CHAPTER 1153: SUBTLE BETRAYAL.

The rain came down heavier, turning the battlefield into a slurry of blood and molten earth. Every step Cain took sent arcs of steam curling around his boots as the ground itself hissed under the heat of his mana-burned body. Nebula floated above the fractured plain, hundreds of blades circling him like a crown of thorns. Their edges sang with vibrating power, each one pulsing faintly in rhythm with the storm.

Cain’s arm bled freely, but the pain had long stopped registering. His eyes locked on Nebula’s every twitch, calculating distance, speed, potential vectors of attack. The bastard didn’t need to move much anymore; his control was so precise that the blades themselves fought the battle for him.

Cain raised {Eidwyrm}. The metal along its edge rippled, gold shifting into a dull crimson as his ki surged through it. The air around him shimmered violently, distorting in waves.

Nebula laughed. "You’re slowing down already, Cain. How disappointing."

"Funny," Cain replied. "I was just thinking the same thing."

Nebula raised a hand. The ring of blades tightened into a dense sphere around him—then shot forward all at once. Dozens of trails cut through the rain like streaks of light, converging on Cain in a spiral of death.

He twisted, sidestepping one blade, parrying another with the flat of his sword. Sparks lit up the air. The third struck his shoulder; he caught it with his bare hand, gritting his teeth as the edge tore through skin, then snapped it in half with raw strength.

But another blade took its place instantly.

He leapt back as the ground where he’d stood exploded into molten shards, the sheer energy from the impact sending heat licking across his face.

Nebula’s voice echoed through the chaos. "You think you’ve seen control? You’re a child, Cain. You use power like a hammer—no finesse, no art."

Cain responded by firing three quick rounds from {Golden Tyrant}. The golden bullets ripped through the haze, colliding with the whirling mass of blades midair. Each detonation threw off blinding bursts of molten energy.

Through the flare, Cain was already moving. He kicked off the fractured ground, closing the distance faster than Nebula could blink.

His blade came down with an ear-splitting crack.

Nebula blocked with a wall of steel—dozens of blades forming into a curved barrier that met {Eidwyrm} with a flash of red and gold. The shockwave tore through the rain, scattering it like dust. Both men were thrown back, skidding across the ruined terrain.

Cain landed hard, one knee digging into the mud. His breathing was sharp, deliberate. The barrier had held. Barely.

Nebula flicked his wrist, and the broken fragments of his conjured blades melted into liquid metal before reforming instantly around him. "You can’t win, Cain. You’re fighting a mirror without realizing it."

Cain wiped the blood from his mouth. "Then let’s see which one cracks first."

He charged again.

Nebula didn’t retreat this time. He met Cain head-on, their respective storms colliding. The world between them blurred—steel clashing against steel faster than the eye could follow. Each impact left ripples in the air, waves of force that flattened what was left of the battlefield.

Cain ducked under a swing, driving his knee into Nebula’s side. The man didn’t flinch; his form shimmered, half-translucent. Cain’s strike passed through him—then something slammed into his ribs from behind. One of the blades had switched places with its master.

Cain staggered forward, rolling across the ground before catching himself. "Spatial tether again," he hissed.

Nebula smirked, snapping his fingers. Two dozen more blades converged on Cain from every direction, moving like living predators.

Cain slammed {Eidwyrm} into the ground. The metal responded to his will, sending a shockwave through the battlefield. The blades nearest him were thrown off course, skittering across the ground like insects in panic.

Then Cain raised his pistol again and fired point blank.

The golden bullet struck the nearest blade midflight, exploding in a sphere of molten gold that washed across the others. A chain reaction followed—each blade detonation feeding the next, lighting up the night with bursts of raw metal energy.

The air howled, a sound like screaming glass.

Nebula shielded his face with his arm, his grin finally faltering.

Cain didn’t waste the opening. He tore forward through the smoldering storm, his sword trailing molten lines behind him.

Their blades met again, once, twice—then Cain drove his knee into Nebula’s chest. The impact sent the man flying backward through the air, crashing into the side of a broken tower.

Nebula vanished.

Cain turned instantly—but too late. A blade materialized beside his neck.

It sliced deep.

He jerked aside, missing decapitation by inches, blood spraying across the mud.

Nebula appeared behind him, spinning his wrist lazily, the blade now hovering over his shoulder like a pet. "You learn quickly. But not fast enough."

Cain didn’t answer. He drove his elbow backward, connecting with Nebula’s jaw. The man reeled, laughing even as his lip split open.

"Good," Nebula hissed. "Better."

The sky lit up again—dozens of new metallic constructs rising from the earth like serpents. Nebula spread his arms, his aura distorting the world around him. "Let’s end this dance."

Cain’s aura flared in return. Red lightning crackled through his veins, crawling across {Eidwyrm} like veins of living fire.

The ground beneath them fractured.

They charged at the same time.

The collision this time wasn’t a clash—it was annihilation.

The shockwave shattered the remnants of the crimson dome surrounding the field. The sky itself seemed to warp under the pressure. In the distance, soldiers and mutants alike were thrown to the ground, blinded by the light.

Cain roared, driving {Eidwyrm} downward with all his strength. Nebula caught it with crossed blades, but the force still sent him sliding backward, feet carving trenches through molten soil.

Cain pressed harder, his muscles screaming. Nebula’s blades began to crack, hairline fractures glowing red.

Then Nebula let go.

The sudden release sent Cain stumbling forward—and before he could recover, Nebula was gone again.

A dozen cuts opened across Cain’s back, blood spraying in arcs.

Nebula’s laughter echoed, disembodied, bouncing off the steel ruins. "You’re predictable! Rage makes you sloppy, Cain!"