The moment the protective boundary vanished, the battlefield erupted. Zayn, channeling his inner anguish into frigid focus, became a machine of brutal efficiency. His left hand, temporarily solidified into the crystalline Silver Ice Bow, was a constant source of destruction, and his right arm was a blur, continuously forming and launching ice arrows that traveled with the speed of light.
His opening barrage was aimed not just to kill, but to cripple the enemy's coordinated assault. The initial volley was devastating: two Tier 9 and three Tier 10 elemental masters—the immediate threats meant to absorb the attack—were instantly struck down. The arrows targeted joint armor, eyes, and vital points, dropping the fodder before they could raise their shields.
Jai, James, and Brokk immediately went on the offensive, their movements focused on creating space and confusion to allow Zayn to continue his relentless ranged assault. They focused on disrupting the two remaining Tier 8 elemental masters and keeping the two main commanders, Zenos (Tier 7) and Lenard (Tier 5), occupied.
On the high ground, behind a rapidly forming rock barrier erected by one of the surviving Tier 8 masters, Zenos watched his lower-ranked soldiers disintegrate under Zayn's relentless archery. His Tier 7 elemental lightning crackled impatiently around his hands, his face a mask of thwarted rage.
"Hey, Lenard! Why are we both waiting?" Zenos demanded, his voice tight with vengeful fury. "We can fight with them right now! They're exhausted!"
Lenard (Tier 5), possessing cold, tactical cunning despite his lower rank, held him back. "If we fight with them now, we might lose the advantage, Zenos. They are desperate. See how they move—they are focused on protecting their archer. We need to allow them to burn their remaining reserves completely. When they are exhausted and weakened, we can easily defeat and kill them with minimal risk to ourselves. Patience is a weapon, Zenos."
They waited, a difficult, agonizing choice, watching as the desperate skirmish unfolded. Jai and James fought with reckless, draining energy. Brokk was a relentless wall, absorbing minor hits and driving enemies back with pure physical force. The remaining Tier 8 Masters struggled against the sheer, unified desperation of Team Jai.
Finally, the low-tier enemy soldiers were eliminated. Only two Tier 8 elemental masters, Zenos (Tier 7), Lenard (Tier 5), and a previously hidden Tier 6 Earth Master who emerged from the reserves, remained. Team Jai was heavily breathing, their armor scorched and scratched, their magical reserves nearly depleted. They were battered but unbroken.
The two sides faced each other for a tense, silent second, recognizing the final, fatal turn of the battle.
The assignments were immediate and necessary—each man selecting a high-cost target:
Jai used his Swift Artifact to target the Tier 8 Fire Elemental Master.
James chose the remaining Tier 8 Ice and Wind Elemental Master.
Zayn took the ultimate challenge: the Tier 7 Wind and Lava Elemental Master (Zenos).
Brokk charged the newly revealed Tier 6 Earth Master.
Winston had to handle the cold tactician: Lenard (Tier 5).
Zayn moved with a speed that belied his internal scars. He wasn't thinking; he was executing the Eliminator's ruthless protocol. Zenos, driven by years of exile and hatred, was the first to strike, unleashing a torrent of high-powered Tier 7 wind elemental blades laced with shimmering, concentrated lava motes.
"You will pay for my father's shame!" Zenos roared, his voice laced with venomous fury.
Zayn raised his Silver Ice Bow, slamming the crystalline structure into the ground. He instantly erected a shimmering Tier 8 Ice Wall. The lava-laced wind blades slammed into the ice, causing a violent cloud of superheated steam and fractured obsidian to explode outwards, momentarily shrouding both fighters.
Zayn didn't wait. He used the steam as cover, darting around the collapsing wall and closing the distance—a tactic Zenos, expecting a ranged duel, was utterly unprepared for. Zayn dropped his bow and materialized twin Ice Daggers, focusing his attack on the enraged cousin's torso.
Zenos, shocked by the shift in distance, reacted with lightning-fast elemental strikes. His movements were powerful, but sloppy, driven by uncontrolled emotion. Zayn, conversely, moved with a cold, surgical precision honed by trauma. He took a painful, deep grazing hit to his left shoulder from a Tier 8 Lightning Bolt, the smell of ozone and burnt flesh filling the air, but in return, he ducked low under Zenos's guard and drove his left ice dagger deep into the Wind Elemental Master's lower abdomen, hitting a vital point just below the armor plating.
Zenos screamed, the elemental power draining from his blades as he clutched the wound. He staggered, his eyes wide with shock and fading hatred. Zayn showed no mercy. He shifted his weight, driving his right knee into Zenos's face, snapping his head back and shattering the elemental concentration. Zenos collapsed, the lava motes around his hands dying out.
Zayn stood over him, the red steam rising from his lightning-scorched shoulder. He raised the ice dagger. "The victim does not survive the bully," Zayn whispered, his golden eyes devoid of pity. One final, swift downward strike ended the Tier 7 Master's life. The Duel of the Cousins was over, but the victory felt hollow.
