The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Scarletgold rods sparked from Oscar's feet, and he escaped from Orden's extending arm that whipped out and overturned the slate dirt. The gravity field made it quite hard to escape faster. Having no option, he decided to hear out the Ancient of Fire but was still skeptical. 'I do not possess Volten blood. Isn't the point for a perfect Reis user of Volten blood to be capable of holding in the power of the Ancients?'

'In normal circumstances, yes. But you are a perfect Reis user, and the Blood Transmutation between you and Prielapos gives you a body that carries a part of the firstborns. I'll be frank. It's dangerous, my child. You can handle it to some degree, but using it for a prolonged time might kill you instead.' Ignyres explained.

'Killed by earth or killed by the fires of an Ancient. Hehe. I guess I have no choice. What do I need to do?' Oscar grouped up with Erden and Demon, the earth attacking them as pillars rose and toppled onto them, chased by Orden's three-faced and six-armed figure. Still, even after all the time that had passed, the Eirin around Orden grew larger, blazing around him. The only power that could match him now would be Ignyres inside him.

'Allow me into your Exolsia core.' Ignyres urged. Speechless, Oscar fumbled on trying to say a word, his mouth gaping wide. The most dangerous action one could take to self-harm oneself was to open their core to any outside force, especially an invasive one. Ignyres's urgings grew louder. 'Quickly! Or else you will die, and I will be forced to return to Talos, certainly to the hands of the Voltens.'

Oscar breathed in, his Ein Awaken gathering and recovering as much Ein as possible during the onslaught of Orden's brutal earthen spells. Erden supplemented more Ein while Demon directed their movements, carrying the two away. He had the feeling that the outcome of allowing Ignyres into his core might cause severe consequences. His closed eyes revealed all of what had already been lost and the people who were waiting for him to come back, and he firmly came to a decision. He could not allow himself to die.

'Alright.' He relaxed his core and lowered the natural defenses that barred intrusive forces from entering. Inside the inner world, flaming like the two suns, Ignyres stepped closer and reached out his hand, fingers of different flames resting on the core's surface. The Ancient of Fire turned into a stream of fire, pouring into Oscar's blue Exolsia core until every bit of ember was absorbed.

He felt the moment Ignyres entered his elemental spark, the metallic diamond engulfing in blazing bright flames. A warmth started in his chest, small and comforting, but Oscar braced himself, knowing the agony that accompanied times like these, similar to eating a petal of the Divine Essence or dipping into the Pools of Ascension. It erupted into volcanic heat, which burned inside like he had swallowed pure magma. The heat traveled to all corners of his body, burning through his organs, veins, flesh, bones, nerves, and skin.

His scream overwhelmed Orden's roar, and flames spread from his feet, weblike patterns of magma flowing on the slate ground. Oscar looked inside his inner world, stunned by the half-blue and half-red core. The heat and energy cycled everywhere, riding along his blood, seeping into his very being, and red embers flaked from his blue shroud of Guise. Breathing out smoke, Oscar rose to his feet, his body incredibly light despite the gravity constantly bearing down on him.

Red flames outlined his blue shroud of Guise. Vast amounts of Ein swirled inside him. How could anyone ever contain this sort of power? It rippled from him as waves of dry heat. Stepping forward, the ground underneath melted, fiery footprints gathering into a river of magma. His one blue antler protruded from his head, but a red flaming horn protruded from where the broken antler once did.

He admired the red flames around him, his heart thumping loudly. It was only a fraction of Ignyres's fire, but it took everything he had to keep it under control. He believed with a casual swipe of his hand, he could turn a mountain into a volcano. Exhaling slowly, he opened his eyes and stared at Orden. His rage was gone, his anxiety disappeared, and the helplessness became hope. Strangely, he felt calm, as if nothing mattered to him. Fear seemed to have melted away.

"With my left hand, I carry the shield, and with my right, I bring forth flames." Oscar gripped in the air, a scarlet spear of dense red fire extending from his hand. The primordial flame refused to fuse with his gold; the Line only allowed a single element. Was it pride? Perhaps his metal was considered too low quality for the flame to accept. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Oscar threw the spear, its speed causing it to appear like a flash of red.

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Orden lacked any reaction, not even bringing up defenses as the flaming spear stabbed into him and kept flying out to the other side. A huge hole gaped open, ashes floating away until they, too, were consumed into nothingness. The primordial flames didn't melt or set on fire. They consumed until nothing existed. The hole regenerated as dirt writhed around to patch it up. It seemed it would take more to kill Orden.

