The battlefield fell into a suffocating silence.
No one moved.
No one even dared to breathe.
Kieran stood calmly at the centre of the clearing.
A long spear of pure violet Aura rested firmly in his hand, streams of purple energy flowing along its length like living veins. Every pulse illuminated his sharp silver eyes, making them seem almost inhuman beneath the shadow of his ash-black hair.
Several metres away...
Ragnar rested his massive greataxe upon his shoulder.
Dark green Aura wrapped around the enormous weapon, swirling like a raging beast desperate to be unleashed. It crackled across the axe head before spilling over his broad frame, causing the air around him to distort.
Neither man looked away.
Purple and green Aura collided between them.
The pressure alone made the valley feel unbearably heavy.
Loose stones trembled.
The grass bent flat against the earth.
Even the wind itself had disappeared.
It was as though the entire world had frozen, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
...
Hidden behind a large boulder overlooking the battlefield...
Leo watched without blinking.
His crimson eyes remained fixed on the two warriors.
He wasn't excited.
Nor was he nervous.
He was fascinated.
The pressure pouring from their bodies felt completely different from mana.
Heavier.
Sharper.
More... alive.
His gaze lingered on the spear in Kieran's hand before shifting toward Ragnar's greataxe.
*So that's Aura...*
*I've read countless records describing it...*
*But words don't come close to this.*
Books had described Aura as the opposite of magic.
Magic borrowed mana from the world.
Aura was born from the body itself.
The stronger the body...
The stronger the will...
The stronger one's Aura became.
Yet reading about it...
And witnessing it with his own eyes...
Were two entirely different experiences.
Beside him...
Sasha quietly watched the two figures.
"You can feel it now..."
She said without looking away.
Leo gave a faint nod.
"It feels nothing like mana."
"It shouldn't."
Sasha answered.
"Mana belongs to the world."
"Aura belongs to the warrior."
"It isn't something anyone can learn."
"It has to be awakened."
Leo continued watching the battlefield.
"I've read that only a handful of warriors ever manage to awaken it."
Sasha nodded once.
"That's true."
"And even among those..."
"...most never go beyond coating themselves or their weapons."
Her eyes slowly drifted toward Kieran.
A hint of pride appeared on her face.
"But my brother..."
"...stands among the few who reached the next stage."
Leo glanced at her briefly.
"The next stage?"
Instead of answering...
Sasha smiled.
"Watch."
Leo immediately returned his attention to the battlefield.
...
A young wolf tightened his grip around his sword.
Unable to endure the silence any longer, he instinctively stepped forward.
A rough hand immediately caught his shoulder.
"Don't."
The young warrior froze.
He turned toward the older veteran behind him.
"If we move..."
The veteran slowly shifted his gaze toward Ragnar's soldiers.
"...They move."
The young wolf instinctively looked across the battlefield.
Every Bull Beastman elite already had a hand resting on their weapons.
Not a single one had relaxed.
Their eyes remained fixed upon the wolves.
Waiting.
Watching.
Ready.
The young wolf slowly swallowed.
He understood.
One careless movement...
One wrong decision...
And this silent valley would become a battlefield drenched in blood.
The veteran slowly released his shoulder.
"This duel..."
He murmured quietly.
"...will decide everything."
Silence returned once more.
...
Ragnar suddenly let out a deep laugh.
"Haha..."
The sound rolled across the valley.
"I was beginning to wonder if you'd grown soft."
He lowered the greataxe from his shoulder.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"But..."
His golden eyes gleamed with excitement.
"You've finally become interesting."
Across from him...
Kieran remained expressionless.
Without saying a word...
He slowly spun the Aura spear once.
The violet weapon sliced through the air with a deep hum before coming to rest beside him.
Leo's eyes narrowed.
There wasn't a trace of steel beneath the Aura.
The spear itself...
Had been forged entirely from Aura.
Sasha quietly broke the silence.
"See it now?"
Leo nodded slowly.
"So that's what you meant..."
"He's not coating a weapon..."
"He's creating one."
A faint smile appeared on Sasha's lips.
"Exactly."
"My brother..."
"...is an Aura Master."
Almost at the same moment...
Ragnar's grin widened.
He slowly lifted the greataxe, pointing its enormous blade directly at Kieran.
"Then..."
His deep voice echoed through the valley.
"Show me."
Kieran answered without the slightest change in expression.
