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R

Racing through this maze-like cave system, everything was exactly how the man had remembered. The man continued forward while carrying a limp body on his shoulder. If you were to look in the eyes of the person the man carried, you may mistake them for the eyes of a dead person. With a listless expression and a pale face, if you were to tell someone that this person had recently just passed, there's no doubt many would believe it but if one were to listen closely, they'd hear the small wispy breath that escaped the man's lips, indicating he was still alive.

*Sigh*

(Even though I've rescued this man called Clovis, it may already be too late. With that kind of torture, I wouldn't be surprised if this man has already lost it.)

The man continued through the cave and as he moved about, he was surprised at the amount of resistance he faced. Well to be more accurate, he was surprised at the fact that there was no resistance at all. No matter how far he traveled nor the direction he took, there were no guards or patrolling soldiers whatsoever.

(It seems the boy's distraction is overwhelmingly effective. At this rate, I could simply walk out.)

The man threw these useless thoughts aside and continued on. Moving faster and faster, the man soon reached the exit and with a final step, he broke free from the entrance. Coming out of the cave the morning sun had just begun to rise and as it did the man felt the warmth of the sun on his face for the first time, in what seemed like forever. He had to immediately close his eyes and wince in pain though, as they needed a bit to adjust to the shining sun. With his eyes closed the wind blew and with a slight breeze the man's nose twitched slightly from the smell of aromatic flowers. Taking in a huge breath of fresh air, the man could tell that spring was here. The man wanted to relax some more but he suddenly felt someone's presence. Opening his eyes painfully he stared at the person in front of him and that very same person stared back. With a trembling voice full of shock and a face filled with surprise, at the same time, they both said.

"YOU!"

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The tree-sized spear of ice tore through the statue like paper and continued forward toward Lowen. The other two statues jumped in front of Lowen to protect him but this spears speed and force was too overbearing and had already torn through them. With no time to move out of the way, Lowen once more threw out a powerful punch and with a mighty shout, he roared.

"SNAKE ROCK FIST!!"

Lowen's fist and this tree sized spear of ice made contact.

*BOOOOOM!!*

A powerful explosion rang out and the spear of ice broke off into several large chunks. At the same time, Lowen's body was forced back and sent flying away with a terrifying force and speed. His body crashed deep into a wall.

*Boom*

The explosion was so strong that a tyrannical storm of cold harsh wind gushed about in every direction and for a few brief moments a tornado spun up forcing Rize back as well. With a bit of power though, Rize created a wall of water and reduce the force of wind around him, allowing him to escape any true harm. At the same time, large chunks of ice came crashing down breaking up the icy ground kicking up even more ice particles creating a foggy mist blocking the twos vision.

After a few moments, this ice tornado slowly began to dissipate and settle, as it did, Rize's mind raced with thought.

(Yes yes yes, I destroyed his statues and even forced his last punch out. Both of his arms are ruined now, they must be. I had to put on that pathetic act and look terrified but with it, he lowered his guard and made a desperate move, hehehe I've won.)

Rize had these thoughts in mind but he never once lowered his guard and even increased the amount of ice walls that surrounded him. He would not allow himself to be defeated by doing something so dumb and brash as dropping his defense just because his victory seemed assured.

(This boy, what could he be planning now? He somehow hid his presence earlier there's no doubt he's shifting about sneakily, trying his utmost to find my most vulnerable and weakest spot. With his arms ruined though I doubt he can break through all of my defensive layers. Right now my best bet is to wait patiently for this mist to settle back down on the ground and then make more of my ice shards. Without his statues to protect him, hehehe, his death is quick at hand.)

And so he did. Rize waited and waited and finally, after several minutes, the misty, icy fog fell to the ground, once more settling on the frozen battlefield below. Looking around, Rize's eyes quickly darted in every direction in search of his hated foe but to both his shock and surprise, there Lowen was. His body was still embedded in the wall from earlier and now hung there lifelessly. Rize, however, wasn't fooled, Lowen's body was still emitting a small amount of energy indicating he was still alive. what did confuse him, however, was the fact that even now, Lowen remained motionless. After a moment Rize cautiously created a few shards of ice in the air and begun to spin them with a terrifying speed. With a bit of trepidation, Rize launched a single shard of ice towards Lowen.

*Schink*

*Auughhhhhhh*

Lowen released a wild cry of anguish as a shard of ice had directly pierced his stomach and with a few terrible coughs, he began to spit mouthful after mouthful of blood from his mouth. Looking over at Rize, Lowen's expression turned to one of fear and panic. Reaching for the shard still in his gut, he immediately tried to pull it from his stomach but noticed his body was pinned to the wall with it. Seeing this, Rize was both stunned and excited at the same time and his thoughts suddenly changed. With another quick shot, Rize launched another shard at Lowen, this time it pierced Lowen's hand, nailing it to the wall as well. Lowen once more screamed out in pain.

*AAAHHHHHHHH!*

Rize, seeing this, only grew more and more excited. This time he aimed one at Lowen's face.

*Schink*

Lowen stopped trying to pull the shard from his stomach and quickly blocked his face and with all of his strength, he just barely managed to divert this shard away from his face but this hand as well was now nailed to the wall just above his forehead. Missing Lowen's head by a mere inch or so, Rize wasn't too upset. Now that Lowen was immobile Rize could finally take his mind. With one so young and powerful directly under his control, even with the loss of nearly a thousand soldiers, With Lowen, his plans would only accelerate. Rize, however, wanted to vent some more and so he shot several more shards into Lowen's arms and legs. As blood began to pour from his wounds the blood that flowed out quickly froze over, making Lowen's body look as though it were an odd piece of artwork.

