Fredrinn, using the last remnants of his mana reserve, focused on the dark image that had appeared in his mind: Nerath. Straining his eyes, he managed to open a trembling, purple portal in the air.

Cassian, still in his Sovereign Form, wasted no time.

He picked up the still unconscious Cordelia. Together with Fredrinn, they leaped into the trembling portal.

The next moment, they found themselves inside an old, ruined castle, illuminated by a dim light.

Broken walls, torn tapestries with their patterns moldered, half broken chandeliers hanging from rusty chains that had fallen from the ceiling. And right in the center of the room, a young man sat upon a shattered and cracked throne.

His hands were clasped on the arms of the broken throne, as if they belonged there. His eyes were not fixed on Cassian, nor on the sethrak in his arms, but directly on Fredrinn.

Fredrinn's face froze. Beneath the black Dark Knight armor, his lips trembled. He spoke from within his helmet, his voice muffled and full of pain.

"Julian...?"

But the man on the throne showed no reaction to this name. There was only a barely perceptible, otherworldly, divine sadness in the depths of his eyes.

As if that name belonged to someone long forgotten, long dead.

Cassian advanced to Fredrinn's side. He gently placed Sethrak's covered body into Fredrinn's still intact arm.

"You don't need to do anything," Cassian said. His voice carried the absolute tone of command.

"Stand back and leave the rest to me."

Nerath rose from his throne with a slow, elegant motion. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to walk toward them with heavy, measured steps, like death itself.

With every step he took, even the dust on the floor trembled in fear of his dark aura.

And in his right hand, a jet black sword appeared, like darkness itself incarnate.

Cassian also formed a shining sword of pure, holy mana in his hand and stepped toward Nerath.

In an instant, both beings vanished. The next moment, their swords met in the very center of the castle. With a tremendous shockwave of energy and a deafening crack, sparks scattered to every corner of the castle. Light and darkness... These two opposing forces clashed with such violence in the center of the castle that all the walls of that ancient structure turned to dust. The ceiling collapsed, and the stones of the floor were shattered by the impact.

Fredrinn, holding Cordelia tightly in his arms, had carried her behind a ruined pillar to shield her from the shockwave of the explosion.

Neither Nerath nor Cassian took a single step back from this horrific collision. As the castle continued to collapse around them, the two continued to fight amidst the falling rubble at a speed the human eye could not follow.

A massive hand formed of darkness shot out from beneath the ground, willed by Nerath, and tried to crush Cassian. But before that hand could even reach Cassian, a great lightning spear descending from the sky shattered it.

Cassian did not stop. Lightning bolts rained down on Nerath, one after another. Nerath swung his sword, and a wave of dark mana energy annihilated the lightning in mid air.

Cassian instantly changed tactics. He formed a massive ice club out of the air and brought it down on Nerath.

Dozens of dark hands shot up from the ruined floor, caught the club in mid air, and shattered it with immense force. But this was a trap. A hidden torrent of holy mana, released from within the ice, poured down on Nerath like a flood. Nerath swiftly changed position to avoid contact with that purifying mana.

The spot he had just dodged from instantly ignited with Chaos Flames. The flames rapidly spread, covering every part of the ruin.

Nerath sensed something strange. These flames were not normal; they were consuming his mana and his dominion over this dimension, damaging his control over his own territory.

Nerath brought his hands together. At that moment, the entire ruined castle around them, the stones and rubble, suddenly liquefied, drawing toward Nerath's palm like a vortex.

They were outside the castle now; a barren, dead land. The skeletons of buildings left from a ruined city, and an ominous black sun shining in the sky...

The black, liquefied remnant in Nerath's hand rapidly changed form, becoming a sharp, ominous spear. The moment Cassian saw the spear, he knew this was not a good sign.

He gathered holy mana in his clawed hand. He condensed as much energy as he could with the power granted to him by the Sovereign Form.

The light sword of holy mana changed form, becoming a long spear that shone like the sun.

The next moment, both of them hurled their spears, loaded with all their power, at each other.

