15 The Duel of The Apex Hunters

Serafall was currently not having a very good time. She had already organized several search parties searching for Talos, but she had not found as much as a footprint. For the most part, those search parties specialized in hunting down rare monsters, but they all said the same thing. 

There is no trace of him at all. She even had gone personally to the sight where he had ambushed the Sallos Devils, but by then even the few traces had faded from the battlefield. Serafall, crossed her arms as she stood at the exact location the Sallos Devils had told her. 

She took a deep breath before exhaling. 

"Nothing. Now, where did he go?" 

She looked north, east, west, and south thinking of which direction to go. As she was thinking, something gigantic moved behind her. 

"I do not have a scent." 

When she turned around she looked up at her only Peerage Member, a Behemoth. The creature was titanic, at least 60 meters tall. As for its appearance, it looked like a giant black lion, with bull-like horns, two leathery wings, and bull-like back legs. 

Similar to a griffin, however, in reverse with a bull instead of an eagle. 

"Behe, if you were the creature, where would you go if you did not want to be found." 

He thought about it for a moment before he had his answer.

"He came from the south, so not back the way he came. Past the Wyvern Mountans." 

Hearing that made her hesitate. Crossing over the Mountains with her power and with Behemoth would be easy. However, it would not be a quick journey as there were very few records or accounts past the mountain range. 

What was past was yet to be truly discovered, so she simply sighed. 

"We will be going back. It will take far too long to search past the Mountain range." 

Behemoth looked down and could tell she was disappointed. 

"Being a Satan seems rough. As long as I can keep sleeping all I want, I don't mind being your Rook. However-" 

Serafall waved him off. 

"Yeah, yeah, you will leave if you feel like it. You have been saying that for the last 150 years."

"And I will keep saying it. Be seeing you." 

He spread out his wings and opened up a large gate which he flew into. When he was gone, Serafall sighed. Convincing Behemoth to join her was not easy, and he was not even loyal to her. He could easily resist the Commanding effect of the Mutation Piece used to turn him. 

Effectively a Divine Beast, he was pushing it. If he wanted to, he could in theory push out her Rook Piece with ease. It was just a matter of want. Serafall shook her head as she was the one who wanted a peerage as strong as Sirzechs. 

Only finding people or beings at that level that were not under someone else was hard. 

"Gosh dammit." 

She teleported back to her castle as she had used up a big chunk of her off day for this. She hoped she would get a report on The Bladed Rex appearing again, but that was not going to happen any time soon.

---

Currently, Aevreor and Talos are locked in their struggle to the death. One would die this day, and Talos would not let it be him. With a roar of authority and power, red lightning burst from Talos' entire body encasing him in a layer of the raging element. 

Talos ran vertically into the air as he rose higher and higher. Aevreor knew that if Talod got the high ground he would be at a disadvantage. 

"No, you don't." 

With a flap of his wings, he began to rise carried on by the wind. As for Talos, he stopped running and allowed himself to free fall. His clawed hands tensed while his tail blade continued to burn hot. 

With a roar of his own, Aevreor's wings to discharge bursts of silverish flames causing his speed to pick up. Just when they were about to clash, Aevreor channeled his mana into his own claws. 

The claws of a Dragon were nearly without equal as every part of a dragon was formed from solid mana. Yet he just found his equal when Talos' Claws smashed against Aevreor, they held even. 

In that same exchange, they locked hands and began a contest of strength. They both smashed their horns against the other as they became two polar opposites. Silver flames burned around Aevreor's body while Red Lightning was raging from Talos'. 

Both sunk their claws into each other's hands as they pushed with all of their strength. Dragons were famed for their boundless strength as their Dragon Hearts produced all the mana they needed to fuel their strength. 

Very few creatures could match them blow for blow, but Talos was doing just that. No, he was exceeding Aevreor. The Wind Dragon felt pure shock as he felt himself begin to be pushed back. 

'I REFUSE!' 

