The Soul Forger rolled his massive shoulders, seemingly savoring his freedom.
"Tell , Axel," the ancient being rumbled, "are you accustod to battling creatures of my size? Most humans quiver at the re sight of beings like ."
"I've had my fair share of battles against against giants things like you. But you know, size rarely determines the outco."
Rel's grip on his sword remained steady, his stance relaxed yet alert.
A smile spread across the Soul Forger's face.
Sothing about Rel's answer seed to please him imnsely.
'If I had ever t a human just like him...' the Soul Forger thought to himself, his ancient mind traveling back through countless centuries.
He paused, considering whether he wanted to follow the prophet of the stars as foretold in the ancient texts, but the realization struck him with sudden clarity.
It was already too late.
The prophet of the fallen star had been broken since then, shattered across by forces even he couldn't comprehend.
The Soul Forger hefted his massive hamr, the weight of it causing the stone floor beneath him to crack slightly.
"Then let us begin, Axel. Show what makes you different from the countless warriors I've encountered over the millennia."
In response, Rel raised his blade.
The air around them seed to still, as if the universe itself was holding its breath in anticipation.
Then it happened.
CRACKKK! BOOOM!
A storm of lightning erupted around the chamber, black bolts lashing against the ancient walls.
The Soul Forger's eyes widened as he witnessed the source, the black aura Rel had imbued within his sword.
It wasn't rely coating the blade as most warriors' aura did; it was transforming it, changing its very nature.
The ancient being watched in fascination as the transformation progressed.
The sword's tal seed to drink in the darkness until it completely turned black, with every part of the blade gaining a unique blackness to it—not the dull black of ordinary tal, but a deep, consuming void that seed to bend light around its edges.
'It's finally ready to ascend,' the Soul Forger realized, genuine surprise evident in his ancient features.
To confirm his suspicion, the Soul Forger gripped his hamr tightly and imbued it with his own aura.
Black energy flowed from his stone-like flesh into the weapon, but this was no ordinary manifestation of power.
With his black hamr there was sothing Rel noticed in its uniqueness.
Not only did the Soul Forger have black aura, but there was so much aura flowing around his hamr that storms of lightning erupted from it like a hurricane.
The energy crackled and hissed, arcs of black lightning leaping between the walls, ceiling and floor, scorching ancient stone with each touch.
'Dominance Armant... and not only that his weapon is Special Supre Grade...'
Rel thought, his eyes narrowing as he recognized what he was witnessing.
In a world filled with weapons of all kinds, only three swords had ever been labeled the Pinnacle of weaponry infused with aura - the Special Supre Grade.
The Soul Forger's hamr, though not a sword, clearly belonged in this rarefied category.
What made such weapons so special was their absolute uniqueness compared to their respective holders.
A Special Supre Grade weapon was essentially a 1 of 1 in terms of quality, possessing Unique Aura Properties, Unique Appearance, True Damage, True Aura Output, and most importantly, permanent infused aura within the weapon itself.
Masters of aura who wielded such weapons could inflict damage that remained permanent regardless of how strong their opponents were, how much they could withstand attacks, reduce damage, or any other defensive capability.
The permanent nature of these wounds transcended normal healing, marking the victim forever with injuries that could never truly nd.
Rel was well aware of this consequence, a single strike from that hamr could leave wounds that would never heal, damage that would follow him beyond this battle, perhaps even beyond this world.
"You recognize it," the Soul Forger said, his voice rumbling with pride as he noticed Rel's gaze fixed on his weapon.
"Few mortals understand what they're seeing when they behold a Special weapon."
ZOOMMM!
The ancient being swung the hamr in a casual arc, leaving trails of black lightning in its wake.
"This is Worldbreaker, forged from the heart of this earth and tempered in the blood of gods. It has shattered many and sundered nations."
He pointed the massive weapon at Rel.
"Your blade... it approaches such status, but hasn't quite reached it. You are still too far from it."
The Soul Forger's chest expanded as he drew in a deep breath, his stone-like body glowing with internal heat. His eyes blazed with ancient power as his jaw unhinged unnaturally wide.
"Let's see how you dance, mortal!"
WHOOOOSH!
A torrent of blue flas erupted from the Soul Forger's maw, not the ordinary orange-red of natural fire but sothing far more primal.
The ignited breath roared across the forge, transforming the chamber into a hellscape of destruction.
'I can't believe he's using that already.'
Rel darted sideways, his movents fluid and precise as the flas scorched the stone where he'd stood monts before.
The heat was intense enough to lt the floor into bubbling slag, yet Rel maintained his composure, calculating each step carefully in order to not get burnt.
However, The Soul Forger tracked him, his massive head swiveling to follow Rel's evasive maneuvers.
The stream of blue fire curved through the air, chasing its target with persistence.
"Running only prolongs the inevitable!" the ancient being bellowed between breaths, the flas intensifying as he poured more power into his assault.
Rel's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the pattern of the flas, noting the slight fluctuations in their intensity.
He ducked behind a massive pillar, which imdiately began to glow white-hot under the onslaught.
In seconds, the column would lt completely.
'Surely, he'll have an opening eventually right?'
The Soul Forger's chest heaved as he maintained the torrent of flas, his lungs beginning to strain from the continuous exertion.
Even for a being of his magnitude, such power could not be sustained indefinitely.
'This is it.'
Rel sensed the opportunity approaching. Each breath had its limits.
'Now!'
When the flas finally sputtered, the briefest interruption in the Soul Forger's attack, Rel exploded from cover.
His form beca a blur as he closed the distance, capitalizing on that montary vulnerability.
The Soul Forger's eyes widened in surprise at Rel's sudden advance.
"Fast—!"
Rel's grip tightened on his sword, his fingers adjusting to hold the hilt with a single-handed technique.
The blade traced an upward diagonal path through the air as he channeled his power.
Black lightning crackled along the edge of the weapon, no longer rely coating the tal but seeming to erge from within it.
"Divine Severance."
The words were barely audible, yet they carried imnse weight.
The air around Rel's blade distorted as his Dominance aura manifested fully, not just black lightning now, but a fundantal assertion of his will upon reality itself.
SLASH!
The attack connected with the Soul Forger's midsection, a perfect strike that sent a shockwave throughout the entire chamber.
The cleaving slash didn't just damage through physical matter, it tore through the very essence of the ancient being.
Agh…
The Soul Forger staggered backward, one massive hand instinctively moving to the wound.
It wasn't bleeding in any conventional sense, but wisps of blue energy escaped from the gash, dissipating into the air.
'He got a good hit… though it's been a while since I have battled…'
Despite the wound, the ancient being's eyes glead finally seeing interest.
This human moved differently from any warrior he'd encountered before, not with the desperate fury of mortals facing death, but with the precision of soone who knew exactly what they were doing.
Rel pressed his advantage, already preparing a follow-up strike.
His sword traced another arc through the air, black lightning intensifying around the blade.
The Soul Forger's expression shifted from surprise to determination.
With surprising speed for his massive fra, he swung Worldbreaker in a downward arc, eting Rel's advance head-on.
BOOM!
The hamr crashed into the ground with earth-shattering force.
The impact point beca the center of a rapidly expanding network of cracks, like spiderwebs stretching across the entire floor of the forge. From these fissures, geysers of black lightning erupted upward, forming a deadly cage around Rel.
"Let's see you dodge this, Axel!"
The black lightning shot skyward, then arced inward, all converging on Rel's position from every angle.
Each bolt carried enough power to reduce a normal human to ash instantly.
Rel's eyes flashed as he assessed the attack.
There was no conventional escape route, the lightning ford a perfect do of destruction.
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