ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

Kaelen, Lila, Eldric, Kelvin, and Magnus darted across the battlefield, desperately trying to avoid the relentless, invisible barrage of attacks.

Each attack came from nowhere—one moment the air was still, and in the next, a devastating force would explode out of thin air.

"Tch!" Kaelen gritted his teeth as he barely parried an unseen strike, his arms going numb from the impact.

Kelvin was forced to use his darkness to form barriers, but each one was shattered almost instantly.

Lila kept creating layers of frost armor, yet each attack cracked through them before she could reinforce them.

Magnus roared in frustration, swinging wildly at the air, his bestial aura surging, but he hit nothing.

"We can't even fight back!" Magnus cursed, slamming his fist into the ground in frustration.

Kaelen clenched his jaw.

This wasn't a battle anymore.

It was a slow execution.

No matter how strong they were, if they couldn't see, sense, or predict their enemy's attacks, then victory was impossible.

And then—

"Tch... I have no choice," Eldric suddenly muttered.

The tone of his voice made Kaelen turn to him immediately.

"What do you mean?" Kaelen asked, wiping the blood off his chin.

Eldric exhaled sharply, his yellow eyes glowing with intensity.

"Have you forgotten?" He smirked grimly. "I use lightning magic."

Kaelen's eyes widened.

Before he could even process what Eldric meant—

BOOM!

A violent storm of lightning erupted from Eldric, his entire body engulfed in golden arcs of electricity.

Then, he spread his arms wide—

And lightning flooded out of him like a celestial storm.

"Mana Domain—"

Eldric's voice echoed throughout the battlefield as the very air began to crackle with power.

"ARMAGEDDON!"

And in the next moment—

The sky shattered into a world of pure, tribulation lightning.

Eldric's Mana Domain: Armageddon turned the entire battlefield into a storm of golden lightning. The air itself sizzled, and the ground beneath him cracked apart under the sheer force of his power.

And then—

A figure re-emerged.

The Avatar.

For the first time, it suffered a bruise, a faint mark on its otherwise untouchable form.

"It actually forced it out…" Kaelen murmured in shock.

But before they could even process the implications, the Avatar's aura exploded.

The sheer pressure it emitted shattered the clouds, sending a tremor through the entire pocket dimension.

And then, without a word, it turned its full attention onto Eldric.

"It's pissed," Kelvin muttered darkly.

But—

Instead of flinching, instead of retreating, Eldric smirked.

"You finally see me as a threat, huh?"

Then—

He surged forward!

His body blurred, moving through the suffocating aura as if it were nothing.

Kaelen's eyes widened.

"He's enduring it? No… He's pushing through it!"

Lila gasped, barely believing what she was seeing.

Eldric charged forward fearlessly, his body wrapped in tribulation lightning, his very presence distorting the air around him.

And then—

They clashed.

The Avatar swung—an attack fast enough to tear through space itself—

But Eldric weaved through it, his form becoming light itself.

Then—

BOOM!

His fist connected with the Avatar's face!

A shockwave exploded, tearing through the sky, forcing even Kaelen and the others to brace themselves from the sheer force.

But the Avatar barely flinched.

In retaliation—

It lashed out with a palm strike faster than thought itself—

Eldric blocked with his forearm, but the sheer impact launched him through the sky.

Yet—

He twisted mid-air, using his lightning as propulsion, and instantly counterattacked!

For every strike the Avatar threw, Eldric countered with speed and raw destructive force.

Their battle became a blur of devastation, their attacks so fast that they appeared as flashes of light ripping through the heavens.

"They're distorting reality itself," Magnus whispered in awe.

Lightning clashed against primordial power.

Fury met defiance.

And for the first time—

The Avatar had found a true challenger.

The battle between Eldric and the Avatar reached a terrifying crescendo.

Every strike, every clash between them tore through the sky, distorting the very fabric of space.

Boom! Boom! BOOM!

Each exchange sent shockwaves across the battlefield, leveling trees and carving craters into the earth.

Yet—

Through it all, Eldric stood unyielding.

Even as deep gashes tore into his arms.

Even as golden lightning crackled violently across his bleeding body.

Even as the Avatar—an existence beyond comprehension—continued to press down on him with the weight of a mountain.

Eldric fought.

And fought.

And then—

Something shifted.

For the first time, the Avatar showed restraint.

For the first time, it moved back.

For the first time—it bled.

The moment Eldric drove his lightning-coated fist into the Avatar's side, a thin crimson line was left behind.

A wound.

A wound on something that should not be wounded.

"I… hurt it," Eldric whispered.

"You actually wounded it?!" Kaelen gasped from the distance, barely able to comprehend what just happened.

But then—

The Avatar stilled.

It raised its head—

And for the first time, it actually spoke.

"Enough."

Mana surged.

An unimaginable force began to pull from all directions, twisting the elements, drawing in the very essence of the world itself.

Kaelen's breath caught in his throat.

"It's preparing something big!"

Eldric felt it immediately—

The suffocating weight of an impending catastrophe.

The very air around him trembled.

The ground beneath his feet cracked under the sheer force.

Even the sky itself seemed to darken as if the world itself feared what was coming.

The Avatar raised a single hand—

And in an instant, an apocalyptic spell began to form.

A spell so terrifyingly immense, so unfathomably powerful, that Eldric's body instinctively shook.

