As the Legacy Clash continues on with Kledon Ashbourne and Asher Vermillion warming up, their movements carry the deceptive ease of seasoned fighters testing the waters.
The air between them still wavered faintly from their last exchange, the echo of power hanging there while the noise of the crowd continued to roar with excitement.
Kledon rolled his shoulders, shifting his weight as his eyes locked on Asher without blinking.
Across from him, Asher lowered his greatsword, holding it in a way that looked almost casual— its sharp tip almost facing the stone floor.
The arena felt tighter, and excitement grew from the crowd.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "Looks like I gotta play dirty on this bleach-haired guy."
Kledon muttered under his breath as he sprang forward, both arms igniting with explosive energy.
In an instant, explosive balls formed in his palms, before he hurled them in rapid succession toward Asher in a relentless barrage.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Always the same trick... Are we?"
Asher exhaled the words with a weary sigh, his gaze steady as the incoming blasts lit the air between them.
In a single quick swing of his greatsword, he carved through the barrage, erasing each explosion in midair as he walked toward Kledon.
Then, suddenly, a huge blazing, explosive sphere surged toward him. Asher met it head-on, with another slash, his blade cleaving it cleanly in two.
The sphere erupted on both sides, shockwaves erupting throughout the arena. Tremors vibrated in the ground, and the air quivered in force.
The explosions reached the crowd, yet they stood untouched, shielded by a shimmering barrier. As they continue to roar with excitement from the rising battle.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "How in the—"
Kledon was shocked, but before he could process how Asher had sliced through the huge blazing sphere, he was met with a barrage of yellow energy cutting through the air.
Kledon parried each slash with explosive blasts from his hands while dodging the others.
Then he was struck from behind by the holy greatsword. Kledon managed to parry the sneaky slash in the final milliseconds, but the impact still dealt heavy damage, sending him tumbling across the arena.
Dazed, Kledon was confused—until his eyes saw it...
Asher's weapon was floating, moving as if it were alive, while Asher himself walked calmly from the opposite side of the arena.
Kledon slammed both hands against the floor, sending tremors through the arena as he ran, parrying each energy slash sent by Asher's greatsword.
In an instant, explosive pillars of stone and flame erupted upward, roaring for a full fifteen seconds—just enough to buy him time to think of another plan.
Then it clicked! Kledon stopped on his tracks, a slow smile spreading across his face...
The sudden shift made Asher pause as well, raising his hand, which lowered his floating greatsword.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "I haven't used this technique for a while... Welp, it's pretty destructive just right for you~"
Kledon's smile deepened as he shifted his stance.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Show me a good time then, Kledon!"
Asher uttered as he continued his assault with the holy greatsword.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "You see, there were no limits to how much I can compress these explosive balls, and I can even control them anywhere with ease..."
The greatsword closed at an insane speed, then suddenly...
A huge explosion shattered the air, hurling the holy blade backward as if parried easily.
Smoke flooded the battlefield due to the force.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Impossible— My greatsword was parried easily? And rendered unconscious?!"
Asher uttered in disbelief as he raised his arm, the holy greatsword failing to return to his grasp. The greatsword is still shaking from the force left by Kledon.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "By compressing my explosive spheres to their limit and retaining the explosion in a constant form, then embedding that energy in a prison, I can create energy on par with a nuke itself..."
Kledon walked forward coldly, the smoke revealing himself, clutching an unstable-looking staff that radiated a wild, volatile energy.
Its surface pulsed with a caged explosion, straining to hold itself together.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "INTERESTING!"
Asher shifted into a new stance, calling his greatsword back, then lifting it above his head, his sigil flickering in yellow light.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Holy light blessing!"
[ Holy Light Blessing ][1]
Suddenly, a flicker of holy light streamed down from the sky, bathing the arena in a radiant glow.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Let's get serious, shall we!"
Asher exclaimed as he charged toward Kledon, causing a large sonic boom, while wielding his holy greatsword, his body glowing with a fierce holy light aura that seemed to pulse with every step.
Kledon spun his staff in multiple arcs before driving it into the ground, causing an explosion launching himself high into the air at an insane height.
Asher stopped in his tracks, his eyes tracking Kledon's ascent in the sky.
At the same time, he swung his greatsword upward in a barrage, releasing multiple radiant holy slashes that tore through the air toward Kledon.
Each one trailing streaks of searing light with a holy shining sound as they closed in on him, suspended against the open sky.
Kledon spun his staff at a quick speed, parrying all radiant slashes in rapid succession.
Every parry caused an explosion, scattering shockwaves through the air. Midway, the sky bloomed with fire and light as the explosions echoed across the arena, rattling the barrier that kept the crowd safe.
[ Kledon Ashbourne ]: "Let's see you survive this!"
Kledon tightened his grip on the staff, angling it downward as his body started to twist into a rapid spin, going down at an insane speed.
The descent tore through the air with a piercing howl, each rotation building a crushing momentum and explosive energy.
Sparks of volatile energy from the staff's core started to appear, swirling around him in a fiery spiral as he plummeted.
