The sun's golden sheen filled the sky. Birds chirped, flying through snow-covered trees. A northern soldier was walking through the thick snow, his breath visible after each exhale. Behind the soldier, was an encampment of hundreds, if not thousands of tents. It was early morning, and the sun had just peered through the horizon, so only a few people were walking outside of their tents.
One of those people was Nazeem. He was on the outskirts of their encampment, pissing. "Whistle, whistle… Oh man I am hyped! It's all or nothin' I guess. Hmm… but I wonder where Kil is. I heard he was training with the North God but maybe he'll be here for the battle? I'll check with Solomon." The sound of liquid hitting the snow ended. Nazeem pulled up his pants, and headed into the center of the encampment. Eventually, he made it to a large tent, nearly triple the size of a normal one. He walked inside, and said, "Yo, master Solomon…" Solomon was sitting on a wooden chair by the side of the tent. He was staring at a wooden table located in the center. On the table was a map of The Thirteen Kingdoms, "...Sorry to barge in like this, but I've got a question." Solomon's gaze met with Nazeems, "Ask away." "Well… I was wondering if Kil was gonna make it for the battle?" Solomon lowered his head, turning his gaze to the floor, "Sorry Nazeem… but I haven't heard word from master Torrid or Kiliano. It's probably safe to assume that he won't be present during this battle." Nazeem's face went dim. His eyes lost a bit of glimmer, "Ah… got it. Well thanks master." He waved goodbye, and left the tent.
Once he walked out, Nazeem spotted Lura walking by, "Hey, Lura…!" He walked over to her, "...Are you ready?" Lura looked at him. Her eyes had bags over them and her hair was a mess, "Yawn… Yeah, totally. You?" Nazeem didn't believe her, "Uh… yeah I'm all good. Where's Nyleah? I bet the battle's gonna start any second now.
In a tent farther away, Nyleah was sleeping on a mattress of hay. Boom. A loud thudding noise rang from a distance, barely making any noise in her tent. Nyleah's eyes twitched, and she opened them, "Grmm… What the-?" BOOM! This time, the thudding was much closer. Screams of soldiers from outside filled her ears. She widened her eyes, waking up. And grabbed her bow and arrow before running outside.
Soldiers ran back and forth in a hurry. Some tents were on fire, and others were submerged in ice and rock. Nyleah looked around, trying to find any sign of a clear enemy. The panic surrounding her became overwhelming. The screams, thudding, and explosions began to fade out, and all she could hear was her breathing, "Huff… huff… huff." "Nyleah, come on!" General Sarik's voice rang into her ears from the panic. He grabbed her wrist, looking at her in the eyes. She regained her focus, and looked back at him, "S-sorry general. I've got it now!" Sarik nodded, and ran off. Nyleah turned to face a large clump of soldiers who were fighting. She readied her bow, and ran off.
From beyond the encampment, through dozens of trees, in a clearing, covered in snow, Asfodel stood in the center. He was staring towards a specific part of the forest. And after a few moments, a silhouette walked out from the thicket. The person wore a black coat with white fuzz on its collar. Their pants were slightly baggy, and beige. It was Nazeem. He held a stern face, his eyes fixated on Asfodel. He quickly noticed that the ground behind him was raised up, creating an unnatural ledge. Standing on top of the raised ground was a man, clad in pitch black, metal armor. His hair was pure white, much like Asfodel's, and his eyes were a piercing gold. Nazeem whispered to himself, "Shyzenkraum." Asfodel made a jealous look, "Oh c'mon you're fighting me, not him." He then switched his facial expression into one of pure joy, and grinned. Nazeem cleared his throat, and began channeling mana through his body, which triggered strings of lightning to simmer through his arms. Nazeem's eyes began to glow a bright blue color, and he smiled back at Asfodel, ready for the upcoming battle.
