A heavy silence settled over the battlefield.
The violent winds born from the clash had long since faded, leaving only drifting dust and the faint crackle of lingering Aura. No one spoke. Hundreds of eyes remained fixed on a single figure kneeling amidst the shattered earth.
Kieran.
His breathing came in slow, uneven breaths as blood trickled from the corner of his lips. One hand was pressed firmly against the ground to steady himself while the other refused to release the violet Aura blade. A single fracture stretched across its centre, catching the sunlight whenever the fading Aura flickered around it.
Small...
Yet enough to leave every warrior present speechless.
"Leader!"
Several wolves instinctively surged forward, panic written across their faces.
"Kieran!"
"Brother!"
Sasha was the first to move, her voice trembling as she rushed toward him.
Before anyone could reach him, Kieran slowly lifted a hand.
"Stop."
The word was quiet.
Yet it carried enough authority to bring the entire camp to an immediate halt.
Every wolf froze mid-step.
Even Sasha.
For several long moments, nothing stirred except the dust drifting through the air. Kieran remained on one knee, his head lowered as he steadied his breathing. Blood continued to fall onto the cracked earth beneath him, forming a dark crimson stain, but despite everything, his grip around the fractured Aura blade never loosened.
Across the battlefield, Ragnar watched in silence.
The triumphant grin that had covered his face moments ago had faded. Instead, he simply stood there, his massive greataxe resting against his shoulder as his sharp golden eyes studied Kieran without a word.
He wasn't celebrating.
He was waiting.
Waiting to see whether his old rival would remain on his knees...
Or rise once again.
Hidden near the edge of the battlefield, Leo quietly observed the fractured Aura blade. His crimson eyes lingered on the crack running through its centre, his brows knitting together ever so slightly.
"So..."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"It really happened."
Sasha turned toward him, though her attention kept drifting back to her brother.
Leo never took his eyes off the spear.
"An Aura blade shouldn't crack."
He spoke calmly, almost as if reciting something from memory.
"Not unless..."
His voice trailed off.
Fragments of countless books he'd read since arriving in this world surfaced in his mind.
"...it's facing an Immortal Blade."
Sasha froze.
For the first time since the duel began, even her concern for Kieran was momentarily eclipsed by surprise.
"...An Immortal Blade..."
She whispered.
Leo gave a faint nod.
"I've only come across scattered records."
"They were written more like myths than history."
Sasha slowly shifted her gaze toward Ragnar's greataxe, her expression growing noticeably heavier.
"They're not myths."
She murmured.
"They're real."
Her eyes remained fixed on the enormous weapon wrapped in dark green Aura.
"And every great family dreams of possessing one."
Leo remained silent, allowing her to continue.
After taking a slow breath, Sasha spoke again.
"Long ago, there were warriors who reached heights of Aura no one else could. They didn't simply master Aura... they devoted their entire lives to it."
Her voice softened.
"When they finally died... their Aura didn't disappear."
"It remained within the blade they had fought with their entire lives."
She looked back toward Leo.
"Those are the weapons we call Immortal Blades."
"They're the legacy left behind by warriors whose Aura refused to vanish with them."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Some are passed down through their bloodline."
"...Others choose their next owner."
Silence settled between them once more.
Leo's eyes never left Ragnar's greataxe. The more he looked at it, the more questions surfaced in his mind. Everything he had read about Immortal Blades suddenly felt far more real than the faded words inked onto old pages.
After a moment, he quietly spoke again.
"So the name..."
"...doesn't actually mean they're immortal."
Sasha nodded.
"A lot of people misunderstand that."
"They hear the name and assume the blade can never be broken."
A faint smile, almost bitter, crossed her lips.
"But that's never been what it meant."
She slowly folded her arms, her eyes still fixed on Ragnar's weapon.
"An Immortal Blade is still a blade."
"It can be damaged."
"It can even be destroyed."
"What makes it 'immortal'..."
"...is the Aura left behind by its original owner."
Leo listened silently.
"The warriors who forged those blades had reached a level where their Aura refused to disappear after death."
Sasha's voice carried both admiration and reverence.
"Their will..."
"Their battle experience..."
"Their Aura..."
"Everything they poured into that blade remained."
She lowered her gaze for a brief moment.
"That's why they're called Immortal Blades."
"They outlive the warriors who created them."
Leo slowly nodded.
"So..."
"They're less like weapons..."
"...and more like legacies."
Sasha looked at him for a moment before giving a faint nod.
"Exactly."
She turned back toward the battlefield.
"And that's why every great family treasures them."
"They aren't something that can simply be forged."
"They're inherited..."
"...or chosen."
Leo remained thoughtful.
"But..."
He glanced toward Kieran's fractured Aura blade.
