The First Dawn loomed over Celestia and the ghostly warrior, its presence warping the battlefield. The once-vibrant, star-dotted grasslands had turned to ruin, the land scarred by their battle.
Above, the sky trembled, veins of crimson light splintering through the clouds like shattered glass. The heavens themselves seemed to crack apart, as if unable to contain the sheer force of the powers clashing below. A surge of red energy rained down, carving through the earth with a deafening roar, leaving deep fissures in its wake.
The dragon reared back, opening its monstrous maw. Tendrils of black lightning spiraled within before erupting in a colossal blast, hurtling toward Celestia and the ghostly figure beside her.
The ghost reacted instantly.
Summoning a translucent shield, he raised his hand just as the lightning strike met it head-on. The impact was explosive, splitting the air apart with a sonic boom. Yet, the shield held—then vanished, absorbing the attack completely.
The figure moved fluidly, shifting his stance into something impossibly graceful—a posture resembling a butterfly, yet sharpened with the rigid geometry of an Octagram. The light around him dimmed, then flared into a blinding white. His shield morphed, extending into a spear adorned with flowing ribbons, their ends dancing like embers in the wind.
"BASTARD!" he roared, voice carrying across the battlefield.
With an explosive leap, he soared toward the dragon, his spear crackling with raw energy. The First Dawn reacted instantly, its wings unfurling as it launched itself skyward.
Celestia could feel the surge of power in the air as the beast swung its katana, slicing through the space before it. The air ignited, forming a colossal arc of roaring fire, hurtling toward the ghost.
[Divine Barrier] Activated.
A flicker of white energy coiled around the ghostly warrior as he twisted midair, deflecting the incoming inferno. His spear pierced through the First Dawn's wings, momentum carrying him upward. For a fleeting moment, he stood in midair, his body fueled by the very essence of the battlefield.
Then—he twisted the spear.
A shockwave blasted outward as the spear ripped through the wing, sending the dragon plummeting toward the ground. The dragon wailed, its roar shaking the heavens as its wing began to regenerate almost instantly.
[White Lightning Strike] Activated.
A bolt of lightning screamed down from the heavens, funneling straight into the dragon. The sheer voltage surged through its body, frying it from the inside out. Sparks erupted from its scales, its muscles convulsing violently.
It twisted into pieces, First Dawn, launching itself away from the dragon's body, exhaling deeply.
The sky responded.
The rain itself began to change, turning into electricity-charged water. Every drop pulsed with raw, untamed power.
The ghostly warrior stood unfazed, his form intangible to the storm's effects. Celestia, too, remained unmoved—[Electricity Immunity] rendered the storm meaningless.
The ghost turned his glowing eyes toward the First Dawn, voice ringing across the battlefield.
"FIRST DAWN! TASTE THE PAIN OF DEATH—FOR IT IS DESTINED!"
The intricate butterfly-Octagram pattern reappeared beneath his feet. His spear twisted, its shape shifting—lengthening, hardening—until it perfectly mimicked the First Dawn's katana. Every arcane property, every ounce of its destructive potential mirrored flawlessly.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward.
Celestia was right beside him.
Her blade blazed with pure white mana, glowing like a fallen star. Then—the glow vanished. In its place, a razor-thin layer of mana pulsed along its edge, vibrating as if reality itself was being cut apart.
She activated:
[Sword's Will], [Blessing of Divine Order], and [Curse of Poisoned Blood]
The sword shimmered, momentarily shifting through countless colors before settling into a brilliant, almost blinding white.
She funneled her power into the blade, excluding only [Blessing of Self Protection] and [Divine Barrier].
The two warriors converged on the First Dawn simultaneously.
Sparks erupted as their weapons clashed against the beast's katana. The sheer force of the impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, tearing through the ground. Grasslands were flattened, distant hills cracked, and the very air burned from the mana discharge.
The First Dawn met them head-on.