Farther up the forest, Lura was running through a thicket of trees. The cries of soldiers surrounded her, but she wasn't fazed. Her eyes were fixated on everything in front of her, as she began clashing with her enemies. One soldier swung towards her right shoulder, but she ducked down, tilting right, and countering by slashing the man's stomach open. He cried out in pain, and fell to the ground. But just then, two more soldiers ran at her with their swords raised. She glanced back at them, readying her sword, "Quickdraw!" Suddenly, a white string of aura made contact with one of the soldiers chests, and a spurt of blood shot out from it, "Gyah!" He fell to the ground, which made the other soldier look back in surprise. This gave Lura enough time to dash towards him and swipe downwards, cutting the man clean in two, from the bottom of his right armpit to the left side of his waist. Lura began moving her sword up and down fast enough for it to vibrate, which made the blood evaporate straight off the blade. She looked forward, and continued running.
After running for a few seconds, another soldier appeared from behind a tree and swung his sword at her. Lura jumped up, dodging the attack and swinging her sword to the right, cutting through the man's neck. She kept her momentum, and continued running. The soldier fell to the ground, bleeding out. Lura made her way past dozens of trees every second, and made it into a large clearing, where Nazeem and Asfodel were. The two of them had been fighting. Nazeem's coat was battered and had a few cuts through it. He was breathing heavily, but there was no visible blood on him. Lura dashed forward, aiming for Asfodel. He noticed Lura running towards him, and smiled, "You too!? How fun!" "Grahh!" Clang. Lura clashed against Asfodel, who had generated a sword made of pure light particles. Asfodel took a step back due to Lura's force, which triggered Nazeem to dash behind him and swung, aiming for the back of his head. Nazeem channeled mana into his fist, which made it emanate lightning at an intense speed. "Lightspeed!" Asfodel's body began to dissipate into light particles, and the particles shot up into the sky nearly a dozen meters. The particles formed back into Asfodel's body. He was looking down at them, smiling. But Lura dashed upwards, stopping just above Asfodel and catching him off guard. She already had her sword raised up, holding it with both her hands, and swung downwards. He managed to block just in time, but Lura put on more pressure, and sent him flying into the ground. BOOF! He slammed into the ground, sending piles of snow flying out from where he landed. Nazeem wasted no time and charged forward with lightning shooting out from his body. Asfodel had landed on his feet. His knees were bent, and he was slouching with his arms limp, facing the ground. Nazeem got closer, and pulled his fist back, "Overshock!" Lightning began to circle his fist in a spiral, and he swung, aiming straight for Asfodel's face. But Asfodel shot his eyes towards Nazeem, and pulled his neck back, dodging Nazeem's punch, and countering with a left punch to Nazeem's liver, "Gyuh!" Nazeem winced and staggered backwards. Asfodel pulled his right arm back, channeling mana into it, as light particles began to form rapidly. Just as he swung his arm forward, aiming for Nazeem, Lura dashed behind him and swung her sword to the right. Asfodel glanced backwards, realizing where Lura was, "Lightspeed!" His body turned into light particles once more, and they flew to their right a few dozen meters before forming back into his physical body.
