Ikki looked in one direction, his mind visualizing almost everything at that distance through his consciousness, which drifted like a breeze through the Egyptian Underworld.
Then, he found him.
Seth.
The God of Chaos wasn't far from there. His domain, a fortress carved from sandstorms and lightning, rose on the Duat's shifting horizon. The structure seemed alive, eternally rebuilding itself, shaped by the unpredictable temperament of its master.
Ikki didn't hesitate. He simply appeared there.
The temple's interior was vast. Hieroglyphs snaked across the walls like living creatures, whispering incantations in a forgotten tongue. The air carried the metallic scent of ozone and iron—the perfume of storms and war.
In the center of the hall, reclining on a throne of black stone, Seth looked up.
For a moment, his eyes gleamed with genuine interest.
"You…" His voice was deep, tinged with an almost amused tone. "The lightning mage. The one who killed me in the mortal world…"
He tilted his head, assessing Ikki with a look of surprise and recognition, as if facing a toy he thought he had broken, but which had somehow returned even stronger.
"And apparently, you've become even more interesting…"
Seth rose.
His red robes billowed as if they had a life of their own, reflecting the chaotic essence of his being. His blood-dark skin contrasted with the cruel gleam of his scarlet eyes. His face, simultaneously handsome and menacing, held a smile of pure disdain. Set's pointed beard and half-human, half-animal features only reinforced that he was something beyond mortal comprehension—a divine aberration, a storm in the shape of a man.
And, like any storm, he loved destruction.
He took a step forward, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"So, what brings you here, lightning mage?" He smiled, his lips curling arrogantly. "What can this humble God of Evil do for you?"
Ikki kept his expression calm. He didn't care for word games, Seth's inflated pride, or his constant theatrics. He wasn't there to flatter or engage in verbal sparring.
"I came to kill you."
The statement was cold, direct. And, for an instant, the temple plunged into silence.
Then, Seth laughed.
A genuine laugh. Not forced, not mocking, but filled with genuine pleasure. Lightning danced on the ceiling in response, the walls vibrated, as if space itself were laughing along with him.
"Kill me?" Seth repeated, licking his lips as his eyes glittered with savage delight. "Now *that* is interesting…"
The ground trembled.
His shadow lengthened unnaturally, snaking forward like a hungry predator. Before Ikki could move, columns of black sand and fire erupted from the ground, lunging like sharpened fangs to devour him.
"Then come, lightning mage." Seth spread his arms wide, as if inviting a friend to a feast. "Entertain me!"
But Ikki wasn't one to be caught by such basic tricks.
Without even frowning, he casually raised a hand—and then, the temple exploded in light.
White lightning tore through the air like divine spears, vaporizing the black sand and crystallizing the floor into shimmering glass. Seth's flames were dissipated in a single instant, swallowed by a wave of pure force.
And Ikki advanced.
Too fast for mortal eyes, a blur of electricity slicing through the hall.
He appeared in front of Seth, his fist enveloped in lightning. The god barely had time to react before the impact hit him with the force of a storm.
The black stone throne exploded behind him. Seth's body ripped through the air, colliding against the wall with a deafening crash. Cracks spread like a spiderweb through the temple, as dust and debris obscured the air.
But Seth wasn't so easily brought down.
From the shadows, he emerged laughing, wiping the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"You truly are amazing, boy." He murmured, his voice vibrating with something between amusement and madness.
Then, his body dissolved into a storm.
In the next instant, Ikki felt the presence behind him.
He didn't need to turn to know what was coming.
Seth's fist, coated in pure destructive energy, slammed into his back like a meteor. The force of the blow launched him forward like a runaway lightning bolt, crashing through several stone columns before skidding across the floor in a trail of sparks.
The dust settled.
Ikki rose.
He brushed the dust off his clothes, impassive, as if he'd been hit by nothing more than a strong breeze. His eyes gleamed, not just with determination, but with something more.
Something that made Seth narrow his eyes.
"Is that all?" Ikki taunted, a smirk playing on his lips.
The god of chaos snarled.
Then, both vanished.
The temple exploded in absolute chaos.
