The walls of the great arena of Cælora resounded with the echo of the footsteps of the assembly. BOOM... BOOM... Volmeryn sat on his throne with the vampire Duke Darius, Lyara, Carlos and Trôk at his side who were intently watching a clash between two dragons-gods.
Lysandros and Arelon stood in the center of the arena and each displayed an expression of concentration. The other dragons-gods, meanwhile watched from behind.
CRAAACK – The ground under their feet was starting to crack. This duel would not only be a show of strength but also a way for Volmeryn to better understand who among his allies was best suited to defend Cælora.
Lyara: «This fight is going to be something to see. I bet Lysandros will crush arelon with his power.»
Carlos: «Lysandros is powerful but Arelon has nothing to envy him. If you ask me, I think it's Arelon who will end up dominating.»
Trôk burst out laughing. "BWAHAHAHA!" «Arelon? You're kidding, aren't you? Lysandros could erase him in the blink of an eye.»
Darius: «It's all about strategy. Huge power is nothing without finesse of mind. These dragons must prove that they are more than fighters: they must be strategists.»
Volmeryn stood up and said in the arena: "LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"
The arena suddenly was transformed into a battlefield. BOOMOOOM! Lysandros spread his dragons wings in all their glory ready for battle.
Lysandros: «Get ready, Arelon. You'll understand what it means to be a real dragon god.»
Arelon: «I prefer to let myself be surprised. I just hope you're not rusty, Lysandros.»
Lysandros rushed at Arelon with his fingers imbued with a crackling dark energy ready to lacerate him. CRZZZT!
«You won't have time to joke.»
But Arelon anticipated his movement and dodged with a bound. SWISH! In his icy voice he murmured:
[Meteor of Divine Judgment.]
With a gesture, BOOOOM!, he summoned a huge flaming meteor surrounded by a divine halo.
Volmeryn turned his gaze to the sky ablaze with the residue of the explosion. A divine meteor... A spell of a certain level but it would need much more to claim excellence under his command.
«Interesting. Let's see how he reacts.» he murmured curiously.
The huge fiery mass sliced through the air as it crashed into Lysandros' path and he had to flap his wings quickly to avoid the impact. KABOOM! A shockwave spread through the arena and raised a cloud of flames.
Trôk (surprised smile): «Arelon is wasting no time. It's not a fight, it's a duel of artists.»
Darius (arms crossed): «Lysandros has the experience. He knows that this is just the beginning.»
Lysandros would stand up in the air creating whoosh bursts that kicked up debris in the arena.
«Do you want to play with the sky? Very good.»
Suddenly, the energies around him condensed vrrrmmm.
[Fall of the Infernal Meteor!]
An abyssal black meteor, surrounded by infernal flames descended from the skies at a rapid fwoooosh speed and headed straight for Arelon.
Volmeryn watched in silence as the enormous black meteor tore through the atmosphere surrounded by an abyssal glow that consumed even the surrounding light. He was beginning to be intrigued by the intensity of the phenomenon produced by his subordinate.
«System, analyze this spell for me. Energy source, destructive potential and implications on the structure of the kingdom.»
The omniscient voice of the system immediately resonated in his mind:
[Analysis in progress…]
[Spell: Fall of the Infernal Meteor]
- Origin: Abyssal essence fused with a transcendent infernal blaze.
- Power: Immeasurable. The nature of this flame theoretically allows it to consume and annihilate several suns in its path.
- Side effects: Instantaneous disintegration of matter over an unlimited range, creation of a magical void that could alter the fundamental laws of this plane of existence.]
Volmeryn :«Oh… Now, this is something truly impressive.»
The system's voice continued to analyze the spell:
[Warning: Activating the defense protocols of the Volmeryn Kingdom will neutralize any major alterations to space-time and prevent the impact from affecting the structure of the surrounding universe.]
A slight chuckle played on Volmeryn's lips.
«Of course. Even a cataclysm capable of collapsing suns would not be enough to shake my domain. How ironic... destruction of such caliber and yet it will remain a mere spectacle.»
He relished the impending chaos with a hand on his chin.
«So, Arelon will you shine brighter than a sun... or be consumed by this endless night?»
This duel was shaping up to be much more interesting than he had anticipated.
Arelon, concentrated responded to the attack without hesitation.
[Divine Flame of the Infernus.]
An explosion of golden flames came out of his hands BOOOOM and collided with the black meteor. The two energies collided shaking the arena with a titanic shock KRRRRSHHH!
The humans, gathered in their section instinctively backed away. Some fell to their knees, mouths agape murmuring prayers for this fight to stop.
The elves, perched in their stands watched the scene with a mixture of fascination and concern. Their keen senses perceived the slightest fluctuations of energy and they shivered as they realized the magnitude of the power at play.
An elf with green pupils had trembling hands:
«This is... beyond elemental magic. These flames possess the very essence of the heavens and the abysses.»
On the vampire side, the excitement was palpable. Some smiled, galvanized by the imminent destruction.
A vampire with crimson eyes was amused:
«What a beauty. The end of the world would probably have a similar taste... fascination»
Nethrath (burst out laughing): «Lysandros and Arelon are not afraid to destroy everything. They wants to win no matter the cost.»
