The Sovereign moved first, his molten frame blurring with a speed no mountain of flame should have possessed. His arm swung wide, and from it erupted a tidal wave of fire, searing across the battlefield with a roar that melted stone to rivers of magma.
Kael met it head-on. Ashrend carved a crimson arc, his aura surging, black lightning exploding outward like jagged chains. The clash of fire and storm tore the world apart. The shockwave hurled boulders into the air, flames folding back into jagged clouds, thunder splitting the sky.
For a heartbeat, neither gave ground.
The Sovereign's laugh rolled like thunder. "Good. Strike harder."
He slammed his foot into the ground, pillars of molten steel erupting upward, trying to impale Kael. Kael vaulted over them, his blade flashing downward with a shout—
"Crimson Rend!"
The strike carved through two pillars in a blaze of red fire, lightning surging through the molten stone and shattering them to ash. Kael landed, twisting his blade up just as the Sovereign's molten fist came crashing down.
The impact rang like a cathedral bell. Ashrend buckled, Kael's arms straining, his knees sinking into the scorched earth. Heat seared his skin, flesh burning, but his crimson aura howled against it, refusing to yield.
Kael gritted his teeth and roared, black lightning exploding outward, forcing the Sovereign's fist back. He spun and unleashed another strike—
"Crimson Tempest!"
The air ignited. A storm of crimson blades burst outward in a spiral, lightning-ridden arcs slicing through the molten armor that encased the Sovereign's chest. The giant staggered a step, molten blood spraying, sizzling as it hit the ground.
The Sovereign looked down at the wound, then back up. Instead of rage, a grin split his molten face.
"Yes," he rumbled. "Show me the flame that dares to challenge the sun."
He flung his arms wide. Fire poured from him, a storm that swallowed the horizon, a sea of flame meant to erase all life in its path.
Kael planted Ashrend into the ground, crimson aura blazing outward to shield himself. His companions shouted his name from the sidelines, but the roar of fire drowned everything.
Inside that inferno, Kael's voice rose, raw and defiant:
"I am not your ash!"
And with a surge that split the sea of fire, Kael leapt—Ashrend raised high, crimson lightning blazing like the wrath of a fallen star—straight toward the Sovereign.