The shockwaves from the detonation had rolled outward in visible rings, shaking the air itself and sending distant debris flying in every direction.
Yet the protected forest behind Benjamin remained (mostly) completely undamaged, shielded by the combination of his barrier and his quick redirection of the excess force.
The contrast was stark: one side of the battlefield reduced to a smoldering, lava-filled ruin, while the trees and vines at the forest edge stood serene and mostly unhard.
***
Benjamin dropped his arm down slowly, the limb still hissing with thin trails of smoke rising from the heated skin.
The decision to redirect most of the explosive force had actually been a wise one.
The main barrier he had raised around the forest held firm against the raw destructive power of the blast, absorbing the brunt of the cataclysmic energy without shattering.
Yet the other afflictions and curses woven into Leodog’s ultimate attack slipped through the defenses at the sa ti, carried on invisible currents of corrupted power.
Benjamin had managed to deal with ninety-eight percent of those lingering threats, redirecting the dark energies into the empty sky far above.
But the remaining two percent had struck him directly.
The backlash burned across his body in sharp, lingering waves, leaving patches of scorched skin and deep aches that pulsed with every heartbeat.
"Benjamin, are you alright?!" Tesa ran straight to him, her hands moving quickly over his torso and arms to check for injuries, her touch gentle yet urgent.
"I swear, I never expected such power suddenly," Tera added, her face twisting into a conflicted expression as she stood close beside him. "Leodog can be unpredictable at tis, but I never knew him to possess such overwhelming strength... Without the barrier in place, Fairylynch and every inch of land it stands on would have been swallowed whole, erased as if Fairylynch had never existed at all."
[No, he used the majority of my magic for that suicide stunt, and then burned more than half my magic as the barrier tried to hold against sothing my magic basically made. What a waste of energy!]
Benjamin thought sharply through the link, frustration mixing with exhaustion as he breathed hard.
His burned skin slowly began to heal itself, the damaged flesh knitting back together with faint glowing pulses.
He lifted his gaze and looked out over what had once been the battlefield.
There were no plains left to speak of.
Instead, he stared at a vast wasteland stretching far into the distance, where rivers of glowing lava coursed through multiple jagged corners with apocalyptic fury.
The ground had been scorched into blackened glass in places, cracked and steaming under the intense heat.
It was empty now.
Leodog had perished first in the detonation, his body consud by his own ultimate technique.
And the unbelievable multitude of lesser titans had been completely vaporized, leaving behind nothing but drifting ash and faint traces of grey mist.
Even the numbered Borns were nowhere to be found, their grotesque forms reduced to nothingness in the massive explosion.
But...
"H... Haha..." D’Lion laughed weakly from the edge of the enormous crater, her body bruised, scorched, and covered in dark marks from the blast.
She stood over the utterly burned remains of the Eldest Born, her voice carrying a mix of exhaustion and dark amusent. "I suppose... you are not called the Eldest Born for nothing..."
"...an..."
For the first ti, the Eldest Born spoke, her voice a low, rasping whisper that barely carried across the hot, cracked ground.
Silence persisted for a long mont, thick and heavy over the devastated landscape.
Then D’Lion burst into sudden speed, her form blurring as she ran directly toward the roasted figure of the Eldest Born.
The Eldest Born remained crouched near the rim of the great crater, her arms held close to her damaged body.
Grey tentacles suddenly shot outward from her form, whipping through the air to grab and attack the approaching demigod.
D’Lion evaded them with deft, fluid movents, slicing off several of the thrashing limbs with sharp golden energy before closing the remaining distance in a heartbeat.
Her sharp, oversized claws flew straight toward the Eldest Born’s face in a lethal strike.
But a new hand burst suddenly from the titan’s neck, intercepting the blow with a solid clash that sent sparks of conflicting energy flying.
Though the Eldest Born was extrely hurt, her body scorched and damaged, she still managed to fight the demigod without shifting from her crouched position.
Grey tentacles lashed out repeatedly while new limbs ford rapidly from her shifting flesh, serving as both defense and counterattack in a desperate, relentless barrage.
But D’Lion steadily gained ground.
She evaded a few more tentacles with precise twists of her body, and then swooped in close for the finishing strike.
SPURT!
The sickening sound of flesh being deeply impaled echoed across the wasteland.
Blood began to drip heavily from the wound as the truth beca clear:
D’Lion had driven her claws straight into the Eldest Born’s chest...
...At the exact sa mont, the Eldest Born had thrust her own hand deep into D’Lion’s torso in a mutual, fatal counter.
Both of their knees buckled simultaneously.
They leaned weakly against each other, supported only by the grueso connection of their impaling strikes.
"Ahaha... Not bad for a maggot..." D’Lion smirked through the pain, her voice growing fainter. "But... I rely used half of my power... so I win..."
As D’Lion’s form began to fade slowly into shimring golden mist, the Eldest Born spoke again in a weak, broken whisper.
"...an..."
Then she slumped alone onto the hot, cracked ground.
Her chest remained still, since she had never needed to breathe.
She only fidgeted weakly, her black sclera and golden pupils staring upward at the darkened sky with a dull, lifeless gaze.
CREAK.
The sound of stones and debris crushing underfoot caught her attention.
Her golden eyes shifted slowly toward the figure now approaching her across the devastated ground.
He reached the spot where she lay alone and raised one hand toward her, widening his palm.
A blue, fist-sized stone manifested there, glowing softly as it hovered just beneath his open hand, aid directly at her.
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