My Soul card is a Reaper-Chapter 877: The Finals: Battle of the Rivals (part-3)

Zion was kneeling.

His arms trembled. His body was bruised. Blood dripped from the corner of his lips, staining the frostbitten platform below him.

He looked up. Fiona stood tall in the center of her Cryo Domain, unbothered, her Titan Form—Chione—hovering behind her like an empress carved from glacial purity.

Zion tried to stand, only to fall again.

A soft scoff escaped her lips. "So this is it," she said, coldly. "Are you going to give up? Just like every other time we fought?"

Her words cut deeper than any technique as she continued. "You never even tried to fight me seriously, Zion. You might have made a promise to your mother that you won’t fight with everything you have got... but..." She took another step forward, frost flaring around her ankles. "But all you’ve done is humiliate my efforts. I called you my rival, not just myself, and to your face, every time. To defeat you and to have a higher score in our rivalry, I trained harder than anyone could. I forgo my friendships or the little entertainment my friends offer me. I spent that time polishing my skills. And now I wonder, were you just laughing at me this whole time, every time I spout those words of rivalry with you?"

Zion’s breath grew shallow.

She pointed at him with the frost spear. "If you have even an ounce of respect for me... for the nine years we’ve known each other... then fight me, Zion. Fight me with your full strength."

Zion looked down at his shaking hands. Then... he closed his eyes.

"So it’s come to this," he murmured.

He slowly stood, spine straightening, body swaying from fatigue.

"I didn’t want to use this," he muttered. "Not because I’m afraid of losing. But because I thought..."

He looked at her. "I thought I was just too lonely at the top.

Fiona blinked, briefly startled by the shift in his tone.

Then, Zion took in a deep breath and muttered two words. "Titan Mode."

The arena cracked.

Lightning split the skies.

A low hum turned into a thunderous roar as divine energy burst from Zion’s body like a tidal wave. The frost on the ground instantly evaporated as sparks raged through the air.

Behind him, the air distorted—then condensed into shape.

A colossal figure—muscular, divine, and armored in celestial silver—descended like a god of judgment.

Its body was layered in carved plates, veins pulsing with stormlight. Arcs of electricity danced along its arms, legs, and across its bald crown, where a wreath of storm clouds constantly churned.

His Titan Form had taken shape in the form of Jupiter.

The entire arena froze—figuratively this time, as it was the first time they ever saw Zion using this technique.

Some scouts from the hidden clans in the audience couldn’t help but go pale in shock.

Even Fiona’s confident gaze faltered as she looked up.

Azzy narrowed his eyes from the stands. "So, finally decided to go all out."

Beside him, Orion—still bruised but watching wide-eyed—murmured, "I fought that thing before."

The Titan’s eyes glowed with blazing blue.

Zion floated within its chest core, his posture relaxed, his hair now faintly crackling with static. His bruises had vanished. His voice... was different. It became deeper.

"You want my full strength?" he said, voice echoing through the stadium. "Then brace yourself, Fiona."

Jupiter Titan raised an arm.

The clouds above churned at once. And lightning answered the call.

CRRRACK—KRA-BOOOOM!

A divine bolt fell from the heavens, striking Zion’s Titan Form like a beacon. Instead of destroying it, the lightning fused with it, enhancing its frame, lighting up every muscle and seam with pure energy.

Fiona’s expression hardened. Her Titan Form mirrored her, raising its own arms as frost gathered like a blizzard.

Two giants now stood in the arena. One of ice. One of thunder. They were both watching each other.

Both waiting.

Zion’s lips curled slightly. "Let’s finish this."

Fiona nodded. "Come."

And with that...

BOOM—BOOOOM—!!!

The Titans collided.

Each swing of their fists shattered air and cracked the reinforced ground below. Every clash birthed shockwaves that shook the city walls.

Above them, clouds churned and split.

Below, the earth groaned under pressure it was never meant to withstand.

Lightning surged from Jupiter’s gauntlets, crashing down with deafening wrath.

Fiona’s Chione deflected them with layered walls of absolute ice, each colder than the last—snowflakes condensed into shields, blizzards shaped into spears.

They moved in blurring speeds—ice and thunder colliding, fracturing, reforming at hypersonic speeds.

From the stands, the audience sat in stunned silence as even a rank-7 couldn’t see their fight properly. All they could see were towering giants, and that’s it. Due to Azzy’s translucent but invisible shield nullifying the shockwaves generated by collisions and blocking every stray attack, the audience could absolutely feel nothing. They can only wait for the match to end so that they can watch the highlights on the screen at a slower speed.

Back to the battle, Zion gritted his teeth inside the titan’s chest. "She’s fast," he murmured.

He shot forward. Jupiter’s right arm reared back, charged with thunderous energy. "Divine Skill: Arc Thunder — Divine Dissection."

He launched a slicing arc of lightning like a cleaver.

Fiona responded instantly, "Divine Skill: Cryo Bloom."

Pillars of ice exploded upward, scattering the arc before it struck.

They were still evenly matched.

Until Zion whispered something under his breath...

A glyph lit up on his palm.

A second. Then a third.

Inside Jupiter’s form, sigils began glowing, drifting in rings around his arms and legs. They pulsed in rhythm, faint at first, then with a growing hum of spiritual resonance.

Fiona noticed. Her eyes narrowed. "What is that?"

Zion raised a finger. "Sealing technique: Flow Binding."

The moment he spoke it, a golden rune flared across the sky, and Chione’s motion slowed just enough for Jupiter’s palm to slam into her side.

BOOOOOM!

Fiona coughed, stumbling back a step. Frost exploded everywhere.

"Sealing technique: Breath Lock."

Another symbol. This one hovered above her Titan Form’s throat, choking off the rhythm of her aura.

"Sealing technique: Meridian Twist."