Chapter 55

Kael POV

As I watched Ezra summon his soul weapon, I understood that the battle was truly beginning. Looking at the sword, it appeared exactly as the records had described. The weapon was a sleek and radiant katana, its blade forged from crystallized solar essence, giving it a shifting hue of gold, crimson, and pure white light depending on Ezra's energy output. The hilt was wrapped in dark crimson fabric, resistant to the extreme heat the blade generated. The guard was shaped like a rising sun, with golden flares extending outward like solar prominences.

The blade was truly a sight to behold, and its power was evident. Before I could even react, I noticed that Ezra was slowly falling to the ground. How could I be losing my grip while using the tectonic forces to anchor myself? I thought, wondering why my power was failing. Then, suddenly, blood sprayed everywhere—I realized the reason was my severed forearm.

"I told you, don't bite off more than you can chew, Kael," Ezra said, catching his breath after being strangled.

"Finally, you've come to play," I responded, commanding the lava around me to cauterize my severed arm. "You know, Ezra, you are the first to wound me to this degree. But let me show you my true power—then I will end this battle."

Channeling an immense amount of cosmic energy into the third rune of my astral tattoo, I unleashed my celestial domain upon the landscape of the astral realm. The formation of my fate constellation appeared between Ezra and me. Then, in a flash, it expanded with explosive speed, creating a massive dome that encased us both. Inside this dome, the battlefield transformed into a volcanic wasteland. Large rivers of lava surged beneath my feet, and the air became thick with ash and embers.

Every step I took within my domain created seismic tremors, causing the rivers of lava to leap between the ground and the sky. Every time I activated my domain, I felt invincible. With the surge of power flowing into me from the excess volcanic energy, I felt as if I could split the world in half.

"Welcome to your final resting place, Ezra!" I shouted, taking one step before launching myself toward my enemy. With my one remaining hand, I threw a punch in the air, creating an explosion aimed at the kneeling Ezra.

Just in time, Ezra deflected the explosion with his soul weapon. But I pressed forward with my assault. Using the force from the impact of each step as I sprinted toward him, I manipulated the seismic tremors to launch lava into the air, obscuring his vision. With the atmosphere constantly filled with my cosmic lava, I was free to move as I pleased within my domain without my cosmic signature being recognized.

I sent a few more explosions Ezra's way, attacking him head-on while flanking him from behind. As he deflected the last explosion, I landed a clean blow to his spine, channeling the full force of the tectonic plates into my strike. The impact sent him flying across my domain.

I knew better than to let up against an adversary of his caliber. Using the lava, I enveloped myself and slingshotted myself in the direction I had sent him. Before I knew it, I was already hovering above him, my remaining hand cocked back, ready to deliver another devastating attack.

Ezra barely managed to rotate his body in time, using his katana to absorb most of the force. But the momentum still sent him hurtling toward the ground. I commanded the lava once more to propel me toward him, determined to maintain my relentless pace and force him into making a mistake. I didn't want to give him time to think—if he did, I knew he was smart enough to find a way to counter me.

To my surprise, my foe still found a way to recover quickly enough to dodge my next attack. At this point, I had enough.

With Ezra standing a few meters away, I created another series of tremors within my domain, causing the lava to rise into the atmosphere once more. As it ascended, I commanded it to take the shape of colossal hands, fitting for a giant, and restrain him. Trapped in midair, with no way to move his arms or legs, Ezra struggled as I approached at blinding speed. Each step I took absorbed the immense energy from the lava and tectonic forces, feeding into my next attack.

"This is your end, Ezra. Only a few were honored to die by my Worldsplitter technique!"

As my fist struck his abdomen, an immense burst of energy erupted, shattering my domain as the explosion from my attack echoed throughout the battlefield.

When the debris cleared, I expected to see blood gushing from Ezra's abdomen. But to my dismay, I was completely wrong. Instead, I saw Ezra brimming with light—his body unscathed.

"How can this be? That attack should have killed you!" I shouted.

"It definitely would have," Ezra admitted. "But thanks to my soul weapon, it barely felt like a scratch. You see, one of the passive abilities of Dawnbringer is to absorb heat and convert it into solar energy. And everyone knows that those who wield the Solaris Fate Constellation passively absorb solar energy and convert it into cosmic energy. So when Dawnbringer had finally gathered enough solar energy, I was able to release and absorb it all at once. I enveloped my body in a protective layer of cosmic energy just before your attack landed. This is a technique I created long ago for situations where I didn't have access to solar energy from the physical realm."

"So you were just biding your time against me this whole time?" I growled.

"Yeah," Ezra replied. "And you know what's even funnier now? By the looks of your cosmic energy reserves, I don't think you even have what it takes to finish the job anymore. And that explosion? It generated so much heat that my reserves are back to about half full—which is more than enough to defeat you."

Ezra took a step forward, his eyes locked onto mine.

"So, Kael, I'm going to ask you one more time—" His voice was steady, filled with unwavering resolve.

"Is my brother alive? And where are you keeping him?"