DARK AND LIGHT

Zev relived countless memories in his mind, now nothing tied him to Ocean, he wanted to put an end to that stage and since they were complete strangers, he would have no problem hurting her and even killing her.

"I don't want to be a murderer," he thought, but he remembered how Milo's body was burning little by little.

The reinforcements rushed to attack Zev but Shun and Nix jumped to his defense. Shun took the opportunity to attack Barret and Evander while Nix went straight against Ayden and Maeko, leaving the path free for Ocean, who was not going to wait to counterattack.

Zev had developed incredible agility, however, it didn't compare to Ocean's, yet he was still giving her a fight. She knew that attacking him with the fire loop wouldn't help much so she used only fire but Zev was able to dodge her attacks.

Ayden and Maeko combined their powers and created a sonic explosion underwater, it was so powerful that it destabilized several, including Nix. Barret served as a shield to protect Evander whenever Shun tried to attack him because he seemed to have something personal against him.

Shun had several openings, Barret noticed it by paying attention to his movements and took advantage of that to counterattack.

Evander had noticed that Shun had a limit and his shield was not so perfect, he couldn't use more than two elements at a time and not for long or he would end up really exhausted, in addition to the fact that the loops didn't work with him.

Despite the incredible water and sound attack, they were having trouble containing Nix so they enlisted Barret's help to create a prison of heavy, wet sand.

Zev tried several times to tear Ocean with the sword but her skin was quite tough so it was practically impossible. She instead managed to hit him multiple times, which managed to weaken him but not to the point of leaving him dying.

Shun had already resisted Evander for a long time until Maeko appeared because she wanted to test her powers on him.

"That's where I learned that you can manipulate people too," Maeko said.

"Who are you?" He was surprised to hear such a masculine voice coming from the body of a minor.

Maeko started singing and her voice entered Shun's ears. He didn't know how to counter that attack but he still tried to attack her using water. His attack did not stop the girl from singing and he gradually allowed himself to be controlled.

When he was under the effect of the song, Maeko activated a chip inside him to direct his killer instinct towards Mother Aether. Shun began to attack Nix non-stop and managed to do some damage, however he was able to get him off of him and Maeko ordered him to attack himself to cause great damage.

Nix looked around, Zev was losing against Ocean and Shun was a puppet of a little girl, the reinforcements were winning so she had to do something about it so using her light power she managed to hit the target and left her lying in the ground to Maeko, who received the attack from behind.

After that, she was able to counterattack Barret and Ayden leaving them seriously injured. Ebon reacted to seeing how Ayden was hurt by Nix and decided to attack her.

In the sky two mystical creatures were fighting, the white lizard and the black dog. Half of the sky was divided by light and the other half by darkness.

"You won't be able to interfere anymore Nix, your time is almost up and you will have to give in," Ebon mentioned as he unleashed an attack.

Nix ignored his comments and taunts.

"See how your chosen one is about to die," he pointed down.

Ocean had managed to snatch Zev's sword and wielded it decisively, ready to plunge it into him.

But Nix was not going to allow it, she descended quickly and attached herself to Zev's body from behind.

"Do you remember the gift?" She asked with subtlety in her voice, "it's time to use it."

Ocean braked which surprised Evander, Shun and Ebon, who were still standing. Zev brought his fingers to his forehead, which meant one thing, Nix had given him or perhaps inherited a loop.

"Infinite sky loop," he pronounced in a deep voice.

Evander reacted immediately and ran towards Ocean before the loop caught her but Shun also reacted to stop him. That attack was intentionally directed towards the black-haired woman.

Evander managed to protect Ocean and threw her away from the loop's radar but in the instant, Shun caught him too late causing both boys to be trapped in that mysterious and little-known loop.

Zev fumed, he exclaimed inwardly, he was really bothered by the idea of Evander interfering. With Nix attached to his body, he flew at high speed towards Ocean to finish her off once and for all.

Ocean smiled proudly waiting for the next attack of that combination between Zev and Nix, she got into a fighting stance until she felt a strong chill behind her.