With an earsplitting roar, it parried both strikes instantly—its movements too fast, its reaction flawless. It twisted in midair, flickering out of sight, only to reappear in an instant.
Then—it charged again.
The storm raged on, the sky split apart by streaks of crimson and violet lightning. Electricity infused Rain pounded the battlefield, yet the ground beneath them was scorched and broken, torn apart by the sheer force of their clashing.
Celestia, the ghostly warrior, and the First Dawn met in an explosion of raw power, weapons colliding with the force of stars.
BOOM.
The first strike landed—Celestia's mana-infused blade slashed downward, its glow illuminating the night. The First Dawn parried, its monstrous katana shrieking against hers in a shower of embers.
The ghostly warrior spun into the next attack, his mimicry blade twisting in a perfect arc—but the beast was faster.
Its colossal tail whipped around, shattering the withered trees nearby, sending chunks of wood flying through the air like spears.
Celestia ducked beneath a strike, countering with a thrust aimed straight for its exposed ribs—
CLANG!
The First Dawn deflected her blade with its armored wrist, sparks flaring in the darkness. The ghostly warrior struck from behind—his katana slicing through the rain itself, the pressure alone splintering the ground.
But the beast was relentless.
With a roar, it twisted, its tail striking out like a hammer.
BOOM!
Celestia barely managed to raise her blade in time—yet the force sent her skidding backward, boots carving deep trenches into the ground. Her knee fell to the ground before forcing herself back up. The ghostly warrior was flung back, crashing through a half-burnt tree, the trunk exploding into splinters.
The First Dawn lunged at her, flames coiling around its katana like a living inferno.
Celestia activated [Tempest Blade].
Her sword blurred, moving faster than the eye could follow.
One. Two. Three. Four slashes—each one met with a deafening clang, each impact cracking the very earth beneath them.
The ground beneath their feet split open, fault lines spreading outward like a web.
The rain hissed against the superheated ground, steam rising in thick, eerie plumes.
The ghostly warrior reappeared behind the First Dawn like a phantom, his form flickering like a mirage in the rain. His breath steadied.
Then—he struck. His blade, a perfect mimic of the First Dawn's own katana, sliced through the beast's flesh.
A spray of golden ichor burst into the air, hissing as it met the scorched ground.
Before he could follow up, the First Dawn reacted with terrifying speed.
A single swing of its tail sent the warrior hurtling backward, his body crashing through the debris of the battlefield.
But Celestia's eyes weren't on him, her gaze locked onto the wound.
It was still there. The golden flesh remained torn apart.
Her breath caught.
'Can it not heal from slashes made by its own sword…?'
Realization dawned, her grip on her mana-forged blade tightening.
She had just found its weakness. And, she smiled.
She turned her head slightly, voice sharp and urgent. "It can't regenerate wounds from its own sword!"
The ghostly warrior, still regaining his footing from the devastating blow, froze for a split second. His spectral form flickered like a dying star before his golden eyes locked onto the still-bleeding wound.
Then, he grinned.
"Heh. So this bastard actually has a damn weakness. Good to know."
Without hesitation, they both charged.
The ground beneath them shattered from the force of their sprint, craters forming with each step as the sheer pressure of their mana tore through the landscape. The dead trees that once stood defiantly around them splintered into dust, their brittle trunks unable to withstand the storm of raw power erupting from the battlefield.
Celestia's blade of pure mana gleamed in the rain, burning with the combined force of her [Sword's Will], [Divine Order], and [Poisoned Blood].
The ghostly warrior's mimicked katana pulsed with raw energy, ribbons of flaming red light twirling around its edge, perfectly reflecting the First Dawn's own strength.
Their figures blurred as they struck—the first impact sent out a cataclysmic shockwave, a force so great that the sky cracked, and the remaining clouds vanished.
The First Dawn's katana met both their blades at once, but this time, it wasn't enough.
