A Battle Between Brothers
Hugo's entire body burned with power.
The red glow of Corona Mode flickered wildly, heat radiating from his form as golden streaks of Arcana surged through his veins. His crimson eyes locked onto Xander, unwavering.
No more hesitation.No more fear.
Only the fight ahead.
Hugo gripped Cosmos tightly and called out—
"CORONA BURST!"
A violent eruption of flames blasted outward, igniting the air around him. His speed and strength surged, the raw Arcana enhancing every muscle, every fiber of his being.
Xander tilted his head slightly, watching with mild amusement.
"Not bad."
But Hugo was already moving.
In a flash of red light, he lunged.
"STRONG CORONA!"
Cosmos flared, its blade leaving behind streaks of fire as Hugo unleashed a relentless flurry of rapid slashes.
One. Two. Five. Ten.
Each strike came faster than the last, his attacks raining down with explosive precision.
The sheer speed and force shattered the ground beneath them, sending out shockwaves of heat.
Xander remained still.
Then—
CLANG.
At the last moment, he moved.
His black Arc-Blade, Vengeance, shot up, meeting every strike with perfect timing.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The sound of metal colliding at inhuman speed echoed through the ruined facility.
Xander's black eyes glowed faintly.
"Hmm."
Then—he parried hard, knocking Hugo back slightly.
Hugo landed on his feet, his red aura still blazing.
But Xander?
Completely unharmed.
He smirked. "Good speed. Good strength."
He raised Vengeance, spinning it once.
"But you'll have to do better than that."
Hugo gritted his teeth, his crimson aura flaring wildly as he locked eyes with Xander.
Despite his enhanced speed and strength, despite his relentless assault—Xander blocked everything.
Effortlessly.
Xander tilted his head slightly, spinning Vengeance with a flick of his wrist.
"That's all?" he mocked. "I thought the Hero of the Eclipse would hit harder than this."
Hugo's grip on Cosmos tightened.
Corona Mode wasn't enough.
Fine.
Then he'd use something else.
Hugo called out, his voice steady.
"Cosmos!"
The blade hummed in response, its fiery glow shifting—
Then—
"LUNA MODE!"
A pulse of icy blue energy erupted, engulfing Hugo's body.
The fiery red of Corona Mode vanished, replaced by a cool, radiant blue glow.
His eyes flashed sapphire, his clothes darkened, the golden streaks shifting into lunar silver.
The air around him turned cold, a mist-like aura forming beneath his feet.
His stance relaxed, his movements looser, unpredictable.
Xander's smirk widened slightly.
"Oh?" He rested Vengeance against his shoulder. "Now this is interesting."
Hugo exhaled, steadying himself.
He vanished.
The moment Hugo vanished, the battlefield shifted.
His red flames were gone, replaced by an eerie blue mist that curled around the broken ground. The air grew cold, the space around him distorting slightly as if reality itself was bending.
Then—
"LUNA MIRAGE."
In an instant, multiple afterimages of Hugo flickered into existence, each one moving independently, weaving through the mist with fluid, unpredictable motion.
Xander's black eyes flickered, his smirk never fading.
"Hmph. Illusions?"
He gripped Vengeance, standing his ground, his body still, but ready.
Then—
One of the afterimages attacked.
Then another.
Then all of them.
Xander moved sharply, blocking and parrying each strike with perfect precision, his blade moving so fast it left black streaks in the air.
But then—
Hugo's real body appeared above him.
"LUNA BREAK!"
He swung Cosmos downward, unleashing a crescent-shaped wave of blue Arcana energy, cutting through the air like a blade of the moon itself.
The attack screamed toward Xander, its energy warping space in its wake.
A direct hit would cleave through anything in its path.
But—
CLANG!
At the very last second, Xander raised Vengeance, blocking the full force of the attack with a single one-handed parry.
The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield, shattering the ground beneath him, but Xander remained standing.
Unmoved.
Unshaken.
His smirk widened, his black eyes gleaming.
"Not bad."
Then, with a sharp push, he swung Vengeance—and dispelled the attack completely.