Ikki and Seth moved too fast to be seen, mere blurs of energy exchanging blows at speeds that made the Duat itself tremble. Lightning sliced through space, sandstorms rose in colossal walls, colliding and dissipating in waves of pure destruction.
Each clash of their attacks made reality tremble, as if the world itself couldn't withstand the fury of that combat.
But, as the seconds ticked by, it became clear who dominated the fight.
Ikki anticipated Seth's movements. He dodged with surgical precision, moving with a fluidity that bordered on the impossible. It was as if he already knew exactly where and how Seth would attack before he even decided.
And then, he counterattacked.
He appeared above Seth in an instant. In the next, his kick, enveloped in pure electricity, descended like a divine hammer.
The impact was catastrophic.
Seth was thrown to the ground, creating a crater that swallowed half the hall. But before he could even think of reacting, Ikki was already upon him.
A hand wreathed in lightning clamped around his throat.
Seth's eyes widened.
For the first time in millennia, he felt something he hadn't experienced since his fight with Horus.
True inferiority.
Ikki lifted him as if holding a rag doll.
His fist pulled back, ready for the final blow.
"Grit your teeth. This is going to hurt."
Electricity crackled around him, roaring like a storm about to break.
Seth smiled.
A wide, savage smile, blood trickling from his lips.
And then, Ikki struck.
The world trembled.
The boom of the impact shattered the sound barrier. The temple couldn't withstand it.
The blow ripped through the structure to its very essence, cracks spreading like burning veins. The living hieroglyphs screamed before shattering, blinking out of existence. The ceiling collapsed in a chaotic crumble, swallowing everything in a storm of sand and debris.
And then, in a single instant of pure cataclysm—
The temple vanished.
Now, the two floated in the midst of the Duat.
An endless sea of dunes stretched below them, the sky a darkness punctuated by red lightning. The wind hissed like a living entity, charged with raw energy, roaring as if protesting the battle.
Seth spat out blood.
But he smiled.
"Impressive…" He murmured, his eyes burning with pure excitement.
Then, he licked his lips, savoring his own blood.
"But now…" The air around him trembled. His smile widened. "Let's see what happens when I *really* start to have fun…"
He raised his arms as everything for hundreds of miles instantly transformed into desert.
The storm was born from his rage.
Waves of black sand rose like tsunamis, consuming the horizon. Chaos lightning ripped through the heavens, each bolt carrying enough power to obliterate entire cities. Hurricanes of red energy swirled across the spiritual desert, vortexes of pure annihilation.
And then, Seth unleashed them on Ikki.
The attack could sweep away continents, erase entire countries from existence.
But Ikki?
He simply sighed.
With a simple wave of his hand, the air around him shimmered.
Miniature suns sprang from his palm—spheres of pure golden plasma, shining with the intensity of creation. He launched one of them at Seth's storm, and the impact was instantaneous.
The sand waves evaporated before they could even reach him. The lightning bolts were swallowed, nullified by the supreme light. The hurricanes dissipated like smoke carried by the wind.
It was an absurd display of superiority.
Seth stood motionless, dumbfounded. He saw his fury, his destruction, chaotic forces that could rival the most legendary catastrophes, reduced to nothing as if they were insignificant.
Ikki watched him, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
"If that's all you've got, I think I can end this now."
And then, in the blink of an eye, he moved.
The sand exploded as Ikki reappeared before Seth, his fist already sinking into the god's stomach. The impact was overwhelming. Seth didn't even have time to cry out. His body was launched like a projectile, tearing through the dunes of the Duat, carving a trail of destruction across the Egyptian underworld.
Before he could recover, Ikki was already above him, a new solar sphere in his hand.
And he unleashed it.
The Duat shone as if a new sun had been born within it.
Seth was swallowed by the light.
The explosion dissipated the surrounding storms, and for a moment, everything in the Duat fell silent. The black sand simmered under the residual heat of Ikki's blow, while the shattered sky of the underworld pulsed, trying to heal from the destruction.
Then, something moved within the glare.
Seth emerged.
His body was covered in burns, his red skin now marred by incandescent fissures that glowed crimson. His once impeccable cloak hung in tatters. His face, always handsome and cruel, now wore a savage grin.
