Nikki laboured to find the commander of the remaining 3rd Division forces, as she cut down several foes along her way with her rapier. Finally, she saw a familiar face amidst the chaos. It was Venice, who was busy slashing at her own opponents that she failed to notice an enemy creeping surreptitiously on her.

Nikki swiftly thrust her rapier forward, shouting, "[Whirlwind Drill]!" as a tornado erupted from the tip of her blade. The tornado ripped through the enemies in front of her, accurately striking her intended target as it blew a hole through his torso.

Nikki quickly dashed through the cleared path towards Venice, enquiring, "Where's Lord Van and Vincent? We need to work together to reorganise our combined forces to win this battle!" Venice turned around upon hearing Nikki's familiar voice and sobbed, "Princess…it's so good to see you here! Lord Van is currently being evacuated and Master…he's probably dead and it's all my fault! Hoo…"

Nikki rubbed Venice's head as she stabbed an approaching enemy through the skull, whispering gently, "You foolish girl. How is this your fault? We rushed here because we knew that there was a high chance this could happen, especially when the 3rd Division was already dwindling and exhausted but still chose to press on towards Targon. In fact, we were surprised that your forces could still put up such a fight despite experiencing continuous battles for days! Let's focus on breaking through and getting out of here!"

Venice wiped away her tears as the 2 ladies fought side by side, in a sea of chaos and bloodshed as both forces fought to the death.

There was a surprising plot of calmness amidst the expanse of chaos. There stood 2 fierce combatants who stared at each other intensely. Eventually, Ray broke the ice as he chuckled, "Hi there, I'm the Lightning Saint and Commander of the 4th Division, Ray. How do I address you?"

Panzer relaxed slightly as he replied, "I'm Panzer of the North, Duke of Targon. I like your eyes, they burn with the purpose your soul carries." Ray sighed, "Too bad we're on opposing sides today, I think we would have made pretty good friends otherwise. You ready?"

Panzer grinned and exclaimed, "Bring it! Show me the flames that burns ever brightly in your soul!" Ray quickly gathered a sizeable amount of electricity in his left hand before releasing it towards Panzer. "[80mm Lightning Particle Cannon]!" Ray cried as the condensed beam rushed towards its target.

Panzer raised his [Grand Aegis] and infused it with a substantial amount of mana as it clashed head-on with the lightning beam. Sparks flew erratically as Panzer struggled to hold his ground. Mustering all his strength and mana, Panzer re-directed the powerful blast towards a nearby cliff in the ravine, where it exploded upon impact and brought a few large rocks down.

Panzer quickly realised that something was amiss as he lost sight of Ray. Suddenly, he heard the cackling sound of electricity approaching his exposed right flank. Panzer instinctively made an anticlockwise turn, blocking Ray's [Lightning Blade] with his [Grand Aegis].

Panzer could sense that this attack could be fatal if it had connected, but he knew that it didn't possess enough cutting edge to pierce through his mana infused [Grand Aegis]. Beads of sweat trickled down Ray's forehead as he laboured to pierce through Panzer's shield.

Ray commented, "Whew…your shield's pretty sturdy, this is one of the rare things my [Lightning Blade] can't pierce through. Got to hand it to ya, pal!" as he jumped away, stopping his futile attempt.

Even though he had failed, Ray noticed that his attack had caused the cracks on Panzer's [Grand Aegis] to widen further, albeit only slightly. He thought, "Guess I've to pile up strong attacks in order to break that shield of his, after which, getting him would be pretty easy. Looks like I've to ramp things up by a notch."

Panzer was surprised when he saw metallic sand emerging from the ground under him, flying towards Ray as they slowly formed an armour around him. He quipped, "Ho, an Enigma Ability? That's intriguing." Ray replied after his armour was fully formed, "Yes, this is my Enigma Ability, [Magnetism] which allows me to create my strongest technique [Voltron Armour]. Things are going to get a lot hotter from now on, pal!"

Panzer smiled as he witnessed the credibility in Ray's words, observing that the electricity which now flowed through that magnetic metallic armour of his was much more refined and sharper. In response, Panzer increased the amount of mana covering his body such that it gave off a visible dark red hue.

Panzer cried, "Let's go all out and leave no regrets!" as the 2 stalwarts charged towards each other.

Nikki was cutting down her foes relentlessly with wind magic, as she toiled greatly in her attempt to open a clear path. However, amidst the chaos in the battlefield, Nikki failed to notice a stray arrow flying towards her back. Before the arrow could hit its target, it was thwarted by Venice, who jumped in the nick of time.

Nikki cried, "Thanks, Venice!" which Venice responded with a grin, "What are comrades for? Let's push through!"

Meanwhile, Nikolai was holding his own against the Nirvanians when he saw a young woman with green hair cutting through his forces. He cursed, "That must be Princess Nicolette Stormfury from the intelligence reports! Seizing her alive may turn this battle, no, the entire war to our favour!"

