Runic Combat

The barrier around the room shattered like glass, shockwaves from the colliding spells heading straight for the audience.

The elders worked in tandem, Buhnd raising the earth in front of them as a shield, Camus, and Leofric enhancing it with wind and ice respectively as Hester pulled in Ellie to safety.

"They broke the barrier." Leofric whispered in awe, the barrier had been fueled by all four elders after all.

"It would seem that Arthur held back even against Lance Varay." Camus noted.

"No, Arthur certainly did not hold back yesterday. He simply wasn't a white core mage yet." Zeke, who had taken residence with the elders, spoke up.

"The young general has broken into white core stage?" Buhnd blurted out in surprise, swiveling to face the wolf.

Zeke nodded, "Yeah, he did so last night."

"Looks like both of them are relatively unharmed." Leofric butted in, staring at the field.

He was right, neither of the twins had been damaged too badly. Both of them sported bruises all across, their clothes torn in multiple places. They were panting heavily, as expected after such a show. But it was far from what they could truly accomplish.

"Let's stop holding back, Arthur." Fayden spoke up after catching his breath, "Presenting the elders with a good show is only fair, isn't it?"

Arthur grinned back, and that was enough for Fayden.

"Realmheart."

"Shadowsoul."

If the elders were surprised before, they are absolutely mystified now. The two normal looking mages had entered their beast wills. Arthur looking like a deity from heaven in human skin, and Fayden giving off the countenance of a duke from hell itself.

Their opposing auras clashed again, the pitch blackness of nacht and the radiant light of mana, bringing the elders to their knees, but the two asuras remained mostly unaffected. Emily grabbed around wildly, hoping to get her hands on the artifact. Noticing this, Zeke acted, picking up the piece of technology from where it had fallen to the ground.

He let his mana flow into the artifact, shadows rising from the vicinity and swirling around him as tendrils of blackness. A slightly black tinted barrier surrounded the two duelers, allowing the audience to relax.

During the clash of their wills, Arthur noticed the lack of nacht covering the ground. Did he stop it from occurring?

It was far from that, he had only learned to control it better.

A series of pops echoed through the room, Arthur countering Fayden's spells before they manifest. Black lightning surged around him, as he blurred from his spot, appearing beside Fayden, aiming a jab at his side.

A rock-covered palm met his fist, negating the lightning and stopping his attack, "Hey now, don't hold back."

Arthur smiled sheepishly in reply, Fayden had seen right through him. He zoomed away from him, brandishing Dawn's Ballad which took on a purple sheen. Fayden replied in kind, imbuing a decent amount of nacht into Shroud, as it began giving off an ethereal black glow.

The two brothers lunged forward, going faster than ever before, crossing the distance between them in mere seconds. As their swords met, it sent fissures across the ground, worsening the condition of the room.

The barrier groaned, cracks appearing on its surface. Zeke acted quickly, imbuing more of his mana into the gem and fixing the barrier.

Fayden's runes glowed a darker shade of crimson, Arthur's golden runes resonating with them, as they both vanish from vision. Fayden appeared behind where Arthur was just a moment ago, while Arthur did the same on the other side, both aiming for a diagonal slash. And in a moment of unprecedented coincidence, they clashed swords yet once again,

Waves of purple tinted white and jet black escaped from the point of contact, cutting deep gashes into the barrier, which was quickly fixed, courtesy of Zeke.

Unable to push Arthur's sword away, Fayden void stepped backward, materializing from a part of the ground not enshrouded in any shadow.

"How did you-? There were no shadows there." Arthur exclaimed, apparently having noticed this phenomenon.

Fayden shrugged, "Can't give away all my secrets now, can I?"

In reality, he had released the usual waves of nacht he does when he enters this form, but in a much smaller amount, small enough that no visible changes occur. But small amounts of nacht had penetrated the ground, walls, and ceiling, making it possible for him to Void Step to any surface of the room.

Arthur waved his arm towards his brother, sending something akin to an avalanche his way. Fayden, slightly alarmed by the size of the spell, covered himself in a shell of black fire just before the snow made contact.

Fortunately for him, the black flames melted away any of the snow coming too close to it. When he couldn't hear the sound of the avalanche anymore, he dispelled the fire shell, glancing around at the now snow covered battlefield.

Fayden stomped his leg on the ground, big chunks of rock breaking off of it and floating up, a coating of wind materializing over them with drill-like pointed ends that could likely rend through the strongest walls.

Arthur noticed this, raising his arm, a shrill noise followed, disrupting Fayden's concentration as the rocks fell to the ground.

Am I just disoriented or are there multiple Arthur's? Fayden thought, squinting at the rapidly increasing number of Arthur Leywins.

[You're not hallucinating Fayden, he's using sound magic to throw you off.]

Sound magic huh? Now that's annoying to deal with. Fayden thought, conjuring up a massive gust of wind to find the real one.

