Rebirth

(chronologically occurs after the events of The Twilight War)

It is nearing twilight in a sleepy village when a dark orb falls from the sky, causing the ground to break apart as Inferno walks out - folding his wings over himself like a cape as he observes the area with a simple statement: "..I'm back"-

Saber soon arrives on the scene and charges himself with lightning. -Inferno forms an ebony-blade in response and starts to calmly walk towards Saber with the ebony-blade exposed-

"Let's see what you can do." Saber notes as he ignites his lightsaber.

-Inferno swings his blade at Saber, empowering it with darkness-

Saber deflects Inferno's attack on his left with his lightsaber, sending away sparks of blue and black. He then counters with a kick to Inferno's chest.

-Inferno grunts at the kick but barely flinches, his sword disperses as he spreads his wings and leaps backwards - unleashing a shockwave of energy-

Saber holds up his left hand and unleashes a blue shockwave of his own, and the two waves dissipate on contact.

-Inferno shrugs slightly- "this is childish.." -he looks around then smirks slightly as he raises a hand towards a nearby house- "..let's make this more interesting shall we?"

"What do you expect to do with that?" Saber asks with curiosity.

-Inferno concentrates and the house starts to break and splinter into a new form, that of a strange barely humanoid golem- "..oh nothing, just showing off, I suppose.. figured I may as well have a bit of fun before I start the grand finale"

(*Saber smirks as the simplicity of Inferno's move*) "Ah yes, the gigantic golem has come once again to wreak havoc wherever he goes. Now let's have some fun." (*With his left index finder and middle finger, he shoots two massive bolts of lightning, impaling Inferno's wings*)

-Inferno snarls, his wings are sensitive after all..- "none may touch the Twilight-Emperor!" -he breaks the golem apart and tosses the debris at Saber like a whirlwind, eyes blazing red-

Saber prepares himself, and with a fire-powered punch, blasts part of the golem into thousands of pieces. As a piece of debris twice the size of the last one comes hurling toward Saber, he jumps high in the air, doing two body rotations, and manages to dodge the attack. He then throws the rock back at Inferno with a movement of his arms.

-Inferno allows the attack to hit him full-force, just before it makes contact he notes quietly: "..interesting".

Saber takes advantage of Inferno's hesitation and gives him a fire-powered uppercut to the jaw.

-Inferno's form suddenly shatters like glass and seems to vanish-

"This cannot be over so quickly." Saber thinks aloud as he brings his lightsaber into a defensive position, almost expecting Inferno to reappear.

-suddenly the ground begins to shake and splinter as Inferno smashes out, transformed into a large humanoid dragon- "..that hurt!" he growls..

"Aw, I'm sorry...." says Saber sarcastically. He then lifts his arm up high, creating a gust of winds that carry the dragon high into the air. When he quickly moves his arm back down, Inferno crashes to the ground with force.

-Inferno spews forth a beam of black fire as he crashes into the ground- "liar, liar.. everything on fire!" he replies - aiming at Saber.

Saber stretches out his arms and chest, absorbing the fire for extra energy "You'll have to do better than this if you want to stand a chance against me!"

-Inferno thinks- "taunting me will do little, I won't exhaust myself on you - giving into pride and anger is a weakness I can't afford.." -he then spins round and uses his tail as a whip-

Unexpecting Inferno's whip attack, Saber's legs are knocked off the ground, but he does a backflip in the air and lands back on his feet. "And that is why you will lose," (*His eyes glow red, and he activates his dark rage power, increasing the capability of his reflexes tenfold*)

-Inferno simply smiles darkly- "lose? perhaps - you will think yourself victorous.. you shall think yourself powerful - then you will realise.. someday.. you won nothing" -he then does nothing- 

Saber backs down momentarily "I really don't think you want me to do this....this is your last chance, Inferno...."

-Inferno smirks again- "tsk, tsk.. mercy? you disappoint me... go on - finish it" -his eyes glow red-

"Fine," replies Saber. (*Sends ten massive bolts of lightning down hitting Inferno at the same time. While Inferno feels his internal organs being impacted and fried, at that moment Saber sprints up to Inferno and strikes him several times with his lightsaber in the chest*)

-Inferno cackles as his form is filled with lightning and energy, the attack causing him to fall to his knees as he chuckles- "good..very good.." -he then disperses in a spark of power, leaving Saber the apparent victor-

Saber looks down where his enemy had dissolved...."Why laugh at pain...you remind me of the Secret."

-there is no answer, the sky returns to normal as the sun rises: pain, pleasure - what's the difference? in the end it's about one thing..-

Saber walks away, having defeated his opponent, questions arising in his mind about Inferno himself. "Was Inferno associated with the Secret?" "Why did he want me to end him?" "Do creatures of this nature desire pain?" He looks up at the bright sky and closes his eyes, feeling the cool, emotionless wind push against his hair.