The man seemed shocked to hear Alrain's confession. He stared at Alrain in disbelief, as if looking at a rare creature.
"You stayed despite being treated like that?" he whispered. "I envy your mental fortitude. And your courage. If only I could have been like you back then... if only I hadn't let fear control me... perhaps I would be the one standing by your side now, protecting him."
"It's a pity..." Alrain answered flatly, cutting off the sentimentality. "But you chose your own path. And now, we stand on opposite sides."
The man nodded slowly. He took a long breath, casting away the shadows of the past and summoning the fire back into his hand. The flames on his sword grew larger, burning brighter and hotter than before.
"I am Ordion!" the man proclaimed, introducing himself and taking a firm combat stance. "As a final tribute to my unspoken feelings, I will kill you and free Arvin from a servant like you!"
"I am Alrain!" he answered loudly. Wind and lightning began to swirl wildly around his body, creating a mini storm shield. "And I will send you to hell for daring to point your sword at my future husband! Let's end this quickly, Ordion!"
"Yes, let's end this!"
A moment of silence enveloped them amidst the roar of war.
And in the blink of an eye, they both lunged forward.
Clang!
The earth shook. The collision of the two powers created a massive explosion of mana. The ground beneath their feet cracked and sank.
Ordion attacked with a new madness. His strikes were much faster and more precise than before. His fire sword danced wildly, searching for even the smallest opening in Alrain's defense. The heat was so intense that Alrain's eyebrows felt as if they were about to be singed.
However, Alrain remained calm. He read every one of Ordion's moves with sharp eyes.
This is all thanks to My Lord's training. Alrain said in his heart with gratitude. His eyes moved rapidly, following the path of the fire sword, his body reacting instinctively to parry the heavy strikes. If it weren't for him training my physique so rigorously, I would surely be just a possessor of great power but with a weak body.
"Ordion, are you underestimating me?" Alrain shouted as he launched a swift horizontal wind slash toward his opponent's neck.
Ordion reacted in a flash. He threw his body backward to avoid the lethal slash, then immediately countered with a fierce thrust of his fire sword toward Alrain's heart. The heat was overwhelming.
But Alrain had already predicted it. With an acrobatic move, he spun his body in the air, narrowly avoiding the fire thrust, then countered with a vertical slash imbued with lightning.
"If this continues, you'll die quickly!"
"You'd better not underestimate me, Alrain!" Ordion replied. He parried the lightning strike with great difficulty, stumbling back a few steps, but a wide grin appeared on his face. "Because it won't be that easy to defeat me!"
Ordion released a wave of fire from his empty left hand, trying to surprise Alrain. But Alrain had already accounted for it. He swatted the fire away with a bare hand coated in wind mana, then saw a fatal opening in Ordion's abdomen that was wide open from the previous attack.
Without a moment's hesitation, Alrain thrust his sword.
Zrash!
The sound of flesh being pierced was horrifying. Alrain's wind sword pierced through Ordion's stomach with absolute precision, going through his leather armor, tearing through his internal organs, until the tip of the sword emerged from his back.
Ordion's movements stopped instantly. Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth.
"I already warned you to use all of your abilities." Alrain said coldly, his eyes staring sharply into Ordion's widening pupils.
The battle should have ended here. The thrust was fatal.
However, something strange happened.
Ordion did not fall. He did not scream in pain. Instead, he only smiled mysteriously at Alrain. A smile that made Alrain's blood run cold.
"You think this is over?" Ordion whispered.
He stepped back forcefully, pulling himself away from Alrain's sword blade. Blood poured profusely from the hole in his stomach, soaking the ground.
And then, a terrifying miracle occurred.
From within the gaping wound, it wasn't blood that continued to flow, but fire. Orange-red flames appeared suddenly, licking the wounded flesh. The fire didn't burn his skin; instead, it moved like threads of light stitching the wound from within.
Alrain widened his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The fatal stab wound closed with unnatural speed. The flesh knit back together, the skin closed perfectly, and within seconds, Ordion's stomach was smooth again without a single trace. He was completely healed, as if the previous stab had been an illusion.
"Fire regeneration..." Alrain hissed. "You... you're not a normal human?"
"That's why I told you, don't underestimate me!" Ordion stated as he patted his healed stomach, flaunting his temporary immortality. "As long as my flame still burns, death cannot touch me!"
Alrain clicked his tongue. He stepped back a few paces to create distance. An enemy with regeneration abilities was the most troublesome type in a long war.
"It seems..." Alrain grumbled while holding his forehead, feeling a headache at having to think of a new strategy amidst this chaos. "Stabbing your heart or stomach won't be useful. I must extinguish your fire from its source."
Alrain stared at Ordion's neck. His gaze became much colder and more calculative.
"I have to cut off your head. Let's see if you can grow a new one."
"Just try if you can!" Ordion challenged. He channeled a massive amount of fire mana into his entire body once more, making him look like a walking man of fire. "This time I will burn you to ashes!"
Alrain didn't respond with words. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and let the wind and lightning mana within his body explode outward. His green hair fluttered wildly in the wind he created himself.
"Sorry, Ordion. I'm in a hurry. My future husband is waiting."
Alrain opened his eyes. Green lightning flashed from his body.
He vanished.
His speed this time surpassed the limits of what Ordion's eyes could follow. Before Ordion could even raise his sword to defend, Alrain was already beside him.
Slash!
The magic sword slashed horizontally at the speed of sound, leaving a trail of green light that sliced through the air.
Ordion's head was separated from his body smoothly. His face still bore a shocked expression, his mouth slightly open as if about to utter a final incantation that never came. The head soared through the air, spinning slowly, before finally falling and rolling on the dusty ground.
The red-haired man's body stood stiff for a second. The fire around his body flickered frantically, trying to find the control center that was now gone, before finally extinguishing completely. The headless body collapsed to the ground.
Alrain stood tall, staring at Ordion's corpse for a moment, and then gave a final tribute to the enemy who had the same feelings as him, yet chose a different path.
"Rest in peace, Ordion." Alrain whispered softly. "Your love was sincere, but you were defeated by your own fear."
Alrain then turned around, looking ahead, toward where Arvin was fighting against thousands of enemies alone.
"With this, I can soon catch up to Lord Arvin." he said with determination, his eyes lighting up once more. "Wait for me, My Lord. I'm coming."