The sense of time callously eluded the dismembered minds of the henpecked spectators. Many sported drained countenances, deep bags digging through flesh beneath veiny eyes. Their lips remained parched, stomachs rumbling within the noise of iron striking hardened flesh. As powerful as they were, not requiring rest or nourishment for a considerable time period, even they could concede to the fact that a concercing amount of time had elapsed.
Still, the fight progressed, both contestants remaining locked in a fearsome battle for supremacy. This was, of course, vastly different from the matches from a decade ago. Back then, each match lasted a maximum of several hours, the more dreadful clashes spanning for over forty-eight hours, but not something like this.
Witnessing it all, how far Kael had grown after ascending to the throne, a multitude of them couldn't help but silently wail in damnation, wishing their scions had truly crushed the rising devil before his powers could fully mature. Before he could tap into the prodigious power passed down through emperors.
Now, all they could do was hope. Hope for the hellspawn to emerge victorious. Burying the cancerous memories of the past, they prayed for his triumph against the fiendish invader.
"You know, looking at him fight, I can't help but be reminded of Kaiser. That man, although mortal just like the rest of us, had power unlike people in his time had ever seen. His battle style, his charisma, the way he carried himself. Truly, he was a beast, even amongst the monsters that existed amongst our ranks back then," a woman spoke, struggling to stabilize her haphazard feelings. "Still, it's a shame Roman couldn't chop his head off. It would've been nice being the emperor's mother."
Her hair was a mix of grey and black, growing just below her back, neatly straightened. Her attire was dark, flowing graciously to the floor. Gold earrings clung to her ears, rings and a necklace of similar material adorning her fingers and neck. A crude smile remained on her aged face, a multitude of emotions battling against each other all at once.
The man she was speaking to, her husband, had short greyish black hair jelled back. A black hair covered the clean slick, along with a dark toxeto clinging tightly to his body. Despite his age, chiselled muscles marred the strength his body still retained, the sharpness of his gaze unmoving from the ongoing fight.
"Yes. Honestly, I thought I instructed that boy on everything he needed to know. I drilled it all into his bones, taught him everyday on blood magic, politics, and more. Yet, he went ahead and made a mockery of me. What a waste of precious resources," he spat, shaking his head in irreversible regret. "As for comparing him to Kaiser, I can honestly see the resemblance. Who would've thought Kael, of all people, would amount to all of this?"
Their clash persisted, more time declining as Kael and Slade danced across the charred terrain, their attacks slowly growing sluggish as the toll of their rapid expenditure slowly caught up with them. Of the two, Kael's powers dwindled further, his opponent gleening into the precious opportunities to launch dreadful counterattacks.
His body swayed, weak eyes failing to register the wave of acidic, purple energy shooting in his direction. What followed was an immolating cleanse, the eroding light beam seering through his body, rapidly burning through his damaged crimson armor within seconds. As the corrosive substance fell upon his skin, they failed to do considerable damage, barely leaving substantial markings as Kael willed himself to move, finally evading the arid wave before swinging his sword in the air, unleashing a massive wave of crimson aura that streamed through the air like a ripple of water.
The beam of purple light ceased, its caster swiftly evading the gargantuan wave of crimson light swerving in his direction. His movements were as sharp as ever, however, at this point, each sharp turn was met by the involuntary aching of his muscles, a plethora of burns, bruises, and ghastly lacerations decorating his transformed state, many of which were incapable of healing due to the scarcity of energy swirling within his being.
Whatever he had left, was all focused on defeating his opponent. At this point, neither of them knew how long the fight had dragged on for, neither did they care. A singular thought overrode their senses—the irresistible desire to kill.
Bloodlust corrupted their calculative minds, perverting them with its insidious demands. At this point, the gargantuan mimic shrouding Kael's body had long vanished, his weakened state incapable of sustaining the power-hungry form. Slade's transformed appearance remained, though gradually showing signs of receding as their battle dragged on.
Despite their bodies' accumulative unwillingness to progress the fight, their minds resisted, the insatiable desire to murder their opponent burning through their poignant weakness. Gritting his teeth, Slade lunged forward, claws swinging out rapidly as they clashed once more with hardened blood aura.
Their long-ranged battle returned to close quarters once more. Slade's powers were severely running dry, incapable of sustaining the disruptive waves of acidic purple light. His movements remained sharp and precise, desperately searching for an opening from his opponent.
Pushing through ardrous exhaustion, Kael's glade glistened with ferocious vigor, his crimson eyes reflecting the unyielding madness flowing within their depths. His luscious mane, at least what it once was, was now an unruly canopy of dirt-filled, dark extensions snaking from his scalp, their unruly disarray further articulating his bestial mannerisms.
It was like as the match progressed, his sanity gradually slipped away, gliding into an endless mass of thick, suffocating darkness. His opponent's eyes revealed a similar state, his movements further propelled by the energizing rigors of infuriated insanity.
The Arena was perpetually bathed in the eroding force of the purple blasts, a cacophony of craters stretching all across the vast space. Kael forced his body to evade their jarring depths as he shifted across the terrain, heavily invested in the creature before him.
"Your movements have grown sluggish. If all of this is getting too much for you, then all you have to do is roll back and die!" Slade cursed, his tone carrying a heavy weight of exhaustion and lightheaded hatred. However, his taunts we're left unresponded, the emperor's movements keeping up with his own.
Despite his condition, he did the best he could to remain even with his opponent. In the midst of evading sharp swings, Kael made a daring gamble. Disbanding his weapon, he swiftly ducked, grabbing hold of Slade's arm. He raised his body above ground, then, the next moment, his leg outstretched with instant force, striking the side of his opponent's head.
The noise of cracking bones echoed in the absence of raging lights, the gaping audience refusing to bat their eyes away for a mere second. They bore through hunger and thirst, desparately wishinh to witness the end of this historical matchup.
Although many of them had their regards for Kael, that didn't provide them with much warmth concerning the potential alternative. If this outsider managed to best their ruler, then what would become of them? Sure, he would've been severely exhausted and wounded, that fact alone wasn't enough to silence their prickling worries. Someway, somehow, they believed this figure wasn't alone.
And if that turned out to be the case, then they'd have a far greater issue on their hands, far more alarming than the news of their emperor dying in battle. As the thoughts danced feverously within their minds, Kael's coarse voice pierced through the acrid ambience.
"You are truly a dangerous opponent, demon," he spoke, his body moving up and down as he gasped in copious amounts of oxygen. "But, you are still a fool if you think you'll be the one standing in the end." he twisted and pulled, the hardened limb ripping from its socket in a torrent of raging purple blood.
"Hmm… I would have much preferred it to be black. It seems more fitting for a beast like you," Kael sneered, ripping the arm across the joints—the elbow, the fingers, before finally crushing it all a mangled mess of bone shards and churned flesh.
Slade's tired eyes carefully observed the mess of mangled flesh and bone pressed hard against the charred terrain, a subtle spark swaying within them. It started off slow, the corners of his lips curling upwards, lips raising slightly, revealing his once pearly whites, which now appeared coated with a deep shade of purple. A pungent odour swayed with his energy-producing mouth, infesting the air around him with their repugnant fragrance.
They then shifted to the stump left behind by the forceful removal, his flesh moving rapidly to seal itself, declining the rapid blood loss that effected his conscious state. Despite his dire condition, his body move in earnest to keep him as far as possible from the clutches of death.
His lips parted, their corners stretching into a sinister grin. Pain-stricken words echoed off the towering walls, escaping from the desecrated space, stretching all across the vast regions of the empire in seconds.
"Begin the operation! It is time to unleash the era of carnage upon Nefaria!"