None of them offered any resistance when the wind went through them, dissipating the illusions.

Fayden widened his eyes, realizing what Arthur planned, and tried to move away from the teal blade that almost stabbed through his intestines. But he wasn't fast enough, Arthur's sword still stabbed through the side of his torso before he could Void Step away.

He reappeared far away from his old location, clutching his bleeding side, gritting his teeth from the pain. The underside of his hand briefly gave off a greenish black hue, the all too familiar spell taking hold and stabilizing his wound.

Fayden rose from the ground, flying with relative ease, and began amassing in mana from the atmosphere. Behind him, the wind picked up, the smell of ozone wafting in the air, and the temperature rose, embers of black fire coming to life. The embers grew larger and larger, enhanced by the rising winds and Faydens own pool of mana.

Arthur didn't stand around in this time, opting to decrease the distance between them. As he lunged towards his brother, cocking Dawn's Ballad backward for a horizontal swing, Fayden disappeared.

Unable to stop his motion, Arthur was forced to enter the maelstrom of wind, lightning, and fire. His screams filled the battlefield for a brief moment, as he was electrocuted, burnt, and lacerated all at the same time. But soon, he escaped the spell, a flash of purple light remaining in it, and appeared back on the ground, taking the place of a large boulder that had disappeared a millisecond before Arthur arrived.

"Give up yet?" Fayden taunted, igniting his fists in the very same black flames.

"You wish." Arthur retorted, grinning in excitement, anyone could tell he was enjoying this. His grin turned smug when he raised his arms up in a familiar gesture.

"No!" Fayden exclaimed, recognizing the spell that began manifesting. He had barely evaded it last time, he would not be able to do it again without consequences.

To add salt to injury, instead of one dragon, there were two. Looking mostly the same, but with a slight sheen of aether on their jaws and claws.

[This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them! Do something, make a construct of your own.]

I am!

In fact, he had already begun gathering nacht for a counter to Arthur's spell, his core straining from the massive amount of nacht he was channelling.

Arthur let his hands drop, his twin dragons diving at Fayden, who had begun creating an exoskeleton over himself out of nacht, stabbing his sword to the ground. The armour grew bigger and bigger as the dragons got closer, Fayden rising up to a height that could hold up against the constructs, and lunged.

One would think his massive armored form would slow him down, but if anything it made him faster. In the span of a millisecond, he blitzed to one of the dragons, grabbing its jaws and Void Stepping to the ceiling.

Fayden's nacht reserves dropped significantly, taking something this massive with him, but it was still enough to take care of the two dragons. Tightening his grip on the beast's maws, Fayden yanked his arms apart, splitting the construct into two.

The other one had already begun speeding towards him, faster than before and with less finesse. Arthur had begun panicking, he didn't have much mana left.

Fayden disappeared in a flash of black, appearing behind his sword, ripping it off the ground. His armor began dissipating, losing its thickness. No, it was being transferred into the sword, enlarging its blade with a new layer of nacht.

The dragon crashed into the ceiling, shaking its head clear of the debris, before turning backward, plummeting towards the dark-haired man, who jumped off from the ground, which crumbled away under his feet, his sword held behind him with both hands.

And with a mighty swing, he sent off a massive wave of pure nacht towards the construct. The crescent arc cut through the draconic construct, heading towards the wall undeterred. Taking this opportunity, Fayden steered the arc away, turning it towards Arthur who widened his eyes.

Arthur zoomed away, the arc of nacht following him to no end. Frustrated, he slid down, pivoting his body around, and held up his purple-tinged sword. Dawn's Ballad cut through the wave rather easily, splitting it into two halves, which dissipated after separating.

With a sigh of relief, Arthur got up. Only to keel down in pain as he reverted to his normal appearance. Fayden, noticing this, would not miss this opening, sprang forward, a blade of Nacht held tightly in his hand, his other sword lying forgotten on the ground.

[Oi, be carefu-]

I'll be fine. Fayden cut off the voice in his head, focusing on his opponent.

As Arthur slowly stood straight once more, he was met with the dangerously close figure of Fayden, who aimed his sword at Arthur's chest. But just before he could hit his mark, his runes disappeared and he was forced out of Shadowsoul, his sword shattering like glass before it could strike Arthur's chest.

They both stood there, unmoving, their teeth clenched as they fought the urge to scream out in pain. Their legs weakened, and they fell face first to the ground.

With extreme effort, they turned to face the sky, the hurried footsteps of their watchers filling their ears.

"A draw huh? Can't say I dislike that." Fayden chuckled, wincing when a jolt of pain bolted through his sternum.

"I totally had you there," Arthur retorted, quietly laughing to himself.

Fayden smirked, "Keep dreaming, you masochistic brother of mine."

The face of his sister filled Fayden's vision.

"Hey there, I hope we put up a good display?" Fayden grinned, revealing his bloodstained teeth, as he delved into the realm of unconsciousness with the grin stuck on his face.