The Thunder Pillar

Luna tried to observe and understand anything from the battle, but the only thing she could deduce was that both were using the first method of magic manipulation that Sariel had mentioned, where the user channels their own power.

Even so, seeing them surrounded by lightning and ice, dueling with their weapons and still firing their magic at each other all at the same time, made it impossible to believe that anyone would be capable of such coordination and concentration.

Sariel deflected all the blows of Indra's long sword and, taking advantage of the fact that his glaive had two blades, counterattacked quickly, giving the Thunder Pillar very little time to continue with any attack.

In addition, his ice spikes flew towards his opponent with precision and speed but were soon destroyed by the lightning that surrounded him.

At this point, the battle had escalated in a way that forced the group to move away so as not to be caught in the crossfire.

This time, it was Indra who was being pressured, who was becoming increasingly annoyed for not being able to defeat Sariel easily.

In fact, he couldn't even touch the traveler. His attacks were all skillfully deflected.

As the battle continued, the dark clouds shone and thunder roared furiously, as if they were directly connected to the Thunder Pillar's impatience.

And indeed, they were.

Suddenly, a powerful lightning bolt struck towards the traveler, who narrowly dodged the attack, seeing, in the place where he had been a second before, scorched and with a small crater.

After this first lightning bolt, dozens of others began to fall together, and all aimed at Sariel.

Indra, taking advantage of the pressure his opponent was under, intensified his attacks with the sword and began to launch several magical attacks against him.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to handle everything at the same time, the traveler decided to intensify his offensive as well.

In response to his command, the temperature dropped even further and, what was once a light snowfall, became an intense gust of ice.

Despite this, unlike Indra's lightning, the snow was something that took longer to accumulate, so it wasn't enough to protect him.

Some of the lightning bolts, in addition to Indra's attacks, began to hit him, although superficially.

"Ha! Looks like you can't keep up!" Indra began to feel more confident. "You haven't hurt me yet, and how about you?"

Sariel smiled at this provocation and his body began to glow with a golden light.

His wounds closed instantly, and no matter how many times he was hit, his healing surpassed the speed at which he was injured.

Indra tried with all his might to cause serious damage, but Sariel knew how to deflect the heaviest attacks and only allowed the superficial attacks to touch him.

"Damn it! Why won't you die?" the Thunder Pillar shouted.

"Protection magic, my friend! It heals any wound in the blink of an eye!"

Indra became more impatient, and his terrible murderous aura made Raymond, Shiina, and Luna tremble and cower.

As more time passed, the blizzard became intense enough to make visibility very difficult.

Obeying the traveler's will, the blizzard began to condense in the air and form dozens of larger ice spikes.

With so many spikes, Sariel used them against Indra and also used ice to form shields that blocked the lightning bolts.

It was then that ice dragons in the shape of serpents began to appear in mid-air, as big as some trees, and flew towards Indra, seeking to devour him.

The Thunder Pillar responded in the same way, and equally large eagles of electricity emerged from the clouds and flew against the dragons.

A secondary battle began. The ice spikes and dragons advanced against the lightning bolts and electric eagles, colliding violently and causing small explosions in mid-air.

By that point, the trees and the ground were completely white and frozen, and visibility didn't allow anyone to see anything within a few meters.

However, this wasn't a problem for Indra, as his heightened senses were able to detect any imminent attack in the vicinity, making it easy to predict his opponent's movements.

"Trying to hide, are you? I can feel your intentions! You won't escape!"

Indra was confident that, despite the situation, he was still not at a disadvantage, as the ability to feel his enemy's emotions allowed him to find him easily.

This was a secret that few knew, but people's emotions were reflected in their magic, as if the person's feelings interacted with the magic in the environment.

Therefore, if Sariel, with great anger, tried to attack him, his exact movements could be felt.

And because of his confidence, Indra was not prepared when Sariel suddenly moved behind him and, without any hostile aura or even a feeling, attacked aiming his back.

Indra ducked reflexively and narrowly avoided the blow, with his mask receiving a superficial cut.

The Thunder Pillar, still surprised, thought he had been distracted for a brief second, allowing the traveler to approach.

However, he soon realized he was wrong.

Indra tried to counterattack, but Sariel deflected his blow and launched a succession of swings with his glaive, combined with various ice magics.

That made the Thunder Pillar's heart freeze. He was unable to feel any emotion in those blows. There was no anger, indignation, adrenaline, or even the pleasure of fighting a difficult battle.

It was as if he were fighting a ghost, a corpse that had no feelings and was just trying to kill him for the sake of killing.

For a brief moment, Sariel's figure seemed to change to that of a tall man wearing a black kimono, with gray hair that reached his waist.

His battle stance was impeccable, and his eyes had no feeling.

That figure advanced towards him and launched several cuts with a spear.

Then, the next moment, that figure changed to that of the traveler, about to hit him.

Indra tried to dodge but was hit several times.

The icy teeth of one of the dragons mauled his left arm, a spike pierced his stomach, and the traveler's glaive punctured his right lung, narrowly missing his heart.

The Thunder Pillar despaired and, in an attempt to free himself, raised his sword towards the sky, causing a column of electricity to fall right where he was.

Sariel jumped back just in time, and Indra emerged unscathed from that attack, even though his magic had created a crater a few meters deep in the ground.

The traveler waited for Indra's reaction. He could tell that his enemy was losing control, as the lightning that surrounded him was furious.

However, the Thunder Pillar was still a member of the Council. He wouldn't lose his temper so easily, otherwise he would have died during the war against the angels.

He searched with his hands for something in his clothes, took out a Protection stone and pressed it, causing the stone to melt into a golden light that closed his wounds.

Then, Indra looked at Sariel with a mixture of anger, enthusiasm, and indignation. It was clear that the traveler was able to hide his own feelings in the same way as his rival, Feng Ping, so it was a matter of honor to defeat him.

With his sword pointing to the sky, countless lightning bolts were attracted to him, remaining on him and his sword.

It was as if Kura, above the clouds, was using the lightning bolts as threads that connected to a puppet, thus controlling him.

It was more than clear; Indra was using all his power and would fight seriously, as if his enemy was another Pillar.

Everything in an area of one kilometer was being completely punished by lightning, opening large craters and starting fires that were soon extinguished by the snow.

The sound was absolutely unbearable. The thunder was deafening and constant, as if countless meteors were punishing the earth, and the howling of the wind was equivalent to being in the center of a powerful hurricane.

The rest of the group had already moved a few hundred meters away, and the only one who could briefly understand what was happening was Aegreon.

That fight was no longer between two men, but rather between the embodiment of ice and the embodiment of lightning.

*****

In a distant region, there was a village that was suffering the consequences of that battle.

The snow accumulated on the grass and roofs, and some lightning bolts fell around.

However, the most impressive thing could be seen kilometers away. Clouds as black as death and charged with lightning condensed at one point and punished the region.

Some curious people remained outside their homes while watching that, but others looked out the windows, fearing that some lightning bolt would strike them.

"What do you think is happening?" Uriel asked, watching the black clouds.

"I don't know... Maybe it has something to do with the Thunder Pillar? He was here right after those travelers left," Brian replied.

"Maybe... It's better to tell everyone to stay inside, he must be facing something worse than that army of undead."

"You're right..."