Two blinding beams of light exploded by the lakeside like miniature suns. The world dimmed, and even the howling wind seemed to freeze.
Thymaleon’s body shuddered. A line of brilliant crimson slid slowly from his left nostril, spreading across his robe like an eerie blood flower.
He reflexively raised his hand, then brushed past his nose and stared at the blood staining his fingertips. His normally cold eyes filled instantly with rage.
He had never suffered such humiliation. Not only had he failed to suppress his opponent in their mental energy clash, but he had also been the one left injured.
“Go to hell!” Thymaleon’s roar cracked like thunder. The white light around him flared brighter. The clear sky darkened suddenly as roiling clouds gathered. Purple lightning writhed through the darkness like serpents, crackling sharply.
He raised a single hand to the storm, palm aimed at the churning clouds. His remaining spiritual energy surged in wild resonance with the thunder ripping through the sky.
Bolts of lightning, each as thick as a tree trunk, poured down from the clouds and converged in Thymaleon’s palm like tributaries merging into a raging river.
In the fury of the storm, a spear began to take shape, formed entirely from purple lightning. It stretched 30 feet long
The tip was sharp as a blade and flickered with destructive light. Dense, intricate runes coiled along the shaft, each one flowing with electric current and radiating suffocating pressure.
The air around him twisted and warped under the heat. The lake water boiled violently, sending up billowing white steam.
The ground cracked outward from Thymaleon in a spiderweb pattern, and broken stones floated in the air, pulled upward by the thunderforce.
“That’s… The power to command lightning.”
The onlookers’ expressions instantly changed. Staring at the spear, like the fury of a storm made real, they froze in terror.
When the lightning spear fully solidified, Thymaleon suddenly tensed. His veins bulged along his arm, and he hurled the weapon toward Dustin, sitting at the stone table.
The spear tore through the sky, ripping the air into a black scar. White mist along its path vaporized instantly. Smaller bolts of lightning scattered from the shaft, blasting craters into the ground. Even the surrounding space rippled like water, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Facing this terrifying strike, Dustin didn’t retreat. Instead, fierce battle intent ignited in his eyes.
He shot to his feet. His sword hummed in his hand as a green sword aura erupted around him like a volcano, blasting the shattered stone table in all directions.
“Great timing,” he shouted. He gripped his sword with both hands and poured every ounce of his mystical energy into the blade. The cloud patterns etched on the sword flared to life, materializing into a roaring azure dragon that coiled around the steel, its cry echoing to the sky.
“Azure Dragon Breaker!” Dustin roared, flicking his wrist.
The sword, carrying the green dragon, shot forward to meet the lightning spear head-on. It sliced through the air at incredible speed, leaving only an afterimage. The dragon opened its massive jaws, baring razor-sharp fangs, ready to challenge the thunder itself.
Dustin moved his wrist slightly. The sword, carrying its green dragon, shot forward to meet the lightning spear head-on. It sliced through the air at incredible speed, leaving only an afterimage. The dragon opened its massive jaws, baring razor-sharp fangs, ready to challenge the thunder itself.
The moment they collided, time seemed to freeze. A soundless shockwave of energy rippled outward, instantly flattening the camp tents by the lakeside. Ancient trees hundreds of years old snapped like fragile toothpicks, splinters flying in every direction.
Then a deafening boom shook the air.
Green sword aura and purple lightning tangled violently in the sky. They formed a massive sphere of energy. Light flashed continuously within it, radiating world-ending power.
The watching crowd pressed their hands tightly over their ears, yet waves of pain still throbbed through their eardrums.
They stared helplessly as the energy sphere in mid-air kept expanding. The space around it twisted more violently with each moment, and even sunlight could not penetrate.
Just as the sphere was about to burst, Dustin’s eyes sharpened. His spiritual energy surged, and the green sword dragon swelled several times its size. It slammed fiercely into the tip of the lightning spear.
A sharp crack rang out. The runes on the lightning spear began to shatter, and the purple lightning gradually dimmed
Thymaleon’s expression changed drastically. He tried to recall his spear but discovered a powerful sword aura was rushing back along the weapon toward him, numbing his entire arm.
Before he could react, Dustin had already used the sword aura’s rebound force to transform into a streak of green light, racing down along the lightning spear’s shaft.
The sharp whistle of his sword cutting through the air made eardrums ache. The sword aura around him formed a sharp cone that pierced straight through the not-yet-dissipated thunderforce.
“No…” Thymaleon’s pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with shock. He tried to dodge but found his body locked firmly in place by the sword aura domain. He couldn’t move at all.
All he could do was watch as Dustin lunged toward him like an arrow from a bow, sword in hand. The blade pierced Thymaleon’s chest with a wet sound and emerged from his back.
Green sword aura surged through the sword tip into his body, instantly destroying his circulatory pathways and spiritual energy core.
Thymaleon’s body went rigid. He stared at the sword wound in his chest. Blood poured continuously from the injury, soaking his white robes.
The rage and arrogance in his eyes had long since been replaced by terror. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but only a ragged wheeze escaped.
His body began trembling violently. The white light around him receded like a tide. Light flickered beneath his skin, as if something inside was about to explode.
Thymaleon exploded. Blood, flesh, and bone fragments scattered in all directions. They fell onto the lakeside grass and into the water, staining the entire area red.
The white light that had been hovering in midair vanished completely, leaving only a thick smell of blood and a faint trace of spiritual energy.
The energy sphere lost its support and burst simultaneously. Countless tiny lights scattered like shooting stars, falling to the ground as glowing sparks before quickly disappearing.
Silence finally returned to the lakeside. Only the rustle of wind through leaves and the sound of flowing water remained.
Dustin slowly sheathed his sword. Blood dripped from the blade’s tip, forming a small pool on the ground.