Lura grabbed Nazeem's right arm and looked at him, "C'mon! We've gotta catch him off guard or we won't win." Lura's expression was filled with determination. Nazeem nodded, and faced Asfodel with her. Asfodel smiled maliciously, "How great…! I love crushing strong enemies! But don't you dare hold back… I don't want this fight ending too soon..." He raised his left arm to the sky, and began channeling mana through it, "...Bring forth my power! Radial Shower!" The sky above them began to glow golden. Nazeem took a step back and looked up, "Lura get ready!" Suddenly, pillars of light shot down from the sky. Nazeem jerked backwards, narrowly dodging it. The pillar of light disappeared once it made contact with the ground, but another one shot downwards immediately after. This time, Lura was forced to dash right, moving out of the way just in time. The pillars of light dissipated once they made contact with anything, but dozens more began to rain down from the sky. Nazeem and Lura dashed in every direction, dodging every beam of light by mere inches. Asfodel continued holding his arm to the sky, staring down Nazeem and Lura, who were dashing around at incredible speeds to try and make it out of the barrage of light pillars, "Come… on! I'm running out of juice here!" The rain of light continued on for a few more seconds, but Asfodel eventually lowered his arm. The rain of light stopped, giving Nazeem and Lura time to rest. The two of them had sweat running down their faces, as they took in heavy breathes. But Asfodel wasn't done. He leaned towards the two of them, and dashed forward, closing the gap between him and Lura in an instant. This caught Lura and Nazeem off guard. She tried jerking backwards, but Asfodel was already too close. He grabbed Lura's face with his right hand, and it began to glow a golden color. Nazeem sent a fist hurling towards Asfodel's face, but he caught it with his left hand and threw Nazeem to the ground. THUD! Lura swiped her sword back and forth through Asfodel's torso. But her sword went right through his body like it wasn't even there. He smiled even wider, fixating his eyes even more intensely on Lura, who was struggling to get out of his grip. She grabbed his wrist with her left hand and channeled mana through it. Asfodel's wrist began to make a sizzling noise, and smoke was being formed. However, Asfodel didn't budge. His grip stayed firm, which made Lura lose her will to fight. She let go of her grip on Asfodel's wrist, and her arm dangled down, limp.
Just as she had given up, a VVVVP flew through the air. FFTP! Suddenly, Asfodel's right arm had a spurt of blood shooting out from it. An arrow had flown from his right side and lodged into his arm so deep its point was visible from the other end. Asfodel winched and released Lura's head. Lura dashed backwards, making a stance. She glanced to her left, trying to see who had helped her. Nyleah was standing past the forest's edge. Her bow was already drawn back, and she had an arrow, enveloped in mana ready to fly. Nyleah released her right hand, sending the arrow flying through the air faster than Lura could see, "Gah!" Asfodel winched once more. Lura's arrow had hit his right shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder with his left hand and staggered backwards. Nazeem darted behind him and stuck out his right arm, "Electrocution!" Lightning shot through Asfodel's body. He tensed up and screamed in pain, "Gnnnah…!" Nazeem pulled his right arm back and took a big step forward, putting his left foot in front, then shooting his right arm forward, aiming his fist towards Asfodel's face. But Asfodel's piercing red eyes fixated on him, "Golden Flare!" and a flash of golden light filled the entire area, blinding Nyleah, Lura and Nazeem. After a few moments, the light faded, and the three of them regained their vision. However, Asfodel was on the opposite side of them now, and Nazeem was on his knees, his head tilted to the ground with blood gushing from his hairline. Lura's eyes widened, and she rushed over to him. Asfodel grinned, and stuck out his right hand, "Fireball!" A tiny ball of flames, no larger than two cubic feet was formed just past Asfodel's hand. He shot it out, hurling towards Nazeem. Nyleah noticed this and quickly drew her bow back, generating mana through the arrow, and sending it flying. The arrow zipped past Lura and hit the fireball in less than the blink of an eye. FFFTP OOSH. The fireball dissipated just in time, allowing Lura to make it to Nazeem.
She put her left hand on his forehead, and tilted his head up. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was gaping open. Lura's eyes widened with fear. She dropped her sword and picked him up. She quickly set him down, leaning against a rock. Asfodel watched, making an expression of smug pleasure on his face. Nyleah stood still, watching Asfodel with intense focus. She had her bow readied, waiting for a chance to attack him. But Asfodel waited patiently for Lura to finish her confrontation with Nazeem. Lura pushed on his shoulder slightly, "Nazeem, are you okay?" After a few seconds of silence, his eyes began to open, "Mmh… Crap, what happened? Oh, that's right… we're fighting. Just gimme a minute… I'll be okay, don't worry." Lura let out a sigh of relief, and nodded. She stood back up, and turned to face Asfodel, who was staring at her with a content smile on his face, "Are you ready, little girl?" Lura gritted her teeth and furrowed her brows, "Don't call me little!" She dashed forward, grabbing her sword from the ground and swinging upwards. Asfodel formed a blade of light and blocked her attack while shifting his body to her right. Asfodel spun his body around clockwise, pulling his sword back and stopped short to face Lura again. He swung his sword to the right, aiming for Lura's exposed ribs. But just as his blade was about to connect, Nyleah sent an arrow hurling towards Asfodel's face. Time felt like it had slowed down. Nyleah's arrow was mere inches away from Asfodel's face, as he stared it down, realizing just in time. He put his right foot in front of him and dashed backwards, canceling his attack towards Lura, and dodging Nyleah's arrow. He jumped backwards a few meters, landing, and making a readied stance.