Oscar spread the primordial flames to Erden and Demon through their shared connection. Demon's Guise also had a flaming red horn paired with one blue antler and red fires outlining the blue shroud. Erden's Meld form showed no significant changes, but the presence differed from before.

'Child. This state won't last long. You need to hurry up and defeat him. Or else you'll be burned alive.' Ignyres warned. Then, a cackle echoed in his mind. 'What a sight. I never imagined to see this again. I remember when the Volten did this. To relive that moment is nice.'

'Nice to hear you so lively once again. Now, let's end this.' Oscar flew up. A flame ignited on his chest, right where his heart rested. Orden, for the first time, backed away, a slight flash of fear cracking across the stony face. Calmly, Oscar said, his voice clear and soothing, "At last, I get a human expression from you."

Scarlet blades sliced on Orden, his hammers whacking away everything they hit, but the flames chipped away at him, reducing parts of his body into mere puffs of heat. Boulders bolted at them, spinning with increasing speed. Spikes protruded from Orden's body and flew out in all directions. Taking advantage of the opening, Orden swung his hammer down on each of them, the Eirin fogging to the highest it had ever been, appearing like a towering pillar of fire.

"Spikes, boulders, and hammer. The power of earthquakes and gravity. It's a shame, Orden. You sacrificed everything, but once you forsake yourself, it will never end well." Oscar raised a scarlet wall, and everything that touched it melted. Orden stopped his hammers an inch before the walls, but the shockwaves of his attack, multiplied by fifty, exploded in all its power. The flames peeled away, creating an opening, and Orden's hammers plunged through.

Behind the destroyed barrier of fire, Oscar took a stance, his right fist lowered and clenched by his waist, and the left fist raised to his face. Primordial flames fueled his Inferno Fists spell that condensed the flames onto his hands. The Line solidified them into scarlet gloves, similar to gauntlets. His flaming heart thumped and then burst out, flames streaming away and pouring into his scarlet fists.

"It's over, Orden. I'm unsure if you're in there, but know that I hope you can find happiness in the next life." Orden's hammer slightly touched Oscar's forehead, and he absorbed all of it, the Eirin from the strike flowing into his fist. He released his fist, a direct straight right. Demon did the same, and Erden dragged the arm with him, flying above as dense fire erupted from his antlers, showering Orden in primordial flames.

The ground turned into a molten landscape. Oscar suspected Orden could escape if there was earth underneath, so he transformed the environment. Oscar punched with all his might. The Eirin Omnireus of primordial flame, condensed to the Line, pierced into Orden and clashed with Demon's Eirin Omnireus, the two lines colliding. Orden's body was first split in half, then quarters, then eighths, and sixteenths. A rumbling akin to a volcano's eruption trembled the entire world, and the Lines imploded, a single shockwave expanding slowly but engulfing all of Orden in it.

The winds flowed toward the epicenter of the shockwave and were unleashed into violent gales, hurricanes of heated air. In the aftermath, Orden was gone, not a speck of dust of his being left behind. Feeling the effects of Orden's last strike, which he allowed to touch him, Oscar was helpless as the remaining force expelled him. The ground received his back, his lungs expelling all the air as pained gasps, choking exhales of agony. His Guise broke apart, and Ignyres separated from his core, but he tumbled and rolled great distances until he stopped.

'My body can't last anymore.' Demon said. 'I will retreat into you.' He felt the Duality end and saw Demon reappear in his inner world.

'Oscar, I can barely move, but we did it. It's over.' Erden coughed.

'Thank you, Ignyres.' Oscar inhaled to recover the air that was rushed out of his lungs. Thanks to his training over the past few years, he managed to achieve barely moving after the Guise ended, a remarkable improvement from playing dead.

'That was scary! Any further, and you would have burned to death!' Ignyres exclaimed.

"Hahahaha. I'm sorry. But don't scream. My ears are pounding." Oscar wheezed. His eyes widened at the snarl that came from nowhere. Lifting his shaky head, he cursed and couldn't believe it. A stick-like figure climbed out of the lake of magma. It lacked an arm, and the other limbs seemed made from charred pebbles, barely a thumb's width thick. Slightly larger rocks formed the basic spine to its neck, where a larger rock, its head, around the size of a fist, struggled to remain upright.

"Os…Os…car." It said. For some reason, it did not regenerate. Perhaps it was also at its limits. "Oscar!" Orden reached out his pebbly hand.

"Enough, Orden. That's enough." Oscar dug his nails into the slate and groaned, raising a knee and lifting himself to stand with his arm supporting him like a trunk. "It's time to put you to rest and end this." He raised his fists into a stance and waited for Orden to approach for one final exchange.

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