After slamming into Sebastion, the massive halberd did not fall to the ground. Instead, it changed trajectory mid-air and flew back to Svend’s outstretched hand with enough force to crack the melted stone under his feet.

Around the halberd, there was the slight transparent shimmer similar to domain armor, something noticeably missing from Svend himself. The man had never needed to worry about defense when I fought him in past either. His own body was tough enough to withstand almost anything I was able to throw at it.

Svend did not say anything else as he pulled his halberd back. His arms bulged under his armor as he prepared to swing the halberd with all his might.

Sebastion stood regally in the sky despite being pushed back by the surprise throw a second before. He did not wait for Svend’s next attack as another beam of light crashed down with blinding ferocity.

Despite the light burying the man into the ground, deepening the crater, Svend still managed to swing his halberd. A shockwave shook the air with the roar of thunder. Even though Sebastion was nowhere near Svend, the young king raised his sword as if to ward off an invisible blow. The few people still outside started bleeding out of their ears as a horrible screech of metal rent the air.

The clash from Svend’s shockwave once again forced Sebastion back. He was not forced to the ground as Svend had been but Sebastion was still sent flying a good distance before he was able to stop his momentum.

For the first time since the fight started, Sebastion no longer had the same condescending stare he had maintained up until now. He glared at Svend in a mixture of annoyance and frustration as he pointed his sword towards the man.

“So be it, if you wish for death, I will oblige,” Sebastion said as a beam of light shined from his sword. Unlike every other attack up until now, this beam of light was not blinding. It was as small around as one of my fingers. All the power of Sebastion’s attacks focused on a single point.

Svend had tried to fly up while Sebastion was talking in an attempt to close the distance between the two of them, however, the hulking man could not even cover half the distance before the focused beam of light slammed into his chest.

Svend grunted in pain as he was sent rocketing backwards in a blur of shining gold. He was sent flying farther this time, slamming into the ground outside the city.

Svend did not stand up immediately as he had with every other blow Sebastion threw his way. He appeared to be legitimately shaken by that attack. It was only after several seconds that Svend planted his halberd into the ground and used it to support his weight as he stood. There was a new dent in the center of his armor where the beam of light had nearly torn through.

“I actually felt that one,” Svend said with a self-deprecating chuckle, “Seems I am a bit out of practice. If I had been this sloppy in the past, I would never have survived the war ‘till now.”

As Svend spoke, his domain spread across the fields. With a thought from Svend dirt and debris were thrown into the air, shielding the giant man from view with a giant dust cloud.

Sebastion’s eyes narrowed and he fire three more concentrated beams of light into the cloud. There was no sound as all three attacks disappeared without a trace without finding their target. Sebastion scowled and began to spread his own domain to dispel the dust cloud but, the moment he did so, a giant halberd flew out. Sebastion was once again forced to condense his domain to protect himself from the oversized weapon.

Sword and halberd clashed with the ear-piercing screech of metal on metal. Sebastion was ready this time and was not thrown back by the blow but before he could respond, the halberd had already changed direction and returned to the dust cloud. A second later, the halberd shot out of the dust cloud again. It flew in a curved arc, slamming into Sebastion’s weapon once again before returning to the dust cloud.

Sebastion’s scowl grew deeper as he pointed towards the dust cloud. More than thirty small beams of light fired, seemingly simultaneously, in a spread towards where the halberd returned. The beams of light pierced through the dust cloud without meeting any resistance before appearing out the other side.

The dust cloud appeared to grow larger as it slowly began to surround Sebastion, enclosing him from all directions. Once again, the halberd flew out of the cloud. This time, Sebastion aimed his beam of light towards the annoying weapon. The ray of light sent the halberd careening into the distance but no damage could be seen on the metal with the shimmering domain still protecting it. A second later the halberd returned to the cloud as if nothing happened before reappearing for another attack.

Sebastion’s face started turning red and I knew he was starting to lose his temper. Even as a boy, Sebastion had always despised enemies that refused to face him directly. It appeared that even as an adult, his impatient flaw still remained.

With a frustrated shout, Sebastion exploded in a ball of light that spread out in every direction. The dust cloud was blown away to reveal Svend, almost on top of the man and moving towards him quickly.

Surprisingly, Svend had discarded his chest plate, revealing his bare, muscled torso. His skin did not even have the golden luster of the Divine Body. However, Sebastion did not think anything of this or did not notice, as he fired a powerful concentrated beam towards Svend’s unprotected body. Skin and flesh tore with ease as the light ripped through Svend’s chest without any resistance. A finger-sized hole appeared in Svend’s chest as the light pierced straight through and came out the other side.