Nyleah began to channel mana through her body and into her bow. Suddenly, a burst of flames enveloped her bow, and she readied herself. Lura began emanating her aura, releasing large amounts of bloodlust directed towards Asfodel. Lura's body began pushing out strong winds. The snow around her flew away, as the air around her became tense. Asfodel grinned maliciously, and leaned towards Lura, "It's time to play!" He dashed forward, closing the gap between them immediately and swinging his sword towards her right shoulder. Clang! Lura blocked his attack and shifted her body backwards, sending his sword into the ground. She moved her sword to the left side of her hip, and swung sideways towards his torso. "Lightspeed!" His body turned into light particles and shot away, reforming back into his body. He was now standing over a dozen meters away from Lura. Nyleah was standing on the edge of the forest thicket. Lura was on the opposite end of the clearing as her, with Asfodel in between them. His eyes were glaring at Lura, but he made sure to pay attention to Nyleah's every small movement.
Suddenly, Lura leaped towards Asfodel. She swung her sword towards him, but he evaded it and countered by swinging downwards. Lura planted her right foot onto the ground and pushed off it, dashing left. She stuck out her right arm and sent out a fireball hurling towards him. Flick. Asfodel snapped his fingers, and a small beam of light shot out from the ground, dissipating her fireball. He pulled his sword above his head and rushed towards her, swinging downwards again. Clang! Lura blocked his sword and directed it into the ground, countering with a swing towards the right side of his ribs. SHWING! Asfodel dashed backwards, but Lura was able to connect. A stream of blood gushed out from his stomach as he jumped backwards trying to recover. Just as he regained his footing, Nyleah shot out an arrow hurling towards his right shoulder. Asfodel jerked his head to the right, noticing the arrow, and dashed backwards again. Lura dashed forwards, swiping sideways with her sword, aiming for his stomach again. Asfodel swung downwards. Clang! He smacked her sword into the ground, sending a pile of snow into the air. Asfodel swung his sword sideways, aiming for Lura's face. But she ducked down, dodging his attack and countering with an thrustign attack upwards, aiming for the bottom of his chin. Her blade was able to scratch the surface of his skin, but he swerved backwards, barely dodging the attack. He countered with another swing towards her head, but Nyleah's arrow shot out, aiming for his ribs, which forced him to deflect it, canceling his attack. This gave Lura enough time to swing once more. She lunged at him with the point of her sword aiming towards Asfodel's open chest. His sword was raised above his head. He bent his elbow, and used the butt of his sword to knock Lura's blade into the ground. Lura gritted her teeth, and glared up at Asfodel, "Stalagmite!" the snow around Asfodel grew lumps, and piercing pieces of rock shot up, aiming towards his torso, "Lightspeed!" His body dissipated into light particles and flew into the sky, reforming into his body. Nyleah screamed out from below, "Overextension!" Asfodel turned his head to face Nyleah. She had sent out an arrow flying towards him. He blocked it with his sword, but the force of her arrow was much greater than he thought. It sent him flying farther upwards. Asfodel gritted his teeth, trying to stop the force of Nyleah's arrow.
From below, Lura bent her knees and jumped upwards. She leaped into the sky just behind Asfodel with her sword raised above her head, "Cleaving Strike!" Her sword began to glow with a bright white aura. An illusion of her sword emanated from it, making it seem twice as large. She swung downwards, smacking Asfodel on his back and sending him flying into the ground. THUD!