Jai, relying on the bursts of speed from his Swift Artifact and sheer martial skill, engaged the enormous Tier 8 Fire Elemental Master. The Fire Master was a towering figure, throwing concentrated balls of solar flame that superheated the pulverized ground. Jai's goal was not brute force, but exploitation.
He used the artifact's acceleration to become a constant blur, circling the enemy to avoid the powerful but slow blasts of flame. He endured the scorching heat, driving his Shattering Mace repeatedly into the Master's helmet and elemental armor. The blows were relentless, but the Master's Tier 8 defense was holding.
Jai feigned a retreat, drawing the Fire Master forward. As the Master charged, Jai used a shattered piece of rock as a pivot point and launched himself upward, landing directly on the Master's shoulders, enduring the intense, searing heat. Jai continued to drive his mace into the Master's head. The Master's elemental armor cracked and failed, and with a final, desperate roar, Jai delivered a crushing blow that ended the Fire Master's life. Jai tumbled away, severely scorched and near collapse, his lungs screaming from the smoke and heat.
James faced the other Tier 8 master—a cold, precise warrior utilizing Ice and Wind elements. This was a brutal battle of attrition against a flawless defense. James used his raw physical force and twin axes, but the Master kept him pinned with continuous, freezing wind blades that cut deeply into James's armor and skin.
James realized he couldn't simply overpower the Tier 8 defense. He changed tactics, taking a glancing hit from a Tier 8 Ice Spear to his left thigh, sacrificing mobility for a perfect counter position. As the Master briefly focused on the wound, James seized the split second of vulnerability and launched a devastating, concentrated Sonic Scream, overloading the Master's sensitive elemental senses and fracturing the protective ice dome around his head. The Tier 8 Master staggered, clutching his head in pain.
James pressed the attack, driving his twin axes into the Master's chest where the ice shield had failed. The Master countered with a desperate Tier 8 Wind Blast, but it was too late. James, half-blinded and bleeding profusely, held his grip. Two massive, final blows felled the Master, who collapsed into a frozen, silent heap. James dropped his axes, leaning heavily on his good knee, the cold seeping into his deep thigh wound.
Brokk, the physical tank, moved with overwhelming, protective aggression against the calculating Tier 6 Earth Master. The Earth Master was smart, using minor Tier 6 earth barriers to continuously shift the ground, attempting to keep Brokk off balance and drain his stamina.
Brokk quickly realized the Master's focus was terrain control, not raw power. Brokk roared, abandoning strategic caution, relying on pure momentum and his heavily armored frame. He charged through the shifting dirt, enduring the constant concussive blasts. He ignored the Master's desperate elemental defense, closing the distance in a headlong sprint.
The Earth Master tried to sink into the ground, but Brokk anticipated the move. Brokk's heavy war-hammer caught the Master with a full-force blow to the torso before he could submerge. The blow shattered the Master's earth shield, crushing his ribcage and sending him spinning. Brokk was upon him instantly, the fight ending with the brutal finality of the hammer smashing the defeated commander's head into the pulverized stone.
Winston, utterly drained and running on fumes, faced the cunning Lenard (Tier 5). Winston could barely muster a Tier 3 spell, but he had something Lenard didn't: desperation and knowledge of the terrain.
Lenard focused on using weak Tier 5 psychic attacks and distracting sonic blasts, knowing Winston's reserves were gone. Winston knew he had to end it fast. He didn't fight back magically. Instead, he forced his trembling body to sprint, baiting Lenard toward the deep ravine caused by Thrain's earlier rampage.
Lenard, believing Winston was fleeing, followed him closely. As they reached the edge of the chasm, Winston used the last, pitiful remnants of his magic to cast a tiny, localized Wind Gust directly at Lenard's feet. The Tier 5 Master, surprised by the sudden, localized shift in balance, lost his footing on the unstable, scorched earth. Lenard screamed as he tumbled backward into the darkness of the deep ravine, swallowed by the chasm. Winston collapsed instantly, the final magical effort rendering him utterly immobile.
Silence returned to the valley, heavy and profound. The enemies were defeated—two Tier 8s, a Tier 7, a Tier 6, and a Tier 5—all neutralized.
Team Jai stood, victorious but severely wounded:
Zayn was bleeding profusely from the lightning gash, his face pale, but he was the first to look for survivors.
Jai was scorched and suffered deep muscle strain and internal bruising.
James had a deep, debilitating cut on his thigh, severely restricting his ability to walk.
Brokk was physically intact but suffering severe concussion and exhaustion from relentless elemental absorption.
Winston was conscious but completely paralyzed by magical exhaustion, unable to move a muscle.
They had won a catastrophic victory. They were conscious but utterly broken, surrounded by the corpses of their foes, deep within enemy territory, and entirely drained. The next enemy platoon would find them weak and exposed.