"If an Immortal Blade can damage an Aura blade..."
"...does that mean an Aura blade can never defeat one?"
Sasha fell silent.
Her expression grew complicated.
"It isn't impossible."
She answered honestly.
"But..."
Her eyes settled on the crack running through Kieran's blade.
"...the difference between them is far greater than most people realize."
Before Leo could ask another question—
A dry chuckle echoed across the battlefield.
Both of them instinctively looked up.
Ragnar slowly rested the massive greataxe upon his shoulder once again.
The green Aura surrounding its blade gradually calmed, dancing lazily across the steel.
His golden eyes never left Kieran.
"So..."
His deep voice rolled across the silent valley.
"Have you had enough?"
No answer came.
Kieran remained kneeling where he was.
Blood continued to drip steadily from the corner of his mouth onto the shattered earth.
The grin on Ragnar's face widened.
"I'll ask you one last time."
"Will you stay down..."
"...or are you planning to embarrass yourself even further?"
The words echoed throughout the valley.
Around Kieran, dozens of wolves instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons.
Several of them took an unconscious step forward before stopping themselves.
Sasha bit down on her lip.
Every instinct told her to run to her brother.
To stand beside him.
To protect him.
Yet...
She remained where she was.
More than anyone...
She knew Kieran.
If anyone interfered in this duel...
He would never forgive them.
The battlefield fell silent once more.
Then...
Kieran slowly planted the butt of his fractured Aura blade against the ground.
His fingers tightened around its shaft.
With visible effort, he pushed himself upward.
Every movement looked heavier than the last.
His legs trembled.
His breathing remained uneven.
But...
He stood.
Blood still stained the corner of his lips.
His wolf ears remained proudly upright.
His golden eyes never once left Ragnar.
Slowly...
The fractured Aura blade rose once more.
Its violet glow still burned defiantly despite the crack running through its centre.
For the first time since the duel began...
The grin disappeared from Ragnar's face.
Neither man spoke.
They didn't need to.
Kieran had already given his answer.
For several long moments...
Neither of them moved.
Kieran stood with the fractured Aura blade in his hand, blood still staining his lips.
Ragnar stood opposite him, his massive greataxe resting against his shoulder.
The battlefield remained trapped in an uneasy silence.
No one dared interrupt it.
Then...
Ragnar let out a quiet sigh.
"...Stubborn."
A faint smile returned to his face, though it lacked the arrogance from before.
"I suppose some things never change."
His golden eyes remained fixed on Kieran.
"That pride of yours..."
"...it's what always made you impossible to deal with."
Kieran offered no reply.
His expression remained calm despite the blood running down his chin.
The fractured Aura blade never wavered.
It remained pointed directly at Ragnar.
...
While everyone else continued watching the two warriors...
Leo looked elsewhere.
His crimson eyes slowly drifted toward Ragnar's greataxe.
Something about it bothered him.
The green Aura surrounding the weapon looked... strange.
Not unstable.
Not weaker.
Almost...
Too perfect.
His eyes narrowed.
The Aura wasn't flowing naturally around the blade.
It seemed to cling to it.
Wrapping around the greataxe with unusual precision.
As though it was deliberately concealing something beneath it.
A gentle breeze swept across the battlefield.
For only the briefest moment...
The green Aura rippled.
Leo's pupils contracted.
*A crack...?*
Near the base of the greataxe...
He caught sight of an impossibly thin fracture.
Before he could be certain—
The Aura shifted again.
The crack vanished as though it had never existed.
Leo remained silent.
His gaze slowly travelled upward.
Ragnar's grip around the haft looked unnaturally tight.
The muscles in his forearm twitched.
His fingers flexed once...
Then tightened again.
A detail so small that no one else seemed to notice.
A faint smile slowly formed on Leo's face.
*Interesting...*
*What exactly are you hiding...?*
Across the battlefield...
Ragnar suddenly chuckled.
"Heh..."
He rested the greataxe more comfortably across his shoulder.
"I'll admit it..."
"You've exceeded my expectations."
His smile slowly widened.
"But don't mistake surviving..."
"...for standing a chance."
The words hung heavily in the air.
Kieran's answer never came in the form of words.
Instead...
He slowly lowered his centre of gravity.
His feet dug firmly into the shattered earth.
The fractured Aura blade shifted into position once more.
The violet Aura surrounding it flickered...
Then burned even brighter than before.
Blood still stained his lips.
His breathing was still uneven.
Yet the determination in his golden eyes remained completely unchanged.
Seeing that...
Ragnar's grin widened.
Around them, both armies unconsciously tightened their grip on their weapons.
No one blinked.
No one spoke.
The silence returned once more.
Heavier than before.
Because everyone understood the same thing.
The duel...
Hadn't ended yet.