Farther down the clearing, Nazeem lay beside a rock. His eyes were open, and he was awake. He tried to stand up, but his knees gave out, and he fell back onto the snowy ground, "Dammit! Those two are fighting for their lives… and all I can do is sit here being useless…!" He gritted his teeth, "...I need to hurry up and recover." He put his right hand on his chest and began channeling mana through it, "May the greater ones give me their power. Allow myself to recover, and bring forth better health…" A green aura began emanating from his hand, "Rejuvenation!" Suddenly, his entire body began glowing a bright green aura. And then, after a mere second or two, the aura disappeared.
Back at the battle, Asfodel was blocking and dodging dozens of strikes from Lura. He parried one of her swings, and raised his sword above his head. But before he could swing down, Nyleah sent an arrow towards his head, forcing him to back off once more, "You're getting annoying, archer! I'll take care of you first." Lura dashed towards him and swung towards his head. Asfodel bent his knees and ducked down, leaning towards Nyleah. He dodged Lura's attack and dashed towards Nyleah with his sword held behind his back. Nyleah took a step back and sent out an arrow. Asfodel quickly deflected it, and closed the gap between them. He swung downwards, catching Nyleah off guard and slashing straight down the left side of her shoulder. He twisted the right side of his body forward, leaned back, and sent out a kick straight into her stomach, "Gyuhh!" She winced, and was sent flying into the forest thicket.
Asfodel stood up straight again, and grinned, turning towards Lura, "Now it's your turn." Lura dashed towards Asfodel, her sword held by her hip. She swung sideways, but was blocked. Asfodel countered and swung into her gut. She was able to jerk backwards, but the tip of his sword still connected. Lura's eye twitched from the pain, as a small stream of blood shot out from her gut. She dashed backwards, smacking the part of her gut that was stabbed, "Healing!" The wound began to heal slowly, but the wound left a scar.
Just as she regained her footing, Nazeem's voice called to her from the right, "Lura, I'm ready to go!" She glanced over at him and nodded, "Then let's do this!" "Alright… I need you to hold him off for a few seconds. If you can do that, then we might win this!" She nodded again, and fixated her gaze back to Asfodel, who was smiling at her.
Lura and Asfodel began clashing. Dozens of sword strikes filled the air around them. Lura tried attacking, but Asfodel was too fast and managed to counter every strike. He slashed her left shoulder, but Lura remained firm and continued her onslaught.
Meanwhile, Nazeem had his eyes closed, channeling mana through his body. Small sparks of lightning sizzled through his fingers. He opened his eyes. They were covered in a bright blue light, with lightning shooting from them. He stuck out both his arms and raised them just above his shoulder, "Allow my pitiful self to bring forth your power…!" The sky began to turn dark. "...Give me your blessing… and allow me to use enough strength…!" Lightning began striking around Nazeem's body, as sparks began to emanate from him, "...Show them the power worthy of the title… of a God!" Suddenly, the entire sky turned pitch black, and the air became thin. Asfodel and Lura were so surprised by this that they darted away from each other to look up at the sky. Lura rushed away from the clearing, and Asfodel turned his attention to Nazeem, "What is this?" From much farther down the clearing on an elevated ledge, Shyzen stood there, staring at Nazeem. His expression was stern, but his eyes showed a hint of amusement, "How interesting."
Nazeem closed both of his hands, making a tight fist, "This is my God tier lightning spell…!" Pressure surrounded the entire clearing. The ground around Nazeem began to crumble and crack. Shyzen smirked as he began staring intently towards Nazeem, who was below him. Nazeem gritted his teeth even tighter, his hair began to stand up and sizzled with small sparks. His body began to glow with a light blue sheen. His fist tightened even more, and he screamed out, "…Omega Discharge!" The entire region around them began to emit a loud noise. VVVVVMMMMMMMM!