Nikolai's skin immediately turned dark as his sword was coated in the same colour, before Nikolai jumped towards his target, unfazed by the incoming arrows and spells which barely scratched him. Nikki instinctively sensed incoming hostility as she turned swiftly to block Nikolai's sword with her rapier.

The ground under her cracked under pressure as Nikki barely withstood the tremendous weight of her opponent's attack. She gasped, "This is…[Earth Armament]! To cover his entire body in rock-hard earth, he's not your average Earth magician!" Nikolai replied humbly, "I'm impressed with the Princess' knowledge. However, I, Nikolai, 2nd in Command of the Targon Military would not hesitate to use violence if it means capturing you alive!"

Nikki knew that strength wasn't her forte so she quickly slipped through Nikolai's attack when she sensed an opportunity. Nikolai's sword crashed into the ground, its weight splitting the ground into two for several metres in front of him. Nikolai recovered quickly from his lunge, aiming powerful swings towards Nikki who intelligently deflected them at the angle which required the least effort.

After Nikki jumped away to dodge a wide horizontal slash from Nikolai, Nikolai quickly stomped his right foot, conjuring an [Stone Wall] before him which he sent reeling towards Nikki with a quick elbow thrust.

Nikki closed her eyes as she focused the wind around her rapier to a single point, opening her eyes instantly as she sliced the huge wall before her as though it was paper. To her surprise, Nikolai came charging in with a straightforward thrust, which she barely dodged by leaping into the air, one feet landing on his blade.

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Nikolai tried to shake her off by slicing upwards, as Nikki dodged with a jump and a back-flip while mid-air. Before Nikki could land however, Nikolai cried, "[Terra Wave]!" as he swung his sword down hard on the ground, creating a shockwave rushing towards Nikki, leaving jutted, sharp rocks in its wake.

Nikki swiftly retaliated with her signature [Whirlwind Drill], as wind and earth gnawed at each other incessantly after they clashed. Eventually, both attacks were evenly matched, resulting in an explosion that blew both contenders away from each other.

Meanwhile, there was an even fiercer battle taking place somewhere else on the battlefield. Despite his heavily increased power and speed, not to mention the raining of countless blows on his opponent, Ray could not overcome Panzer's defence despite his [Voltron Armour].

The two were simply too evenly matched, as they successfully blocked or dodged every attack from their adversary, be it melee or ranged. Even with several of his [Lightning Breakdown Fist], [Lightning Blade] and even the destructive [120mm Lightning Particle Cannon] spells from all possible angles, Ray simply failed to hurt Panzer one bit.

On the contrary, Panzer actually managed to sneak some fierce attacks of his own, which include a flurry of fatal stabs, a few powerful swings that slashed through Ray's armour and nicked him slightly and even one or two powerful shots when he threw his [Heartseeker] at Ray after Ray had just used a powerful ranged spell.

In fact, thanks to the tracking ability of [Heartseeker], Ray had a difficult time fleeing away from the explosive spear, having to time his escape perfectly to the dot to avoid getting impaled by the great spear as it struck the ground instead of him.

All in all, Ray suffered numerous injuries despite the protection afforded by [Voltron Armour] which ranged from small cuts to impact wounds from the explosions while Panzer came out relatively unscathed, with the exception of his [Grand Aegis], which was on the verge of breaking now.

Both exponents were nonetheless thoroughly exhausted and low on mana by now, having went all out. Unsurprisingly, Ray's [Voltron Armour] dissolved, revealing his heavily battered body as Ray said weakly, "Darn, I would have preferred to wrap this up sooner. To push me so dangerously close to my limits, I wonder if I'll overcome and stretch my limits? Or would my body be broken first? You ain't in a much better state than I am, right, Panzer?"

Panzer flashed a weak smile as he said, "To push me so far, you're the first to have given me such an exhilarating battle. Unfortunately for you, looking at your present condition, it's clear who Victory is shining upon. Come and meet your death honourably!"

Ray fell forward slightly before weakly straightening his legs, standing proud. He then conjured a spear made out of lightning as he grinned, saying, "You never know who's going to win until the final second. Come, I'll show you the greatest duel you've ever experienced!"

Panzer raised his eyebrows quizzically as he remarked, "Ho, settling things the old fashioned way huh? I didn't know you were into spears. Interesting, show me all you've got!" Ray gripped his spear tightly with both hands, his left hand closer to the tip of his spear. Ray warned, "I'm pretty good at two-handed wielding of the spear, so don't underestimate me just because I'm a supposed magician!"

Ray quickly leaped forward, repeatedly striking Panzer's shield from various angles as he swung and stabbed his spear expertly. Panzer was generally surprised at the turn of events, as Ray not only displayed uncanny mastery of the spear, the speed of his attacks belied the exhaustion he suffered.

