Aerys moved first.
With a roar, he lunged forward, his battle axe carving through the air.
BOOM!
Tai slipped to the side.
The axe smashed into the ground, spraying dirt and shattered stone.
Again.
And again.
Aerys never slowed.
He swung with relentless momentum, each strike heavier than the last, forcing Tai to keep moving. The wolf flowed between the attacks with practiced footwork, narrowly avoiding blades that could have split a horse in half.
Whoosh!
The axe swept past his face.
Whoosh!
Another strike barely missed his shoulder.
Tai's coat fluttered with every near miss.
"..."
He's getting faster.
Aerys wasn't simply attacking anymore.
He was adapting.
Every dodge Tai made was being read.
Every step was being predicted.
The distance between the axe and Tai grew smaller with each exchange.
Then—
Aerys raised the axe overhead.
"Die!"
The weapon crashed downward with terrifying force.
This time...
Tai knew he couldn't evade it.
CLANG!!
He threw up his black steel hatchet.
Steel collided with steel.
The impact blasted dust outward as both weapons locked together.
The ground beneath Tai's boots cracked.
Aerys leaned forward, muscles bulging beneath his battered armor.
"I'll kill you."
He pushed harder.
The axe inched lower.
"And wear your skin like a cloak."
More pressure.
Tai gritted his teeth.
His boots carved trenches into the dirt as he was forced backward.
Slowly...
One knee almost touched the ground.
The surrounding soldiers watched with bated breath.
Then—
Tai smiled.
"Sorry..."
His voice remained as casual as ever.
"I only come in one size."
In a single fluid motion, he twisted his wrist.
Instead of resisting the overwhelming force, he redirected it.
The axe slid off the hatchet's edge.
Aerys' own strength carried the weapon past Tai's shoulder.
Tai was already moving.
He stepped into Aerys' exposed left side.
His body spun.
The hatchet traced a vicious arc, borrowing momentum from the rotation.
SHRAKK!
The enchanted blade slammed into the general's left shoulder.
Not deep enough to cut through the armor...
But deep enough to bite into the shoulder plate.
Tai smirked.
"And I don't think I'd fit you."
With a violent yank—
RIIIP!
The entire shoulder plate tore free from Aerys' armor.
Aerys immediately retaliated, swinging the axe in a wide horizontal arc.
Tai had already leapt backward.
The blade sliced through empty air.
He landed lightly several meters away, the stolen armor plate still hooked on the edge of his hatchet.
With a flick of his wrist, the mangled steel clattered to the ground.
Clang.
The wolf lowered his center of gravity.
Hatchet held low.
Eyes locked onto the wounded general.
Across from him, Aerys rolled his injured shoulder, now partially exposed where the armor had been ripped away.
Aerys charged again.
His boots tore across the battlefield as the battle axe swept toward Tai in a brutal horizontal slash.
Tai immediately shifted left.
The axe cut through empty air—
—but Aerys had expected it.
His left fist exploded forward.
THUD!
Tai barely managed to cross his forearms in time.
The punch slammed into his guard with enough force to send him skidding backward several meters.
"...!"
Before he could regain his footing—
Aerys was already there.
He lowered his shoulder.
BOOM!
The armored charge struck Tai square in the chest.
The wolf's eyes widened as he got crashed and slamming into the mana-restraining cannon he had captured only moments ago.
CRAAASH!!
Tai's back smashed against the steel frame.
The entire cannon shuddered violently.
He hadn't even stood back up—
Aerys raised the axe with both hands.
"Die!!"
The weapon came crashing down.
Tai threw himself sideways at the last possible instant.
KRAAANG!!
The axe missed him by inches.
Instead, it buried itself deep into the cannon's armored housing.
For a brief moment...
Everything became still.
Tai rolled to his feet, hatchet raised.
Across from him, Aerys planted a boot against the cannon and ripped the embedded axe free.
Metal screamed as the blade tore loose.
Neither hesitated.
They charged again.
Steel clashed.
Hatchet met axe.
Every collision echoed across the battlefield.
Neither warrior gave an inch.
Neither cared about the soldiers fleeing around them.
The duel had consumed their entire focus.
...
Behind them...
The mana-restraining cannon flickered.
A faint blue spark danced across its surface.
Then another.
And another.
Inside the machine, the damaged core began pulsing erratically.
One of the operators turned around.
His face immediately turned pale.
"The core...!"
His voice cracked.
"The cannon core has been damaged!"
Blue arcs of unstable mana burst from the housing.
"Everyone!"
His scream echoed through the battlefield.
"RUN!!"
The cannon crew abandoned everything.
They sprinted away without looking back.
But the two men...
Never noticed.
Their weapons continued colliding.
Axe.
Hatchet.
Punch.
Kick.
Another exchange.
Another clash.
The damaged core pulsed faster.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Until—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The world erupted.
A pillar of blue mana exploded into the sky.
The shockwave tore the earth apart.
Steel fragments, stone, and compressed mana blasted outward in every direction.
The explosion swallowed both Tai and Aerys whole.
For a heartbeat...
No one could see anything.
Only a towering cloud of dust and blue energy remained.
No one knew...
Whether either of them had survived.
----
Not far away...
Ebruhan roared as another wave of chains wrapped around him.
He snapped at the soldiers surrounding him—
But before his jaws could open again—
CLANK!
A heavy enchanted chain wrapped tightly around his snout.
His roar became a muffled growl.
"Grrrhh...!"
More chains followed.
Around his forelegs.
His hind legs.
His wings.
Dozens of soldiers pulled together.
Wyverns pressed their weight against his massive body.
Even with all his strength...
The Storm Dragon was finally forced completely to the ground.
He struggled.
His muscles strained.
The earth beneath him cracked.
But he couldn't rise.
----
Far behind the front line...
King Cedric had already ordered a retreat behind Lumeris' barrier.
Thousands of soldiers poured back through the shimmering shield.
Outside it...
The remaining Norvoss mana-restraining cannons continued firing relentlessly.
BOOM!
A beam struck the barrier.
The entire shield trembled violently.
Inside the defensive formation, Emma and the royal mages poured mana into the barrier without pause.
Sweat rolled down their faces.
Another beam slammed into it.
Then another.
The magical wall shivered again.
Everyone understood the truth.
If the barrier fell...
The battle would become a massacre.