[ Meteor Descent ][2]
While Asher saw Kledon descending, he shifted into a firm, grounded stance, the greatsword held vertically against his chest as he exhaled.
He then started chanting words coming from his lips, pulsing with holy power.
[ Asher Vermillion ]: "Lux... Aeterna... Caelum.... Exsurgat!"
The air around him grew heavy and still, as if the battlefield itself paused to hear the invocation.
The greatsword's edge shimmered, threads of holy light weaving along the blade, coiling tighter with every syllable he spoke.
[ Exurgia ][3]
Suddenly, a colossal greatsword wreathed in blinding holy light tore through the sky, its descent perfectly mirroring Kledon's fall.
Its brilliance flooded the entire arena, casting every shadow away as if the heavens themselves had turned their gaze upon the battlefield.
Asher braced himself as Kledon's meteor descent struck.
But he underestimated the force—a surging nuclear blast entwined with the momentum of a falling meteor.
The impact roared through the arena, a deafening boom that rattled stone and bone alike.
Asher blocked the strike; however, the holy greatsword in his grip shattered under the sheer pressure and power.
Kledon himself was hurled backward by the insane shockwave, the air around him warping from the lingering heat.
He caught just enough control mid-flight to attempt a parry against the descending colossal holy greatsword, but the force was overwhelming.
Instead of deflecting it, the collision detonated his staff, ripping through the arena in a blinding explosion that consumed both his staff and the battlefield in light and ruin.
.....
.....
.....
For fifty long seconds, the arena was filled with smoke, the silence of the crowd pressing as heavily as the smoke itself.
When the smoke finally unveiled itself, the devastation stood revealed.
Asher swayed where he stood, blood streaking down his face, his once-mighty holy greatsword lying in shattered fragments at his feet. His posture was slouched, his holy aura dimming.
A short distance away, Kledon lay sprawled on the torn ground, seemingly where the giant greatsword had hit earlier, his staff nowhere in sight.
His body was battered, his breath ragged, his consciousness hanging by a thread.
Kledon managed to stand up for a moment, his stance unsteady, swaying as though the very ground shifted beneath him. His sigil flickers at an insane speed before dying out.
For a brief heartbeat, but his legs gave out, and he collapsed face-first onto the shattered arena floor, finally succumbing to the toll of the battle.
Asher stood several paces away, his chest rising and falling in sharp, pained rhythm.
He gripped his injured arm tightly, his sigil barely pulsing with light, almost dying, and blood still trailing from his temple, his gaze fixed on his fallen opponent.
Then suddenly, breaking through the tense silence, the announcer's feminine voice rang out.
[ Arena Announcer ]: "AND THE WINNER FOR THIS MATCH IS! ASHER FROM THE HOUSE VERMILLION!!!"
The whole arena then roared in cheers, as they chanted Asher's name.
"WOOOOOO!"
"ASHER! ASHER! ASHER!!"
"Vermillion! Vermillion! Vermillion!!"
"THAT WAS INSANE!"
"Split the sky, baby!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"YEAH!!!!!"
However, many still sat frozen, their eyes darting between the two warriors, as if unsure whether the battle had truly ended.
The scent of faint dust and ozone lingered in the air, and the faint glow of divine light still clung to Asher's form, flickering like the last embers of a dying flame.
[ Asher Vermillion : SS-Rank "Holy Greatsword" ]——[ WINNER ]
[ Kledon Ashbourne : S-Rank "Ignition Burst" ]——[ LOSER ]
.....
The arena floor was then quickly swarmed by attendants.
Sweepers cleared debris while sigilbearers with repair sigils began mending the cracked ground.
And a few shattered debris float mid-air, restoring themselves from the ground.
A squad of medical staff rushed in, their white coats flaring as they knelt beside Kledon's motionless form.
With practiced efficiency, they checked his pulse, stabilized his breathing, and hoisted him onto a stretcher.
The faint glow of healing spells shimmered over his battered body as they carried him toward the infirmary, his staff fragments collected in a sealed case.
All while, the crowd's cheers still lingered in the air, though now muffled by the distant echo of the battle's end.
The second round between the clash of the houses fast approaches...
Now it has come to an end... the Legacy Clash - Round 1
[1] For 10 minutes, blesses the Sigilbearer with a radiant holy light aura, significantly improving all physical and mental capabilities. From strength, speed, perception, and reaction times surge to divine levels, while wounds heal instantly and fatigue is purged. All existing curses will be removed, and the Sigilbearer will be immune to any.
[2] The user channels their momentum into a spiraling freefall, weapon pointed downward, converting rotational force into devastating impact power. As the descent accelerates, volatile energy gathers around the weapon into a blazing spiral, amplifying penetration and explosive force upon contact. On impact, the strike releases a huge explosive shockwave capable of decimating the whole area within like a falling meteor.
[3] A divine ascension technique that summons a colossal greatsword of radiant gold from the sky. With each sacred word of the chant, the weapon swells in both size and power, its force multiplying fivefold with every verse. The sky parts to make way for the descending blade, its brilliance eclipsing the sun. Though the buildup is slow, the final form is a titanic weapon capable of cleaving through mountains.