His Dragon Heart began to beat faster and faster as more Mana was pumped into his bloodstream. Talos squinted his eyes as he roared and pulled Aevreor down by his hands. His jaws opened wide open and he bit down on the Wind Dragon's snout. 

His metal teeth crushed through Aevreor's Scales and his flesh. Talos did not let go and bit down with all his strength. He was intending to cripple the Dragon's top jaw, but Aevreor was too old to allow that to happen. 

Dragon Aura surged through his silver scales before it condensed right at the spot where he was being bitten. From there, a giant eruption of Aura exploded directly into Talos' mouth. As he was forced to open his jaws, Aevreor lunged forward and put down on Talos' neck. 

His own teeth pierced through the living metal structure of his scales and pierced directly into his neck. Talos growled as lightning surged directly into the center of his chest. Feeling danger, Aevreor tried to open his mouth, but with his free arm, Talos gripped the dragon's head. 

His instincts made Aevreor, condense a triple layers barrier around him first with his barrier magic, then aura, and then his mana. When the condensed Red Lightning exploded from Talos' chest, his defenses were destroyed. 

The lightning smashed directly into the dragon, with his own flames fighting against them. Even with all that, the lightning still got into his body. It acted like lightning, but at the same time burned like fire everywhere it went. 

This caused the two giants to be separated mid-air from the blast. Aevreor righted his flight with his wings and opened his eyes to gaze at his top jaw. Right in the middle were the brutal wounds from Talos' metal-crushing jaws. 

"What a monstrous bite." 

Talos could say the same as his neck was bleeding. 

"Same to you. Too bad I can do this." 

In mere moments, the wounds on his neck began to regenerate. The battle was the best chance to adapt, and already some changes were occurring to his body. His muscles surged with mana causing them to grow before they collapsed onto themselves. His scales grew stronger to resist being pierced and his regeneration sped up. 

As for Aevreor, his own wound as always were infected with Sword Will making healing them a nightmare. However, he learned fast. Dragon Aura surged from the wounds cleaning them out before his own regeneration began to repair the damage. 

"Let's go again Talos. For keeps." 

Talos' tail blade tensed as their clash was about to go to the next level. No more probing, it was time to go in for the kill. 

"I will remember your name to the end of my days when I kill you." 

Aevreor snorted. 

"No, it is I who shall memorate you. You shall have a place among my best foes." 

Talos and Aevreor grinned before they roared at the sky. Aevreor's Dragon Heart began to beat as fast as it could go as mana surged into his body on mass. His Dragon Aura raged all around him. 

His scales began to darken to look almost black, his eyes gained a silver tone. Even his flames turned pure white as he roared once more in Outrage Mode. He was not going to leave anything to chance. 

As for Talos, the Beast Core in his heart surged more power through his body. His left side burst into Purple Fire as his left exploded in Red Lightning. When both raging elements met in the middle, they turned into a magenta fluid-like substance. 

Talos' Sword Will burst from his entire body mixing with the elemental discharge. His tail blade also took on a magenta glow as each of his back spikes seemed to be saturated in Sword Will. 

He was now essentially, a creature embodying pure Sword Will and he was going to use it. Both locked eyes for a few moments before they disappeared. Talos flipped mid-air and spun like a top while Aevreor's white flames condensed around his tail encased by his barrier magic. 

Every tornado for miles appeared behind Aevreor causing Wind Mana to rise for his use. He flapped his wings and spun around before smashing his own tail against Talos. When both tails clashed, Magenta and White fought for dominance in an eruption of power. 

In the middle, Aevreor's Barriers were holding, but only just as Talos' Sword Will empowered Blade was cutting into them. This lock of tails lasted mere seconds as Talos' Tail Blade cut through the barrier, flames, and Aevreor's own tail. 

He only lost the tip of his tail, but that already was agonizing. Not willing to stop at just a single cut, Talos spun around rapidly and stabbed his blade into Aevreor's right shoulder. The Dragon did not let the pain distract him as he had fought battles that pushed him this hard before. 

