The pervasive silence following the collapse of the Tier 7 Master, Zenos, was not merely shattered—it was utterly annihilated. The very atmosphere separating the critically weakened Winston (Master of Fire, Spirit, and Light Magic) and the calculating Lenard (Master of Ice, Dark, and Time Magic) began to shriek as raw, destructive Tier 5 elemental energy was forcibly drawn forth from their depleted cores. This was not a conventional duel; it was a devastating war of elemental attrition, a clash of dualistic philosophies destined to carve the remaining valley floor into an unrecognizable, scarred ruin.
Winston, despite being critically drained, his body screaming from exhaustion and the previous fight's injuries, was fueled by an unshakeable duty. He channeled the last of his focus. He drew his ultimate weapon: a magnificent Golden Sword named Light. The blade did not merely gleam; it sparkled with the radiant intensity of concentrated divine light, serving as an intimidating, defiant beacon against the pervasive gloom of the valley.
Lenard met this challenge with cold certainty and profound, focused malice. He drew his own terrifying weapon: a pitch-black Black Sword named Omen. The blade was a void forged in steel, with dark shadows constantly emitting from it, actively swallowing the ambient light and casting unnatural, consuming gloom.
Lenard struck first, his voice a chilling, calculating command that vibrated with cold malice: "Tier 5: Temporal Shackle!" A localized field of corrosive blue-black energy, radiating from Omen, instantly warped the temporal flow around Winston, attempting to slow his reactions and movements to a near standstill, freezing him in the moment before death.
Winston roared, the command tearing through his throat and lungs: "Tier 5: Sunfire Aegis: Absolute Counter!" A blinding shield of molten gold light, erupting from his core and fiercely amplified by Light, successfully shattered the Time Magic. The exertion was immense; blood violently trickled from his ears as the temporal backlash struck his mind and nervous system. Winston counterattacked immediately, launching two devastating spheres of pure white, spiritual fire: "Twin Spirit Combustion: Soul Burn!"
Lenard sneered, meeting fire with ice and darkness. He slammed Omen into the pulverized ground, executing "Glacial Fortress: Eternal Shadow," erecting a massive wall of black, obsidian-like ice mixed with concentrated Dark Magic. The Twin Spirit Combustion slammed into the fortress, causing a localized explosion of superheated steam and fractured rock, but the Tier 5 wall held firm against the Tier 5 fire. Lenard used the fortress as cover, his figure briefly vanishing into the impenetrable shadows cast by the dark ice, playing a dangerous game of concealment.
Winston, enraged by the momentary retreat and sensing the need for a final, decisive push, channeled the last remnants of his offensive fire magic, pouring every drop of remaining essence into the attack. "Hellfire Incarnate: Annihilation Cascade!"—he unleashed a massive, swirling torrent of high-tier flame, turning the black ice fortress into a towering column of melting, shrieking steam. The intense heat of the flame magic began to physically reshape the valley's terrain, turning the scorched earth into a liquid, molten mire that threatened to consume the wounded fighters.
Lenard reappeared behind the residual steam, his body shimmering with shadowy energy from the Dark Magic protecting him. "Tier 5: Dark Matter Dagger: Entropy Strike!"—a blade of compressed darkness shot towards Winston's chest. Simultaneously, he initiated "Temporal Blink," attempting to instantly reappear precisely to Winston's vulnerable left flank to exploit the momentary distraction of the dagger.
Winston anticipated the Time Magic by relying entirely on his spiritual strength, a discipline that transcended his broken physical body. He used his enhanced spiritual sight, "Soul Piercer," which cut through the steam and shadow, locating Lenard an instant before he fully materialized. He ignored the Dark Matter Dagger; he let it pierce his weakening Sunfire Aegis, causing a deep, searing burn, and used the precious split-second Lenard needed to fully rematerialize to unleash a point-blank "Light-Speed Flash: Stellar Detonation." The Tier 5 light magic was so intense it overloaded Lenard's dark-attuned senses, forcing the Master to momentarily shield his eyes—a fatal tactical error that offered an opening.
Lenard, temporarily blinded, instinctively counter-attacked with "Oblivion Shroud," expanding the Dark Magic field to smother the light. Winston, seizing the moment, slammed Light into the ground and channeled "Spirit Link: Retribution Field." This unique spiritual attack caused the psychic and physical pain Lenard had inflicted to resonate back through the dimensional plane, striking the dark master's core with overwhelming spiritual agony.
The resulting explosion of light, shadow, fire, and spiritual energy was apocalyptic. The entire area where the two fought was violently reshaped and flattened. The earth cracked into deep, smoking chasms, the soil was utterly vaporized, and a wide, smoking crater—now a permanent, glaring feature of the valley floor—replaced the pulverized ground. The sheer, overwhelming force of their elemental clash sent debilitating shockwaves through the valley, causing rock formations hundreds of meters away to spontaneously crumble into dust. The duel between the two Tier 5 Masters alone generated energy equivalent to a localized earthquake, violently shaking the entire war-torn region to its absolute core.
Farther in the valley, amidst the settling dust and choking fumes, the full, bloody scope of the Khazad-Dar War was being determined by Thrain Ironhand.
Thrain, mounted on his black-winged warhorse, faced an immense, despairing force—an estimated one hundred and fifty thousand enemy troops, desperately trying to hold the line. The air was a cacophony of warfare and a terrible spectacle of slaughter, the clang of steel mixing with the sickening squelch of flesh being torn and the cries of the dying.