He laughed.
A deep, reverberating laugh, like distant thunder.
"…Are you Ra?" His voice held genuine fascination. "Or rather… are you his incarnation? Because this—" He raised a hand, watching his own blood trickle between trembling fingers. "—is exactly what I would expect from an arrogant sun."
But then, his eyes narrowed.
The atmosphere shifted.
Time seemed to twist around him. Seth's divinity wasn't just chaos and storms. He was the lord of war, of destruction, and above all, a cosmic trickster.
"Let's see what happens when fate decides to take revenge."
He raised a bloody finger.
Causality reversed.
The very attack Ikki had just unleashed—that miniature sun, charged with the power to obliterate gods—was ripped from the past and hurled back at its creator.
The golden plasma sphere sliced through the air, tearing through space like a falling star.
But Ikki didn't even blink.
Calmly, he raised a hand, letting the sphere collide with his open palm.
The impact made the Duat tremble. Waves of heat spread through the spiritual desert, distorting the horizon.
The sleeves of his Egyptian cloak caught fire, reducing themselves to ashes. But his expression remained impassive.
He clenched his fingers.
And the sun was extinguished.
Seth blinked, incredulous.
Ikki rotated his wrist, shaking off the last embers from his robes as his eyes gleamed with an almost lazy interest.
"…That was new. You just pulled a retribution. The divinity of Chaos is indeed somewhat unfair…"
Seth laughed again, but this time there was something more there. Something between amusement and understanding.
"Look who's talking! You're the most unfair one here! I'm still trying to understand how a mortal can be so strong." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, then clicked his tongue. "But now, after sparring with you a bit… I think I'm getting it. You're a descendant of Ramses II, aren't you? That pharaoh who proclaimed himself King of Kings."
His grin widened.
"Or rather, you're basically his reincarnation, who followed the path of Ra. That explains why you can use such powerful sun magic, even without hosting the old man himself."
"Does that change anything?" Ikki asked, his voice calm, yet sharp as a blade.
"No." Seth admitted, laughing with a hint of admiration. "But it's fun to know I'm fighting a reborn King of Kings. It makes everything even more interesting."
As he finished speaking, Seth shot forward, a blur of chaos and destruction. His body sliced through space like crazed lightning, his fists enveloped in red electricity and black sand. He attacked with the force of a meteor.
But Ikki was no longer there.
With almost insulting grace, the young man spun in the air, dodging at the last instant. His feet touched nothingness and, in an instant, he lunged at Seth, his knee shooting like lightning toward the god's chest.
Seth raised his arms to block, but the impact sent him sliding back, rupturing the space between realities. He snarled and counterattacked, spinning in the air with a kick that brought with it a storm of burning sand.
Ikki ducked at the last second and, in a fluid motion, delivered an uppercut coated in golden lightning. The blow struck Seth's chin, throwing him back, spinning through the air.
Before the god could regain his balance—
*Crack!*
*BOOM!*
White lightning sliced through the Duat, striking Seth like divine spears. The god roared and vanished in a gust of wind and sand, reappearing behind Ikki in the blink of an eye.
The sky above twisted. A storm was born in seconds, whirlpools of sand and scarlet lightning accumulating, ready to consume everything.
But Ikki simply raised his hand.
A cutting wind blew from his fingers, spreading like an invisible wave. In an instant, Seth's storms were dissolved. The black sand dispersed into nothingness. The red lightning bolts were swallowed by even more intense golden lightning.
Seth's eyes widened.
And then, Ikki advanced.
Spinning in the air like a golden hurricane, he unleashed a devastating sequence of blows, each one charged with pure electricity.
The first kick struck Seth's side, the impact shattering the sound barrier.
The second, a punch enveloped in white lightning, exploded against his stomach, making the god spit out blood.
The third, a spinning kick to the face, sent him crashing into the ruins of the destroyed temple.
Seth rose, gasping for breath, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. But he was smiling.
His burned skin began to regenerate before Ikki's eyes. The wounds closed. The golden electricity that had consumed him was absorbed and converted. Chaos pulsed around him, alive, untamed.
The air vibrated.
