Chapter 65: Power Beyond Understanding

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Power Beyond Understanding

The mountain was still trembling.

The enormous explosion from moments ago had left the entire battlefield wrapped in dust and smoke. Pieces of broken stone continued to fall from the cliffs above, striking the ground with dull, heavy crashes that echoed through the ruined slopes. The air itself felt thick, heavy with residual heat and the sharp scent of scorched rock.

Theon stood motionless.

His hair was still being pushed backward by the fading shockwave. His clothes were torn in several places, fabric clinging to cuts and bruises that had not yet begun to heal. His body ached from the injuries he had already suffered, a deep, persistent throb that ran from his ribs down into his legs. For several seconds all he could hear was the high, thin ringing in his ears.

Then something moved through the dust.

Theon narrowed his eyes.

Nova.

The powerful figure was lying several meters away, partially buried beneath shattered rocks. One arm hung limp. Blood mixed with dirt across the side of his face.

Theon expected him to rise.

Instead, another figure stepped through the smoke.

Lazaria

She walked toward Nova without saying a word. Her steps were unhurried. Measured. The dust parted around her as if unwilling to touch her skin.

Something was wrong.

Theon felt it immediately.

The girl walking through the dust looked like Lazaria, but the presence surrounding her was completely different. The air seemed heavier around her, pressing down on the chest, making each breath require more effort. Tiny stones trembled against the ground in small, nervous vibrations. Even the dust floating in the air seemed to curve away from her body, refusing contact.

Theon stared.

He had seen Lazaria before. Quiet. Mysterious. Sometimes strangely playful when the mood struck her. But never like this. Never with a presence that made the mountain itself seem to lean away.

Nova slowly pushed himself out from beneath the rubble. Blood ran down the side of his face in a thin, steady line. His eyes locked onto Lazaria .

"What did you do?"

Lazaria stopped.

She did not answer.

Nova’s expression twisted with anger. Pride and pain mixed in equal measure across his features.

"You think one surprise attack is enough?"

He suddenly lunged.

His fist shot toward Lazaria ’s face with enough force to shatter stone.

Theon instinctively tensed. Every muscle in his body prepared to swoop in for the impact.

But Lazaria did not move.

At the last possible moment her hand rose. She caught Nova’s fist.

Not blocked it.

Caught it.

Theon’s eyes widened.

Nova’s expression changed. For the first time genuine confusion appeared on his face. His arm strained. Muscles stood out along his forearm. The fist did not move another centimeter.

Lazaria slowly looked down at his captured hand. Then she looked back at him. Her eyes were calm. Almost bored.

"You’re loud."

Her fist moved.

**BOOM!**

The punch struck Nova’s stomach with a sound like a mountain collapsing. The force was so enormous that his body left the ground instantly. He shot upward like a cannonball, limbs trailing, blood spraying from his mouth in a dark arc.

Higher.

Higher.

Higher.

Within seconds Nova had become nothing more than a tiny figure against the clouds.

Theon stared upward, mouth slightly open.

"What..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lazaria vanished.

A moment later she appeared above Nova in a blur of motion almost too fast for the eye to follow. Theon’s eyes barely caught her silhouette against the darkening sky.

Lazaria turned in the air. Then she drove her heel downward with the full weight of her body and power behind it.

**BOOOOOOM!**

Nova fell from the sky.

His body slammed into the mountain with such force that the ground beneath him split apart in a wide, jagged circle. A massive crater formed. Stone and earth erupted outward in a ring of debris. The mountain itself groaned, a deep, grinding sound that traveled through the rock and into Theon’s bones.

Theon remained frozen. Dust settled slowly around the new crater. He slowly turned toward Silver.

"Was she always this powerful?"

Silver looked at him. Then looked at Lazaria. Then back at Theon.

"How am I supposed to know?"

She shrugged, the motion casual despite the destruction still settling around them.

"I literally just joined you all."