However, unlike every other time Svend had been hit by the light, this time he was not thrown back. Svend continued to barrel forward without any apparent concern for his injury. The terrifying visage carved into his helmet glared down with murderous bloodlust. A metallic luster returned to his skin as the raised halberd sliced down. For the first time since Sebastion arrived, he was within melee.

Sebastion’s eyes widened in surprise as he exploded in another ball of brilliant light. His reaction was just a fraction of a second too late as the halberd struck with the weight of a mountain. An explosion buffeted the air and shook the ground as a blinding light engulfed the world.

Two figures flew out of the epicenter of the explosion like puppets with their strings cut. A spray of blood rained down across the ground as both figures fell to the ground with a dull thud. Silence fell on the field as even the wind seemed to fall still.

Sebastion was the first to stand. No longer looking so regal, a large wound was cut from the top of his left shoulder down to his right hip. Blood stained his once finely tailored clothes and pooled on the ground under his feet.

With barely a grimace, a light shined on Sebastion’s finger as he ran it across his injury. Smoke rose from his seared flesh as he cauterized his own wound before turning to look at Svend.

The giant man was struggling to stand as blood pooled from the hole in his chest. Despite the severity of his injury, Svend started laughing. “For all your power, you lack experience, boy. Compared to fighting Aurielle in her prime, you are weak.” As Svend spoke, a new cloud of dust rose up from the ground hiding the man from view once again.

Sebastion clenched his fist around his sword furiously, not hesitating this time. Brilliant light exploded out in every direction and blew away the dust cloud and creating a crater where he stood.

Svend was forced to stumble backwards as his cover was blown away. Unlike every other time Sebastion used his talent, this time it was not a short burst of power but a maintained, constant light.

Sebastion had truly lost his composer now as he swung his sword, creating a dozen large rays of light. If looks could kill, Svend would have been disintegrated. “Do… Not… Compare… Me… To … Her!” Sebastion shouted each word with a swing of his sword. Hundreds of rays of light crashed into Svend, sending him flying into the nearby mountain.

Sebastion did not let up, even when Svend was no longer visible. His attacks tore apart the earth in a continual barrage. Svend was pushed deeper and deeper underground as blow after blow poured down like rain.

Loose debris turned to a landslide as the foundation of the mountain was blasted to pieces. In less than a minute, the mountain that had stood above the clouds, looking over this land for millions of years began to crumble and collapse.

Unable to move under Sebastion’s endless bombardment, Svend was buried under the broken mountain as rock and stone fell around him. As the dust began to settle, Sebastion stopped his onslaught and stared at where Svend had disappeared under the rubble. The entire mountain was now only about half as tall as it had been and twice as wide. Even with a domain as strong as Svend’s, moving that much rock would take hours.

I shook my head in disappointment. “Only three and a half minutes,” I mumbled, “Guess I win the bet.”

With no one left to oppose him, Sebastion flew back to the city of Kala and looked down in contempt. His former regal appearance was nowhere to be seen as the blood-covered figure stood in the sky like an incarnation of brutality. Sebastion’s domain spread over the entire city as he scanned the few remaining people on the surface. It was not long before he spotted the undead girl in front of Svend’s manor.

Sebastion flew down, stopping just above the girl. His previous enraged attitude was gone and his face had returned to being cold and detached. Seeing the man I had once known so well, up close after all these years left me overwhelmed with emotion but I made sure none of that was conveyed through the undead girl.

Instead, I had her examine Sebastion carefully. The injury he had sustained fighting Svend was not very deep. It would not impact his strength very much. I was delighted though to see that his breathing was ragged and unsteady. Sebastion had exerted an enormous amount of energy bringing down that mountain, more than I had even hoped for my best case of him fighting Svend.

The undead girl placed her hands on her hips as she looked up as Sebastion. “That was a rather disappointing show. You have grown too reliant on your innate talent. I taught you better than that.”

“I do not need your approval,” Sebastion growled as a ray of light sliced off the arm of the undead girl. He glanced at the flames leaking from the dismembered arm then at the mansion behind her. “I will not speak to one of your puppets. Where are you?”

“You want to find my real body?” I asked as I brought the one remaining hand to my chin.

I grinned at Sebastion, drawing out the question as long as possible, knowing it would annoy him. When his eyes gleamed with a dangerous light that suggested he might destroy this undead if I did not answer soon, I pointed towards a door in Svend’s home. “I am currently waiting for you. I set up a nice little game underground and everything. Catch me if you can.”

Sebastion narrowed his eyes as he looked at me and then the nearby door. Without saying another word, he brushed past the undead girl as he moved towards the door.

I smiled brightly and reached out towards Sebastion as he passed. “Regardless of what you might think of me, it is good to see you again Sebastion.”

As she spoke, the undead girl bit down on a small blue crystal hidden in her mouth. Blue flames mixed with green as the girl exploded in a ball of golden flame that engulfed the unexpecting Sebastion.