Strife of the Gods

Runic Combat

The barrier around the room shattered like glass, shockwaves from the colliding spells heading straight for the audience.

The elders worked in tandem, Buhnd raising the earth in front of them as a shield, Camus, and Leofric enhancing it with wind and ice respectively as Hester pulled in Ellie to safety.

"They broke the barrier." Leofric whispered in awe, the barrier had been fueled by all four elders after all.

"It would seem that Arthur held back even against Lance Varay." Camus noted.

"No, Arthur certainly did not hold back yesterday. He simply wasn't a white core mage yet." Zeke, who had taken residence with the elders, spoke up.

"The young general has broken into white core stage?" Buhnd blurted out in surprise, swiveling to face the wolf.

Zeke nodded, "Yeah, he did so last night."

"Looks like both of them are relatively unharmed." Leofric butted in, staring at the field.

He was right, neither of the twins had been damaged too badly. Both of them sported bruises all across, their clothes torn in multiple places. They were panting heavily, as expected after such a show. But it was far from what they could truly accomplish.

"Let's stop holding back, Arthur." Fayden spoke up after catching his breath, "Presenting the elders with a good show is only fair, isn't it?"

Arthur grinned back, and that was enough for Fayden.

"Realmheart."

"Shadowsoul."

If the elders were surprised before, they are absolutely mystified now. The two normal looking mages had entered their beast wills. Arthur looking like a deity from heaven in human skin, and Fayden giving off the countenance of a duke from hell itself.

Their opposing auras clashed again, the pitch blackness of nacht and the radiant light of mana, bringing the elders to their knees, but the two asuras remained mostly unaffected. Emily grabbed around wildly, hoping to get her hands on the artifact. Noticing this, Zeke acted, picking up the piece of technology from where it had fallen to the ground.

He let his mana flow into the artifact, shadows rising from the vicinity and swirling around him as tendrils of blackness. A slightly black tinted barrier surrounded the two duelers, allowing the audience to relax.

During the clash of their wills, Arthur noticed the lack of nacht covering the ground. Did he stop it from occurring?

It was far from that, he had only learned to control it better.

A series of pops echoed through the room, Arthur countering Fayden's spells before they manifest. Black lightning surged around him, as he blurred from his spot, appearing beside Fayden, aiming a jab at his side.

A rock-covered palm met his fist, negating the lightning and stopping his attack, "Hey now, don't hold back."

Arthur smiled sheepishly in reply, Fayden had seen right through him. He zoomed away from him, brandishing Dawn's Ballad which took on a purple sheen. Fayden replied in kind, imbuing a decent amount of nacht into Shroud, as it began giving off an ethereal black glow.

The two brothers lunged forward, going faster than ever before, crossing the distance between them in mere seconds. As their swords met, it sent fissures across the ground, worsening the condition of the room.

The barrier groaned, cracks appearing on its surface. Zeke acted quickly, imbuing more of his mana into the gem and fixing the barrier.

Fayden's runes glowed a darker shade of crimson, Arthur's golden runes resonating with them, as they both vanish from vision. Fayden appeared behind where Arthur was just a moment ago, while Arthur did the same on the other side, both aiming for a diagonal slash. And in a moment of unprecedented coincidence, they clashed swords yet once again,