The flight back to the Dwarf Kingdom sanctuary was agonizing for the princes, but far more brutal was the battle taking place high above.

  King Winston, the Tier 5 Master of Fire, Spirit, Light, and Sound,Lenard, the Tier 5 Master of Ice, Dark, and Time.The mountain peak, once a majestic spire of white snow and jagged rock, was transformed into the isolated arena for the battle of two kings. King Winstonwhite hairbrown eyesLenardgreen hairblue eyes

  Winston's contaminated shoulder screamed in silent protest, but he masked the pain perfectly. "Do you truly wish to fight me, Lenard? I offer you one last chance to abandon this suicidal course."

  Lenard’s blue eyes narrowed, his patience thin. “Your weakness is showing, Winston. I came to defeat you and accelerate the fall of your allies. Stop your pathetic negotiations.” The cold air flowing between them carried the immense, compressed energy of their Tier 5 cores. Their defiance was absolute.

  Lenard launched the offensive instantly, a blur of motion across the snow. He channeled his Ice Element

  Winston instantly activated his Tier 5 Fire Defense ArtifactDark Defense

  Lenard, a master of complex Tier 5 strategy, didn't rely on brute force alone. He launched a massive, coordinated counter-attack.

  First, he summoned his creature. With a low incantation, a massive, purple-hued, Tier 7 spectral tiger with twin tails tipped with violet fire materialized: Flerrion

  Flerrion, under Lenard’s silent command, launched a savage, Tier 7 flanking attack. Winston dodged the creature’s claw, but this was merely a setup. As Winston evaded the creature, Lenard utilized his mastery of the Time Elementtemporal acceleration

  The blow—a combination of Ice and Dark energy—slammed into Winston’s chest. He crashed into the sheer rock face at the edge of the mountain. Winston slumped, seemingly defeated, sitting on the jagged rock.

  Lenard smiled, his green hair fluttering with satisfaction. "See? I told you. You sacrifice your life for children you cannot protect. You are not at the level to fight me."

  But the image of Winston began to dissolve, swirling away like smoke. It was an illusionSpirit Element

  Winston materialized behind Lenard, having cloaked his movement using Spirit and the residual light of his shield. He instantly channeled his Light ElementSpirit Blade

  Lenard roared in pain, his Dark Defense barely holding the blade from penetrating his Spirit Core.

  Before Winston could follow through, FlerrionFire

  Lenard stood, using his Dark MagicZephyr Step

  He blurred past Lenard, who was still sealing his wound. Winston delivered a devastating, accelerated barrage of blows. Lenard’s armor cracked, and blood flowed from multiple gashes, but his formidable Ice Defense

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  Then, in a microsecond that defied the speed of the artifact, Lenard’s right arm shot out, catching Winston’s incoming fist. Lenard had predicted the trajectory and used a micro-burst of temporal distortion

  "Did you truly think I would lose that easily?" Lenard sneered, blood flowing down his face. He locked Winston in a crushing grip with his left arm, channeling his most terrifying power into his right hand, chanting the Dark Spell: "The Void Destroyer!"

  Winston, knowing this attack was absolute, channeled a desperate, localized Sonic ShieldVoid Destroyer

  Winston, thrown back by the residual Void wave, knew he was operating on borrowed time.

  He launched himself again, ignoring the blinding agony in his contaminated shoulder. He dodged Lenard's counter and headed straight for the FlerrionLight Sword

  "I knew you would do that," Lenard said, his voice ragged but retaining its edge. "My pet was indeed a distraction. Now, there are no distractions. We fight until one dies"

  Both masters launched into the air. Winston created his final, immense Light Sword (Light)Obsidian Whisper (Omen)

  The two Tier 5 swords clashed. The opposing elemental energies—Winston's brilliant Fire and LightIce and Darkwasteland

  They fought for seven grueling hours

  Finally, they channeled the last vestiges of their life force into their swords. They prepared for the final, ultimate blow. Their swords did not make contact, but the spiritual pressures

  Winston’s strength failed first. He collapsed mid-air, falling toward the crater, forced to his knees by the crushing force of Lenard’s spiritual push.

  Lenard descended, his body broken but his spirit triumphant. He stood over the kneeling King, raising the Obsidian Whisper

  "See, old king? You are no match for me. I knew the outcome when we started, but it took time to make me the winner."

  Winston lifted his head, his brown eyesvaporizing the lower half of his body

  Lenard screamed, dropping the Obsidian Whisper

  "I am still standing, Lenard!

  Just as Winston stood, his body trembling from the exhaustion of the seven-hour duel, a sudden, devastating Tier 3 spiritual pressure

  Lenard, ecstatic despite his horrific wounds, spoke: "My King is coming."

  A figure appeared, descending from the sky. The resurrected prince, Zeronblue hair and chilling blue eyesTier 3 authority

  Zeron walked calmly toward the kneeling Winston, offering a cold, mocking smile. He didn't need to speak to convey his power; the sheer force of his presence accomplished the task.

  With a simple, passive surge of Zeron's spiritual essence, the world fractured.The remaining mountains for a radius of over 10 kilometers were not merely shaken—they were structurally compressed, pulverized, and reduced to featureless ash and powder, instantly turning the vast region into a permanent, flat wasteland.

  Zeron looked down at Winston, his eyes cold and uninterested. "Tell my younger brother, ZaynI am coming. And I will kill all of the Dwarf people.

  The crushing implication was terrifying: Zeron, a mere Tier 3, could effortlessly generate this level of destructive force, suggesting his power stemmed not from earned mastery, but from an unknown, terrifying inheritance.

  Zeron effortlessly picked up the mortally wounded Lenard. With a final, dismissive gesture, the two vanished, leaving behind only the new, vast, flat wasteland and the gravely injured King Winston