And in such fashion, Zenith and Morgur collided with their fists, creating a powerful shockwave that propagated outwardly, interacting with the very foundation and the rest of the already fracturing structure of the cathedral.
The shockwave was so powerful and abrupt that for a brief moment, there was absolutely no reaction whatsoever until suddenly… the nearly entirety of the cathedral exploded outwards, in the direction in which the shockwave pushed.
Talen, barely able to catch the scene of the collision between these two monstrosities, was flung away as the shockwave ravaged through his body. He could quite literally feel his bones on the verge of cracking as they strained terribly. His body was in a miserable state just from the rippling effect of the shockwave. He felt even more agony when the debris sent flying by the shockwave struck his body mercilessly, carrying him along.
The thought that he couldn't even withstand the clash between two Chosens made him think deeply about the concept of life.
Speaking of life… I'm fuckin' dead! I'm so fuckin' dead! Talen screamed internally. With this thought, Talen disappeared with all the debris that flew off into the distance, smashing into every obstacle.
The view cleared up, revealing that the cathedral, although hidden under multiple other structures, was located on one of the steepest areas of Fragr–a steepness created by the layering architectural style of Fragr.
It was buried under specific structures as if they were meant to hide the true form of the cathedral, like it was only meant to be a forgotten relic. You could infer this from how much effort was put into making such a timeless structure obscure.
Rays of lights tried to sneak in to disperse the gloominess of this timeless cathedral. It succeeded but its efforts were negligible.
Zenith tilted his head with a puzzled look evident in impeccable face, staring at Morgur as if something was wrong with what he was seeing.
"Not even the slightest damage? I quite precisely felt your flesh rupturing as your broken bones tore through it. How then, are you still so intact?" As these words left his mouth, Zenith had already changed his stance, positioning himself even more close to Morgur as he aimed to strike Morgur's chin with his clenched fist.
Morgur tilted his body back enough, which was surprisingly flexible for such a bulky physique, while also trying to deflect the fist rushing towards his face.
He technically parried the punch but it was a useless effort since Zenith's fist continued onward before making contact with his jaw.
And like it had previously played out, Zenith could feel his fist tearing through flesh and breaking bone but just like it had previously come to conclusion, it seemed his attack was utterly useless, except for pushing Morgur back by some distance.
"Really?" Zenith frowned, then an amused look replaced his annoyance.
Morgur gave a mocking smile as his body twisted unnaturally, his legs bent backwards like the hind limbs of a horse but more exaggerated. Then, he bent downwards, his entire body leaning forward before suddenly… he burst forth with a terrifying velocity.
Within less time than a millisecond, Morgur had already covered the distance between them. Midway, his body had transfigured from the Primordial form to a more animalistic form; a realistic attempt at trying to bring forth the concept of a werewolf.
Zenith, having a greater perception beyond that of even the norm, saw how quickly the shapeshifting of Morgur took place.
Such absurd speed of bodily transfiguration. Calling it instantaneous wouldn't be an exaggeration, unfortunately… it isn't instantaneous. Zenith fell into deep thoughts while waiting for Morgur to finally reach him.
A few more exchanges should be enough to uncover his method? Is it really your shapeshifting? How can such mundane skill grant you invulnerability? Zenith lowered his perception as time sped up for him once again.
With his momentum, Morgur threw out a punch with his comically large fist that was disproportionate to the rest of his body; a change he had made last second, just before he made contact with Zenith.
And from here, the fight derailed into a one sided beating unworthy of being termed a "fight". It was mostly just Zenith doing anything. Literally.
Twisting his body to dodge the punch, Zenith–with the step he took to dodge the strike–placed most of his weight on that leg as he struck immediately with a roundhouse kick to Morgur's ribs.
This strike landed so perfectly that Zenith heard the crunching sound of bones breaking.
Morgur was flung back by a considerable distance even though he surprisingly took no damage again.
Not caring to examine the effect of his attack, since he could already guess the result, Zenith shot after him.
To Zenith, the concept of speed and distance was irrelevant. No matter how far Morgur was, he was always within arm's reach.
This battle became extremely fast paced as Zenith closed the distance between him and Morgur, who was still mid-air and unable to even perceive Zenith's movement.
Time froze. Morgur was a couple metres from the ground, Zenith just several metres away from him.
