Elder Zyren and Elder Ma resud their assault, working in perfect unison with every ti Cain countered Elder Zyren's overhead hamr swings, Elder Ma would charge in with a devastating punch.
When Cain tried to concentrate on Elder Ma's fists, Elder Zyren would force him back with columns of fire from the runes on his weapon.
Their synergy steadily increased the pressure. This ti, Cain found himself weaving in multiple directions, occasionally blocking in a less ideal stance.
Prince Valen smirked from his vantage point, the flicker of hope in his eyes growing brighter.
'They can wear him out' Valen thought to himself. 'He can't maintain that monstrous defense forever.'
But then ca a sudden shift in Cain's aura. With a low, controlled exhalation, Cain tapped further into his deeper reserves. The foxfire around him darkened to a black-gold hue, and the temperature surged. Heatwaves rose in shimring ribbons, causing Elder Ma to hesitate mid-strike.
Slowly, two massive wings of roaring fla erupted from Cain's back. The flas arched high, each featherlike edge dancing with golden sparks. Intense gales blasted outward in every direction, scattering cinders and soot. Infernal Ascendance now manifested in its fullness with far more vivid than any fleeting display Cain had shown earlier.
Valen's eyes went round. "What is that…?"
Zyren shielded his face from the harsh glow. "Whatever it is, he can't keep it up for long. Press him!"
The flas swirling around Cain's clone crackled ominously, forming an aura so scorching that the ground around his feet started to glow red-hot.
When Cain looked up, his eyes blazed with fierce confidence. "You wanted to fight without reserve, right? Here it is."
In an instant, Cain charged forward as he unfurled his wings. The speed of his advance left Elder Ma barely enough ti to brace.
Cain's flaming arm collided with Ma's fists, unleashing a shockwave that uprooted the charred remains of nearby trees.
Even though Elder Ma managed to block, the searing heat scorched his forearms, and he stumbled back staggeringly.
Across the battlefield, Zyren swung his hamr downward in a desperate attempt to intercept Cain. Flaming runes spiraled along the hamr's shaft, forming a swirling ring of molten energy around its head.
Sparks flew when Cain's wing battered the hamr aside. With a roar, Cain unleashed a Foxfire Explosion from his left hand, blasting Zyren and tossing him several ters away.
For a mont, it was as if a living inferno had descended upon the battlefield. Everywhere Cain moved, scorching flas trailed behind him. Embers caught in the wind, swirling into chaotic flurries around the two Elders. The prior "even" battle dynamic vanished, replaced by Cain's near-absolute dominance.
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Elder Ma grimaced, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Zyren, we have to use everything we have."
Zyren coughed, half kneeling. "I'm… cough—with you."
Standing at the edges, Valen saw the battered forms of Elder Ma and his master forced into a final battle. Fear warred with hope in his eyes.
'If they succeed, the youngest will die here. But, If they fail…' The thought trailed off, too grim to complete.
The two Elders dashed back from Cain, taking up positions at opposite ends of the cratered clearing.
Glancing at each other, they prepared their final moves—their ultimate techniques. The ground trembled as if sensing the build-up of power.
Elder Zyren thrust his molten war hamr high into the air, runes on its surface glowing from red to near white-hot.
"Celestial Hamrfall!" he roared, igniting every reserve of his mana. A swirling column of fire plumted from the sky, rging into the hamr's head. Sparks crackled around the artifact, forming the shape of a blazing cot.
Elder Ma inhaled sharply, fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned pale.
"Titan Fist of Ruin!" he bellowed. His entire body pulsed with red lightning-like arcs, channeling explosive martial force into his arms. It was a technique rumored to break fortress gates in one strike.
Both n rushed Cain simultaneously as Elder Zyren from above, aiming to crush him beneath the cotlike hamr, and Elder Ma from below, fists cocked for a devastating uppercut that radiated swirling red mana.
Cain, still within Infernal Ascendance, hovered in midair with wings extended. He sensed the monstrous energies converging upon him.
Instead of dodging, he gathered every ounce of fla in a single point at his center. The black-gold foxfire intensified, swirling into a rapidly rotating sphere in front of his outstretched hands.
Zyren's flaming hamr smashed down first, colliding with Cain's orb. A colossal shockwave rippled out, turning nearby stones to dust. In the sa breath, Ma's Titan Fist of Ruin slamd into the orb from below, completing the pincer attack.