Beyond the clearing, on the main battlefield where thousands of soldiers were clashing. They all stopped due to the noise that was emanating around them.
Asfodel turned his attention to the ground, walking backwards, cautiously. A wave of fear hit him, and he began to shiver. His eyes widened, and began darting around. Asfodel's chin began to shiver, as his face began to show more and more fear. Suddenly, the noise ceased. Asfodel stopped looking around, and focused his attention back towards Nazeem, who was standing with a slouched back and limp arm. Asfodel smiled slightly, "D-did it fail?" "No." Nazeem's eyes glared towards Asfodel. Suddenly, a wave of aura shot out from the sky towards the ground. It hit Asfodel, forcing his knees to bend. He shot his head up, looking at the pitch black sky. CCRRRMMMM! The sky above them began crackling. Asfodel opened his right hand, and began channeling mana into it, "Angel's Touch!" He shot his arm to the sky, sending out a ball of light upwards. It flew at incredible speeds, and was quickly swallowed up by the pitch black sky. For a moment everything was silent. And then, the blackness that consumed everything above them began to pull together, towards a certain point. The blue sky began to appear once more. But as the blackness continued to pull together, it began to form a sphere. After just a few moments, the blackness in the sky had all concentrated into a singular sphere. It was over a dozen kilometers high, and yet, still covered most of the sky above them. Nazeem began to laugh, "Hehehahaha! It's over for you, God Killer…!" The sphere suddenly began to fall downwards, becoming larger and larger to their eyes. Asfodel began to sweat, and he fell to the ground with weakened knees. Shyzen was looking upwards with baffled eyes, "How impressive. Asfodel, you should take this as a loss…!" Shyzen grinned, and began channeling mana through his body, "You're lucky I'm here, boy…" A dark purple aura began to envelop him, and he raised his right arm.
Much farther away, general Sarik and Solomon were watching these events unfold. Once Solomon saw Shyzen raise his arm, he called to Sarik, "Send me out now, this is our only chance!" Sarik nodded, and began channeling mana through his arms, and towards Solomon, "Alright master Solomon, get ready… Novice Teleportation!" Suddenly, master Solomon disappeared. In that same instant, he reappeared behind Shyzen, "Sorry brother, but I can't let you use any Curses!" However, Shyzen had already begun speaking, "Dissipate!" And in the same instant, the giant sphere of black mana that was many times larger than the entire capital of Zuri'el, was blown away like a candle flame. But at the same time, Solomon dashed towards Shyzen and placed his right hand on his back, "I can't seal you now, but this is more than enough, Suppression!" Solomon's hand began glowing a bright white color. Shyzen's eyes shot behind him, as he noticed Solomon. But it was too late. In less than a single second, a white aura surrounded Shyzen and enveloped him. PPPSSSS! Shyzen tried breaking out, but he couldn't. And then, after a few moments, the aura dissipated, releasing Shyzen.. He immediately turned around, glaring at Solomon who was standing there with a drop of sweat running down his cheek, and an expression of unease, "You're a fool brother…!" He stuck out his right arm, "Die." A gust of wind blew past them, but nothing happened. Shyzen's eyes widened, and his face began to look confused, "H-how!?" Solomon grinned, "It's finished brother. I've completely sealed away your ability to use curses!" Shyzen gritted his teeth, and dashed towards Solomon, trying to grab him. But just before he could reach him, Solomon disappeared.
In the center of the clearing, Asfodel was laying there in shock, his eyes still fixated on the sky. Nazeem stood up straight and sighed, "Sigh… Alright God Killer. Unfortunately that didn't work out. But no worries… I'll still defeat you…" He smiled, and began channeling lightning to surround him, "...I'll have to push past my limits, and move faster than the speed of lightning!" Nazeem tilted his body forward, and placed his left foot in front of him. Asfodel stood up, staring towards Nazeem, "You possess an incredible amount of power. I apologise for underestimating you." The two of them grinned at each other, getting ready to clash.