Meanwhile, on a nearby roof, the sight they saw horrified the group of four. Each to different degrees. Al was used to mass casualties, but not to this scale. The rest were not so calm; they were afraid. Even Alek, in his undead state, was afraid. It was an instinctual fear, one based more on the mind rather than the body.

The wrecking ball in human form turned to the roof, hiding the group, and smiled. Al knew what was about to happen, and shot. “Run for the wall!” He ordered, and his companions hopped to it.

They fled more out of fear than being ordered. They ran as fast as they could, the two vampires easily making the leap across the buildings. Joan, being unfamiliar with her new anti-gravity rune, had some trouble. In the end she made it, floating across the gaps awkwardly. Her brother aided her, giving her just enough push to get across.

Meanwhile, the caped mass murderer vanished from his spot. Al found him floating above them, his mouth opened and ready. He was going to blast them with that destructive breath of his. A stray thought crossed Al's mind. That guy would be the king of a chilli eating contest. As soon as the thought arrived, he ignored it.

Gathering up as many spirits of the wind or whatever they are called. He sent the strongest wind blast he could muster. The gust of air collided with him like a truck. Such a force would throw into the air a normal individual. Here, it only annoyed him. Jostling him to the side, like a gust of wind, you don’t expect walking down the sidewalk before going about your day.

Despite the ineffectiveness of the attack, it gave his companions the seconds to jump the wall. All three disappeared over the wall and out of the city proper. Unfortunately, this escape did not extend to poor Al. He was still there and now facing a pissed off superman. The guy was levitating just above him. Not wanting to be intimidated, Al ascended.

The two met in the sky, just above the city. They could both see the devastation of the riots. The military or the Dragon, in its rampage of justice, had reduced the devastation of the riots substantially. It didn’t matter to the two. Neither of them concerned themselves with the outside world. All that matter was the enemy before them. Their reasons for fighting differed. Al wanted to distract the destructive being, while the Dragon only wanted Al’s death.

“You kind of remind me of Superman, or maybe Ultraman.” Al spoke first, referencing his modest knowledge of superheroes.

“What are you talking about?” He asked indignantly.

"Oh, you poor lad, someone hasn't properly educated you."

“Just shut up and die!” The Dragon dispensed with pleasantries and struck first.

Seizing Al by the neck, moving faster than the eye can see. In that moment, he could have died. His neck snapped like a twig. Of course, he had just unsealed his defective runes. The repulsion rune lit at the moment of contact. Kinetic force erupted, repelling everything around him. The kinetic force propelled the Dragon backward, and he barely regained his balance in mid-air.

This was only a mere annoyance. That was clear. The Dragon cracked his neck, scowling at the ant that defied him. In a moment, he propelled forward, slamming into his enemy. The repulsion barrier activated, but instead of being repelled. The repulsion barrier sent Al flying into a nearby building.

The spell absorbed much of the impact, leaving him dazed and stuck in a wall. Shaking his head, he got back his bearings. It was just in time; his opponent prepared his fire breath. Before his opponent could vaporize him, Al reached out his right palm. The Draconic rune writhed in his palm, ready to receive the attack.

Just as the stream of plasma reached him. A dragon's head, a spiritual manifestation, unfurled as the rune came alive. The manifestation gulped in the incoming blaze, sucking it down like a vacuum. The vortex of heat quickly dissipated, leaving Al with a smoking hand. His palm burned, the flame barely contained within fragile flesh. He knew his enemy did not possess true dragon fire. It was merely high intensity plasma.

“That mock dragon fire is not bad,” Al remarked, his body shivering in pain.

“But now it's my turn!” He declared before delivering a counter.

The Blue Dragon was shocked that his opponent not only survived a direct attack but also countered his dragon's breath. It was a novel experience, and he did not like it. With these swirling thoughts and feelings, the distraction of his boiling rage, he barely had time to dodge.

Al’s palm was alight in flame. The dragon that dwelled within was free. Manifesting for a moment, it spewed true dragon fire into a thin and intense stream. The true dragon fire engulfed the Blue Dragon as it collided with Alistair's enemy. The heat actually hurt; pain was not something he knew intimately. His armour melted, the mighty pauldrons he took pride in deformed. He could not allow this. Grunting in pain, he ascended to the sky.

Escaping the stream of death, he took stock of the damage. The heat had charred his armour, and the metal had bent. His immaculate form was now covered in soot and ash. He couldn't let this happen, so his rage grew stronger. Losing all sense of strategy, he flew directly at Al. His aim was a head on collision, followed by turning the man into a bloody paste.

Al had just freed himself from the wall. Only to be slammed back into position. His repulsion barrier activated. This did not deter his enemy. He then slammed his fist against the barrier. Every blow shook the spell at its very foundation. It kept trying to expand the kinetic force, only to receive a stronger blow.

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Punch by punch, the magic was losing cohesion. It would not last long. The fury in the man's eyes told Al everything he needed to know. Once the barrier fell, he would be dead. It would not be a pleasant death; he knew that to be sure. He had to escape, but he couldn't. In front of him was a maniac superman and behind him was a stone wall.

He chose the wall out of the two options. Turning around, he blasted the stone with dragon fire. The wall melted in a second, revealing the interior of a bell tower. He hoped this wasn’t a monument that had stood for centuries. But considering how superman was trying to stomp him into bloody paste, destroying national monuments is a lesser concern.