He reached up grabbed Talos' blade and gripped it tight. The Sword Will cut into his fingers, but he pushed past it and stabbed jamming his claws through the hot metal. Talos barely had a second to react as his blade was ripped out of Aevreor's body before he began to spin in the air. 

'THE FUCK!' 

With a roar, Aevreor launched Talos down straight into one of the canyons. Talos quickly formed some energy wings to right himself, but just as he did Aevreor was on him. The dragon smashed into his back like a meteor. 

Talos ended up smashed into the side of the canyon, but the dragon was on him again. With both arms, Aevreor gripped tight onto Talos' biggest back spike and with a roar ripped it straight from the base. 

With it tearing out Talos one of his Lightning control glands. Talos' eyes opened wide open as he roared in agony. Not willing to go through that once more, he lunged forward and bit down on the dragon's hip. 

He tore his head back and ripped out that chunk causing blood to spill onto his face. He swallowed the flesh in his mouth before charging forward, leaned down, and lept up with his remaining spikes aimed at Aevreor's chest. 

Barely having time to defend himself, he ended up with several giant spikes stabbed into his chest. If not for the one he ripped out, his heart would have been pierced right there. 

Aevreor raised the spike he tore from Talos' back and stabbed it back into the wound where he ripped it out from. Talos ignored the pain as he opened his mouth. Magenta energy pooled in his throat before he blasted a massive laser directly into Aevreor's chest blasting the dragon into the opposite canyon wall. 

He kept the laser ray for several seconds before he powered down the attack. He focused on the spike on his back and with telekinesis ripped it out of his wound. He gently placed it back where it got ripped out and felt how his flesh began to knit itself back together. 

The gland at the base was repaired and it was placed back in its proper spot. His mana and regeneration took care of the rest. As for Aevreor, when he pulled himself out of the canyon, his body was covered in magenta-glowing burns, part of his tail was cut off and his hip was bleeding like crazy. 

When he looked across from him he saw Talos panting. 

"If it is any solace, that hurt like hell." 

"I hope it did." 

Talos exhaled strongly as he gazed across from him. His head drooped down for a second before he refocused. 

"Right then, TIME TO DIE!" 

He ran toward Aevreor at full speed through the air. The Dragon roared and did the same as he charged toward Talos. A magenta fire and lightning burst from Talos' body while Aevreor's White flames seemed to turn even brighter. 

This was the end, and when they clashed, a titanic explosion of power erupted from the canyon and through the sky. That explosion would have been enough to wipe out Rhode Island from the face of the map. 

When the dust settled, Talos had his tail blade straight through the Dragon's stomach. He did not get out unscathed as Aevreor had jammed his right arm straight through Talos' left shoulder severing the joint there. 

Aevreor grit his jaws tightly before he lunges forward and bites down on Talos' face. His teeth pierced through Talos' eyes leaving him blind. However, Talos opened his jaws and clamped down on Aevreor's neck. 

Both beasts used all their bite strength to kill their foe. Even Talos felt his metal-infused skull begin to creak and begin to form microfractures. As for Aevreor, he could feel his jugular and neck about to be cut out. 

Talos reached up with his still-functioning right arm and stabbed it into the base of Aevreor's neck. Neither was willing to die easily, and they continued their brutal struggle for several tense moments. 

However, the light began to fade from Aevreor's eyes by the second. His jaws weakened, his struggle weakened, and when Talos' jaws bit through his neck his blood spilled from the open wound in a massive down pour. 

As he began to go limp, Talos kept him up with his blade. 

"You. Are. The. Winner." 

With those last words, Aevreor breathed his last. Talos floated down until he was on the ground. He gently pulled his arm, and blade out of the dead dragons body as he bowed his head 

"You were a worthy foe. Your name shall be engraved on my blade for the end of time." 

Talos The Hellblade had won.