When the two immense forces met in the air, a silent but concussive explosion occurred. Yellow and black rays shined like a second sun under the black sun. The entire dimension shook.

Before the explosion had even subsided, Cassian lunged forward, through that searing energy. He trusted his unparalleled regeneration, even if his body took damage.

He tried to plunge his sword into Nerath, but Nerath parried the blow with his own sword.

The two continued to clash at an unbelievable speed, right in the middle of the newly created, massive crater.

Sharp spikes of ice shot up, trying to impale Nerath from the side. But as if this entire area belonged to Nerath, the dead earth beneath them changed form, raising shields from the ground to block the attacks.

Cassian increased his speed even more, trying to pressure Nerath, giving him no opportunity to think.

He knew his time was limited; the Sovereign Form's limits were about to run out. Cassian shot a massive ice pillar up from right beneath Nerath's feet.

Nerath, caught off balance by the sudden blow, was thrown into the air.

Cassian quickly shot up into the sky, toward him. He wanted to impale him with his light sword, but Nerath somersaulted in mid air, dodging the attack.

Cassian opened his mouth like a dragon and poured a torrent of pure Chaos Flames, enough to cover the sky, onto Nerath.

Nerath tried to avoid the flames by quickly encasing himself in a black sphere. But Cassian plunged his light sword of holy mana into that dark sphere, shattering its defense like glass.

Nerath fell to the ground, burning in the flames. He tried to save himself from crashing, but Cassian double kicked him right in the chest, burying him in the rubble.

The Chaos Flames had mercilessly eroded Julian's body and Nerath's spirit.

Nerath barely tried to get up from under the wreckage. Cassian formed a massive ice hammer from the air and swung it right into the middle of Nerath's back. Dark hands rising from the ground tried to defend against the blow, but Cassian was prepared for this move.

Lightning raining from the sky instantly shattered those hands. The hammer reached its target and struck Nerath. The ground cracked once more, and Nerath was driven face first into the earth.

Nerath floundered on the ground, coughing up blood. Cassian did not give him a second to recover. The moment he got to his feet, Cassian caught him, drove a kick under his chin, and sent him flying into a pile of rubble. They continued to fight amidst the ruins of the ravaged buildings.

Nerath was thrown from wall to wall, not given a single moment to recover.

He barely parried a Lightning Spear aimed at the center of his chest, but before he could recover, two ice spears from behind impaled him through the legs. Nerath crumpled in pain. Cassian swung his sword at Nerath. A wall of dark hands formed in front of Nerath, but the sword of holy mana tore through the hands and plunged into Nerath's shoulder. Nerath grabbed the sword embedded in his shoulder with his hand and did not let go.

Cassian released his sword. He coated his clawed hands with pure, burning holy mana and lunged like a beast at the wounded Nerath. He buried his fists in Nerath's face, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him onto his back with superhuman force.

Nerath, with a final effort, tried to plunge his black sword into the chest of Cassian, who was upon him. The moment the sword made contact with Cassian's scaly, armor like skin, it shattered, leaving only a small scratch.

Cassian ignored him and lunged further. He grabbed Nerath's sword arms with his clawed hands. He would not let him escape now.

Cassian savagely bit Nerath's shoulder and tore away the flesh. As Nerath groaned in pain, Cassian continued to bite and tear at him like an animal. He dug his clawed hands into Nerath's skin. Void Rot spread rapidly through Nerath's spirit and Julian's body, weakening him.

Then, dozens of chains made of Chaos Flames shot out from Cassian's body, binding them both together in this deadly embrace.

When Nerath's entire body was bound by the chains, Cassian suddenly used his Shapeshifting ability, turned into liquid, and slipped through the tight chains.

The moment Cassian's form vanished, the chains tightened even further, completely enveloping Nerath. Nerath tried to break them, but it was too late.

Cassian returned to his Sovereign Form, facing him. He formed four sharp daggers of Holy Mana in his hand and plunged these daggers into Nerath, pinning him to the ground by his four limbs.

Void Rot, Chaos Flames, and Holy Mana...

Nerath was now completely suppressed. He was like a crucified man.

At least, that was what Cassian thought.

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