The two Elders' ultimate skills converged in a maelstrom of sound and fury, shaking the entire battlefield so violently that Valen and Elder Ma's disciple could barely stay upright even after they retreated quite far away.
For a mont, brilliant and blinding light consud the battlefield. Flas of blue, gold, red, and orange rged, sending blazing embers high into the sky. The earth cracked in wide spider web patterns, forming a deep crater at the point of impact.
Then ca an eruption of pure foxfire might. Cain channeled the majority of his imnse Energy reserves into fueling the orb until it detonated in a wave of black-gold fla that washed over everything in its path.
Elder Zyren's cotlike hamr strike fractured under the sudden backlash since the swirling flas around it dispersed as the war hamr itself cracked. Simultaneously, the red energy of Elder Ma's Titan Fist of Ruin flickered, then vanished. Both Elders were hurled away as if they were caught in a cyclone.
When the blazing glow faded, the previously lively forest was barely recognizable. The land, which had previously rely been burnt, had now been rearranged into a gigantic crater. Fused crystalline patches shimred along its edges, reflecting flickers of cooling embers. Several forest trees remained ablaze, their trunks reduced to ember-laden pillars.
Elder Zyren groaned, lying in a shallow trench near the crater's boundary. The hamr in his hand had splintered as its runic glow had faded into a few dying embers. Blood oozed from his mouth, and severe burns marred his arms. He tried to push himself upright, but his muscles refused to comply.
Elder Ma landed farther away, half-buried under a mound of broken earth. The aura around his fists was gone, replaced by angry red welts across his forearms and torso. Gasping raggedly, he knew that he had sustained internal injuries from the foxfire blast.
Between them stood Cain, wings of fla slowly retracting. The lines of foxfire that radiated from his body began to dim, revealing that he was unhard except for minor smudges of dust on his attire. The swirling inferno from Infernal Ascendance dissipated, leaving only a residual halo of fla around him.
Valen felt his blood run cold as he stepped back unconsciously. 'They lost. Both of them.' Fear churned in the prince's stomach, no longer hidden by anger or denial.
Cain watched his fallen enemies with a distant expression. Smoke curled from the ground, swirling around Zyren and Ma's bodies. The old n, once proud King Rank experts, were now broken and on the brink of death.
With a pained grunt, Zyren lifted his gaze as he spoke strugglingly. "You… How can you be this strong–."
Cain said nothing as he advanced on Zyren, creating a short blade of foxfire in his right hand.
The old man's eyes widened in alarm, but his body refused to respond. In a swift motion, Cain pierced Zyren's chest, the foxfire severing flesh and bone with ease.
The elder's eyes went blank, and his final exhalation escaped in a ragged sigh. The war hamr he once prized clattered uselessly to the side.
Elder Ma, still pinned under debris, coughed violently. Blood flowed from the side of his mouth and pooled in the burnt soil below him. He gazed up at Cain, chest heaving. "rcy," he croaked with a voice barely audible.
Cain locked eyes with the battered old man. "You ca here to kill ," he said quietly. "You've had your chances."
Before Elder Ma could say another word, Cain flicked his hand. A beam of foxfire pierced through Ma's chest. The old man's body convulsed once, then lay still. A gentle breeze rustled through the burnt leaves above, carrying away the faint echo of his dying breath.
"Youngest, do you know the consequences of doing this?" Valen frowned as he intended to threaten Cain to save their lives.
"You're done for! Do you know that the Flaforge sect is the subsidiary force of the Jade Inferno Kingdom, one of the strongest kingdoms in this world?" Elder Ma's disciple clenched his fists tightly, feeling helpless as he could only watch his master's death before his own eyes.
He thought that he would have so fun by joining his master after he heard that his master's old friend was asking him for a favor. Unfortunately, this choice was the worst choice that he had made in his life when he would likely die here.
Cain didn't respond to them at all as he imdiately raised his hands, making two big spears, and unleashed them, aiming at Valen and Elder Ma's disciple.
He directly killed the other two because he didn't want to waste any more of his ti since the bid for the little wolf was over and he won it.
Naturally, Cain's clone didn't forget to take their space rings before going back to the city, leaving their corpses behind as he intended to feed them to the fortunate and courageous beast who would check the battlefield after the battle was over.
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