"You're still all talk."
Nothing more needed to be said.
Years of rivalry.
Years of resentment.
Everything had led to this single moment.
The valley itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
Kieran vanished.
Leo's pupils shrank.
His eyes instinctively searched the battlefield.
*Where—*
BOOOOOOM!!
An earth-shaking explosion tore through the valley.
A violent shockwave erupted from the centre of the battlefield as the violet spear and the massive greataxe collided head-on.
The ground beneath them shattered.
Dust exploded into the sky.
Trees bent violently beneath the force.
Leaves scattered in every direction.
Both the wolves and the Bull Beastmen staggered backwards as the overwhelming pressure swept across the battlefield like a raging storm.
Leo instinctively raised an arm to shield himself from the blast of wind.
His crimson eyes widened.
*...I didn't even see them move.*
The clash had begun.
The moment the dust settled—
Kieran was already moving.
His figure blurred across the battlefield, the violet spear carving brilliant arcs through the air. Every step was precise. Every movement flowed seamlessly into the next, leaving behind nothing but streaks of purple light.
Leo's eyes followed desperately.
But every motion vanished before he could fully grasp it.
*He's fast...*
*Far faster than I imagined.*
A sharp whistle split the air.
The spear shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
CLANG!
Ragnar twisted his massive greataxe just in time.
The violet spear scraped across the emerald-coated blade, sending a shower of purple and green sparks exploding into the air.
Before Ragnar could retaliate—
Kieran disappeared again.
His foot barely kissed the ground before his body slipped to Ragnar's blind side.
The spear flashed.
CLANG!
Ragnar blocked.
Another thrust.
CLANG!
Another.
CLANG!
The exchanges became impossible to count.
Clang!
CLANG!
CLAAANG!
The valley echoed endlessly with the deafening sound of Aura colliding against Aura.
Every impact unleashed another violent shockwave that rippled across the battlefield.
Dust rose into the air.
Small stones bounced across the cracked earth.
The surrounding trees shook violently beneath the pressure.
Leo slowly narrowed his eyes.
His focus shifted.
He stopped watching the weapons.
Instead...
His gaze settled on their feet.
Their shoulders.
The subtle movement of their hips.
The smallest twitch of their wrists before each strike.
His mind rapidly pieced everything together.
*Kieran isn't attacking at random...*
*Every thrust forces Ragnar into another defensive position.*
*He's dictating the flow of the battle.*
*Controlling the pace.*
Suddenly—
Ragnar roared.
With terrifying strength, he swung the greataxe in a devastating horizontal arc.
WHOOOOOM!!
The air itself seemed to split apart.
The enormous blade tore across the battlefield like a raging storm, ripping open the earth wherever it passed.
Kieran leaned backwards.
Only by the slightest margin.
The edge of the axe swept past his chest.
The sheer force of the swing sent his wolf-fur cloak billowing wildly behind him.
Before Ragnar had even recovered—
The violet spear flashed.
CLANG!!
Its tip struck the side of the greataxe.
Again—
CLANG!
Again—
CLANG!
Each thrust came faster than the last.
Precise.
Efficient.
Merciless.
Ragnar's greataxe moved without pause, intercepting every strike at the last possible instant.
For the first time...
The Bull Beastman's feet slid backwards.
Only a few inches.
But everyone saw it.
A murmur spread through the wolves.
"Leader has him..."
Another wolf couldn't hide the grin spreading across his face.
"He's forcing General Ragnar back!"
Hope slowly spread through the camp.
Even across the battlefield...
Several of Ragnar's elite soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.
Their expressions visibly tightened.
They had fought beside Ragnar for years.
Very few warriors had ever managed to pressure him like this.
Ragnar suddenly changed his footing.
With a powerful step—
He raised the greataxe high above his head.
The enormous blade descended like a collapsing mountain.
BOOOOM!!
The ground exploded beneath the impact.
Chunks of stone shot high into the air.
A crater spread beneath the axe.
But...
Kieran wasn't there.
He had already slipped past Ragnar's shoulder.
The violet spear shot forward.
CLANG!!
Ragnar barely managed to intercept it.
Another thrust followed instantly.
Then another.
Then another.
The attacks flowed endlessly.
Like waves crashing against a cliff.
Leo never blinked.
He wasn't cheering with the wolves.
Nor was he thinking about who would win.