His mind screamed at him to run.

His body trembled under the sheer pressure.

But—

He refused to back down.

Instead—

He raised his own hand.

Lightning surged.

Golden arcs of destruction coalesced.

"If you're going all out…"

Eldric's eyes blazed with unshakable defiance.

"Then so will I!"

A spell began to take shape.

A spell infused with his very soul, his very will, his very essence.

A spell he had never dared to use before.

A spell he could only unleash once.

"Lightning Magic: Heaven's Bolt!"

Above his hand, a colossal spear of divine lightning materialized—so bright it illuminated the entire battlefield like a second sun.

Kaelen's eyes widened in horror.

"Those spells… Those are mountain-level attacks!"

Panic surged.

"Lila! Kelvin! Magnus! TAKE COVER!"

They didn't need to be told twice.

Lila instantly unleashed a fortress of ice, surrounding herself and Kaelen in layers of frost-forged barriers.

Kelvin, gritting his teeth, activated Blood Void, using its endless shadows to devour the destructive force.

Magnus, roaring in defiance, hardened his entire body with unbreakable beastification, crouching low to brace for impact.

Then—

It happened.

Two colossal spells were released at the same time.

The Avatar's spell—a primordial force of annihilation.

Eldric's Heaven's Bolt—a spear of divine retribution.

The moment they met—

The world was torn asunder.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A shockwave so devastating erupted that the entire forest ceased to exist.

Everything was wiped out.

The trees? Gone.

The ground? Obliterated.

The mountains in the distance? Crumbled.

Even the clouds above were erased, revealing a sky so vast and empty that it felt as if reality itself had been reset.

And in the center of it all—

Both Eldric and the Avatar were completely engulfed.

Kaelen, Lila, Kelvin, and Magnus could do nothing but hold on for dear life, shielding themselves as best as they could.

And then—

Silence.

The world stood still.

As the dust and destruction settled, Kaelen dared to look—

What remained of Eldric?

What remained of the Avatar?

And more importantly—

Who had won?

The battlefield stood eerily silent.

Not a single gust of wind.

Not a single sound.

Kaelen and the others stood frozen in place, their bodies still trembling from the cataclysmic clash that had just unfolded.

And then—

Through the fading smoke, they finally saw them.

Eldric and the Avatar.

Still floating in the air.

Neither moved.

Neither spoke.

They just… stared at each other.

A tense silence gripped the battlefield.

Then—

The Avatar twitched.

A small tremor rippled through its form, as if something had disrupted its very existence.

Kaelen's eyes narrowed as he suddenly asked.

"Wait… What's happening to it?"

But before anyone could process—

The Avatar's body suddenly began to crumble.

Its once-imposing figure, an entity that had seemed unstoppable, was now disintegrating before their very eyes.

Piece by piece, its form broke apart into specks of glowing dust—a sight both breathtaking and surreal.

Kelvin's fists clenched.

Magnus' beastly eyes widened.

Lila, still catching her breath, stared in disbelief.

The Avatar—the greatest obstacle they had ever faced—was vanishing.

"Did… did Eldric actually do it?" Lila whispered, almost not daring to believe it.

A surge of exhilaration welled up within them.

They had won.

They had defeated the Avatar.

But just as relief was about to wash over them—

It happened.

Eldric—

His body jerked violently.

And then—

A horrible, wet sound escaped his lips.

"Kuhh—!"

A torrent of blood suddenly spewed from Eldric's mouth, spilling down his chin as his body convulsed.

His golden eyes, once burning with power, suddenly dulled.

And then—

His body collapsed.

"ELDRIC!" Kaelen's voice roared through the battlefield.

Without hesitation, he pushed his body beyond its limits, summoning every spell he could muster.

Wind surged beneath his feet.

Gravity itself seemed to bend as Kaelen shot into the sky like an arrow, rushing toward Eldric before he could crash into the ruined ground.

At the very last moment—

Kaelen's arms caught Eldric.

But the moment he did, a painful realization struck him.

Eldric's body felt cold.

His once raging mana was now flickering weakly, like a dying flame.

"Dammit, Eldric! Stay with me!" Kaelen gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his friend's limp body from slipping.

Eldric's breath was shaky, shallow.

His body had endured far too much.

Kaelen could feel it—his core was nearly shattered.

The power he had unleashed… it had pushed him past his limit.

Too far.

Too much.

Lila, Kelvin, and Magnus finally reached them, their expressions filled with urgency.

"How bad is it?!" Lila demanded, panic flashing in her normally cold eyes.

"It's bad," Kaelen gritted out. "He won't last much longer if we don't get him help."

Kelvin's hands shockingly balled into fists as he muttered. "Damn it… he won the fight, but at what cost?"

Magnus, despite his usual recklessness, remained silent. His expression darkened as he gazed at Eldric's barely breathing form.

They had emerged victorious.

But the price Eldric had paid was too steep.

And yet—

Far away, in the VIP section of the coliseum…

Among the spectators who had watched this battle unfold, one man sat far too comfortably.

King Alexandria.

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand.

A strange smirk curled upon his lips—one that did not match the supposed gravity of the situation.

His golden eyes gleamed with something unreadable.

Something unnerving.

Something that hinted at a deeper understanding of what had just transpired.

"Fascinating."

"Absolutely fascinating."

"Let's see what happens next."