The world disappeared.
At least...
That was how it felt to the Vixens.
One moment Jax stood before the ancient creature, Peacemaker resting loosely in his hand.
The next...
He was gone.
Not fast.
Gone.
BOOM.
The first shockwave slammed into Warden's barrier hard enough to make the black shield ripple.
Snow exploded off distant peaks.
Ice shattered from the cavern ceiling.
The creature's enormous arm jerked backward.
CLANG.
Another impact.
This one somewhere above.
A second later...
Another.
Then another.
The sounds no longer resembled sword strikes.
They sounded like mountains colliding.
Bunny leaned against Warden's barrier, eyes darting across the battlefield.
"I..."
She swallowed.
"I can't even see him."
"You are not alone," Llandra whispered.
Her enhanced vision couldn't follow him either.
Only flashes.
Silver.
Black.
Blue.
Then nothing.
Llandra never blinked.
She watched each impact.
Each explosion.
Each sonic boom.
She smiled softly.
"You've truly been protecting us all this time."
Nyxian laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"I knew he was holding back."
"My Beloved."
Another explosion erupted half a mile away.
"I didn't know he was holding back this much."
The creature swung both massive arms.
Entire slabs of stone broke free.
Its claws struck—
Nothing.
A heartbeat later...
Twelve wounds opened across its forearms.
It stopped.
Confused.
It had not seen the attacks.
Only felt them.
Impossible.
No mortal had ever moved beyond its perception.
It struck again.
This time faster.
Again...
Nothing.
Another explosion.
Another wound.
Another missing piece of armor.
The creature frowned.
Interesting.
It had not felt this in countless ages.
Challenge.
Good.
Very good.
It smiled.
Its power surged.
Mana flooded the chamber.
Enough to freeze rivers.
Enough to bury kingdoms.
Enough to flatten mountains.
It unleashed everything.
A beam of glacial mana erupted from its mouth.
The valley vanished beneath frozen light.
The Vixens instinctively stepped backward.
Even Warden drove his shield deeper into the stone.
The blast continued.
And continued.
And continued.
The creature laughed.
"So..."
Its voice rolled across the battlefield.
"You cannot endure forever."
The beam ended.
Silence.
The valley had disappeared.
Nothing remained where Jax had stood.
The creature smiled.
Until...
It noticed something.
A spinning wall.
Tiny.
Barely wider than a man.
Standing inside the beam's path.
Peacemaker.
Turning so quickly it had become a perfect circle.
The beam hadn't struck Jax.
It had struck the blade.
Every ounce of mana...
Every spell...
Every frozen storm...
Had been caught.
Redirected.
Stored.
The creature's smile faded.
No...
Not stored.
Focused.
The blonde-haired mortal still hadn't moved.
One hand held Peacemaker.
The other...
Rested casually on the grip of one strange weapon hanging at his side.
The creature finally understood.
He hadn't needed two hands to defend.
He had only needed one.
The second...
Had been waiting.
Waiting...
For exactly this moment.
Jax drew.
A single shot echoed across the mountain.
There was no flash.
No explosion.
Only silence.
The creature looked down.
Its right leg...
Was gone.
Not broken.
Not severed.
Gone.
Its balance vanished instantly.
A body the size of a mountain collapsed sideways.
The earth screamed beneath the impact.
The Vixens gasped.
Nyxian covered her mouth.
"He..."
"...he planned that."
Llandra nodded slowly.
"He allowed the attack."
"He wanted the opening."
The creature struck the ground.
For the first time...
Something unfamiliar crept into its ancient mind.
Not pain.
Not anger.
Fear.
It had never feared mortals.
Never feared kingdoms.
Never feared imprisonment.
Because time had always belonged to it.
Eventually...
Everything else died.
Except it.
But the man before it...
Wasn't slowing.
He wasn't tiring.
He wasn't even breathing harder.
Every exchange ended the same way.
Another wound.
Another step backward.
Another piece of its body carved away.
The creature finally asked itself a question it had never considered before.
How...
Can one mortal possess this much power?
It looked toward the women behind the barrier.
None of them looked surprised anymore.
Only proud.
Then it understood.
They already knew.
Not how powerful he was.
But who he was.
The creature slowly smiled.
Not from arrogance.
From recognition.
"So..."
Its voice had become quiet.
"...I was not awakened..."
It watched Jax vanish again.
"...to destroy the world."
Another sonic boom split the heavens.
"...I was awakened..."
Another slash.
"...to measure..."
Another explosion.
"...its protector."
Jax appeared for a single heartbeat.
Standing atop the creature's shoulder.
Peacemaker resting against his own.
The creature met his eyes.
For the first time...
It saw no mortal.
Only another apex being.
Then Jax disappeared again.
The duel entered its final movement.