Hugo landed a few meters away, his blue aura still pulsing.
Xander twirled his sword once.
"But you'll have to do better than that."
Hugo stood firm, his blue aura flickering as Luna Mode pulsed around him.
Across from him, Xander smirked, casually spinning Vengeance in his grip.
"You're using both sides of Cosmos," Xander mused. "Jumping between the Sun and Moon."
He tilted his head, his black eyes gleaming.
"But what about the Void?"
Hugo's eyes narrowed.
Something felt wrong.
Xander took a slow breath—then gripped Vengeance tightly.
"Vengeance."
The black Arc-Blade hummed—but it wasn't just a hum.
It was a voice.
A deep, distorted, twisted voice.
Just like Cosmos responded to Hugo—
Vengeance responded to Xander.
For the first time, the entire group felt it.
A presence.
A will.
Then—
"VOLTRA MODE!"
A violent explosion of black Arcana energy erupted from Xander's body, sending out a shockwave of pure void energy.
The ground cracked instantly, the surrounding air growing heavy and suffocating.
A dark mist curled around him, tendrils of anti-light flickering like black flames.
His left arm warped, growing into a monstrous, clawed appendage, veins of dark energy pulsing beneath his skin.
The right side of his face twisted, blackened with corrupted markings, his black eye glowing faintly with abyssal power.
Everyone froze.
Stella's eyes widened. "What the hell—?!"
Darius gritted his teeth. "What kind of transformation is that?!"
Lena stared in shock. "His own weapon is responding to him, just like Cosmos does to Hugo."
Ethan swallowed hard. "That's… not normal."
Iris's was shocked.
Her eyes flickered with something rare.
Worry.
She had never seen Hugo afraid of anything.
But now, as she looked at him, standing there frozen, she could see it—
That same hesitation. That same fear.
She clenched her fists.
"Hugo…" she whispered, barely audible.
She hated this.
She hated seeing him like this.
Even more than that—
She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything.
Xander flexed his clawed hand, his smirk widening into something twisted.
"Now then."
His voice was the same—yet distorted, layered with something inhuman.
"Let's see if you're still afraid of me, Hugo."
Then, in a flash of black light—
Xander vanished.
Hugo barely saw it coming.
The moment Xander vanished, the battlefield shifted.
Then—
BOOM!
A black clawed fist slammed into his gut, sending him flying back like a ragdoll.
Before he could even hit the ground—
CRACK!
Xander appeared above him, slashing down with Vengeance.
Hugo barely managed to raise Cosmos, but the force of the attack sent shockwaves through his body, blasting him into the ground.
The impact left a deep crater, the ground shattered beneath him.
Iris gasped. "Hugo!"
But before anyone could move—
Xander was already there.
SLAM!
His monstrous black claw grabbed Hugo by the face, lifting him off the ground.
Hugo struggled, gripping Xander's arm, but the void energy sapped his strength.
Xander tilted his head, almost bored.
"Is this really it?"
Then—he threw Hugo.
The Hero of the Eclipse crashed through metal pillars, his body skidding across the ruined floor.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
His vision blurred.
His arms shook.
His breathing was ragged.
He tried to stand.
But—
THUD.
His legs gave out.
He fell to his knees.
He was defeated.
Xander slowly walked toward him, his black aura pulsing.
The entire battlefield was silent.
Everyone—**Stella, Darius, Lena, Ethan, Iris—**could only watch.
He stopped in front of Hugo, looking down at him with disappointment.
"You really thought you could fight me without Eclipse Mode?"
His blackened face twisted into a smirk.
"Without it, you're nothing."
Hugo gritted his teeth, his fingers digging into the cracked ground beneath him.
Xander exhaled.
"...You're not even worth the time it would take to kill you."
Then, without another word—
He turned and walked away.
His black aura flickered, his monstrous claw slowly returning to normal as he stepped into the shadows.
Then—
He was gone.
Leaving Hugo broken.
Leaving Eclipse Zero shaken.
Leaving everything in silence.
The battlefield was silent.
Xander was gone.
And Hugo lay broken.
Blood dripped from his split lip, his body motionless, his grip on Cosmos weak.