Zev stopped a few kilometers away when he saw how Ebon tried to possess her. The black beast attached itself to Ocean's body. She was taken aback by feeling the darkness inside her but that didn't stop her from feeling an extreme power up in her abilities.

When the adhesion was complete, Zev and Ocean no longer seemed like aberrations but themselves, the only thing different was their gaze and the aura they gave off from their bodies.

They stood face to face, they were both the same height so there would be no difference in sizes or disadvantages, the power of light and darkness was within them.

"We have to finish what we started, Ocean," Zev said very confidently.

"Nothing would make me happier than to put an end to it," she responded with equal confidence.

A black fire and temporary lines of light decorated the landscape, both the sky and the underworld were dyed in these two opposite colors.

Zev had managed to get a finger on Ocean, causing some major wounds to his skin while she had burned parts of him.

"Until one of us dies..." Zev said.

They fought bare-knuckle and using their powers for a good moment while Ayden, Barret and Maeko recovered.

At that moment, Ronda, Kylen and Luna had managed to break through the shield of dark spirits that surrounded the fighting area.

Kylen and Luna were surprised by what their eyes saw, they never thought that Zev would be able to acquire powers, much less be able to hurt Ocean.

"So what you told us is true, isn't it Ronda?" Kylen asked.

Ronda nodded, looking down, her mood was not the best.

"This isn't right," she thought disappointedly.

Luna scanned the surroundings and noticed that people were missing, including Evander, Shun, and her now boyfriend, Milo. She wasn't even able to detect the body temperatures of any of the boys, which was starting to worry her.

Kylen and Luna's eyes were not able to notice the real fight, only the reinforcements and Ronda were able to notice. There was no longer a love rivalry between Zev and Ocean, only the bad feeling for the loss of Milo and the purpose of Ocean's existence remained.

They did not fight but the gods.

"This isn't right, they're just using them," Ronda thought, very determined to do something to avoid the worst.

Ocean had the upper hand in that fight so she was close to finishing Zev, it wasn't until the moment she was ready to incinerate his heart that Ronda stood in front of Zev like a barrier.

"This is not right," she exclaimed with all her being and then violently spat blood from her mouth.

Zev had managed to grab the sword again to stab it into Ocean's hands when they approached, but Ronda got in the way at the worst possible moment.

Ocean froze when she saw how her best friend was being impaled and incinerated at the same time. Instant karma perhaps but ultimately nothing was right, nothing felt right.

"Don't go on, you are more than this, I won't let you kill each other, if you could come to an agreement, if you would just explain to Zev your purpose..." she stopped as she spat blood again.

"R-Ronda!?"

"Ronda..."

While Ocean and Zev stood motionless, Barret and the others approached the area. Ayden put out Ocean's fire while Kylen snatched the sword from Zev's hands.

Ocean fell to her knees on the ground letting out a muffled cry of pain, black tears running down her face towards her mouth to taste the taste of pain.

"Ronda, are you okay? Tell me something," Barret hurried, "breathe slow, breathe slow."

Ronda was not reacting the way he wanted, her heartbeat was slowing while her voice was cut off.

"Barret, I was always in love with you..."

"I know, you were very obvious," he laughed genuinely, "but I'm not interested in romantic things although if I were, I would be the luckiest to have a woman like you in love with me," he kissed her cheek.

A tear fell down Ronda's face and then she looked at Ocean, with her last breath and that look, she withdrew from this world.

Zev, far from feeling happy about the loss of Ocean, felt quite the opposite, perhaps it was about having Nix inside him again, light means good things so it was obvious that he would not feel happy about her suffering.

"I'll end this," Ocean said quietly, "right now."

She stood up to approach Ronda, seeing her lifeless body brought back many memories, the times they trained together, their talks and even when she discovered that she and Evander had had sex. Very sad and extremely sensitive about those experiences from the past, she put her fingers to her forehead.

"Infinite night loop."