The clash between the two turned the lobby into chaos.
Thiriel could barely keep standing. Every breath burned, every heartbeat sent a stab of pain through his body. The Magic Warrior Aura was still active, but it no longer flowed smoothly; now it was a violent tide tearing at muscles and forcing his body beyond its natural endurance.
In front of him, Vexar seemed to be reborn.
The magic absorbed from the servants ran through his body like veins of dark light. The flesh of his left arm reconstructed itself in a grotesque and unnatural way. His posture was no longer that of a tired old man, but of a mage in full command of his rank.
"Do you see?" laughed Vexar, with a voice that no longer trembled. "This is what it means to have survived regardless of the cost. This is what you will never understand."
Thiriel grit his teeth.
He didn't answer.
He threw himself into the attack again.
His fist impacted against an invisible barrier and the recoil ran through his arm like an electric shock.
Vexar counterattacked immediately, launching a compressed discharge that struck Thiriel's torso and slammed him against the ground.
The stone cracked beneath his body.
"Thiriel!" shouted Kael from the distance, trembling upon seeing Vexar becoming less human and more like a monster.
The other apprentices hadn't stopped. Taking advantage of every opening, they launched attacks, unstable spells, weak but constant projectiles. Even the senior apprentices, now freed from Vexar's partial control, had joined the fight.
A wind lance impacted Vexar's back, on the barrier protecting him.
An earth discharge blocked one of his steps.
A fire projectile grazed his face.
None of that did him the slightest damage.
But it slowed him down.
"Annoying insects!" roared Vexar, spinning around.
A shockwave surged from his body and threw several apprentices through the air.
Thiriel stood up with difficulty.
'If we go on like this…' he thought, 'I won't last much longer.'
The aura was devouring his body from within. He felt microscopic tears in his muscles, an unbearable pressure in his chest.
If he forced it a little more, he might never get up again.
And Vexar knew it.
"You are breaking," he said with a cruel smile. "No magic that gives that level of power at your rank comes without consequences. You are at your limit."
He extended his hand and a cage of energy began to close around Thiriel, crushing him slowly.
"I will finish with you first," he added. "Then I will go for the others."
In that instant, Vexar remembered someone.
Vexar turned his head.
His eyes fixed on Drowen.
The boy was still trapped in the earth prison, breathing with difficulty, his face contorted between fear and hate. His eyes were locked on Thiriel.
"Free yourself," Vexar said suddenly, with a soft voice.
With a gesture, the prison undid itself.
Drowen fell to his knees, panting.
"Drowen," continued Vexar. "Help me. Stop the weak apprentices."
Drowen looked up, trembling.
"And… and him?" he asked, pointing at Thiriel.
Vexar's smile widened.
"Leave him to me. I'll handle him."
That was enough.
Drowen stood up, turning against the apprentices attacking Vexar.
He launched himself into the attack.
His magic, charged with resentment, interrupted the apprentices' formation. A projectile impacted against Kael, throwing him to the ground. Another blow forced a senior apprentice to retreat.
"Drowen, stop!" someone shouted. "Look at what you are doing!"
But Drowen wasn't listening.
Vexar seized that instant.
The magic cage snapped shut.
Thiriel screamed in pain as he felt the pressure compressing his body, breaking part of the aura. Vexar appeared in front of him in a blink and struck him directly in the face.
The world spun.
Thiriel fell on his back, vision blurred.
"Now then," gasped Vexar. "Die."
He raised his hand, concentrating an enormous amount of magic into a single point. The spell wasn't elegant or complex, but it was charged with a brutal intent of annihilation.
Thiriel could barely move.
His body was at the limit.
But his mind… was clear.
'Not yet,' he thought.
He didn't try to get up.
He didn't try to block.
He waited.
Vexar frowned upon noticing something strange.
"What…?"
Thiriel's magic, which seemed scattered and chaotic, contracted all at once. The entire Magic Warrior Aura stopped flowing toward the muscles and concentrated in a single point, deep in his core.
A strange silence surrounded Thiriel.
Vexar hesitated for the first time.
"What are you doing…?"
Thiriel opened his eyes.
Vexar, confident in his power, took a step forward to finish him off.
That was the moment.
Thiriel propelled himself from the ground with the last thing he had left. It wasn't an elegant or fast movement… it was desperate and absolute.
He channeled all remaining magic into a single spell.
Compressed Wind Blade.
Not a gust.
There is no visible blade.
An invisible pressure, sharpened to the extreme.
"WHAT?!" shouted Vexar, trying to react.
Too late.
The wind magic traversed the space between them and cleanly sliced Vexar's neck.
There was no explosion.
There was no immediate sound.
Only a wet snap.
The Rank C mage's head tilted to one side, eyes open, incredulous. His body took one more step… and then stopped.
The apprentices stood motionless.
Fear took hold of everyone.
Thiriel breathed with difficulty, standing barely by sheer will.
Vexar smiled.
He thought he had stopped them.
He thought he had won.
And then…
Thiriel ran.
It wasn't fast.
It was as fast as his shattered body could give.
He appeared in front of Vexar in a final instant and, with the last remnant of magic he had left, launched another wind blade straight at the already almost severed neck.
The cut finished the job.
Vexar's head separated from the body.
It rolled on the floor.
The eyes, still open, remained fixed on Thiriel… until the life went out completely.
The body fell heavily to the ground.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The Rank C mage Vexar had died.
Thiriel let out his breath… and fell to his knees.
The battle was over.