Theon stared at her.

"...Right." He said then in his mind *Demm she’s got some sharp tongue*

The tiny moment of humor did nothing to calm his mind. He looked back toward Lazaria. Who exactly was she? And how long had she been hiding this power? The answer was becoming more frightening by the second.

----

A thunderous roar suddenly tore through the sky.

Theon looked upward. His expression changed.

Another battle was Unfolding.

Above the mountain, the sky itself was burning.

Ifrith descended like a falling star.

His body was covered in dark veins that pulsed with black light. Black mana crawled over his skin like living shadows, twisting around his arms and shoulders in restless, hungry patterns. His eyes were still corrupted by the Demon Blight, twin voids without recognition or mercy. His expression contained nothing but rage.

The Flame Empress stood several dozen meters away. Flames danced around her body in controlled, elegant ribbons. She looked calm. Almost too calm.

Ifrith disappeared.

The air exploded where he had been standing, a sharp crack of displaced force. He appeared in front of her. His fist came forward like a meteor.

The Flame Empress tilted her head. The punch passed beside her cheek close enough that the wind of it stirred her crimson hair. She disappeared into flames.

Ifrith spun. She appeared behind him. A flaming kick struck his back with a sharp, focused detonation.

**BOOM!**

Ifrith was pushed forward several meters. But he recovered almost instantly, boots digging into empty air as if it were solid ground. He turned and swung his elbow. She ducked. His elbow missed. His knee followed. She moved sideways. His claws came next, raking through the space where her throat had been. She vanished again.

Fire erupted between them in a bright, brief flare. The two figures separated, hovering opposite one another once more.

Theon watched from below. His eyes followed every movement he could understand, though many were simply blurs of heat and force.

"Ifrith..."

The demon was not fighting like a skilled swordsman or a trained martial artist. He was fighting like a monster. Every attack carried overwhelming physical force. Fists. Claws. Elbows. Knees. Kicks. Explosions. He did not care how much energy he wasted. He simply kept attacking, each strike meant to break whatever stood in front of him.

The Flame Empress, however, moved like fire itself. She twisted around his attacks with minimal effort. She disappeared into flames and emerged somewhere else. She used the smallest movements possible, conserving everything.

But something had changed.

At first she had looked completely relaxed. Now she was watching Ifrith carefully. She was no longer treating him like an annoyance. She was taking him seriously.

Ifrith suddenly appeared above her. He brought both fists downward with the full weight of his corrupted power.

The Flame Empress crossed her arms.

**BOOM!**

The impact sent flames exploding in every direction. She was forced several meters downward, boots skidding through the air. Ifrith followed without pause. Another punch. Then another. Then a kick. The Flame Empress blocked the first. Dodged the second. The third struck her shoulder with a solid, heavy sound.

She spun through the air, crimson hair whipping around her face. Ifrith chased her. His claws ripped through the flames where her body had been a fraction of a second earlier. She reappeared behind him. A palm strike hit his back. Ifrit barely moved. He turned. His fist struck her. She blocked. The force pushed her backward through the air in a long, controlled slide.

Theon swallowed. In shock at how Ifrith’s physical strength was terrifying. And this was not even the Ifrith he had known before. The Demon Blight had corrupted him. It had made him reckless. It had destroyed his reason. Yet somehow his physical power remained monstrous.

Theon could not help wondering how strong Ifrith had been before suppressing his true strength. That thought alone made him uncomfortable.

Then Ifrith stopped.

He hovered in the air. His chest rose and fell heavily. The Flame Empress remained several meters away, watching him with those sharp, ancient eyes.

Ifrith slowly raised one hand. Dark flames gathered around his palm, swirling inward as if drawn by an invisible current.

The Flame Empress’s expression remained unchanged.

Then Ifrith spoke, voice rough and guttural.

"High Explosion."

Theon frowned.

"What?"

