Trial of Death – War And Death

Both Azikeal and Augustus were in the arena, holding their weapons, clad in their armor, waiting for the battle to begin, Augustus was on the left holding his Blood Scythe, and Azikeal on the other end holding a pair of Death Harbingers, which were a pair of black Daggers, they seemed to mirror the shadowy mist form of the armor. A white feather falls slowly from the sky, as soon as the feather touches the ground, the two champions rush toward each other, with their weapons in their hands, Augustus strikes first but to his surprise, Azikeal vanishes in front of him and appears on his back but before he could stab Augustus quickly swing the scythe to hit Azikeal with the Hammer on the back of his Scythe, The hammer hits the daggers and Azikeal retreats immediately.

Sephir was observing this battle from the training ground on the screen provided while focusing on her tempest, she believed this way she could practice controlling the tempests while her focus was elsewhere. Back in the area, Augustus had split his Blood scythe into two, it was now a short scythe in one hand and a hammer in the other, both now connected with a glowing red soul power that appeared as if the blood itself was connecting the two weapons, he started swinging the scythe and then threw it in Azikeal's direction when the scythe was about to reach Azikeal, he vanished again, nowhere to be seen, Augustus was left baffled as to where his opponent had vanished,

He pulled the Scythe back and just when he was about to catch the Scythe, Azikeal appeared from the right and stabbed Augustus' right hand, reacting quickly to the stab Augustus threw the scythe at Azikeal. 

Azikeal, having successfully struck Augustus, quickly withdrew his Death Harbingers, and danced backward, avoiding the incoming scythe. The weapon whizzed past him, missing by a hair's breadth. Augustus winced in pain, clutching his wounded hand as soul blood trickled down his fingers. Augustus pulled back the scythe with the blood chains that he had formed. "Blood Rage", he roared as soul blood flowing from his fingers was flowing towards the scythe, as the scythe devoured Augustus' blood a blood-red aura spread throughout the arena.  But now a black mark was present where Augustus had been bleeding, it was the mark of death.

Sephir watched the intense battle on the screen, her focus shifting between her tempest training and the unfolding combat. She was beginning to sense a deeper connection with the tempests as if they were responding to her emotions and intentions.

Back in the arena, Azikeal saw the anger in Augustus's eyes, he immediately went to the shadows to hide, but, this time the blood aura released by Augustus helped Augustus determine Azikeal location, he swung his hammer to the shadow in anger, Azikeal came out of shadows and crossed his dagger against the hammer in hopes of protection but the daggers couldn't bear the power of the War Gods Hammer, noticing this Azikeal dodged but it was too late and his right arm was crushed, or rather devoured.

The crowd of Gods and Angels roared with excitement, their cheers and chants echoing through the arena, but both warriors were too absorbed in their duel to pay much attention to the spectators. Azikeal managed to pick up the double daggers, with his remaining hand, while soul blood, was getting pulled in by the red aura. As soon as he got the daggers, Azikeal yelled while holding the dagger's ends together, "Rise to claim this crimson soul, Death Spear". The daggers dissolved into a shadowy mist and changed their form to a spear.

Augustus was running towards Azikeal to strike him down with his hammer and scythe. The two champions exchanged blows, their weapons clashing with a cacophony of metal on metal. As Azikeal and Augustus continued to clash, the aura started to pick up, swirling dust and debris around the combatants. As if the arena itself was getting devoured from the intensity of the battle. With a sudden burst of energy, Augustus summoned his blood magic, infusing his scythe and hammer with crimson power. The weapons glowed with an eerie red light, and he swung them with renewed vigor. Azikeal found it increasingly challenging to evade the relentless attacks, and a few shallow cuts appeared on his armor.

The aura around Augustus had now vanished as if merged into his weapons, a berserker he truly was, but Azikeal found a hole in the berserker's defense, penetrated the spear through his chest, and retreated before he was crushed by the hammer's blow. Augustus screamed in sharp pain as soul blood poured down his chest which was now bloodied.

"I must warn you now, Champion of War, A third strike is all I need to finish you off", Two black marks appeared on Augustus' chest which were visible through his pierced armor as Azikeal spoke these words. "Marks of Death are not to be taken lightly on the count of five the reaper shall reap".

Augustus looked at his arm and chest and replied "War ensues even at the cost of death, a single Death will not consume the War, Beast's Blood Sacrifice" As Augustus spoke these words, his weapon combined, releasing a blood-red aura, much more powerful then before, the dust and debris were now getting pulled in towards the center of the aura, Azikeal too felt as if he was getting pulled towards the aura, as the aura intensified the pull increased, Augustus' eyes were bloodshot, however, he appeared much skinnier compared then before, but he began to swing the combined blood scythe, the hammer end had now turned to a scythe too and Augustus began rotating the double-edged scythe, Azikeal couldn't help but be feared.

Sephir who was watching the battle, lost control over the tempests and they burst, but a single thought was occupying her mind, "could death know fear?". Sraptor who had come, to meet Sephir for combat training, entered the training ground and answered, "Death fears life, and life death." Sephir turned away to look at him, "How did he know", she thought but remained silent focusing back to the ongoing battle.

The battle had seemed like Augustus was about to win, but suddenly, he collapsed. A stunned silence fell over the arena, and the gods and angels in attendance watched in disbelief. Azikeal remained standing, his shadow armor had blocked off his blood from leaking, in his mind there was but a single thought, "I was about to die". For the first time in his life, Azikeal had known true fear. Anna flew into the middle of the arena, "It seems the Champion of War can no longer proceed. Azikeal is the victor of this round."

The crowd erupted into a cacophony of cheers and applause, acknowledging the victor of the hard-fought battle. Azikeal remained composed, his thoughts locked within the shadows of his enigmatic mind. The outcome of this battle had set the stage for the trials yet to come.