A dense and unpredictable energy exploded from Seth, his aura growing until it resembled a black hurricane. His body became a blur of red lightning and black sand, and he launched himself at Ikki like a meteor.
*BOOM!*
His fist, enveloped in storms and electricity, struck with enough force to crush mountains.
Ikki raised an arm, casually.
The impact shook the Duat. Cracks spread through the space around them. But Ikki didn't even flinch. He caught Seth's fist with a single hand, his eyes blazing like the sun itself.
Seth's eyes widened.
And then, Ikki squeezed.
*CRACK!*
Seth's red electricity shattered like glass.
Before the god could react, Ikki twisted his arm and threw him away with a single movement. Seth sailed through sandstorms like a missile before colliding with a Duat mountain.
The impact exploded the landscape. Everything around them disintegrated.
But Seth didn't stay down for long.
The entire mountain trembled. And then, it rose.
Seth emerged from it.
His body was even more charged with chaos. His eyes glowed like incandescent embers. He roared and extended his hands.
The very sky fell upon Ikki.
Red lightning bolts, black sandstorms, and cutting winds converged to crush him from all sides.
But Ikki simply raised his hand.
*CRACK!*
Golden thunder exploded around him.
The sand and winds were vaporized before they could even touch him.
The red lightning bolts were swallowed by his white electricity and hurled back at Seth.
The god of chaos barely had time to move before he was engulfed in an explosion of pure golden light.
*BOOOOOOM!*
Seth was thrown back to the ground, sinking into a colossal crater. The earth trembled with the impact.
Ikki landed softly before him, the burned sleeves of his Egyptian cloak swaying in the wind.
He looked at Seth. The God of Evil had just converted his injuries into recovery and strength. The same trick as before—throwing the attack back. But something was different. He wasn't regenerating fast enough. Just accelerating his recovery to continue fighting.
Ikki realized. Seth's level in the Duat was comparable to his uncles and father. But...
He didn't intend to prolong this. He slowly raised his right hand. His fingers hovered in the air, as if holding the world itself.
And then—he began to absorb.
The magical energy of the Duat was ripped away as if devoured by a black hole.
Seth's chaos. The remnants of his storms. The echoes of ancient divinities. Everything was sucked into Ikki's palm.
At the center of his index finger, a malevolent and primal glow began to pulse.
The sky darkened. Black clouds swirled in a voracious maelstrom.
And then—
Three colossal shadows emerged in the firmament.
Their fingers, so immense they would make Everest seem like a stepping stone, descended. They merged into a single monstrous finger.
The tip glowed, charged with absolute energy.
This was another mystical art beyond the Heaven-Crushing Fist.
The Desolating Finger of Imprisonment.
Ikki lowered his index finger.
The giant finger descended.
The speed? Infinitely close to the speed of light.
Seth tried to move. Tried to react.
There was no time.
The impact was absolute.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The ground, the sky, the storms, the ruins—everything was crushed and annihilated at once. No chance of escape. No resistance.
When the explosion dissipated—
There was nothing.
No trace of Seth. No temple.
Just a void where a god once stood.
Then—
The scattered particles of Seth's essence began to move towards him.
Ikki allowed those particles to flow directly into him, feeling each fragment of Seth's essence merge with his own. His forming Divinity rapidly increased to twenty-three percent.
He had gained the understanding of the concepts and laws of the God of Evil, Seth. Becoming the embodiment of Desert, Storms, Evil, War, Strength, Disorder and Violence. As for Chaos? He already had authority over Chaos before.
With a simple gesture of his hand, he reversed the destruction.
The magical energy that had been consumed was returned. The space that had been erased was rewritten. Seth's temple, the storms, the Duat landscape. Time bent to his will, effortlessly restoring what had been destroyed.
It was as if nothing had happened.
But Ikki knew the truth. He expanded his consciousness.
The entire Duat revealed itself to him, its unstable layers folding and intertwining like a living labyrinth. Every realm, every hidden divinity, every powerful being lurking in the depths of that shadowy domain—he saw it all.
Without hesitation, he took a step.
And then, he vanished, passing through the veil of the Duat toward his next target.