A sphere of fire appeared above Ifrith. It was small at first. Then it grew. And grew. And grew. Within moments the sphere was enormous. Volcanic flames swirled inside it in violent, molten currents. The clouds above disappeared beneath its orange glow. The entire sky became red. Heat descended upon the mountain in a thick, oppressive wave.

Theon instinctively raised an arm to shield his face. Even from the ground the heat was unbearable. Sweat formed instantly across his brow and neck.

Silver looked upward.

"Hm."

Theon glanced at her.

"Hm?"

She did not answer.

Above them Ifrith pushed his hand forward. The enormous sphere began moving, accelerating as it fell toward the Flame Empress.

The Flame Empress finally looked at it properly. Then she sighed, the sound almost lost in the roar of the approaching fire.

"You’re really going to use flame against me?"

Ifrith roared in response. The sphere accelerated further, trailing a long tail of burning debris.

The Flame Empress raised one hand.

"How foolish of you."

She snapped her fingers.

The fire disappeared.

Completely.

No explosion. No clash. No shockwave. One moment the gigantic sphere filled the sky. The next... nothing. Not even smoke. Not even a single ember drifting downward.

Theon lowered his arm slowly. His eyes widened.

"What did she just do?"

Silver answered without looking at him.

"Canceled it."

"Canceled?"

"Yes."

Theon looked at the empty sky, still struggling to accept what he had just witnessed.

"You mean she destroyed the spell?"

"No."

Silver finally looked at him.

"She canceled the spell."

The distinction made no sense to Theon.

"What’s the difference?"

"Destroying a spell means overpowering it with another. Canceled means the spell was denied before it could continue."

Theon stared.

"So she didn’t even fight it."

"No."

Silver’s expression became serious.

"All Flame is under her authority."

Theon looked upward again.

"Absolute authority?"

"Something close to it."

He remembered the title. The Flame Empress. Suddenly it did not sound like a title anymore. It sounded like a warning.

Silver continued, voice quiet but clear.

"Against her, ordinary flame magic is almost useless."

Theon slowly exhaled.

"Ifrith is going to be pissed."

As if hearing him, Ifrith roared. The Demon Blight around his body exploded outward in a violent surge. Black mana covered the surrounding sky in thick, writhing tendrils. His flames changed. They became darker. More violent. More unstable.

Then ifrith vanished.

**BOOM!**

He appeared directly in front of the Flame Empress. His fist came forward. She dodged. His second fist followed. She dodged again. His claws ripped through the air. She disappeared but before she could fully complete it He reappeared behind her and struck her with a kick. Then she twisted away with a burst of flames. And then she vanished.

Ifrith also was not giving her a moment to breathe. He attacked again. And again. And again. His movements became faster. The Flame Empress began retreating, forced to use more space, more effort.

Theon watched carefully. Something was changing. Ifrith was adapting. He was no longer simply throwing attacks. He began using feints. A punch became a claw strike. A claw strike became an explosion. An explosion concealed a kick. The Flame Empress dodged one attack only to find another waiting for her.

Then it happened.

Ifrith caught her. His hand closed around her arm with crushing force. The Flame Empress’s eyes widened slightly. Ifrith swung her downward with his full strength.

**BOOM!**

Her body slammed into the mountain and the entire cliff collapsed in a roar of breaking stone. Dust and debris exploded outward in a thick cloud. Ifrith followed her into the rubble without hesitation. Another explosion erupted from within the collapsed stone. And the Flame Empress shot into the sky a moment later, trailing smoke and crimson fire. Ifrith pursued. She turned. Her palm struck his chest, and the impact launched him backward through the air. He stopped himself in midair with a flare of dark wings. Then the Flame Empress appeared above him. Her foot came down.

**CRASH!**

Ifrith was driven toward the ground with enough force to create a new crater. The battle continued without pause. Neither one was willing to yield.

And Theon finally understood.

They were not fighting to see who could destroy the other first. They were fighting while both were holding back.