With Lowen's body up so high in the wall, Rize created a pillar of ice beneath him and it slowly began to rise up. With Lowen's body completely pinned against the wall, Rize took a small step forward, the pillar beneath Rize's feet stretched out making a floor of ice in the air, allowing him to walk forward and approach Lowen. Coming face to face, the twos expressions were quite the opposite of one another. One with the grin of the devil, while the other of a damned soul that had been tortured in the depths of hell, by said devil.

"Hehehe, I told you that you'd be mine. I'll admit it, my predictions on you were wrong but none of that matters anymore."

Seeing the terrified look in Lowen's eyes, Rize smiled viciously.

"You were a fun opponent, however, the games are over now. Accept your fate and become mine."

Reaching forward at the terrified Lowen, Rize placed both his hands on Lowen's head and his eyes began to glow red. With seemingly no energy to resist, Lowen began to feel that same invading energy as before and with it, a terrible pain was brought forth. Lowen did not resist this energy, instead, his thoughts were elsewhere. Lowen's expression began to take a turn, at first it was one filled with fear and anguishing pain but the more and more Rize's energy attacked him and the more he felt his soul leaving his body, the more calm Lowen began to seem. Rize didn't understand this but he could feel his powers taking effect and after a few more moments, Lowen would be his slave forever. Lowen's mind was in so much pain but still, right now, at this moment, he was much calmer now than at any other point during this battle. As Rize's power grew gradually closer and closer to taking Lowen, Rize's confidence grew to the extreme. His concentration was at it's highest at the moment and with one more push, it would be over.

But this is the moment Lowen had been waiting for. With a low, almost incomprehensible voice, Lowen whispered a few words.

"Take him."

Suddenly a large stone hand reached up and grasped at Rize. This hand was so large that it easily encompassed Rize's waist. Rize's concentration was broken and his power was interrupted. his mind immediately suffered a huge backlash but that wasn't all. The large stone hand that had grabbed his waist also started squeezing with incredible strength. With his mind facing a backlash he shouldn't have been able to use his magic at all at this moment but somehow his sapphire ring still glowed and activated. Just as his bones were on the verge of breaking, a thin layer of ice had formed on his skin before expanding outward with an even stronger force. The stone hand had again crumbled back into nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Rize stared hatefully at Lowen, even now on the verge of his own destruction, Lowen was still resisting him. Rize's anger shot up and he was just about to send another shard into Lowen when he suddenly saw the look on Lowen's face. Lowen no longer had an expression of fear nor any grimaces of anguish, instead, his face held nothing but cruel mockery. Once more a few words slipped past Lowen's lips.

"Magika Amulet Detonate."

As a small glow came from within Lowen's chest pocket. Rize sensed the danger and threw up as many walls between him and Lowen. What followed immediately after, was a thunderous explosion.

*KABOOOOOOOOM*

Rize was at point-blank range, yet he was still capable of forming three ice walls between himself and Lowen at the last second but unfortunately for him, this simply wasn't enough. As his body was launched backward, Rize had used his water to flow around him and absorb at least 70 percent of the impact, however, the force was too great and before he knew it, he crashed into the wall.

*Boom*

Falling forward, Rize collapsed onto the ground. Rize suddenly felt a burning sensation like no other choke at his throat before the taste of metal began to fill his mouth. Choking like this, Rize was forced to vomit out whatever was in his mouth. As Rize began coughing and retching everywhere, what escaped his mouth was an indescribable amount of green hot blood. Steam began to rise as his hot blood melted the ice around him. This, however, was the least of his problems. Looking down at his body, the entire right side of his chest was in fact.....missing. What remained on his right side were bits of tattered and torn flesh, which leaked blood profusely, almost as though someone had just overturned a large bucket. Rize suddenly understood and panic set in. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the rest of his potions and began devouring them desperately. He could feel the effects of the potion's and his face grimaced, it wasn't enough. The potions could only do so much. As blood continued to pour out of him at a constant rate, Rize's breathing became more and more labored and his mind began to grow fuzzy.

(No no no, I can't die, I refuse.)

But even with these thoughts, as time went by, his body continued to grow weaker and weaker and his minds less sharp. Looking over at Lowen, even though he was still pinned to the wall, he continued to look at Rize with hate and mockery. Rize seeing this couldn't accept it.

(You actually look at me with such contempt and hate, it is I who hate you. You fucking human. It was humans that invaded my land first, it was you humans that took from me and mine first and yet I am the one who has to die, why? Kill them, I'll kill them.)

As Rize's dying body was filled with rage, his voice exploded outward.

"FUCKING HUMANS, I'LL KILL THEM ALL!!!"

Rize's eyes began to glow once more and he began to laugh maliciously, as he did, the remaining crystals in the chamber and even throughout the rest of the cave began to tremble before they all simultaneously cracked and turned to dust. The light within the dome quickly grew dim and Rize continued to laugh demonically. A large stone arm was slowly pulling itself along the ground headed toward Rize. Rize saw this and no longer cared, he only continued to laugh crazily as his eyes grew more and more crimson. As the large stone arm came upon Rize, like a snake it rose up vertically and as Rize continued to laugh, the large stone arm, this time like a tree freshly cut from the forest, fell over with great force.

*WHAM*

Rize's skull was crushed like a melon, killing him instantly.