His breathing was shallow.
He had lost.
He had lost completely.
Then—
A pair of silver eyes widened in shock.
Iris moved first.
She didn't hesitate.
She ran to Hugo's side, dropping to her knees beside him.
Her usual grin was gone.
Her voice, always filled with teasing confidence, was now shaken.
"Hugo…"
She grabbed his shoulders, her fingers trembling.
"Come on, say something," she muttered. "You're the Hero of the Eclipse, right? This isn't enough to—"
She stopped.
Because when she looked into his hollow white eyes, she saw something she never expected.
Defeat.
Not just physical.
Mental.
Hugo wasn't just hurt.
He was broken.
Iris clenched her fists, her chest tightening.
She hated this.
She hated seeing him like this.
She hated that she couldn't do anything.
She hated that she wasn't strong enough to stop this from happening.
A few feet away, Stella stood frozen.
She should have moved.She should have rushed to Hugo's side first.
But she hadn't.
She had just stood there.
Watching.
Useless.
Her hands curled into fists.
"I should've been the first one there."
"I should've been the one beside him."
"Why… why wasn't I?"
Her eyes flickered, filled with something heavy.
She wasn't just angry about losing.
She was angry at herself.
And for the first time, a thought crept into her mind—one that she hated.
"Maybe I'm just not strong enough to be by his side."
The thought burned, but she couldn't shake it.
As she stood there, her heart felt heavier than ever.
The tension was suffocating.
Iris was still kneeling beside Hugo, trying to get a response from him.Stella stood frozen, her own thoughts weighing her down.Lena was injured, Ethan still checking her wounds.The entire team was shaken.
Then—
Darius spoke up.
"Alright," he muttered. "Enough of this."
Everyone looked at him.
Darius, despite the heavy atmosphere, forced out a cocky smirk.
"Look, I get it. Boss just got his ass kicked for the first time ever," he said, crossing his arms. "It sucks. Feels real bad."
"But sitting here moping about it? That's not gonna help."
His red eyes hardened.
"We need to move. Now."
Lena groaned, slowly trying to stand with Ethan's help. "For once, I agree with meathead over here."
Darius glanced down at Hugo, who still hadn't moved.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Boss, I don't know what's going on in your head right now," he muttered. "But we still got a job to do."
"We came here to get evidence on the Dominion's war plans."
"We got that evidence."
"We destroyed the relic"
"And We freed the damn Chrono Reapers."
"So let's go before more enemies show up, yeah?"
Silence.
Then—
Hugo finally stirred.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, his body weak but still moving.
He didn't say anything.
But he didn't have to.
He was still in this fight.
Darius smirked. "There we go."
He turned toward the others.
"Alright, Eclipse Zero—we're getting out of here."
The team moved.
The escape had begun.
The team moved quickly, pushing through the ruined corridors of the Dominion facility.
The alarms had stopped.
The Dominion forces? Scattered.
Xander's presence alone had been enough to leave the base in disarray. No one was expecting Eclipse Zero to still be standing.
And right now—that was their only advantage.
Lena, still recovering from her injuries, leaned on Ethan for support.
Iris kept stealing glances at Hugo, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Darius was leading the group, eyes sharp, making sure no last-minute surprises showed up.
Stella stayed near the back, her hands clenched into fists, silent.
And Hugo—
He was walking.
Not saying a word.
Not looking at anyone.
Just moving.
The weight of defeat still lingered on his shoulders.
But at least—they were alive.
The team slipped through a side passage, avoiding the wreckage left behind by the Chrono Reapers' rampage.
Eventually—
They saw it.
The exit.
Cold night air rushed in as they stepped outside, the dark sky stretching above them.
For a moment—no one spoke.
Then—
Darius exhaled loudly. "Whew! Well, that sucked."
Lena groaned. "Understatement of the damn year."
Ethan, still holding onto her, muttered, "Can we just go home now?"
Iris glanced at Hugo, hesitating for a moment—then sighed.
"Agreed."
The mission was over.
And Eclipse Zero had survived.
But the scars from this night?
They would last much longer.