Is it wrong to stop the dark age

Loving embrace

"Yo. It's been a while."

Zald lowered his greatsword and turned around. Astraea's eyes widened in shock, and Haruhime's filled with tears.

Bell was standing before them. His glasses were off, and dried blood was on his face. His hair was disheveled and bloodied, along with his clothes. He was hunched over slightly with a wicked smile on his face.

Astraea stepped away from Zald, who looked at his nephew in astonishment.

"How are you still alive? Don't tell me-

"I figured it out. I figured it out. Once you drove that knife through my throat, I stopped focusing on counterattacking and poured everything I had into my reverse cursed technique. It took so long, but I finally figured it out," Bell laughed.

"He's lost it," Zald thought.

"I don't know why, but it all became clear. I never had a reference, but it was like an epiphany happened, and as I was healing myself, I realized. You should've cut off my head, you dumb son of a bitch"

"Reverse cursed technique or not. I'll defeat you again. This era of adventurers is weak. Just because you hold a special ability doesn't make you strong."

"You're right! You're right! You're right! You're absolutely right! This generation is weak. They're nothing compared to Gramps and the old lady! But I'm the son of both of them! My potential far outshines yours!"

"Don't get cocky, boy. You couldn't defeat me before. What makes you think it'll happen this time?"

"Why?! Why?! It's simple. It's because I finally figured it out! I figured it out!"

"It matters not. Reverse cursed technique or not. I'll simply bring you down again and kill the god-

"Red"

A small red orb shot forth from Bell's finger. Zald quickly raised his sword and blocked it, but the sheer force sent him skidding back.

His back slammed into a wall, cashing it to break under his weight. Lucky for Bell, no one was around. Folkvangr was deemed too volatile of a place to live by.

Which meant Bell didn't have to worry about civilian casualties.

Zald pushed himself up and dusted himself off.

"Alright, that's new. Nothing's broken, but everything hurts. I can still fight."

Zald shot forward and swung his sword at Bell. Bell simply moved out of the way. He didn't counter-attack or even react at all.

Zald attacked again, and Bell easily dodged. Zald got a look at Bell's face and saw a glimpse of enlightenment and euphoria.

Bell easily dodged all of Zald's attacks. He wasn't even really paying attention to the fight as he was drunk off power.

His moments were fast yet slow. He dodged at the last second, watching as the blade harmlessly flew by him.

Zald increased discarded his greatsword and increased in speed. He had the weird-looking dagger out once more as he attacked Bell.

Zald thrusted forward, only for Bell to smack his hand to the side. His foot met Zald's stomach, sending the older man skidding back once again.

"He's stronger. No, it's not just that. He's just reached a higher potential. No matter. If he fails at this test, then our chosen wasn't him."

Astraea and Haruhime watched in astonishment. Zald couldn't land a single hit on Bell, no matter how hard he tried. It was like Bell thought of the attacks before Zald did.