After dodging a stab from Panzer with a leap, Ray performed a powerful overhead swing with his spear, as it smashed against Panzer's [Grand Aegis] with such force that sparks were flying erratically from Ray's spear and the wind blew furiously.

Both parties refused to relent as Panzer found it immensely difficult to repel Ray's fearsome attack. Eventually, his [Grand Aegis] could take no more as it shattered into innumerable pieces. Panzer barely avoided having his hand chopped off as he instinctively leaped back, suffering only a slight cut from the razor-sharp tip of Ray's spear.

Ray smiled widely and said, "Whew! I finally broke that stubborn shield of yours after so much effort. Now, it's a fair match between you and I right? Come on!" Panzer looked at the gash on his left arm before shaking it to relieve the numbness caused by Ray's electricity. He gripped his [Heartseeker] in a similar fashion to Ray before solemnly asking, "Why do you fight, Ray?"

Ray looked at Panzer with a puzzled expression before replying doggedly, "I have people whom I left behind that I wish to protect. As a person endowed with great power, I have an even greater responsibility to safeguard their peace and happiness. Thus, I would never stop fighting to protect this peace till my last breath. As my old King loves to chant, for justice, love and peace, we offer our lives. Long live Nirvania!"

Panzer smiled warmly and asked, "I too have people behind me who are very precious to me. For glory? Pfft, that's merely superficial nonsense. I fight solely for the people who I love, just like you. For Targon!"

The 2 individuals clashed fervently with each other, every clash burning bright with passion even though they appeared sluggish on the outside. Eventually, both fighters were extremely exhausted, having gone way beyond their usual limits. Both were panting heavily, using their respective weapons for support as they struggled to even stand properly.

Ray suggested weakly, "One final strike to end this. What do you think?" Panzer nodded slowly as they mustered every inch of their final strength into this last attack. Panzer was first to act, leaping towards Ray as he aligned his spear to be in line with Ray's head.

Once Panzer was in optimal distance away from Ray, confident that he would hit his target, Panzer thrust his right hand, which was gripping the end of his spear, forward in a flash. On the other hand, as Panzer was soaring towards Ray, Ray changed his grip on his spear, pushing his spear high in the air before gripping its end with his left hand, sliding it back down towards his back such that his right hand was closer to the tip instead, palm facing up.

The end result was that Ray adopted a stance where his right hand and foot were placed forward, his spear pointing down as his left hand gripped the end of the spear near his left cheek, standing with his right facing Panzer, his spear hugged tightly to his chest.

Back to the present, Ray had closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before holding it, barely shifting his head out of the way in time as he earned a sharp cut to his left cheek, Panzer's spear missing its target.

Ray then opened his eyes slowly, releasing his breath in a controlled manner as he swiftly brought down his left hand to chest level, pushing and releasing his spear forward as it slid across his open right palm. The electric spear impaled through Panzer's exposed left chest as Ray caught it with his right hand before it could fly further, the damage already done.

Panzer coughed out blood as he released his [Heartseeker], reverting it back to its original form as it fell to the ground. Seeing that his attack had connected successfully, Ray dispelled his lightning spear, with Panzer collapsing onto the ground nearly instantly after.

Ray barely caught Panzer's back with his left arm, as he knelt down to hear the fallen man's last words. Panzer slurred as he choked on his own blood, "I don't have much longer, but…I've got quite a few favours to ask from you, Ray. First…take my [Heartseeker] and display it to everyone on the battlefield. It's a symbol of your victory and a final gift from me to you, ha.

Next, displaying my weapon should hopefully convince my men to surrender, I beg you to spare them as many have families waiting for them in Targon…" Panzer coughed and wheezed a few times as Ray asked him, "What about yourself? Don't you have any family or loved ones?"

Panzer smiled weakly before removing his necklace which contained a pendant. Opening the pendant revealed an image of an attractive woman and a beaming young girl aged around four. Panzer said weakly, "Lovely, aren't they? They are my wife, Leia, and daughter, Dawn, respectively. Please hand this pendant over to my wife, she would understand what this means for me. Promise me you would take care of them, and they would come to no harm under the new rule of Nirvania."

Panzer coughed a few more times as he struggled to breathe, a sign of a man close to death's doorstep. Ray's eyes glistened slightly with tears at the tragic end of an honourable man. He asked, choking on his tears, "Why do you trust me to accomplish all these last wishes? I'm your enemy after all!"

Panzer smiled as he drew his last breath, "Your eyes say it all, Ray, and your actions serve to further cement my faith in you. I'm glad to die by your hand, knowing that I'll leave no regrets behind." Panzer's hand went limp as the great warrior left the world in peace.

Panzer's face displayed a smile that shone as brightly as the future he entrusted to his newest, yet possibly greatest friend he could ever make…