He swung his arm in a wide arc, a concentrated ribbon of gale-force wind lashing out like a sentient whip.

WHACK CRACK!

The wind caught Rex across the jaw, the force so immense it snapped the titan’s head to the side, the sound of the impact echoing like a whip cracking against a stone wall.

Rex growled, a sound of pure, wounded pride, trying to swing a heavy fist at the blur of blue light, but Veylor was already gone.

"STRIKE THREE: CYCLONE BURST!"

Veylor appeared above Rex, his hands pressed downward.

VREEEEE!

A localized, high-pressure downdraft slammed into Rex’s head, forcing him back toward the earth.

THUD!

"Did you see that, Iris?!" Veylor’s voice was a triumphant melody amidst the chaos, his confidence soaring as high as his altitude.

He was performing a ballet of destruction intended for an audience of one. "I’m just getting started!"

"Don’t blink, or you’ll miss the best part!"

He descended like a falling star, his energy spiraling around him in a massive, roaring vortex. He was gathering every scrap of wind in the plaza, every gust, every breeze, every thermal, into a single, devastating point of focus.

"ULTIMATE COMBO: THE TEMPEST GOD’S JUDGMENT!"

KRRRRRR BOOOOOOOM!

Veylor became a blur of white and cyan light. He struck Rex with a barrage of a hundred rapid-fire air-pressure punches, where each one hit with the force of a cannonball.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

He followed with a spinning kick that sent a crescent wave of wind slicing through Rex’s midsection SHLICK! and finished by slamming his palms against Rex’s chest, releasing a massive, concentrated explosion of atmospheric pressure.

KRA KOOOOOOOM!

The explosion sent a massive cloud of dust and debris erupting outward. Rex was sent hurtling backward, his body skipping across the ground like a stone across a lake, carving a massive, bloody furrow through the plaza.

SKREEEEEEE!

Veylor hovered in the center of the settling dust, his chest heaving, his hair windswept and wild, a confident, dazzling smirk on his face as he looked down at the carnage. He looked every bit the legendary hero, the master of the skies, waiting for the applause of the woman he loved.

The dust from Veylor’s massive explosion hadn’t even settled before the air began to vibrate with a low, ominous hum. Rex wasn’t dead; he was recovering.

He rose from the bloody furrow in the earth, his skin bruised a deep, angry purple, his breathing heavy and ragged. He wiped a smear of dark blood from his lip, his eyes burning with a renewed, terrifying madness.

"Impressive... little bird," Rex rasped, his voice sounding like grinding tectonic plates. "But a bird that flies too high... is just an easier target for the storm."

Veylor didn’t wait for him to finish. The adrenaline was a drug in his veins, a roaring fire that burned away the exhaustion of the gravity well.

He looked down at Iris, seeing her gaze fixed on him not with the pity he expected, but with wide-eyed, breathless awe. That look was all the fuel he needed.

"You want to see a god of the sky, Tremor?" Veylor’s voice dropped an octave, becoming a resonant, melodic roar that cut through the settling debris. "Then stop looking at the ground and LOOK UP!"

FSSSHHHHHHHH!

Veylor ignited. His energy didn’t just glow; it erupted in a violent, cyan supernova.

He didn’t just fly; he became a streak of pure kinetic energy.

"FIRST FORM: GALE FORCE REVOLVER!"

Veylor descended like a falling star, spinning his entire body into a high-velocity drill of compressed air.

WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

The sound was a piercing, ultrasonic scream. He slammed into Rex’s chest with the force of a meteor.

KRA THOOOOOM!

The impact didn’t just hit; it penetrated. The air pressure acted like a physical drill, carving a deep, bloody indentation into Rex’s sternum.

CRUNCH!

The sound of Rex’s ribs buckling under the atmospheric pressure was sickeningly audible.

"Too slow, Tremor!" Veylor shouted, already pivoting mid-air.

He used the momentum of the impact to flip backward, his feet catching the air as if it were solid ground. "You’re too heavy! You’re anchored to a dying world!"

"SECOND FORM: THE SHATTERING SONIC BOOM!"

Veylor clapped his hands together with a violent, snapping motion.

CLAP!

A massive, invisible wall of compressed air shot forward, a horizontal blade of wind so sharp it sliced through the very air itself.

SHIIIIIIIIING!

The wave hit Rex squarely in the midsection.

THWACK!

The force was so concentrated it didn’t just push him; it ripped. A jagged, bloody laceration opened across Rex’s abdomen, spraying dark ichor across the stones.

SPLASH!

"Iris! Did you see that?!" Veylor called out, his voice brimming with a cocky, exhilarating joy.

He was performing a dance of death, and he was loving every second of it. He was no longer the boy trying to survive; he was the master of the heavens!

"THIRD FORM: TWISTER LANCE VERTICAL ASCENSION!"