Eirlys (fascinated): «Arelon is brilliant but he must be wary of Lysandros' power. It is terrifying.»
Lysandros: «Arelon, do you think you can compete with my power?!»
He clenched his fists as he focused a dark energy around him ZZZZHHH.
[Black Flame of the Abyss.]
A wave of black flames was spreading FOOOOSH! by burning everything in its path.
The most terrifying thing about these flames was their abyssal affinity. These flames did not go out naturally. They did not need fuel because they fed directly on life energy and spiritual essence.
Regardless of a being's immortality, if they were touched, they could not hope to survive: the flames devoured their soul and slowly dissolved into nothingness.
Worse still, victims touched by these flames would feel their existence fragmented and consumed not only in the present but also in the past and future as if they had never set foot in this reality.
Arelon, still unperturbed raised his hand:
[Flame of the Lost Aeons.]
A blue flame, ancient and unchanging, appeared WOOOM! by annihilating the black flames and then creating a blinding burst of light SHIIIIING! .
As soon as the Flame of the Lost Aeons made contact with the Black Flames of the Abyss, a strange reaction occurred. There was no explosion or destructive impact. Instead, the black flames simply ceased to exist. They were not extinguished, consumed or blown away by a higher force.
They were nullified, erased from the very fabric of reality. Where they had burned moments before, nothing remained not even a trace of energy or a trace of their influence. The reason was simple: the Flame of the Lost Aeons did not simply burn. It was a fire outside of time, a primordial flame that existed before the laws of destruction and chaos were established.
Unlike the black flames that consumed
existence and time, this one transcended these concepts. Wherever it passed, it reestablished a timeless reality by eradicating any anomaly that sought to destroy the fundamental order of the world.
Arelon slowly lowered his hand with his icy gaze fixed on Lysandros.
«Your flames consume the present, future, past and erase existence..But mine come from a time that even the abyss has forgotten.»
Sepharon : «To erase the Abyssal Flames so easily… It's not just a matter of power but of fundamental principle.»
Trôk : «And to think that this is just a clash between subordinates. Imagine if our king, Volmeryn, decided to seriously intervene...»
Volmeryn: «Interesting, Arelon manages to manipulate a flame that transcends even time.»
Lysandros far from giving up swooped down with his hands surrounded by a dark WHOOOSH!
[Creation of Living Darkness.]
Countless shadows appeared around him taking monstrous GRAAAAH forms and rushing at Arelon.
Some had serpentine bodies that writhed with gaping mouths filled with fangs dripping with liquid darkness. Others immense and quadrupedal possessed asymmetrical limbs and bottomless eyes that absorbed the surrounding light.
These creatures could not be destroyed conventionally. Cutting their bodies only fragmented them, each fragment spawning a new abomination that spread like a living plague. They did not follow the laws of matter and appeared and disappeared like specters emerging from any corner of shadow to pounce on their prey.
Lyara: «Impressive spell of Lysandros. But Arelon is not the type to be surprised.»
Arelon took a step forward and then murmured:
[Abyssal Eclipse.]
The shadows that came in his direction were immediately absorbed into a dark sphere SHOOOM! and sealed in a parallel dimension.
As he muttered the words of the skill, an absolute void settled around him. The surrounding light disappeared and was swallowed up by an unfathomable force, it was a black hole of pure darkness. The skill did not just create a simple sphere or absorption field. It was a dimensional chasm designed to suck in anything that came near it.
When Lysandros' monstrous shadows moved towards him, they were immediately absorbed by an irresistible force of attraction as if a vacuum of space had suddenly opened up before them.
Their twisted and menacing bodies were swallowed into the depths of the black chasm and were torn apart and dissolved by the pure void.
Unlike simple absorption or confinement magic, the black hole created by Arelon was not limited by the physical boundaries of space. It was not simply an area in which shadows were trapped but a distortion that existed in a parallel plane, a space where the laws of time and matter were crushed and rewritten.
The shadow creatures of Lysandros despite their immortal nature and their ability to multiply and regenerate found themselves literally dissolved in this abyss lost forever in a space where even light could not reach.
Their attempts to reform or flee were futile because they were not simply trapped in a closed space but plunged into a null dimension where the very concept of existence was erased.
Once a creature or energy was absorbed into it, no matter if it had a soul or not it could not return because the space of this parallel world was infinite and endless.
«A perfect trap.» Arelon muttered as he watched the sphere of darkness close in.
Lysandros was getting furious GRRRR but he wasn't short of resources.
Lysandros: «You want to lock up my darkness? Then march with them!»
He used another of his dark skills:
[Darkwalker.]
His body, suddenly, became a vaporous silhouette FWOOOSH! , and his movements became faster than ever ZZZZH.
Arelon sensed the danger, but he remained focused: «I see... So, let's dance.»
Lysandros was now striking with unequalled rapidity—no, a rapidity that defied measure. WHAM WHAM WHAM! Every shot he threw was so swift that even time was unable to keep up with his movement. His fist appeared everywhere at once, it was a myriad of superimposed shadows that the universe itself could no longer contain the infinite cadence of its attacks.
CHAPTER ENDED.