Escaping through the makeshift portal, he flew into the bell tower's interior. The giant iron bell was quite the sight. Too bad the crazy superman barrelled in, obliterating it within a second. Al quickly zoomed out from the falling debris, trying to get as much distance as he can.

“Come back here, maggot!” The Dragon roared.

Breaking free from the tower like he was gliding through water. He demolished the tower, obliterating its foundations, causing it to collapse. The devastation to the surrounding area was immense. Luckily, the populace was elsewhere. Now back were they started; the staring contest began again.

They floated in the air, just staring at each other. It was like a good old-fashioned western duel. Except they were levitating above a ruined city and instead of six shooters, they had superpowers and magic. The Dragon made the first move, sending a gout of plasma. Al absorbed the attack, the heat sucked into his right palm.

Noticing Al’s hand trembling from the attack, he realised there was a limit to how much he could absorb. Smirking with the knowledge, he inhaled a breath and fired. The heat was intense, Al did as expected, showed his palm and absorbed the incoming attack. Instead of stopping, he continued in earnest. Pumping out every bit of heat he could muster. The Blue Dragon knew his limits. He didn’t have any.

Keeping up the attack, he could see his enemy falter. The sight filled him with glee. Soon, he will fall, and I will crush his head underfoot. Oh, how he would love to hear that squelch again. He would never admit it, but he liked the sound.

Al could not keep it up for much longer. Every gulp of fire the dragon buried deep in his palm took on, the more restless it became. Out of all the temperamental magic he possessed, this was the greatest. Eventually, the pain became too much to bear. Screaming in pain, he pulled his hand away and ascended into the sky. Climbing rapidly, he could vaguely see a figure following him.

“Go away!” He screamed, releasing the stored fire, blasting it downwards.

The gout of flame was out of control, and he could barely keep it aimed. Instead of hitting his target, he set fire to thin air. His opponent vanished until a fist came from his left. It slammed into his barrier spell. He flew several metres but righted himself in the air. His palm was still blasting fire like a geyser.

Before he could even counterattack, he was on him, pounding his fists into the barrier. Finishing with his two fists raised, he slammed down, sending Al crashing into the earth. Taking advantage, he flew down and rammed his foot down on the barrier. It shook and cracked under the oppressive weight. Al lay sprawled out like the Vitruvian Man, except with clothes and a bloody nose.

He was struggling to concentrate because his head was full of sand. The constant pounding on the barrier did not help his concentration, nor did the sound of shattering. The barrier broke and the sight of a very pissed off superhuman was all that remained. Instead of roasting Al, he grabbed him by the neck, raising him into the sky.

“Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you.” He mocked.

Eventually, he got bored and threw his new toy at the nearest building. The impact shattered many bones in his very human body. Al was amazed he was still alive, and he thought the warm glow of his healing spell was probably keeping him alive.

He really needed to work out a pain suppressant rune. That would have been great right now. Instead, the healing rune kept him alert and alive, while the rest of his body was slowly dying. Before he could get up, the Dragon sped right to him. He looked like he wanted to play rag doll. Al painfully raised his left hand and sent a bolt of lightning.

The attack struck true, but he barely flinched from the thousands of volts. In fact, it seemed like it barely tickled him. To add insult to injury, he laughed boisterously, like the deadly lightning attack was so pathetic it was funny.

“So, this is how I die, well what better way to go out?” Al muttered.

“Agreed, whoever you are, you can consider it an honour to be crushed by me.” The Dragon stated, with all seriousness.

“Yeah, whatever, let's get this done, shall we?” He coughed, rising to a shaky stance.

The two stared each other down before the Dragon shrugged. Levitating a few feet in the air, he made ready to launch. Mustering up all his power, Al launched a volley of every projectile spell he had. Lightning streamed from his left, dragon fire for his right, and finally a strong wind blast. These powerful elemental attacks struck his enemy precisely. The attack lasted for only a few seconds, but it was the most power he could muster right now.

The swirl of power subsided, his arms fell limp and his head felt light. Checking on his handy work, he noticed a completely unharmed and annoyed super being.

“Oh, come on!” He yelled, frustrated.

“Nice try, but we both know how this is going to go.” The Dragon declared.

“How would you like to die terrorist, broken neck, crushed to death or something special?” He inquired, listing all the ways he would genuinely kill the man.

“First off, I'm not a terrorist and second, I'm going to choose none of the above.” Al countered.

Shaking his head, the Dragon decided he would kill this man. However, something else caught his attention - an enormous impact crater had formed to the left of him and the man. Dust concealed whatever just landed, eventually clearing up. It was a girl in her late teens, wearing leather armour.

Her identity became clear the moment the pair of fighters gazed upon her face. The name Jasmine passed across Al’s mind and he quickly worried she might recognise him. He had planned to avoid the genuine heroes of this world.

“The Heroic Trinity has arrived too late. I have already dealt with the evil threatening this great nation.” The Dragon claimed, gesturing to the destruction.

“And nearly destroyed an entire district of the city.” Jasmine stated, her face still impassive.

The two glared at each other, the two heroes, neither backing down. She glanced for only a moment at Al, her eyes narrowing upon his form. They established a wordless connection, something neither of them expected. It felt like the same pull she had with her companions. She wanted to look into this, but the situation took precedence.

And like that, three heroes faced off with each other amidst a ruined city.