Dimitri approached Tyrenor with a chilling aura, frost coating the ground beneath his feet. Clad in armor, he looked like a wraith emerging from the deepest pits of ice, his breath clouding the air around him. He held the infamous Frigidbloom, its blade casting an eerie blue glow, and even from afar, the temperature around it dropped, as if the weapon itself was drawing in all of the warmth from the world. The sheer presence of the blade could make Gods tremble, befitting its title as the "Strongest weapon to ever exist."

Tyrenor stood across from him, unfazed, gripping the Keeper’s Resolve firmly in his left hand, the Warping Witherblade pulsing with dark energy in his right. His eyes glinted as he lifted the shield, smirking.

Tyrenor: "Didn’t think you’d actually show. I thought gods only came down from their thrones to settle real battles.”

Dimitri raised an eyebrow, his gaze unwavering.

Dimitri: "A god does not fear death. Although I am not yet a god, by defeating you, I am one step closer to becoming one.”

Meanwhile, Fyrgath and Caedros were watching from a safe distance on top of the Hovering Fortress, each peering through their spyglasses.

Fyrgath: "One Orion Core on Dimitri."

Caedros grinned. "Five shards of Aetherium on Tyrenor."

Fyrgath snorted. "Only five?"

Caedros smirked, flashing his crystal. "99.8% purity."

Fyrgath: "Bet."

Back on the battlefield, Tyrenor rolled his shoulders, setting his stance, and Dimitri took a slow, deliberate breath, steadying himself. For a heartbeat, there was silence, a calm before the storm.

Then, in a flash, Tyrenor lunged forward, the Warping Witherblade crackling with decay. Dimitri sidestepped, his armor catching the faint light, and swung the Frigidbloom in a wide arc. A trail of frost sliced through the air, brushing past Tyrenor, who raised the Keeper’s Resolve just in time to absorb the damage. The shield shimmered, scales glowing, as it stored the energy within.

Tyrenor: "How’s that? I’d rate your swing a solid six out of ten."

Dimitri’s eyes narrowed. “Then let’s make it a ten.”

The ground shook as Dimitri activated his environment ability. Raising his blade high, Dimitri muttered: “Abyss of Winter.”

In a moment, a dome of pure, biting cold radiated from him, freezing everything it touched. The Frigidbloom entered its “blooming” state, its blade shifting to a beautiful yet deadly pink as it reached its maximum potential. Frost crawled up Tyrenor’s legs, slowing him down, but he gritted his teeth, forcing his movements.

Tyrenor: “Alright, time to turn things up.

Shed your skin and shatter your form, embrace new power, fierce and forlorn. Cry out, steel soul!"

He muttered a quick incantation, activating “Hellish Paradise”. The Warping Witherblade turned bloodshot red, the eye at its hilt crying in agony, and an unholy shriek filled the air as its power spiked. With one swing, he struck at Dimitri, and the blade collided with the Frigidbloom in a clash that rippled through the earth. 

Dimitri was forced back a step, but he quickly retaliated, his voice cold. “Harvest.”

The Frigidbloom unleashed more of its deadly frost, consuming some of the little life force that radiated from the Warping Witherblade. Ice cracked along Tyrenor’s armor, but he held firm, raising the Keeper’s Resolve in a defensive stance.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Tyrenor: “You really think I’d come unprepared?”

He activated “Aegis Crest”, drawing in the frostbite dealt by the Frigidbloom. The Crest glowed, humming with raw power as it absorbed Dimitri’s attack, amplifying its next release.

Dimitri narrowed his eyes. “Then, how about a real test?”

He raised the Frigidbloom high, chanting yet another environmental spell.

“Eternal winter, unlike any ice age. Frosty petals fell across the land, cracking the very brittle land that gave it its form.”

Shards of icy mist began swirling around him. The blade’s pink hue pulsed, and Dimitri brought it down in a massive swing, unleashing Shattered Abyss, while sending a barrage of glacial projectiles hurtling toward Tyrenor. Each shard held enough energy to freeze a mountain.

Tyrenor raised the Keeper’s Resolve, activating “Maelstrom”. The shield exploded with stored energy, dispersing the ice shards in a shockwave that obliterated the frozen projectiles. The resulting blast sent both tyrants sliding backward, but neither showed any sign of yielding.

Caedros, watching from afar, laughed. “That’s my guy! Tyrenor’s gonna show him a thing or two!”

Fyrgath shook his head, impressed. “Don’t count your winnings just yet.”

Tyrenor’s eyes flickered, and with a smirk, he activated “Heavenly Ignition”. Two colossal meteorites materialized above him, searing through the air, and hurtled toward Dimitri. Dimitri stood his ground, unmoving, waiting until the last possible moment. Just as the meteors reached him, he channeled his aura into the Frigidbloom, coating it with an ethereal frost that extended outward in a wide arc.

“Freeze.”

