With a final surge of Abyssal power, Lorian and Lysara advanced, their combined presence overwhelming. Lysara’s whips lashed out, wrapping around Cyrthal’s legs and yanking him to the ground. Lorian, seizing the moment, sent a wave of Abyssal energy crashing into Zephyr, knocking him back with brutal force.
Meanwhile, Cerys and Aldric's duel intensified, each combatant moving with a ferocity that seemed to warp the very air around them. Cerys swung her blade with precision, her gravitational magic amplifying each strike. The ground buckled beneath Aldric's feet as she closed in, her strikes relentless, forcing him to step back or risk being crushed. But Aldric wasn’t easily cornered—his movements were deceptively smooth, deflecting her blows with the ease of a seasoned warrior.
Aldric lunged, slashing his sword down in a brutal arc. Cerys raised her blade to block, the clash of their weapons sending a shockwave that rippled through the air. Sparks flew as their blades locked, and for a moment, they were face-to-face, eyes locked in a battle of wills.
“Still clinging to honor and loyalty, Cerys?” Aldric taunted, twisting his blade to try to throw her off balance. “You’re nothing but a pawn in a kingdom that’s already doomed.”
Cerys’s gaze burned with defiance. “Better a pawn than a traitor,” she retorted, shoving him back with a pulse of gravitational force that knocked him off his feet.
Aldric landed in a crouch, his eyes narrowing as dark energy crackled around him. Without missing a beat, he thrust his hand forward, unleashing a torrent of corrupted energy that surged toward her like a tidal wave. Cerys met the attack with a barrier of compressed gravity, the two opposing forces clashing with a deafening roar. Shadows and light exploded outward, leaving scorch marks on the ground as they battled for dominance.
Aldric’s frustration grew, and with a snarl, he gathered a dark, swirling mass of energy in his hands. "You can’t keep up forever," he sneered, hurling the mass toward her.
Cerys dodged, but not quickly enough. The edge of the blast caught her, searing across her arm. She grit her teeth against the pain, rolling to her feet as Aldric advanced with predatory intent. He lunged again, his sword whistling through the air as he aimed for her shoulder. Cerys parried, then countered with a vicious upward swing that nearly caught him under the chin.
They danced through the battlefield, neither giving an inch. Cerys struck with speed and precision, her gravitational magic pulsing in waves, slowing Aldric’s movements and forcing him to adapt to the ever-shifting weight. Aldric retaliated with shadow-laden blows, his sword moving like a flicker of darkness, evading her strikes by mere inches.
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He feinted left, then drove his blade toward her heart with a brutal thrust. Cerys barely twisted out of the way, feeling the blade graze her armor. She retaliated with a swift kick to his knee, sending him stumbling back just long enough for her to summon a heavy, concentrated sphere of gravitational energy. She hurled it at him, the orb streaking through the air with deadly intent.
Aldric raised his hand, dispersing the sphere with a pulse of his own dark energy, but the force sent him sliding back, his expression twisted with irritation. “Persistent as ever, aren’t you, Cerys?” he sneered, blood dripping from a shallow cut across his cheek.
“Persistency is all you left me,” she replied, her voice a deadly calm as she tightened her grip on her sword.
Aldric lunged again, his strikes becoming more erratic, more desperate, as he threw everything he had into overpowering her. His blade came at her in a flurry of vicious slashes, and for a moment, she was on the defensive, her movements a blur as she parried and dodged with razor-sharp reflexes. He struck low, then high, his sword arcing like a storm, but Cerys matched his pace, blocking and deflecting each blow.
Finally, Aldric drew back, breathing heavily, his eyes narrowing as he gathered his energy for one final assault. Dark, crystalline shards began to form around him, swirling in a deadly storm that pulsed with both celestial and abyssal magic.
“This ends now, Cerys!” he roared, sending the shards hurtling toward her in a blinding barrage.
Cerys stood her ground, her expression resolute. She raised her sword and channeled her gravitational magic, forming a powerful vortex around her. The shards collided with the vortex, deflecting off in every direction, but some managed to penetrate, grazing her skin with searing cuts. Ignoring the pain, she focused her energy, compressing the vortex until it formed a concentrated sphere of pure gravitational force.
As the last of Aldric’s shards fell, she released the sphere, hurling it at him with everything she had. The attack struck him dead on, sending him crashing back with a force that shattered the earth beneath him. He gasped in pain, clutching his side as blood seeped from the deep wound her attack had inflicted.
Gritting his teeth, Aldric forced himself to his feet, his face twisted in rage and desperation. His gaze flickered to Cerys, then to the battlefield around them. With a snarl, he raised his voice, his words carrying across the field. “Cyrthal! Zephyr! We’re regrouping… with Malcom.”
His words hung in the air, echoing ominously. Cerys’s eyes widened, her heart sinking as the realization struck. Malcom, the prince she had sworn to protect, was in league with Aldric. The prince himself was part of this treacherous plan. Beside her, Lorian’s expression shifted to one of cold fury, his jaw clenched as he processed the enormity of the betrayal.
Lysara’s eyes narrowed, her voice laced with contempt as she took a step forward. “So, even the prince has fallen.”
Aldric’s lips twisted into a bitter smile, his gaze flickering with a twisted satisfaction. “Oh, you have no idea what’s coming. This kingdom will kneel before true power.”
Before Cerys or the others could respond, Aldric and his allies retreated into the shadows, leaving the battlefield in an eerie silence.