The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"A pity, you say? I must admit, you're completely different from before. I won't bother asking how your core has changed or how you came to your sudden growth spurt. Rather than prattle on, let's fight for old time's sake." Orden's voice trembled, not from fear. Oscar could see the blatant glee glowing from his eyes.

It was as if he had returned to back then. Facing down his once-bitter adversary, Oscar was reminded of their first meeting long ago, back in the swamps of Ashen Grove. As if replaying the scene like acting in a play, he got off Erden, planting his feet in mid-air, and raised his shield, clenching his shoulders to compact and form a sturdy defense. Likewise, Orden grinned and swung his hammer above, ready to descend in a split second to wreak havoc. Their gazes sharpened, and Oscar focused every ounce of his nerves entirely on Orden's stoic figure, not letting a single twitch or shift out of his sight.

"I didn't expect to see this bastard here," Emily said from behind.

"Oh? Isn't that the woman who fought against me in Ashen Grove?" Orden laughed voraciously. "Another great opponent. Will the two of you fight together again? Sorry, but I have to greet an old friend. Isn't that right, everyone!" From his shout, a group of Earth Core Academy soldiers gathered behind him, openly showing their hostility from their surging Ein.

In response, his Black Aegis Order gathered in formation behind him, similarly bringing their Eins up in opposition. As tensions rose, Oscar maintained the staredown with Orden, slightly taken aback by the shining clarity in the enemy's eyes, clear and beaming with a child-like desire. He could almost hear the words and pleas to fight one-on-one.

Around him, the war raged on; multitudes of Exalts from both sides fought fiercely, yet his small pocket in this chaotic battlefield remained calm. A soft chuckle escaped Oscar's lips as he gave the nod to Orden, agreeing to their duel, and the ecstatic giant strode forward, his footstep somehow making a clear sound in the empty air.

Oscar cooled his heart to a low beat and slowly raised his hand. Clenching hard, he shouted, "Kill them all!"

"Leave none alive!" Orden roared, his gigantic body lunging forward in a brutish charge.

Not skipping a step, Oscar formed a Golden Drill and sped toward Orden, coming within melee range. He left Erden behind and told him to stay. In all of his years, Oscar had never met another with the sheer physical power of Orden, not counting the likes of Reis users such as the Volten of Convecia and Adam. After his Blood Transmutation, he always wondered how his Reis would fare against Orden's might and Meld powers. Now came the chance to find out.

Drawing in a deep breath, he clenched his fist inside his golden drill. His arm contorted as the muscles tightened and bones creaked from the amount of Reis he poured into this single blow. Oscar resisted the urge to use his Pseudoguise, intent on confirming the outcome of this clash of strength. When his drill met the heavy hammer, he could feel every pulse of seismic force; forty times they burst, twice as powerful as he recalled.

Undeterred, his Shattering Wave negated the fierce strike, but his arm was blown away, the Eirin-enhanced Golden Drill cracking apart to his shock. On the other side, his foe had a similar look of shock, his grip trembling around the hammer's handle. From this single exchange, Oscar understood enough and was satisfied. Entering Pseudoguise, his limbs burned in ethereal Eirin, and Erden flew over to his side to let Oscar mount him. He judged it was time to end the battle.

"You've really become different from before. As a Grade Four, you were terrifying in your own way, but now you're outright fiendish." Contrary to the grave undertones of his words, Orden smirked, lifting his hammer in the front like a knight with a sword. Once he separated his hands, the Meld came undone, and the hammer anima rested in his left grip while the armament rested on his right. "If I were the same as before, I would have lost, but right now…I'm at the top of my game!"

The hammer anima shone and flew into Orden's chest, the air becoming stifling from the weight of the Ein, vast amounts quaking from Orden. Oscar couldn't believe it, but it was happening before his eyes: the onset of the Integration Stage. Before he could consider intervening, the Integration was completed. Grey stone-like hammers, as big as anvils, acted as pauldrons, a helmet, gloves, chest armor, leg guards, and more. Every part of Orden's body was clad in armor made entirely of these stone hammers with no handles, and a pair of earthen glows peeped from his visor.

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Wary of the dangerous aura surrounding Orden, Oscar melded his anima into Erden, and their bodies burst into flames. Orden's head created a series of strange, craggily noises as it raised to stare at him. His enemy raised a stone-hammer-covered hand and clenched, and Oscar felt a forceful pull dragging his body. Erden expanded his antler wings and streamed dense flames from certain points and tips to counteract the force, but he still came within range of Orden.