The meteors collided with his aura and shattered into icy dust. He was barely fazed.

Tyrenor: “Alright, I have to admit. That was a ten out of ten.”

Dimitri gave him a ghost of a smile. “Then allow me to go further.”

He raised the Frigidbloom again, calling forth its ultimate power. With a voice echoing with the souls of the millions it had claimed, Dimitri invoked Soul Severance. The sword surged, emitting a spine-chilling light, and a spectral wind whipped around the battlefield, drawing fragments of souls toward him. The blade glowed, prepared to consume everything in its path.

Tyrenor grinned, even as the souls brushed past him. “That’s impressive. But I’ve got one more trick.”

As the spectral energy converged on Dimitri, Tyrenor slammed the Keeper’s Resolve into the ground, and it responded with a roar. A wall of dragon-scale armor erupted around him, creating an unbreakable barrier. He raised the Warping Witherblade, fully charged and trembling with anticipation, and prepared to unleash the final strike.

Dimitri stared him down, the two locked in a tense silence as both gathered their strength.

Caedros lowered his spyglass, tense. “This is it. Whoever lands this wins.”

Fyrgath eyes widened. “No way they’re both walking away from this.”

Dimitri smirked, channeling his seemingly limitless power into the Frigidbloom, and lunged forward. Tyrenor, shield blazing with dragon’s fury, met his charge head-on.

Their blades collided, a shockwave so powerful it cracked the ground beneath them. Time seemed to freeze as the two struggled, energy radiating from their weapons in a blinding light.

But just as they closed in, something shifted. Tyrenor didn't meet him with the Warping Witherblade.

Instead, he raised the Keeper’s Resolve, channeling “Aegis Crest”. The shield absorbed every ounce of Dimitri’s energy with a resonating hum, pulling the attack into its depths. Dimitri’s eyes widened as the last of his power drained into the shield.

Tyrenor grinned, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "Checkmate."

In an instant, he funneled the accumulated energy straight into the Warping Witherblade. The black blade roared, its eye bulging as it glowed a furious red, and Tyrenor swung with everything he had.

In one swift motion, he swung the Warping Witherblade, and Dimitri dodged instinctively, sidestepping, but the blade’s edge grazed his shoulder. It was enough.

The blade unleashed “Hellish Paradise” and “Maelstrom”, then Dimitri felt an overwhelming surge of decay pierce through him.

Dimitri staggered, feeling something deeply, fundamentally wrong. His body lurched as an unspeakable sensation surged through him. Hundreds of layers of defensive spells he prepared all activated at the same time. Time itself seemed to slow as his mind processed what was happening. Forty-nine thousand and fifty-three curses and status effects, enough to obliterate even Gods, rushed into him at once. His heart felt like it had stopped, and his breath was stolen away as the curses burrowed deeper and deeper, gnawing at every fiber of his being.

As his knees buckled, Dimitri gritted his teeth, his last shred of focus narrowing on one desperate thought: he needed to survive this.

Dimitri’s voice rang out with an echo, “Divine Authority: Seraph’s Blaze!”

Above him, a colossal, unfathomable figure appeared, spreading wings of holy fire that stretched across the sky. The figure raised its arm, and the sky itself split, as a blinding light descended, engulfing the battlefield in searing flames.

The ground vaporized where the light touched, leaving nothing but a blackened crater, scorched with holy fire. Even from afar, Fyrgath and Caedros felt the heat, the brightness nearly blinding them.

Fyrgath shielded his eyes, wincing. "Good lord, I didn’t think he’d actually unleash that."

Caedros laughed, barely able to look at the scene. "I think we’re watching the last seconds of Tyrenor here."

In the center of it all, Tyrenor held up the Keeper’s Resolve, using every ounce of its might to block the blazing light. The shield trembled, scales heating and cracking, but somehow, he held his ground, gritting his teeth as the flames washed over him. His surroundings were charred, and his vision blurred, but he held strong until the light finally faded.

When Tyrenor lowered his shield, breathing heavily, his vision slowly returned. The land around him was blackened, smoldering, and lifeless. He looked up, expecting to see Dimitri, only to find...nothing. Not a single trace.

Tyrenor clenched his fist, muttering under his breath. “Did he just… run?”

Dimitri, in the meantime, was miles away, stumbling into the darkened forest, his breathing ragged. He had used nearly every soul he’d ever harvested to burn away the curses, his body aching with the effort of regeneration. He leaned against a tree, catching his breath, muttering to himself.

Dimitri: “Not… yet. Not defeated. Just… postponed.”

Back at the makeshift betting grounds, Fyrgath lowered his spyglass with a saddening expression.

Fyrgath: “A deal is a deal. Here’s your core.”

Caedros scoffed, pocketing the Orion Core. “One day, those two are going to end up blowing up the whole country.”

Fyrgath laughed. “Yeah, but at least it’s fun to watch.”