. This barrier was more durable than the one she'd used to protect Sebastian, but Vulcan imagined it wouldn't last long.

"We don't have much time, so I'll keep this short. I need you to spin the hell out of that wheel. As soon as it stops spinning, spin again, and again, until the bastard is out. And if you can help it, try and throw as many attacks at him as possible."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"What's the point in that? Won't his luck just ruin everything? I'm pretty sure he completely overpowers mine."

Shaking her head Vulcan used what little materials remained to recover some destroyed portions of the barrier.

"There's a difference between Luck and Fortune. Luck is born purely off of random chance, it doesn't need pre-existing conditions to exist. Fortune, on the other hand, is born from already existing factors."

Ensuring Sebastian got that much, she continued.

"The thing is, Luck can be driven into a corner. The more factors that exist, the more it has to compromise. If he's surrounded from all sides with bullets, Luck would cause an earthquake to somehow protect him. As a result, he could still end up being injured—just less significantly."

Sebastian nodded.

"So basically, overload him with so many factors his own luck will have no choice but to compromise damage in favor of keeping him alive?"

Vulcan whistled proudly, "Now you're getting it!"

With his resolve reinvigorated, Sebastian readied himself for the ensuing battle. The wall was already close to collapse, and thus there was no point in using it for protection.

The final stretch was soon to come, now it was up to him to keep providing the 'factors' necessary for their victory.

"What're we waiting for then? Let's beat this bastard!"

With a shout, Vulcan released the barrier. Reshaping its form into a battering ram-like shape before commanding it to charge forth. Taken by surprise, Joshua was barely able to block in time before he was knocked a significant distance away. Landing on the streets below.

The final battle had begun.

The question was, who'd come out victorious?