Chapter 57

Ezra POV

Staring at Kael, I saw a flicker of fear enter his eyes. He now understood that his aspirations and dreams were likely to end here, one way or another. But like a cornered animal, he lashed out, attacking with all his might. With his remaining arm, he unleashed a barrage of explosive punches using his infernal gauntlet.

Now that my cosmic energy reserves were back to around half capacity, I had more than enough power to create a dense layer around my body, absorbing the oncoming onslaught. I didn't even bother to evade or deflect the attacks—I wanted him to feel demoralized as he watched his efforts yield no results. Every explosion he unleashed only fed me more power. With the intense heat his attacks generated, Dawnbringer had an endless supply of thermal energy to convert into solar energy, rapidly restoring my reserves to near full.

Bored, I took slow, deliberate steps toward my enemy. With each step I advanced, I noticed Kael taking several steps back, trying to maintain distance.

"You know I can reach you in an instant, right? You can feel my reserves growing by the second. Just give up now, and I'll forgive you—I'll even spare your life. You have a family and children to return to, don't you?" I said calmly, taking a smooth, effortless step that launched me forward in an instant. In a flash, I was in front of Kael, my hand resting on his towering shoulder. Our eyes met, and I saw the fear in his gaze harden into resolve.

"Just tell me about my brother—that's all I ask."

A smirk crossed Kael's face as the lava around us began to swirl. Before I could react, he submerged into the ground once more, his cosmic signature vanishing from my senses.

Then, all of a sudden, the entire surface of the astral realm rumbled and shook.

"What is this man doing now?" I thought, staying alert, trying to anticipate his next move. But the longer I waited, the clearer it became—he wasn't planning to strike in the same way as before. Instead, the tremors and violent shifts in the landscape around me intensified, signaling something far more dangerous.

"I never thought I would have to use my last resort to finish you off, Ezra. I believed my plan was foolproof. I should have known you'd have contingency plans for situations like this." Kael's voice echoed through the fissures in the crumbling terrain.

Had I been too eager for this duel? Too reckless in feeding my own ego? Maybe I had been selfish. But why would I abandon the very thing that made me who I am?

At my core, I am a warrior—a man who seeks out the strongest foes and puts his life on the line for the glory of battle. That is something I could never shake, no matter the responsibilities I bore or the bonds I had formed.

"So here and now, Ezra, I will put everything on the line to seek the glory that will forever change the landscape of this world," Kael proclaimed. "I will be known as the one who has slain the Sun."

The surface beneath me began to bulge and crack under immense pressure.

Then, suddenly, enormous molten hands erupted from all angles. Some shot up from the ground, locking around my ankles. Others seized my arms, binding me in place. Trapped by Kael's molten shackles, I watched as the ground beneath me crumbled away, leaving me suspended in the air.

"Now, with all the combined power of the astral magma in this realm and my remaining cosmic energy, I will unleash my most devastating attack—one I was saving for the destruction of the Syltharion Clan. But you, Ezra... you will be its very first victim. Now vanish—before my Pyroclasm Cannon!"

Kael roared as he unleashed his ultimate attack. The sheer volume of cosmic energy infused within the blast was enough to decimate the world as we knew it.

Realizing the magnitude of what I faced, I surged with cosmic energy, shattering my molten restraints and launching myself into the sky.

"I really wish you had just taken the deal," I thought to myself. "In another life, we might have been great rivals—maybe even friends. Your ideals aren't so different from mine. We both want to help the people of this world thrive and prosper. We just have different methods of achieving that goal, and I refuse to massacre entire clans and innocent people to do it."

Channeling solar energy throughout my body to feet, I pushed my speed beyond its limits, soaring hundreds of meters above the oncoming blast.

With no time to waste, I funneled my cosmic energy into Dawnbringer, igniting my blade with the flames of the sun.

The fire roared to life, growing in intensity, mirroring my determination to end this battle. The solar flames now stretched as large as one of the skyscrapers back in Arthenos.

"This should be enough," I thought, preparing my final strike.

Taking a long, deep breath, I recited the oath passed down through generations of the Solaris Clan:

"From the first light to the final dusk, we rise unbowed."We are the flames that banish the void, the dawn that shatters the night.""With the fire of a thousand suns, we forge our path, unyielding and eternal.""Our might is radiant, our will unbreakable, our duty sacred.""By the burning heavens and the Astral Throne, we swear—""So long as our stars blaze, the Solaris shall never fall."

With the final word spoken, I unleashed my Solar Flare Slash, reducing Kael's Pyroclasm Cannon to dust.