Thrain was not fighting; he was fulfilling a divine mandate of destruction. His Purple Sword, Killer, moved with an unstoppable, horrifying momentum. He executed "Dragon's Fury Cascade," and the blade didn't just cut—it vaporized and dismembered, leaving trails of purple energy, ash, and gore where formations once stood. Blood was spurting from Killer with every swing, coating the ground in a thick, metallic crimson slurry that made the footing treacherous even for the horse. Thrain's immense divine aura was so overwhelming that enemy commanders, some Tier 6 and Tier 7, chose immediate, demoralizing flight rather than meet his absolute, terrifying gaze.
He pressed his charge with the relentless technique, "Ironhand's Judgement," moving through the ranks like a scythe through wheat. Enemy forces, though vast, were disorganized and shattered, losing morale faster than they could be killed. Thrain's horse moved over the battlefield like a dark storm cloud, the King a merciless, living engine of war. He was a single, terrifying point of absolute, divine focus against a sea of desperate men, having reduced the enemy's main force by nearly a third in minutes. The ground was literally saturated with blood, and the sheer number of dead bodies meant the valley floor itself was changing composition, becoming a slick, dangerous mire, choked by the pervasive stench of iron, ozone, and burnt flesh.
Back at the smoking crater, Winston and Lenard were at their terminal limit. Their auras were failing, and their movements were sluggish, driven only by primal instinct.
Lenard, seeing his position fail, attempted one last, desperate defensive maneuver. He sacrificed the last of his Ice Magic, executing "Tier 5: Glacial Time-Lock," instantly freezing the ground and launching a quick "Temporal Stasis Field" around himself, gaining a crucial fraction of a second of slowed time to regenerate his shattered psychic defense.
Winston was brutally wounded, his chest armor shattered, and his lungs burning from the elemental overload. Internally, he felt his organs failing. He knew he couldn't break the Stasis Field conventionally. He pushed past the blinding, agonizing pain, channeling the last, critical drop of his Spirit Magic into his right hand, ignoring the searing internal pain from the backlash he endured earlier.
He screamed his final, all-consuming attack: "Divine Spirit Lance: Absolute Annihilation!"
A massive, incandescent lance of pure white light, radiating from the golden sword Light, erupted from his hand. It was Tier 5 power forced through a depleted, collapsing body. It didn't just strike the Temporal Stasis Field; it used the inherent antithesis of Light and Time to burn through the frozen moment itself, shattering the delicate fabric of Lenard's Temporal Stasis Field. The lance struck Lenard directly in the chest, consuming his Dark Magic core instantly.
Lenard gasped, his eyes wide in absolute disbelief as the Light Magic negated his darkness. He let out a final, silent shriek as he dissolved into ash, Omen falling uselessly to the ground. The Tier 5 Master of Ice, Dark, and Time Magic, Lenard, was dead.
Winston collapsed, the overwhelming exertion of the final spell finishing him. His body seized violently, blood pouring profusely from his mouth, nose, and eyes. He was alive, but his internal magical systems were catastrophically fractured, his body a shell ravaged by his own power. He lay still, a mere breath away from death, a broken testament to their impossible, elemental victory.
The valley was silent once more, though now it was the dreadful, heavy silence of anticipation.
The surviving members of Team Jai lay amidst the carnage, each one a monument to agony and survival.
Brokk (Tier 6 void Master): Barely alive, motionless near his sword Killer, his body a ruin of third-degree burns and internal damage, fighting for every single breath.
James (Tier 9 Air and Space Master): Bleeding profusely from his thigh, weakened by spatial magic backlash and severe internal trauma, desperately trying to manipulate the air pressure around his wound to slow the blood loss.
Zayn (The Eliminator): Holding onto consciousness, his lightning gash bleeding, but fueled by a cold, deadly purpose, forcing himself to scan the horizons.
Winston (Light and Spirit): Immobilized and hemorrhaging, his body shattered by the backlash of his final, decisive spell, a catatonic survivor who could only watch the sky.
Jai (Golden Scourge Master): Barely alive just enough to see and holding the consciousness of his body. His instincts want to move but his body couldn't.
The weight of their victory was monstrous. They had neutralized the enemy's key command structure, but they were all broken.
In the distance, the main contingent of the loyalist Dwarf Army was approaching, drawn by the catastrophic elemental shockwaves.
On the highest ridge overlooking the valley, three figures stood, watching the carnage with cold calculation: Zeron (Tier 3), Zevan (Tier 4), and the Shadow Crown's chief strategist, Leora (Tier 4).
Zeron spoke, his voice heavy with finality: "The sacrificial lambs have done their job. Thrain has cleared the path, and Borin must now see us."
Zevan nodded, a cruel smile spreading across his face, the power of his Tier 4 command radiating hatred. "Yes. The King's forces are vulnerable and exhausted. We have drawn them into our trap, and now we will claim the throne."
Suddenly, the roar of a single, powerful figure echoed across the valley, silencing all other sounds. King Borin (Tier 2), the true ruler of Khazad-Dar, emerged from the dust cloud, his armor gleaming, his presence a crushing weight of royalty and fury. He had seen the carnage—the corpses of his men, and the broken bodies of his most promising young warriors.
The moment had arrived. The King of the Dwarves, Tier 2 in raw power but also Tier 2 in authority and rage, stood alone, facing his ambitious son and his traitorous brother. The ultimate, defining war for the crown of Khazad-Dar—the final, existential clash between King Borin and the combined forces of Zeron, Zevan, and Leora—was about to begin. The fate of the entire Dwarf Kingdom hung on the clash of these four figures. The final, brutal battle of the King versus the King's son, fueled by betrayal and ancient power, was now at hand.
The battle of the king vs king's son is going to start.