Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Ragnar and Cyanide clashed again and again, striking their blades against one another's. The sound of metal clanging against stone rang out in the air time and time again, as the onlooking audience, consisting of Kirika, Luna, and Lust watched on in wonder.

It was the first time anyone has ever lasted this long against Cyanide, and still going at that. What's more, both fighters seemed to be enjoying the battle as well despite both trying to kill the other.

At first, it seemed like Cyanide was winning. With his fast movements and rapid relocation skills, he was able to take advantage of Ragnar's low agility, heavy weapon, and somewhat clumsy movements to dive in and cut Ragnar with his short blade. However, as the battle dragged on, it became clear Ragnar never expected to win the early segment of the battle at all.

Instead, he was playing defensively on purpose, and waiting for Cyanide's stamina to slowly run out.

Ragnar's experience taught him that a hulking weapon like his was ineffective against Cyanide's smaller, more precise blade. As such, he guarded only his vitals with the flat of his sword, using it like a shield. Yes, he was sustaining heavy injuries from Cyanide, but he knew his limits. Things were just about to get started.

After a while, Cyanide took a few steps back and paused his flurry of attacks, narrowing his eyes. Ragnar was just standing there, taking his attacks like a moron. Any normal person would've called Ragnar 'stupid' or 'cowardly', but Cyanide knew better. He was purposely doing this, in an attempt to drain Cyanide's stamina.

If that's the case, then…

"…" Slowly, Cyanide lifted his gun and pointed it at Ragnar, deciding that the fun was over. Clashing with blades was nice every once in a while, but a gun was an assassin's primary weapon. More often than not, a bullet was what ended the target's life, not a fatal cut.

Cyanide didn't care how strong Ragnar's defense stat, VIT, was. All he knew was that his enemy's HP bar read [20/290]. A bullet to just about anywhere on Ragnar's body would end him for good, and that was exactly what Cyanide was going for. He was too dangerous to be left alive as a pawn.

Some people… just needed to die.

As Cyanide pulled on the trigger, however…

"Eat this… special… DELIVERY!"

"—?!"

Ragnar suddenly launched his nearly 6 foot tall greatsword at Cyanide with barbaric force so immense that it created a wind current around it powerful enough to kick up dust from the battlefield, blinding the audience and Cyanide himself, catching him by surprise.

The sound of the greatsword slamming into something erupted moments after, and shook the earth itself as the impact struck its target.

Kirika's jaw dropped. Luna's eyes narrowed.

"L-Luna… he's okay, right?" Kirika asked hesitantly, fear creeping up in her heart as she stared at the yellow dust that had been kicked up, creating a smokescreen that prevented everyone from seeing what happened.

"He is fine," Luna declared adamantly, arms folded over her chest. "But if he wanted a challenge, he has one now."

Luna was 100% certain. Cyanide, her beloved creator, would not die so easily. That was faith coming from twelve years of being by his side, something only Luna could say with such confidence.

Ragnar, however, seemed to be perfectly confident that Cyanide was, in fact, dead. With a wide smirk of victory on his cut, bruised face, he walked towards the rising smoke from the ground, aiming to retrieve his weapon and confirm his nemesis' death.

But from the dust… came zooming forward, the same greatsword Ragnar had thrown at Cyanide.

"Oh, you've gotta be shitting m-"

The greatsword slammed into Ragnar's stomach like a hammer on anvil, and he was sent flying backwards, crashing into a lamp post and falling to the floor.

From the still-rising smoke and ash came the sound of a footstep, followed by another. And slowly but surely, Cyanide emerged, completely unharmed.

… That is, except for his right hand, which looked burnt to the point of no return. A little more and it would've been reduced to ashes. One can imagine how much the burning process hurt, but Cyanide's expression was as nonchalant as ever, almost like he didn't even notice what happened to his right hand.

That was all it took for everyone watching to realize what happened.

"No way…" Kirika breathed in utter shock. "He… caught the sword?! It must've still been burning hot from the Fire Weapon Art earlier—does he not feel pain?!"

But Luna only smiled and nodded in approval. "That's my master."

"My, my…" Even Lust was impressed, and couldn't help but give a chuckle. "The more I watch him, the more I am convinced I made the right choice in choosing him as my vessel."

Cyanide, however, did not pay any attention to his stunned audience, and instead focused his gaze on his enemy and his enemy alone, straight ahead of him.

Ragnar lay pinned to a broken lamppost by other than his own stone greatsword, shoved in his stomach. His arms hung limply by his sides, and by all accounts, it would seem he was dead. Even his chest was completely still, showing no sign of breathing, but-

"… When do you plan on doing that until?" Cyanide asked, pointing his gun at the man ahead of him.

-Such a simple trick wasn't going to work on the world's number one assassin, who had gone through many similar situations already in the past.

"Heh… that was just a little prank," Ragnar said with a deep chuckle, straightening up like the greatsword hadn't slapped him in the abdomen at all—which was partly true, thanks to his passive [Warrior Zen] skill that deflected one fatal physical attack, but with an enormous cooldown timer of three months and required a VIT stat of at least 100. "I don't need to rely on tricks or underhanded tactics to win, unlike you."

As Cyanide narrowed his eyes cautiously, Ragnar unleashed a terrifying bellow of sheer rage, transforming into something new.

Transformed… into his ultimate form, and the final ace up his sleeve:

Pyromaniac.