There were no clear thoughts.
There was no strategy.
There was no doubt.
Only an instinctive, brutal, and absolute need: to finish Dix.
Kael was no longer fully aware of his surroundings. His mind was a whirlwind of distorted emotions. Fragmented memories, bloody images, the metallic taste of fresh blood still on his lips… It was all chaos. But amidst that darkness, one truth remained steadfast as a rock: he had to hurry and finish Dix. And fast.
[09:45]
With his form unleashed, his body seemed to dance between realities. Every movement was a perfect fusion of instinct and unleashed power. A pair of long black claws replaced his hands, making his appearance even more intimidating than it already was.
Dix, however, was not defenseless. His face no longer showed contempt or pride, but pure panic. Although his tongue still tried to spit out insults and threats, his body trembled. He had faced many enemies. He had made countless beings suffer. But he had never felt this. It wasn't power that emanated from Kael—it was something worse. It was a type of presence he had never felt before.
As if death itself had decided to walk among the living to claim his soul.
[09:05]
"Don't come any closer! Don't you dare!" he shouted, pointing his staff at Kael.
But Kael not only didn't stop… he accelerated.
He attacked with fury, with precision, with rage. Each impact of his claws resonated like thunder in the dungeon. Dix retreated step by step, cursing, defending, trying to react, but he was overwhelmed. Only able to use his right hand, which held his spear, he could barely deflect the blows. Each collision forced him to retreat, each evasion was a miracle.
[08:15]
"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to tear you to pieces!"—Dix shouted, on the verge of collapse.
And then, knowing he couldn't hold out much longer, desperate, he dropped the staff and activated his secret ability: partial control over the structure of the dungeon itself.
The ground trembled. The walls deformed, creating stairs, walls, tunnels. A door materialized between the rocks, emitting an unnatural glow. Dix lunged towards it, narrowly avoiding a descending slash from Kael that shattered the floor where he had been a second before.
The door closed behind him, immovable. Indestructible.
Dix panted, leaning on his knees, feeling something close to relief for the first time. Though injured by Ranye and forced to flee, he had managed to get out alive. He could regroup. He could rally his subordinates. Set an ambush. He smiled. He mocked the silence that surrounded him.
But then, when he turned around… his instincts—those that had kept him alive for so many years—screamed with all their might.
He rolled on the ground, just in time to avoid a black claw that cut through the air like a guillotine. The impact cracked part of the tunnel wall where Dix had been.
When he stood up, panting, he looked ahead. And froze.
There was Kael. Right in front of him. Unscathed. No sign of fatigue. With that same inhuman gaze. Cold. Silent. Thirsty for blood… or vengeance.
"How…? How did you cross the door?!" Dix roared, his voice broken by fear. He looked back: the door was still intact. Not a single scratch. No sign of entry.
Kael did not respond.
He just looked at him. And that look said everything he needed to know, as if a god were looking at an ant.
[06:25]
Dix, trembling with rage and humiliation, grabbed his spear with both hands. Now, without the staff to hinder him, he took a stance, pointing his spear at Kael. His spear was long and black, forged with the bones of a lesser dragon. In common hands, it was heavy and cumbersome. But Dix was a master of the spear. His technique was lethal. And with it, he would fight with all his might.
"Don't get arrogant, worm!" he roared, launching his attack.
The dungeon changed around them again. Moving walls, rising platforms, collapsing ceilings. It was a living labyrinth. And in the midst of it, the two warriors fought.
[05:27]
It was a relentless battle, blood flowed, wounds became more frequent.
Sparks flew with each clash of weapons. Claws against spear. Darkness against darkness. Dix summoned traps, curtains of magical fire, spikes that rose from the ground, illusions that distorted perception. But Kael cut, broke, ignored the pain. He was like a killing machine, unstoppable.
[03:45]
At one point, Kael was partially impaled in the shoulder. The pain would be unbearable for anyone. But he didn't stop. He used the spear itself as a leverage point to deliver a devastating punch, shattering Dix's ribs.
[01:23]
But the battle was not eternal.
Dix, from overusing his eye—the cursed artifact that allowed him to control the dungeon—began to bleed. His vision blurred. The very structure of his creation began to collapse uncontrollably. A tunnel collapsed under their feet.
Before they knew it, they both fell.
For what felt like an eternity, there was nothing but darkness, wind, and stone.
And then, the impact was brutal.
Kael and Dix fell onto a huge platform of smooth, slippery stone, made slick by the water falling ceaselessly from large suspended waterfalls.
There were no visible walls. Only floating canals, eroded marble pillars, and ancient submerged structures.
A hidden city underground, silent, mystical, almost sacred.
The Water City.
A place well-known to adventurers, located between floors 25 and 27 of the dungeon. But that didn't matter to them. As they looked around, they both noticed it.
No exit routes.
No enemies around.
Just the two of them.
They both stood up heavily, as if the weight of the previous battle held them to the ground.
Kael was the first.
Although he had no visible open wounds, his regeneration was at maximum capacity, his body was fractured.
Black cracks spread across his skin, his wing, his horn. As if he were about to collapse.
His left eye, the only one retaining his original features, was red, bleeding, completely bloodshot from the internal pressure.
His breathing was erratic, almost as if each exhalation pained him.
In front of him, Dix leaned on his spear.
The weapon had fallen to his side, almost out of mercy.
He was as damaged as Kael.
His clothes torn, his body covered in bruises and lacerations. His right leg trembled. One of his arms hung limp, but he still had the will to hold his weapon with the other.
There were no more taunts on his face. Only a stubborn and trembling determination not to die there.
And then the counter appeared.
Floating between them.
[00:10]
A simple number.
But each second was a sentence.
A countdown to the end.
Kael didn't look at it. He didn't need to.
He felt it, like an inner voice.
It was now or never.
Dix, looking at him as if understanding what he was thinking, also prepared himself.
There was no room for more maneuvers.
There would be no escape.
[00:09]
[00:08]
They both began to move.
Water splashed under their steps.
[00:07]
Each one ran towards the other, unprotected, without hesitation.
[00:06]
[00:05]
The ancient structures resonated with each footstep, as if the entire place shuddered at their resolve.
[00:04]
Kael raised his right arm, claws ready, aiming for the center of Dix's body.
[00:03]
Dix raised his spear, aiming for Kael's heart.
[00:02]
The distance between them no longer existed.
And then, just as they were one step away, Dix screamed with all his might, spitting out a mix of fury, pride, and defiance...
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME! AS IF I'M GOING TO DIE BY A WORM LIKE YOU!!"
[00:01]
Kael did not respond.
He just kept advancing.
Without fear.
Without doubts.
[00:00]
And then… the world froze.
The water suspended in the air.
The ripples from their steps stopped.
The weapons about to collide.
Both bodies tense.
Both gazes locked on each other.
A final pair of distorted screens appeared between them, floating in the air...
[TIME LIMIT REACHED]
[FORCED DEACTIVATION OF ABILITY]
And there they remained.
Frozen.
In a silence that threatened to consume everything.
Everything had been said.
Everything had been done.
All that was left to know… was who would claim the next second.