Eldo turned to Winter, who stood trembling, dark energy swirling around him—rage, guilt, despair all boiling over. "You... you... killed my friend..." Winter's voice was a broken snarl. "And to think I almost considered you one..." Shadows bled from his skin, pooling across the throne room, but Eldo's radiant red flames burned a barrier through the darkness.
Unbothered, Eldo strode forward, each step igniting the floor beneath him. Winter's power erupted, the room filling with crackling frost and shadow, but Eldo pressed on. When they collided, their fists met in a shockwave of hellfire and black ice, moving at speeds no mortal eye could follow.
The throne room trembled with every impact as Winter and Eldo exchanged blows, their powers igniting the air—hellfire meeting black ice, steel on molten fist. Each strike thundered through the marble, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the floor.
"You always have to make things harder, don't you!?" Eldo snarled, launching a burst of flame that Winter barely dodged. "If you'd just listened... none of this would've happened!"
Winter ducked under the next punch, retaliating with a barrage of steel shards that Eldo incinerated before they could touch him. "Listen to what? That madness about ruling the world? Get over yourself, Eldo!"
They collided again, fists and flames and frost clashing at speeds that blurred the edges of reality. Each was battered, bruised, and breathless—but neither would yield.
Suddenly, a rasping groan echoed behind them. Kyo, battered but human again, forced himself upright, clutching his aching head. "What... happened?" he mumbled, blinking away the haze. Then his gaze sharpened, panic flooding his face as he saw Winter and Eldo locked in combat.
"Winter! Eldo! Stop it!" Kyo ran forward, desperate to intervene, but Winter yelled over his shoulder, "Kyo...Get in here and help me! If we don't stop him, none of us are making it out of here!"
Kyo froze, torn. "I... I can't...we came here to rescue Eldo!"
"We can't do ANYTHING if we don't save our selves first!" Winter snapped, barely parrying another flaming strike. "If you want to live, help me end this!"
Kyo's fists sparked with uncertainty. But as he watched the devastation—heard the pain in Winter's voice—he knew he had no choice. Swallowing his fear, he summoned every ounce of power left and charged into the fray.
The battle exploded into motion, their powers flooding the throne room with flashing lights and sounds. Winter and Kyo moved as one at first—Winter conjuring a jagged wall of ice to block Eldo's initial hellfire burst, while Kyo leapt over the top, launching arcs of lightning straight at Eldo's torso.
Eldo spun aside, flames swirling from his fingertips. He caught Kyo's attack with a sweeping shield of fire, splitting the bolt in two and sending it crackling into the obsidian columns. Winter was already sliding in low, blade of steel forming from his arm, aiming for Eldo's side. Eldo backpedaled, searing the blade red-hot—but Winter let it go, using the distraction to unleash a blizzard of ice shards from his other hand.
Eldo countered by pounding his fist into the ground, a shockwave of molten fire rolling outward. Kyo vaulted over the blast, twisting in the air, landing behind Eldo and firing another bolt, this time at his exposed back. Eldo whirled, catching Kyo's wrist mid-strike, but Winter was there, slamming a steel fist into Eldo's ribs. The impact staggered Eldo, who retaliated with a burst of hellfire, forcing the two to dive away.
"Eldo, snap out of it!" Kyo shouted, lightning flickering across his scales as he tumbled to his feet.
"Not until you yield!" Eldo roared, unleashing a fan of flames that sent Winter skidding backward, ice armor steaming.
Winter flanked Eldo, launching a volley of ice daggers, while Kyo came in from the other side, fists sparking. Eldo spun, parrying the ice with a flaming forearm and catching Kyo's punch in his other hand. He flung Kyo into Winter, sending both crashing against the far wall.
Winter grunted, rolling to his knees. "Tch... How did this idiot get so strong..." he hissed, conjuring a shield of swirling frost as Eldo stalked forward, flames licking at his skin.
Kyo wiped blood from his mouth, eyes wild. "We have to keep trying!" He surged up, electricity arcing around his fists, and charged again.
The trio collided in the center of the throne room. Winter erected a dome of ice just as Eldo's flames poured over it, steam hissing. Kyo, ducking beneath the edge, jabbed at Eldo's ribs, but Eldo spun, catching Kyo's jaw with a flaming elbow.
Winter burst through the dome, ice and steel fused into a massive blade, swinging at Eldo's head. Eldo ducked, fire wreathing his leg as he swept Winter's legs out from under him.
Lightning, fire, and ice clashed in a maelstrom, Kyo and Winter coordinating to keep Eldo off-balance, but Eldo's hellfire forced them back again and again. Each attack was met with a counter, each moment of hope for victory snuffed out by the next furious exchange. The throne room itself began to crack, marble and obsidian shattering under the elemental onslaught.