Kael's crimson lightning tore across the heavens like veins of wrath, shattering clouds into fire-lit fragments. The Sovereign answered not with retreat but with majesty—his flames bled outward, expanding until the battlefield itself became his throne. Every step he took turned ground into molten rivers, every gesture pulled entire storms of fire into his palm.
Kael swung his blade, and the storm followed. Bolts the size of towers descended, tearing jagged scars into the earth. Valleys collapsed, the horizon itself warped. The Sovereign's fire countered, rising into colossal serpents of living flame, coiling and lashing with a will of their own. When they struck, the sky turned white with heat, and mountains far beyond the battlefield crumbled to dust.
For a moment, no one could breathe. Even the distant armies who watched—mere shadows on the edges of destruction—fell to their knees, faces blistered from the heat and pressure of power they could not fathom.
Kael pressed forward. His blade gleamed with unnatural light, black lightning threading its edge. With each swing, the storm sharpened into named attacks—
"Severing Tempest!"
The strike split the fire-serpent in half, the shockwave blasting apart the molten rivers beneath.
The Sovereign did not waver. He raised a single hand, fingers curling like a sovereign gripping the world itself.
"Ashen Mandate."
At his word, the flames obeyed. They reformed, collapsing inward into a colossal wall of fire that surged across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
The wave devoured Kael whole. For an instant, his form vanished within the inferno. The Sovereign lowered his hand, confident, his crown burning with divine light.
But then the fire cracked.
From within, a storm howled—a defiance so loud it pierced through the Sovereign's command. Crimson lightning erupted, tearing through the inferno, splitting the wall of fire down its heart.
Kael emerged, his body scorched, blood trailing down his jaw, yet his aura towered higher than before. His voice was a growl, raw but unbroken.
"You think fire can smother the storm? You'll drown in it before this ends."
The Sovereign's composure thinned—his eyes narrowed, his lips a cold line. His flames surged again, hotter, brighter, the weight of true kingship bearing down on Kael.
But Kael did not bow.
Their powers clashed once more, and the world itself screamed as if torn apart at the seams. Lightning and flame spiraled upward, creating a vortex that pierced the sky, pulling stars into its heart.