The mont their movents collided again the corridor erupted into a bigger explosion.
Steel clashed against the hardened scales with a sharp ringing force that echoed through the sealed halls. Sparks of condensed Magic burst everywhere with every impact, scattering like embers before fading into the air.
The man's blade moved in rapid succession with slashes and thrusts that were faster and heavier than the last, fueled by the dense aura or Magic that surging through his body.
But this ti, Erend didn't just receive. He pushed back.
Each of the attacks he deflected carried weight now. Each movent of his arm redirected not just the blade but the man himself. The rhythm shifted. The pressure reversed.
The guard felt it imdiately.
"This… isn't normal."
He was not an ordinary fighter. In this world, he stood at the pinnacle of warriors and swordsn. Very few could match him in direct combat and even fewer who could push him back.
Yet now he was being overwheld. And the one doing it wasn't even trying.
His jaw tightened behind the wooden mask.
The aura around his body surged again. This ti it didn't stay contained but exploded outward in a visible wave, distorting the air around him as he forced more power into his limbs.
The corridor trembled faintly under the pressure.
He stepped in again with stronger and faster movents. More violent.
But the mont his gaze t Erend's eyes he felt that sothing changed.
Erend's eyes turned. Crimson slit pupils ford instantly, it looks sharp and inhuman. The presence behind them also changed into sothing vast and suffocating, sothing ancient that didn't belong in this world.
The man's body froze before his mind. For a fraction of a second his breath stopped. His instincts scread danger.
The next mont Erend moved and sent a single punch.
It landed cleanly against the man's torso with controlled force, yet the impact sent him flying backward like a broken doll.
His body slamd into the far wall with a heavy crash, cracks spreading across the stone from the force before he dropped to the ground in a rough heap.
The corridor fell silent for a mont.
The man coughed, his body trembling as pain spread through him. But even then, he forced himself to move.
His hand pressed against the ground as he pushed himself back up. Duty overrode everything. He stood again.
Erend watched him, then sighed.
"Isn't that enough?" he said calmly. "I don't need to fight you. I just want to see what's inside."
The man didn't respond with words.
He roared.
"HYAAAAAHHH!"
With a surge of force far more explosive than before, he charged again. The ground cracked beneath his step as he threw everything forward in a final attempt to defeat Erend.
But this ti… it ended instantly.
Erend stepped in.
His hand shot forward and caught the man by the neck in the middle of his charge. The montum died in an instant as Erend drove him down into the ground with a solid impact.
The air knocked out of him.
Before he could react further, Erend's foot moved and kicked the sword from his grip. The blade slid across the floor and clattered uselessly into the distance.
The man struggled. His hands gripped Erend's arm, his body trying to move to fight and resist.
"I'm… losing…" The realization hit, but it didn't stop him. "Then I'll die before I stop!"
Erend looked down at him.
"You're really stubborn," he muttered.
Then, without hesitation, he struck once more.
With a precise blow the man's body went limp instantly.
Erend released him, letting the unconscious body fall flat against the cold stone floor. For a mont he just stood there while looking down at him.
Then he crouched.
"If this place is sealed that tightly there should be so kind of a key, right?" he murmured, already reaching into the man's armor and pockets.
His fingers moved quickly and found a circular stone tablet, about the size of his palm. Its surface was engraved with patterns that pulsed subtly with Magic.
Erend examined it briefly. "Hm, I knew it."
He stood up again and glanced once more at the unconscious guard. "Sorry about that, man."
Then he turned and without another pause, he walked deeper into the corridor, following the pull of energy once more.
His steps echoed softly as he disappeared further into the sealed depths.
Behind him, the man remained motionless on the ground, left alone in the silence of the corridor.
The corridor stretched deeper into silence as Erend moved forward alone and the Magic within the structure thickened. Every inch of this place had been constructed with a single purpose, to contain sothing.
As he continued, the patterns along the walls began to change.
At first, they had been thin lines of glowing sigils, layered carefully across the surfaces. But the deeper he went the denser they beca. The lines overlapped, interlocked, and expanded into larger formations that pulsed with restrained power.
The pull he had been following grew stronger now. No longer subtle but clear and direct like a current dragging him forward toward its source.
Then the corridor ended.
Erend slowed his steps.
In front of him stood a massive double door.
It towered over him. Made from the sa dark stone as the rest of the structure, but it was different. The surface wasn't smooth. It was covered in large intricate patterns that glowed with a steady light.
Unlike the walls, these patterns weren't layered. They were central. Like they were the core structures that the rest of the seals seed to originate from.
"This is it…"
Erend stepped closer.
Without hesitation, he took out the circular stone tablet he had taken from the guard. The mont it left his hand, the patterns on the door reacted. The faint glow intensified slightly, responding to its presence.
Erend raised the tablet and brought it close to the center of the door.
A low hum spread through the stone. The patterns lit up in sequence. Lines connecting and flowing outward like a system activating after long dormancy.
Then the door moved.
A deep grinding sound echoed as the massive structure slowly split apart from the center.
The mont the gap ford Erend felt it.
His eyes sharpened instantly.
From beyond the door, a presence surged outward. It pressed into his senses the mont it was released.
It was a familiar present. Like Zerathul's presence.
The resemblance was undeniable.
It was not identical, but close enough that it sent a clear signal through his mind.
This is the missing Creation.
—
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