Sparks erupted in the storm-lit air, arcs of white and black lightning colliding midstrike, the sheer pressure carving deep trenches into the already-battered earth.
Celestia twisted her body mid-strike, using the momentum to redirect the beast's own strength against it, sliding her mana blade along its massive weapon before slashing toward its exposed flank.
The ghostly warrior mirrored her movements, attacking from the opposite side, his spectral blade singing through the air like a vengeful spirit.
As they charged again, the First Dawn roared—but this time, a smirk curled across its monstrous maw. The realm groaned, deep cracks spiderwebbing through the sky as time itself began to twist. Reality warped, attempting to rewind the battle, undoing their efforts in an instant.
[Passive: Time Immunity] activated.
A pulse of divine resistance surged outward from Celestia's body, snapping the realm back into place. The fractures in time froze mid-reversal, then violently repaired themselves, locking the flow of time in its rightful course.
The First Dawn froze.
Something deep within its core ruptured.
[Curse of Relentless Pain] activated.
A guttural, ear-splitting howl erupted from the beast as it staggered back, its enormous frame trembling. Every wound it had ever suffered across countless battles, across unforeseeable centuries, all came crashing down upon it at once.
Its limbs buckled.
A titan fell to its knees.
The ghost warrior saw this and did not hesitate at all.
With a single, explosive step forward, he disappeared—then reappeared midair, his mimicked katana draped in flowing embers as he prepared to deliver the finishing blow.
Celestia raised her hand.
[Blessing of Divine Order] activated.
The sacred aura surged around the ghost's blade, intertwining with the roaring flames already crackling along its edge. The sword, now coated in a blinding fusion of order and destruction, swayed behind him like the burning wings of an angel in the process of falling.
He struck.
The katana sliced cleanly through the First Dawn's massive torso, carving the beast in half in a single, seamless motion.
The world seemed to pause.
Then—
[Flames of Yugoth] activated.
Hellfire erupted.
A maelstrom of black and crimson flames tore across the battlefield, consuming the barren wasteland in an inferno of annihilation.
And yet—within the flames—ice began to form.
Celestia willed her power further, freezing the flames, turning the pure, devouring flames into an unholy fusion of fire and frost.
The First Dawn's roar of agony echoed through the realm, its severed body engulfed in the warring forces of freezing heat and burning cold.
Celestia strode toward the dying beast, her presence unwavering, her mana swelling with power.
[Blessing of Flame Arts] activated.
As the flames ignited around her, another force surged to life.
[Passive: Blessing from Serakaris] activated.
The fire—vanished.
No longer visible to mortal eyes, the ethereal flames burned unseen, their heat intensifying, devouring everything in their path.
Yet, from a distance, the ghost warrior saw them.
His spectral gaze pierced through the veil of the afterlife, watching as Celestia advanced, her every step leaving embers flickering in the air.
The First Dawn writhed, still attempting to resist, its body beginning to mend itself—but the flames were already there, creeping through its wounds, consuming it from the inside out. Even its adaption stopped as the flames ate at its soul.
Celestia reached the beast, and without missing a sound, not saying a single word, she looked at the beast with disgust, and disdain clearly residing on her face.
[Martial Arts of Yugoth] activated.
Her foot ignited, cloaked in starving, unseen fire, and with a single motion, she drove a brutal kick straight into the First Dawn's abdomen.
A thunderous shockwave tore through the battlefield.
The beast lurched, a roar of agony escaping its maw as the invisible flames spread like a curse, engulfing its very essence.
She raised her blade high above the First dawn, the steel humming with boundless energy—and brought it crashing down.
[Blade of Summoning] activated.
Seven blades materialized within the First Dawn's flesh, piercing through muscle, bone, and sinew.
[Ice Infuse] activated.
Frost erupted from within the beast's core.
Its insides crystallized instantly, the brutal cold locking its organs in a frozen tomb while the invisible flames of Yugoth continued its relentless consumption from the outside.