Veylor dove under Rex’s guard, his hands glowing with swirling, miniature hurricanes. He drove both palms into Rex’s solar plexus.

VREEEEEEEEE!

A massive upward surge of wind exploded from the point of contact.

BOOOOOOOOM!

Rex was launched skyward, his massive body soaring into the air like a discarded ragdoll.

WHOOOOOOSH!

"Don’t blink, Iris! Because the sky is about to fall on him!" Veylor yelled, his eyes locked on the rising titan.

He didn’t let Rex reach the apex. Veylor vanished, moving so fast he left afterimages of blue light in his wake.

He appeared above Rex, silhouetted against the sun, looking down with the predatory grace of a hawk.

"FOURTH FORM: THE TEMPEST’S WRATH RAZOR RAIN!"

Veylor swung his arms in a wide, sweeping motion, and the air itself seemed to fracture into thousands of tiny, microscopic blades of wind.

SHLICK! SHLICK! SHLICK! SHLICK!

A torrential downpour of invisible, high-velocity air slashes descended upon Rex. Each one hit with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel and the force of a whip.

SLASH! CUT! RIP!

Rex’s skin was shredded, his muscles weeping blood as the "rain" carved a thousand tiny wounds into his massive frame.

"You’re nothing but a mountain of meat!" Veylor roared, his voice echoing through the entire plaza.

He began his final descent, his energy swirling around him in a massive, roaring cyclone that dwarfed everything else. The air was screaming, the ground was vibrating, and the very atmosphere felt like it was about to ignite.

"ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE: THE CELESTIAL SUPERNOVA!"

Veylor gathered every ounce of his remaining energy, compressing it into a single, infinitesimal point at the tip of his outstretched finger. The air around him began to warp and distort, creating a vacuum of terrifying intensity.

VREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

"Watch this, Iris! WATCH ME!"

He drove his hand downward, releasing the compressed heavens in a single, catastrophic burst of pure, unbridled wind pressure.

KRA KAAAAAAA BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A pillar of cyan light and white wind erupted from the sky, slamming into Rex with the force of a collapsing star. The ground beneath them groaned and shattered, sending a shockwave that leveled the remaining ruins of the plaza.

CRACK! SHATTER! ROAR!

The sound was deafening, a thunderous explosion of divine fury that seemed to shake the very foundations of the world.

The colossal pillar of cyan light slowly ebbed away, leaving behind a landscape that looked like it had been struck by a divine hammer. A thick, choking fog of pulverized stone and steam rose from the crater, obscuring the center of the battlefield.

Veylor hung in the air, his silhouette trembling. His energy was a flickering candle in a hurricane; his lungs felt like they were filled with broken glass, and every muscle in his body screamed in a chorus of agony.

"HAA... HAA... HAA..."

He had given everything. He had poured his very soul into that final strike, a desperate, beautiful display of power intended to end the nightmare and win the heart of the woman he loved.

He looked down through the haze, his eyes searching for Iris, waiting for the look of triumph, the smile, the recognition.

But the silence that followed was not the silence of victory. It was the heavy, suffocating silence of a tomb.

"GULP..."

A sound emerged from the center of the crater. Not a groan of pain, but a low, rhythmic, terrifyingly stable sound.

"Heh... hehe... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter erupted from the dust, a deep, guttural, and mocking sound that sent a fresh wave of dread washing over Veylor. As the debris cleared, the silhouette of Rex emerged.

Veylor’s heart plummeted. The wounds the deep, jagged gashes across his abdomen, the shattered ribs, the shredded skin from the razor rain were gone.

The flesh was knitting itself back together in real time, a grotesque, mesmerizing display of [Infinite Regeneration] and [Supreme Healing]. The blood was being reabsorbed, the scars vanishing before the eyes could even register them.

Rex stood there, his skin unblemished, his muscles rippling with a terrifying, renewed vitality. He looked as if he hadn’t just survived a supernova, but had merely taken a refreshing bath.

"Is that... is that it?" Rex asked, his voice dripping with a sadistic, condescending amusement.

He stepped out of the crater, the ground thudding heavily under his feet.

THOOM. THOOM.

Rex looked up at Veylor, his eyes narrowing with pure, unadulterated mockery. "All that noise... all that flashy, sparkling light... just to impress a girl?"

Veylor flinched as if he’d been struck. "What...?"

"You looked like a fucking clown up there!" Rex roared, his laughter turning into a mocking jeer. "A pathetic, desperate little simp! ’Watch me, Iris! Look at me, Iris!’ HAHAHA!"

"You weren’t fighting a war; you were performing a goddamn circus act!"

"You poured your life into a show because you wanted a girl to clap for you!"

"You’re not a warrior, Veylor... you’re a fucking CLOWN!"