And when time resumed, Zenith was already leaping from the ground. With the momentum carrying his body, he allowed his feet to collide with Morgur's furry belly, creating a shockwave.
The strike shortened Morgur's impact with the ground by making it instantaneous and deathly.
The force of the attack should have been sufficient to create a small crater on the ground, unfortunately, it seemed the force was non-existent as Morgur merely impacted the ground, creating a depression of himself.
It was so contradictive that a smile appeared on Zenith's unnaturally pale face that was a stark contrast with his pitch black eyes and hair.
"Still unharmed? Your methods are really beginning to pique my interest, Morgur. Though I know I still haven't taken this matter seriously, my attacks would still shatter the average person but you…" Zenith chuckled slightly as he bent down beside Morgur, who was already attempting to stand up. "You've not only survived it, it quite evidently seems you aren't even being affected."
Of course Morgur had transfigured once again. He now had a metal lustre as his size decreased–the limitations of Shapeshift still existed after all. His facial features were otherworldly not in the sense that it was beautiful but quite literally in the sense that it was outlandish.
"You've piqued my interest, boy… and you've piqued another person's interest too." Zenith tapped on Morgur's skin a couple times, creating a metal ring. "Quite unfortunate for you though. It means I have to finish up with this little brawl of ours swiftly or else…"
Hahahahahahaha
A deranged laughter broke out of Morgur's lips as he turned to stare at Zenith with that mocking gaze of his. There was no ounce of humanity in those eyes, just pure deception.
No words were uttered, just a simple frown twisting his expression as Zenith grabbed Morgur by the throat from the ground and casually flung him upwards.
Time slowed to a crawl. The dust particles in the air were totally frozen as Morgur, who had been flung upwards like a ragdoll, slowly displaced them. Time had slowed down but only for Zenith. The rest of the word would still perceive time at its normal rate.
Zenith applied some force to his legs as he blasted upwards after Morgur, who seemed to be suspended mid-air. He shot past him, reaching the part of the ceiling of the cathedral that hadn't collapsed–it was barely supported by a few pillars.
He had twisted his body mid-air so that his entire body was now upside-down. His feet touched the ceiling and in the next moment, Zenith was shooting around the entire cathedral as a dark, blurry silhouette within the already slowed time.
His afterimages were originally in a zigzag pattern that eventually became a spherical ring-like formation of afterimages circulating around the body of Morgur that was still moving upwards albeit at a negligible speed.
There he was, suspended mid-air as dark afterimages flashed all around him. From below, from above and every other direction.
"Your methods are fascinating, Morgur!" Zenith's voice reverberated. It came from all directions.
"Entertain me!" A deranged laughter filled the air. All of a sudden, the afterimages merged into a singular silhouette that struck from below with the force of a raging behemoth.
Time stopped dragging its steps as everything moved from a near-frozen state to an explosive acceleration akin to the frame rate of the world increasing.
A shockwave, stronger than the one created when Zenith and Morgur had initially clashed, exploded outwards as Morgur shot upwards with greater speed after the impact of the behemoth-like force on his spine.
The ceiling of the cathedral shattered completely, finally letting the rays of the sun free the ominous shadows that had lurked within the walls of the cathedral for who knew how long.
"Show me more!" Morgur barely heard the voice filled with intense thrill when he saw a shadow flash past his soaring body.
He knew that he had already reached far up in the sky. A simple tilt of his head showed the intricate pattern formed by the sprawling buildings below. The individual structures had melded to form a dreamy, mountain-like formation below him.
He was so far up that he could see beyond Fragr. Fragr, indeed covered an astonishing area. Generally considered to be one of the largest cities in the modern age. And yet, Morgur could see its entirety. That was how high up he was and something still soared past him despite the velocity the impact from Zenith had given him, shooting him so high.
What was that? Morgur thought.
A pair of wings were already digging out of his spine, feathers sprouting out like leaves, unfolding in full glory, giving Morgur the visage of an angelic being.
"You are fascinating, Morgur! Entertain me!" Like an imperial verdict being declared, the sky exploded with Zenith's voice.
With wide eyes, Morgur watched Zenith appear high above him like a divine punisher… or a demonic one.
Morgur was already falling back down, his wings whipping the air in an attempt to slow his descent. Zenith posed high above him, the darkness cladding him like a second skin, a stark contrast to the bright sky.
A picturesque scene pinged itself in the sky of Fragr just before it broke.
"What the—"