Two weary hands reached up to me, bones draped with leathery skin, speckled and splotched with years of age. Two shockingly blue eyes gazed into me, with irises clear as liquid sunlight. And before me, I received two tablets.

They were large plates of stone, with engravings which must have dated millennia. Their rough texture, the dust coating them, everything was imprinted on my hands the moment I touched the cool stone. And from that, I knew. And from that, I understood.

I had received the power to slay even a god. I had received immortality, but for a heavy price. My past, I was to forfeit them all. My duties, I was to forsake them all. And my wants, I was to vanquish them all.

I became Nameless, one living only in the present, without attachment, without need.

Until my past was dug up, my duties were restored, and my wants, awakened.

This is my story.

---

This was a dance of death. For me, at least. Streaks of star-fire burst from the sky, brilliant red and blue, consuming and tearing apart the peace of the land, scorching it ravenously, just to attack me. Furrows were dug, deep into the glassy soil, like claws, raking through the earth. And the skies crackled with impossible energy, too vast for human comprehension.

Of course, I was put through my fair share of work. I twisted and bent, dodged and sidestepped, walking through gaps between the star-fire, and weaving my way out of the hellstorm before me. A single step could prove deadly, but even though this was a feat which was supposed to take up a large amount of my concentration, my eyes were pinned directly to the eyes of my enemy, unwavering.

His name was Astoria, and he was the Lord of Starlight, an ancient so powerful he was said to have created night and day, from nothingness. His body was robed with elegant blue flames, his head, adorned with a golden crown of sapphire light, and his eyes were a steady yellow, gleaming like gold nuggets in the heat of the furnace.

His expression was decidedly smug, seeing as I was just another foolish human to him. After all, he was akin to a god. Rumours abounded that any who slew him would receive power beyond mention, but I thought it was quite dubious. After all, no one had ever defeated him. How would anyone, then, know?

He stared at me intensely after a minute or two, and opened his mouth. Instantly, a thousand languages whispered into my ear, some rough and guttural, others smooth and refined. But I intuitively understood what he said.

"Do you know only escaping?"

He smiled ambiguously, and his mouth opened wider. The creepy thing was that his lips did not move at all, when he spoke.

"Then I shall make it so that you have no way out."

He raised an arm, and the star-fire broke away from me, forming a wall and encircling me.

"What will you do now, O child?"

The flames drew closer, and I could feel their blazing brilliance just inches from my skin. I felt no pain, due to the effects of the Heat Wards I had placed on myself earlier, but I would not survive a direct touch. Even another Lord would not emerge unscathed with the "Omnipotent Pillars of Consuming Brilliance". This was a Lord with destructive power unmatched, even by his peers. I was no more than a flea to him.

But this flea had a few tricks up his sleeves.

I jumped head on into the fire, protecting my face with the sleeves of my lengthy robes. In a move that must have shocked Astoria, I dove through his flames, untouched. The secret laid not in me, or any or my magics, but in the robes I was wearing. After all, I was wearing a sheath of Night, a piece of fabric woven from the dull light of the night by Night herself. It had extreme resistance to almost all attacks, but it was restrictive; far from the smooth sounding fabric, it actually was more like chainmail to wear.

But Astoria didn't need to know that. To him, a human had just shattered his invincible spear.

But that wasn't enough to stop a Lord, no. If invincible garments were good enough, the Lords would all have been assassinated by now.

I understood enough of Astorias to know his [Core Magic], the spell which elevated him to the level of a God. It wasn't as flashy as the Omnipotent Pillars of Consuming Brilliance, but it was much more deadlier, and uncontrollable. He was the wielder of the Million Winds Auric Stake, a piece of unstoppable magic which had the potential to pierce even Night, the unfathomable darkness.

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And now, he pointed that terrible piece of magic at me.

In his hands, was a pike made of crystalline material. It refracted light, casting rainbows everywhere, across the scorched land. It was almost cute, yes, but what came after was deadly. The spear released a cloud of glitter, sparkling dust spreading into the air behind him. This was the Foci, infinitesimal lenses which condensed the light of the pike.

And from the tip of the spear, a beam of white light shot straight at me, grazing my sleeve. The fabric tore as I barely dodged the attack, mending itself completely, but the land itself didn't fare that well. Molten rock flowed from a hole in the ground, as part of the landscape collapsed behind me. This was destructive power enough to shape the land here.

But I also had a trump card, much like he did.

I pulled out a grey tablet from my robes, and placed it flat on the ground before me, dodging a beam of light. Immediately, all time in the zone was suspended.

And the Distortion Clock started ticking. Astoria was a Lord, but even he could not power his attacks with sole willpower. He harvested energy in large amounts from the world around him, causing massive distortions in his vicinity. People dying early, items aging quickly, food not lasting even a day - these were all signs of the presence of a Lord.

The weapon I wielded was meant specifically to strike down those who caused massive distortions.

I and Astoria were trapped in a time bubble, isolated from the outside world. This meant the energy he consumed could only be sourced from his direct surroundings, as well as the bubble itself.

But the bubble didn't have infinite energy. There was no such easy way out. Instead, the weapon I wielded, the Infinite Clockwork that Banishes Irregularity, was made to store up a void of the energy, accumulating negative charge, and giving me a weapon made of the exact opposite of my enemy's power - in effect granting me a sword that directly opposed my foe.

And in my realm, there was no escape.

The tablet was my marker, and there was no escape, until it was removed. It projected an Infinite Clockwork, cycling time over and over again until my enemy was destroyed.

In effect, I wielded a weapon which could deliver constant sure-kills against all Lords.

I and Astoria were now sequestered away from the rest of the world, locked up in my dimension. But he didn't seem to notice. After all, the transition was almost undetectable, and the realm we were in was an exact replica of the real world. But slowly, and surely, I accumulated power, from his attacks. As I dodged perilously close to his attacks, luring him to attack more, as I smirked at him, aggravating him, I gained power, and within me, a blade of emptiness was formed.

Each of his attacks forged the blade which would kill him, and every beam of light, and every pillar of fire he sent at me just quickened the process.

Finally, after an hour of battle, the sword was formed.

I reached within myself, drawing a sword of black flames, a mirror image of Astoria's brilliantly coloured flames. This was his opposing element, the weapon forged only to strike him down.

I leapt at him, closing the distance between us in one step, and swung the sword down.

The barrier of the Infinite Clockwork that Banishes Irregularity dissipated.

This time, only I returned to the real world.

A golden sash sat in my hands, the only remnant of the Lord who had created the sun.

“So much for a power beyond all others.”

I tied the sash, which blazed brilliantly with orange and gold like the sunset itself, to my waist, around my robes.

The grey tablet in my hand glowed, and one name disappeared off it - one part of my duty dissolved.

Author's Notes: Hey all! Ramzicmain here. I'm here to release Stasis Blade, a small one shot! What do you think of it? (does it suck?) Please comment, and help me improve!