'Aim for his head. I'll handle the hammer!' Erden shaped his antlers into a large sapphire hammer and bashed it against Orden's incoming hammer. Oscar quickly stabbed a Golden Drill straight at the imposing stone figure, this time with flames blazing at its tip. Orden seemed undeterred and boldly headbutted his drill. Instead of his drill tearing into Orden's head as he had hoped, Oscar felt the same multiplying seismic force, but rather than forty times, it compounded sixty times, enough to match Oscar's current power. It resulted in the same outcome, and they were flung away, the shockwave bursting apart the winds.

"Every part of your body has that multiplier now?" Oscar said, cracking his elbow, and a tense sweat dripped down his cheek. His Golden Drill broke apart again. He formed a new one and accompanied it with a Golden Maw in the shape of a dragon. To follow it up, he spread his flames and concentrated them into swords, all pointed at Orden.

"Flames and metal. This is getting quite interesting!" Orden bashed his hammer against his chest, the ringing piercing into Oscar's ears. His foe laughed and said, "It isn't just anything from my hammer anymore. Look!" Oscar recognized the spell he used against him and Emily. Countless rocks appeared in the air, spinning so fast that they released a strange vibrating noise. "I no longer need to hit them with the hammer to apply the effect, and you'll be coming to me anyway."

A strong gravitational force began to pull Oscar again. The power was far stronger than the first time, and he found himself pulled toward Orden, who raised his hammer to strike while the spinning rocks fired, aimed directly at him. Remembering the weight of these rocks, Oscar fired his golden rods and burning swords to match them. It wasn't enough. For good measure, his Golden Maw enlarged its molten, flaming mouth and swallowed all the rocks, keeping them contained.

Erden once again fought Orden's hammer and also expanded his wings to strike at his back. Several earthen spikes protruded from Orden's body and halted the wings in their place. Oscar tried again. His Golden Drill engulfed in flames, clashed against Orden's giant stone fist as more rocks threatened to break his body. In an act of defense, his Indestructible Gold layered over Oscar and Erden, protecting them as they were flung away again.

Halting his body, Oscar sighed, worried he was taking too long to handle Orden. He stared around at the battlefield, relieved to find his Black Aegis Order still fighting on without any losses. A roar returned his attention to Orden.

"Do you have the luxury to look away while we're fighting?" Orden pointed his hammer, waving it angrily.

"I do. This fight is nice, but it's not enough. Maybe if it were earlier, I would have had some trouble. Right now, the only outcome is your defeat." Oscar spoke truthfully. After the battle against Maia, he reviewed everything he had done and fought against, looking over where he fell short. Orden was powerful. There was no denying that. He would have had to use the full Guise to clinch a victory, but not anymore.

Orden clenched his hand and pulled Oscar closer with his gravitational force. The same barrage of spells swelled on Orden's side. "Got a little too arrogant? Haven't you?"

"To borrow your words, let's not prattle on. I'll show you the truth." Oscar enveloped himself in Indestructible Gold and a barrier of flame. With two drills, he fused them into Erden's antlers and wings, a six-fold combination of their arsenal, into a single sapphire-golden blade that resonated with the elemental armament. The rocks battered on him, but he held on. All the flames surged to the blade's edge, the tip glowing pure white.

A violent burst of flame erupted from their combined blade, so condensed it almost appeared to be made of sunlight. It engulfed Orden immediately, setting him ablaze and clashing against his hammer. The blade drew closer. Orden tried to dodge, but it was too late. Oscar and Erden stabbed together right into Orden's hammer and unleashed all their might.

The sky burst into flames as metal shrapnel rained down from the inferno. Oscar turned around to see the result of their deadly attack. Orden was charred, scorched black until his Integration came undone. His body revealed itself underneath the cracking stone hammers, grievous burns around his bare skin. But the most horrific was the blackened shoulder and the arm, which was missing.

It had been broken apart by his Eirin Omnireus and burned into ash. Oscar pitied Orden for a moment and saw the once-proud behemoth slowly wobble uncontrollably and fall in the air. It was gratifying to see. To know that the bitter enemy and once-ally who had caused him so much trouble in the past lost so easily.

"At the very least, Orden, I should finish you off with my own hands." Oscar flew down in chase of the falling Orden. He aimed a Golden Breaker, but a scream interrupted him.

"Don't you dare!"

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