Every movement...
Every dodge...
Every block...
Every shift in balance...
He silently committed them all to memory.
Not a single detail escaped him.
Across the battlefield...
Ragnar suddenly stopped retreating.
The endless exchange came to an abrupt halt.
For a brief moment...
Silence returned.
Then—
"Haha..."
A deep laugh echoed through the valley.
It grew louder.
"Hahaha!"
Ragnar threw back his head, laughing without restraint.
His grin stretched wider than ever before.
"YES!"
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
"There you are!"
His golden eyes burned with exhilaration.
"The Kieran..."
"...I could never catch!"
The dark green Aura surrounding his body erupted violently.
It became denser.
Heavier.
Wild enough to distort the very air around him.
Cracks spread beneath his feet.
Even Kieran's expression grew more serious.
He felt it immediately.
Ragnar...
Had become even stronger.
Ragnar's laughter slowly faded.
Silence returned to the battlefield.
Neither warrior moved.
For the first time since the duel had begun...
Both simply stood there, their eyes locked onto one another.
The playful grin on Ragnar's face gradually disappeared.
Kieran's grip tightened around the violet spear.
The air itself grew heavier.
The violet Aura surrounding Kieran surged violently, spiralling around the spear in endless streams before settling into a calm, overwhelming pressure.
Across from him...
Ragnar answered.
Dark green Aura erupted from his body once again, swallowing the greataxe whole until its massive blade appeared to have been forged from emerald light itself.
The ground trembled.
Loose stones slowly lifted before shattering beneath the pressure.
Even those watching from a distance instinctively stepped backwards.
No one dared to speak.
No one dared to blink.
Leo could feel his own heartbeat pounding against his chest.
His crimson eyes never left the battlefield.
*They're ending it...*
At almost the exact same moment...
Both warriors lowered their weapons.
Their stances shifted.
The atmosphere changed.
Everything...
Became still.
Then—
BOOOOM!!
The ground exploded beneath their feet.
A streak of violet.
A streak of emerald.
The two figures vanished simultaneously.
Leo's eyes widened.
Too fast...
His vision desperately searched the battlefield.
Then—
CLAAAAAAAAANG!!
The collision erupted like thunder.
The entire valley shook.
A colossal shockwave burst from the point of impact, flattening the surrounding grass and sending dust, rocks and shattered earth flying into the sky.
Both armies instinctively braced themselves against the overwhelming force.
For a single heartbeat...
Time itself seemed to stop.
Then—
*Crack.*
It was almost inaudible.
A sound so faint...
Only one person heard it.
Kieran's pupils shrank.
"...What?"
A thin fracture slowly spread across the centre of the violet Aura spear.
The flowing Aura around it flickered violently.
For the first time since the battle began...
Disbelief appeared on Kieran's face.
The colour drained from it almost instantly.
"Cough—!"
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, staining both the spear and the ground beneath his feet.
His breathing faltered.
His eyes remained fixed on the thin fracture.
*Impossible...*
Before his thoughts could catch up—
Ragnar's eyes flashed.
The greataxe continued forward without losing even a fraction of its momentum.
BOOOOM!!
The massive blade slammed into Kieran's chest.
The impact echoed throughout the valley.
Kieran's body was launched backwards like a cannonball.
He tore through the earth, carving a deep trench across the battlefield before finally crashing to a halt dozens of metres away.
A thick cloud of dust billowed into the sky.
Silence.
No one moved.
Not a single voice could be heard.
As the dust slowly began to settle...
A lone figure emerged.
Kieran.
Still on one knee.
His breathing was uneven.
Blood dripped slowly from the corner of his mouth onto the cracked earth below.
Yet...
The violet spear remained firmly gripped in his hand.
A single fracture ran through its centre.
Thin.
Yet unmistakable.
The wolves stared in horror.
"...Leader..."
One of them whispered.
Sasha's face lost all colour.
Her fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms.
"...Brother..."
Nearby...
Leo's expression slowly hardened.
His eyes never left the fractured spear.
Around him, even Ragnar's elite soldiers stood frozen.
None of them celebrated.
None of them cheered.
They simply stared.
Because every seasoned warrior standing on that battlefield knew one undeniable truth.
An Aura-forged weapon could not be cracked...
Not by an ordinary weapon.
Not even by another weapon strengthened with Aura.
Yet...
The impossible had happened.